Quick Update!

I wanted to quickly update you guys on what we were able to accomplish today and show you an overview of our schedule for this Saturday. Like I mentioned in my previous blog post, my group and I came together again to do one more mini rehearsal before filming day. We thought our first rehearsal was very helpful, so we decided to go through another practice for our night scenes to make sure we fixed any problems. After playing around with the lights, we found a great way to make sure our background has a yellow lit tone while also lightning our subjects.

Here are a few behind the scenes images from today:

We used a simple desk lamp to brighten up our subjects. Our big LED light was used to light up the background. We placed a yellow binder divider to create the yellow colored tone along with a shower curtain to diffuse the light and avoid shadows. If you see in our pictures, we also created a homemade steadicam with wood and metal pipes along with a microphone boompole that was created with a vacuum stick in order to get closer to our actors.

In regards to our schedule, we have asked our actors to arrive at 1:30 pm in order to start filming by 2:00 pm. My group and I will arrive a few hours before in order to set up all our props and equipment, so we avoid wasting time when they arrive. We calculate that our day scenes will take about 2 hours or so to film. After our first part of filming, we will be taking a lunch break. During this time, my group member, Paloma, will also be taking some photographs of our actors and crew members in order to give them credit on our website. The photos of our actors will also be used for our postcard advertisement. Our second and final part of filming will resume at 6:30 pm and will go until 9:30 pm in order to complete our night scenes. Overall, it’s going to be a long day, but it will be worth it in the end. Editing will definitely begin that Sunday.

All I can say is that my group and I are ready for tomorrow and excited to start shooting our first short film! Wish us luck.

Making Progress...

Hello! Today was a very productive day. After realizing our actors were not going to be available until Saturday, my group and I decided to take this day to get together and go through a rehearsal of filming. Our rehearsal day consisted in gathering props for our scenes, figuring out the positions of our actors, and working with lightning. A major problem we noticed we will be having is with lightning. We want our film to have a nice yellow lit background, while also making sure our subjects aren’t too dark. I was able to find a video that offered us easy and cheap tips to create a professional light setup for night scenes.

In the YouTube video, "Cheap Lighting Setup on a Budget! - DIY," Peter McKinnon explains the importance of a well lit subject and how to achieve it by using simple tools around the house. Of course I had almost none of the materials he mentioned, so I decided to go out and buy a few things. First, I decided that we will need a LED light for our night scenes. Thus, I was able to find a cheap one under $30 at my local Home Depot. Secondly, McKinnon mentioned using gel light filters as it will change the color of the light, creating a unique atmosphere for the scene. After searching online, I noticed that the gels were way to expensive. Instead we bought colored binder dividers that worked just as well and for only $5. Overall, this investment really came in handy. We played around with the lights and noticed that it added more life to our scenes.

After rehearsal, my group and I realized that we needed to make a list of the shots we will be filming and the specific order they will go. By doing this, we won’t have to hesitate on Saturday about what scenes to film next and avoid wasting more time.

Below is our list:

Towards the right of the paper, we also added the specific wardrobe options we would like our characters to wear in various scenes. Because we are trying to achieve a yellowy tone within our film, we need to make sure our subjects won't blend in. Also, their wardrobe is very symbolic to their personalities as well as what is going down between the couple and the psychiatrist.

Overall, my group and I were initially overwhelmed when our actors told us they would not be able to start filming earlier this week. However, we agreed that if we keep changing our plans and actors, we won't get anything done. So, instead of waiting until Saturday we decided to get ahead and make sure we fixed as many problems before filming day in order for us to shoot everything without a hassle. We are most likely going to meet up the night before to do another mini rehearsal just to be 100% sure that we are aware of all our problems and how we can fix them on Saturday.  

Although it has been stressful, I feel we are in good place right now and will get back on track for next week. Like always, I will keep you guys updated. Until next time!

Citations:

McKinnon, Peter. “CHEAP LIGHTING SETUP on a Budget! - DIY.” YouTube, YouTube, 19 Jan.

      2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHi35Q__WeY.

Establishing New Settings & Finding Props

After developing our script, I decided to find new locations for our scenes. With our previous idea, we had around six different locations for filming. Clearly, that was going to be too difficult and would require more than two days to film. Thus, with our new story we will only have to use two different settings that could be shot in one location.

Our first setting will be the psychiatrist's office. One of our group members says she has an office room in her house that we could use for this scene. Our psychiatrist office should be very homey and comfortable along with a few props that will also make it modern and futuristic. For example, we can have white furniture and include iPads and digital clocks around the office.

The second setting will be the couple’s house, more specifically their kitchen. For this, I still wanted to include the neon lights to show the futuristic aspect. In this scene, the couple will realize that they are in a simulation that took them to their first argument. Thus, I thought of the “La La Land” scene in which Sebastian and Mia had their first fight. They were in one room with a beautiful background that really made the scene more appealing. I wanted to mimic this scene for when our couple is fighting.

I liked the use of the color green. Maybe for our short film we can use the color yellow. After reading an article called, “Color Meanings – Learn about Colors and Symbolism,” I read that the color yellow stands for deceit and betrayal. Thus, the color will symbolize the psychiatrist's manipulations towards the couple. Furthermore, yellow also stands for hope. This can represent how the couple has hope to fix their problems, however, they were betrayed in the end and realized they weren’t meant to be together. For this, we could probably look for yellow curtains and yellow colored props that will be placed on the dinner table.

In regards to our props, I believe we will be able to use the materials around us. We just need to create a list of what we need to find specifically.

Our major props will be:

• iPads and Digital Clocks

• Darts (these will be “shot” from the psychiatrist in order for the couple to fall asleep and go back in time)
• Electrodes (we can mimic these with wires and circular bandages)  

• Yellow lights or curtains for our background.

These are just a few props that we would need to look for. Overall, if we can find our props and design our settings effectively, I think our scenes will be more appealing and will have a major impact in telling our story.

My group members and I will have all these props ready to go for when we film, which is scheduled for this Wednesday. By getting ahead, we can fix any mistakes and make the filming process a lot quicker for our busy actors.

Wish us luck!

Citations:

Olesen, Jacob. “Color Meanings - Learn about Colors and Symbolism.” Color-Meanings.com,

    www.color-meanings.com/.

Finalizing Our Script and Finding Actors

Welcome back! This week has been a little difficult as we were rewriting our script and finding actors for our film. When we were writing our script, we found that our story need something more. It felt a little too dull. We wanted to create a story that was more than just an argument between a couple. Thus, with the help of my brother, we were able to keep the same idea, however, now we included a little twist. Towards the end, it will be revealed that the psychiatrist is actually the one who prompted the couple to break up this whole time during their couples therapy because as it turns out she is also a divorce lawyer. Thus, with this story we can show how the young couple were oblivious to the psychiatrist's manipulations. We found that by changing the ending we can attract our younger target audience better with a more entertaining plot.

Below is our script:

In regards to our actors, we were able to find two college students around the same ages of our characters who will be playing the married couple. However, it seems they are only available certain days which does make it a little more difficult as we may need them for two days of filming. If it ends up that we cannot get all our older actors, we may just need to ask a few drama kids or friends to help us out. This has been a struggle since the start, but we’ve came up with different backup options if something were to not go as planned.

As you can see, my group and I are a little frustrated because we are definitely behind. Nevertheless, although we are faced with many obstacles, we are certain that we will finish this film and project to the best of our abilities and feel proud of the work we have accomplished.

Like always, I’ll keep you guys updated throughout my journey. See you next time!

Change of Plans

So, it looks like we are changing our short film idea. After having a one-on-one discussion with our teacher, she explained to us that our idea is too similar to an episode from the Netflix series “Black Mirror.” Thus, she highly recommended that we change it. Hearing this is definitely frustrating because we were so close to actually filming and start the fun part of the project. However, it was good she mentioned this now so we can make the necessary changes to get a better score on our project.

My group and I have been discussing and we agree that we want to keep our characters and the idea of the simulation the same within our short film. With this in mind, we came up with a different idea. The story will still include a couple that has problems and takes couple therapy. Our short film will open with the couple in their last session of the therapy process in which they are given the opportunity to go back in time at whatever point in their relationship. They chose to relive the memory of their first argument. In order to demonstrate that they go back in time, we will show a clock going backwards and include a graph match to the time in the next scene. The following scene will be the couple arriving at the house after a long day of work. The couple will start arguing throughout the night about little problems each one has about the other. The fight becomes an all night argument in which gets more intense each time and opens doors to other problems they’ve been having. They decided that no one will leave until they have settled everything. However, after hours of fighting and not coming to a resolution, Penelope will storm out and head to the cafe shop where they first met. Simon will then chase after her. He will sit with her at the table they had their first date. As they are remembering their happiest day, they soon realized that they haven’t had a moment like that again. They grab each others hands and tell the other that it was over between them. The two jumped too quickly in the relationship and believed that their problems would be fixed with couples therapy, but in reality, they just didn’t love each other. Immediately, we would do another graph match to their hands back to the psychiatrist scene. The psychiatrist will ask if the simulation helped them. However, they don’t say anything, look at each other, and that’s where the short film ends.

Our theme for the film will demonstrate how sometimes one needs to stop for a moment and look back at to why things may not going the way they thought. Many times individuals tend to blindly jump into things, like relationships or jobs, that they won’t be happy in. This then causes one to feel as if they were in a trap that they can’t get out of because they believe this is the only option. Thus, at the end of the short film, Simon and Penelope realized that they were never in love. They felt they owed it to one another to stay in the relationship in order to make the other happy, but in fact, they were both miserable.

Finally, with the new idea, the scenes are limited to a few locations which is easier for us to film and the story will now be demonstrated through the dialogue of the characters and the mis-en-scene of the settings. Our next steps are to create a whole new script, find our locations, and start filming by spring break.

Wish us luck!

Marketing Tips for Short Films

Hello! In this blog post, I decided to get ahead and research on the marketing aspect of our project. Along with our short film, we are required to create a postcard and a website. Thus, I began to research important tips when advertising short films. In the article, "8 Incredible Ways of Promoting Your Short Films," it explained the importance of advertising projects effectively and efficiently in order for the audiences to want to view them. Thus, I chose three tips from the article that really stood out to me and would be helpful when creating our advertisements:

Tip #1 - The article mentioned that creating a website is one of the best ways to promote any project. Today, most films have their own websites in order for audiences to get updates about the film, behind-the-scenes footage of the actors, and be able to sign up as a member.

Below is an example of a website for a short film called “Curfew:”  

I liked how the homepage included an image from the short film along with the awards it has won. Furthermore, the website has various tabs that allow their audiences to view the cast and crew, current news about their film, and a trailer. I also noticed that they included their social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. They even offered access to IMDB and iTunes to purchase the short film. Thus, by looking at this example, it has helped me further understand what my group and I need to include in our website.

Tip #2 - Another important tip for advertising our short film is social networking. The article says that “social networking is the buzzword in promotion right now.” Thus, we should create a Twitter account and a Facebook page to keep our audiences up to date with anything that has to do with our short film. The article also mentioned that we could use the social media platforms to include milestone checks or countdowns to the launch day of our video. This will allow our audiences to feel involved with our production. Evidently, my group and I should create a few social media sites in addition, as it would be highly beneficial to promoting our short film. We will most likely use Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube as our main platforms which can all be accessed through our website.

Tip #3 - Lastly, our postcard is most likely going to be handed out during film festivals. Thus, the article mentioned that film festivals is another great way to promote short films. There are dozen of film festivals that happen throughout the year, so we have the opportunity to register at whichever one. If our short film was registered, the next step would be researching on the movie critics and bloggers that will attend the festival. Then, we would email them a press release of our movie or a link to our website for the short film in order for them to learn more about it.

Overall, it has helped me greatly reading this article and going over the main promotional tools for short films. My group and I will definitely use this information to help us create an effective postcard and an interactive website that will be used to update our audiences with more information about our short film.  

Citations:

CHRISTENSEN, SHAWN. “Curfew (Short Film) - Official Website.” Curfew (Short Film) - Official Site, curfewfilm.com/.

Corteza, Jenny. “8 Incredible Ways of Promoting Your Short Films.” Raindance, 10 Mar. 2015, www.raindance.org/8-incredible-ways-of-promoting-your-short-films/.

Moving Along...

We are making progress! Today, my group and I finished developing each character for our short film. We thought by doing this first, it would help us prepare better for our script as well as help us find actors that will fit the role.

For our main character, we wanted him to have a very retro/nerdy look to him. I was originally inspired by the style the main protagonist embraced in the film “Her.” Thus, I liked the use of the colorful button down shirts with khaki pants to show his mundane personality. For our character, we decided to use the color yellow for his shirt paired with some 80’s style glasses.

The descriptions below go more in depth to his character and overall personality:

Main Character

• Name: Simon Price
• Sex: Male
• Age: 25 years old
• Personality: Stubborn, Nerdy, Frustrated
• Background: He was 19 years old in college. He was sitting and reading a book when a young girl touches his shoulder and talks to him. He was very shy and confused to why she came up to him, but he liked it. They talked for hours. The two then dated for 2 years and, later, got married.
• Outfits:

Our second character will be the wife of the main protagonist. We decided that we wanted her to have a very colorful attitude and extroverted personality, especially when she's with Simon, because it will put emphasis on how different they are. Thus, this is important to highlight because that will be a major reason to why they are always arguing and need couples therapy.

Below are the descriptions for her character:

Supporting Character - Wife

• Name: Penelope Price
• Sex: Female
• Age: 22 years old
• Personality: Vivacious, Controlling, Passionate
• Background: She was 16 years old when she met Simon. She was at the park after school. She saw him sitting in a bench reading a book and came up to him. They talked for hours and that’s where their relationship began.
• Outfits:

Last but not least, we decided to also develop the character of the physiatrist that will appear towards the end of the short film. Although she may be irrelevant in telling the story, we believe that we should give everyone in the film a purpose to why they are being presented. Thus, that’s why we wanted to quickly create a story for our physiatrist:

Minor Character - Physiatrist 

• Name: Dr. Williams
• Sex: Female
• Age: 35 years old
• Outfits:

We also decided to develop a few outfit ideas for our extras that will appear in the background in the simulated world Simon finds himself in. The guys and girls will be wearing a metal type color within their outfits along with black pants. Because it's difficult showing that Simon lives in the future through the mise-en-scene, we thought that our custom design for our characters, even the extras, will demonstrate that the film is taken place in the year 2150.

• Extras (Guys) -

• Extras (Girls) -

Finally, in class, my group and I started to write our script. It is definitely a rough draft, nevertheless, it helps us establish some more details and move us one step closer to being successful in our project. My group and I are not great at the screenwriting, but overall, we created a formal script that will aid us in the production process. We included the general stage directions and character movements along with dialogue.

Here’s a sneak peek to our developing script:

I’m getting really excited as we are days away from filming and producing our first real short film! As you already know, I will update you guys on how everything's coming along.

See you soon!

Finalizing Our Target Audience & Setting

Today, my group and I came together to discuss each of our research from the past week. One of my group members, Isa, found information on the target audiences for our genre of romantic science fiction. She was explaining that it was difficult trying to find one specific target audience for the genre, so instead she researched the audiences of each romantic sci-fi film that reflected our ideas and general theme. For example, in her blog, she mentioned that the intended target audiences for films, like “The One I Love” and “Never Let Me Go,” were middle class women from ages 18 to 30 years olds. Thus, we decided to use this information to finalize the characteristics for our target audience of our short film.

Our Target Audience:

• Middle Class Women  
• Age: Late Teens - Early 20’s

Furthermore, we used the rest of the time in class to develop ideas for our setting and to scout locations that are cheap and easy to film at.

Our short film will have around five to six different settings that will be important in telling the overall story. Like I had mentioned before in my previous blogs, our short film is taken place in a simulated world that has a utopian and futuristic feel to it. Thus, its vital that we develop our settings before anything else.

Setting #1 -  Main Protagonist’s Bedroom

In this particular setting, we are looking for the use of neon lights in the background with the color white to stand out in the furniture. It should also embrace the characteristics of minimalism with its props and design.

       

Setting #2 - Kitchen & Living Area

Main Characteristics: Mostly white with neon lights in the background.

     

My house could definitely be a location for these two first sets because I have modern white furniture that mimics the ones in the images above. We may need to play around with the neon lights and add a few props, but overall my group and I agree that it would be the best option.

Setting #3 - Neighborhood

This will be the community the main protagonist resides in. I believe the colors green and blue should stand out in order to reflect a hyperreality of nature. The images below come from the community of Weston Hills. Thus, it would be convenient to shoot our neighborhood scenes there, as it embraces the characteristics we are looking for.

Setting #4 - Friends House

Because this scene is relatively quick, we will use the same style design as the main protagonist’s bedroom. We will definitely include different props and furniture to show the change, but the room should be similar.

Setting #5 - The Town

In this part of the film, our main protagonist will be walking around confused and frustrated from being in the simulated world. Thus, this scene should show the isolation and hyperrealism he experiences. Isa mentioned that Weston Town Center is a great place to show this and it would be relatively easy to film on the weekend in the morning.

Setting #6 - The Psychiatrist's Office

This setting should be very isolated, with bright white lights, and show minimal props and furniture in the background.

Finally, my group and I established that our time period for our short film will be in the future in the year 2150. We chose this year because Isa found research that says that by this time virtual reality could possibly be achieved. Thus, our simulated world would work well in this time period.

We also decided to establish the exact time when the simulated world would be frozen. It will be at 10:42 a.m. because that's the time he met his girlfriend at the park in real life when their relationship began. By choosing this time, it also allows us to use as much of the natural light available for our shots.

By my next blog, my group and I will have a detailed script and storyboard developed for our short film in order to begin filming at the start of spring break. See you next time!

Decisions & More Research - Part II

Now that my group and I have established an idea for our short film, I will now create an outline of our story’s plot. In the article, “Elements of a Short Film,” the writer describes common characteristics short films embrace. The article explained these elements, such as characters and climax, through a series of questions. By answering them, I was able to better understand our purpose for our film and also helped me develop a detailed story arc. The questions below came from the article itself, I then included a detailed response for each:

• In our short film, we will have two main characters. However, the main protagonist, in which the story is created around, will be the guy in a relationship. The point of view for our film would be mostly from a third person lens. Thus, the story will be told from the view of someone watching from the outside.

• The main character is trying to figure out why time has stopped around him and why he is the only one that is physically moving. This will be considered symbolic as it makes reference to the reality of him never wanting to let go of the negative memories, which is causing him to slowly damage his present relationship. By understanding the purpose of the couples therapy simulation he is in, the main protagonist will be able to remember all the good and memorable moments in his relationship and will have the opportunity to change his habits sooner than later.

• This story is different from a normal day because it is not apart of reality. The main setting is taken place in a simulated world that mimics the characters real location. The simulation also makes time and the people to be frozen around the main character. I think my group and I decided to choose this idea because it is a combination between science fiction and romance, thus it definitely appeals to a wider range of audiences that are searching for a story on love while also seeking the concept of the limitations of realism.

• The breaking point will be when the main character realizes that he is alone. Because he is the only that can move and everyone around him is frozen, he feels frustrated and scared the he has no one to help him. Thus, he eventually decides to give up until a girl, who can also move, touches his shoulder to reassure that he has someone. Yet, it is up to him at this point to try and remember the good moments in order to fix his relationship in the real world.

• From this experience, the character understood that it's important to stop and remember the good moments, rather than be stuck in the negative past. This will allow him to create a stronger relationship with his girlfriend. Our short film will end with a cliffhanger of him leaving the simulation terrified of losing his girlfriend, and telling her he will fix what he can so he never has to live a life without her.

• If I can describe the story in one word, it would be “reflect” because the story talks about how sometimes one needs to look back and think about why they are where they are in the first place. So, the main character reflects on the positive moments on why he has and always will have a strong relationship with his girlfriend and why he needs to stop reflecting back to the negative moments.

Below is the developing story arc for our short film. My group and I definitely need to come together and agree on every detail, but for now this is the general concept of what our story will be:

Citations:

Ibanez, Daniel. “Elements of a Short Film.” Digital Portfolios for Education, www.bulbapp.com/u/elements-of-a-
short-film.