New Shot List and Script!

Happy Monday!

I know. Maybe it's a not-so-happy Monday.

Mondays suck, but I'm trying to look on the bright side of things!

Today, Spring Break is officially over. My school has started "Distance Learning," which I'm hoping will work out well for me. I honestly prefer being at home, having the whole day to do my work. I will miss the social interactions with my teachers, honestly. I look forward to going to most of my classes because my teachers are genuinely great people. Most of my teachers are really funny and fun in class. I'm sad about that, but I think "Distance Learning" is better suited for me, so I'm looking forward to it and maintaining an efficient schedule.

SO...

I've worked on a lot of things since my last blog post. I decided to split up my list into two blog posts (for the sake of it being too much to scroll through). 

First things first, I updated my shot list. I will not lie, I rewrote my shot list at 2 AM. I'm not sure if it was because my creative juices were flowing or because I was stressing out about wanting, needing to update it. Here it is:









After I finished editing my shot list, I created a script. The script was more so for my actors, who are my family members. The main character is being played by my generous brother, and my mother has a role in the opening as well. My dad and I are voice actors! I had to make do with what was available to me since my community is in quarantine. Pretty much the whole world is in quarantine! So here is the script I wrote up using Celtx:

The process of editing my shot list was quite extensive, and may I admit, a bit difficult. The way I attacked the situation was by creating a basis: What standard shots and dialogue do I need to represent the story? Once I covered the groundwork, I incorporated creative techniques, like specific camera movements and transitions, to spice up my project. I had to think critically, basically rerunning the project in my head in hopes of "seeing" a smooth layout. And being creative? Phew! Haha! 

I'll create my next blog post later this week. Stay safe and healthy! Wash your hands and stay inside!!

Moonstone Productions

This is the logo I made for my production company, Moonstone Productions! I'm planning on filming this week, so I thought I would spend some time working on other parts of my film opening. 

I went through this compilation on YouTube of various production companies' animated logos from the 1980s for inspiration. I also looked on Giphy because I see retro GIFs on Twitter a lot, so I thought I could source my ideas from the site. 

I'm personally a fan of retro film, the style and aesthetic of it all. The retro 70s to 90s style is making a comeback in modern media. This article published in November 2019 explains that "cinematographers have been looking for ways to add convincing grain to get the feel of film" ever since digital cameras have become the standard for television, cinema, and video production. In everyday culture, the retro film aesthetic has captured the attention of all types of creators, from a photographer to a videographer. I know this because I see this with my own eyes every day on social media...and also I can basically describing myself. I'm just a retro film enthusiast. All my work and projects reflect that style if I'm being honest!

While on my quest for inspiration and ideas, I found these GIFs that spoke to me. I've attached them below.

I honestly fell in love with these specific GIFs for reasons I cannot explain, to be honest. So, I went to good ol' YouTube and searched up tutorials on retro logo animation. I found this tutorial that was perfect for helping me recreate the GIFs above! 

Since I have experience editing with Adobe software, I searched for a tutorial using Adobe After Effects. I actually have never used After Effects before, but I'm experienced in Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe Photoshop, and I've always wanted to learn how to edit in After Effects! 

I followed the tutorial and created the grid and animation for the text, then I imported it into Premiere Pro where I edited the logo to resemble the VHS look! I'm honestly in love with how it came out. I came up with the name "Moonstone Productions" because it is one of my birthstones! #JuneBaby

Later this week, I am planning to do more research in order to solidify my film opening. Talk to you soon! 

Time for a Change

So...

I've been working with my actors to see if we'd be able to film today. But, I've decided not to put anyone at risk or in any harm whatsoever. I think I'm asking too much, and they've been really helpful throughout this whole pandemic crisis. I don't want them or their parents to be worried about being outside all for my project. That would be really unfair.

So, I'm going to switch up my idea. I've been sitting in my room trying to think of other ways to stick with this idea. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to come up with anything solid.

I'm changing my idea to be a weird teen drama about a teenage vigilante with a supportive family. I want to go for an unsettling and weird, yet dark-humored film opening. I've come up with my outline for this idea. So here is the shot list for...

Bad Moon Rising

Update Time

Hello! So, unfortunately, we weren't able to film yesterday. I'm planning to film next Tuesday, I am just waiting for my cast to get back to me. My teacher has extended the due date another week, but hopefully, we can film next week.

I've also decided not to make my project a silent film opening. I think it will be better if there was audible dialogue, that way my actors will have an easier time of getting the story and idea across.

I've been looking at my shot list nonstop thinking of ways to improve it and make sure it fits within the two-minute time frame, but I'm still a bit worried about it not coming out as well as it plays out in my head. Hopefully everything works out!!

Bump in the Road

So, this past week on Tuesday was filming day. Production went smoothly, but I could tell I was a bit uncomfortable with how the shots were coming out, mainly because of lighting. When I imported my footage and started editing, I wasn't very happy with what I was putting together. My opening ended up being 40 seconds, and I didn't let any of my shots breathe.

Filming Day

Filming Day

Although my actors did a great job, I just didn't prepare enough shots for a 2 minute film opening. I liked my shot list, but I didn't let the project breathe and everything moved very quickly. I was really disappointed in myself, I felt embarrassed even opening my project on Premiere Pro. There's high expectations and standards to meet, to be honest. 

So...last night I rewrote my entire project. I deleted my entire shot list and started from scratch. 

I'm looking to see if my actors and I can regroup today and film once again. I'm going to continue looking at my shot list and make any necessary adjustments. As I've said many times before, we'll see how this goes! Gotta keep my head up. :)

Ready for Production!

Hello!

Tomorrow I'm filming my project! I'm so excited and I can't wait to actually start the production and make my way to post! I've attached the final shot list below!

I made changes to my shot list, and I'm feeling more confident about my project. Yeah, maybe the idea is "Netflix-esque", but I think I can make this good! We'll see, I'm a bit nervous only because of that.

As for music, I've chosen my songs for the soundtrack. 

Hiracutch - Bisiesto

Pink Sweat$ ft. Daniel Caesar Type Beat ''BERRY''

The artist for "Bisiesto" says that the track has no copyright, and there aren't any instructions for proper licensing. I did, however, contact the artist for "Berry," and I'm currently waiting for a response.

Tomorrow morning I'll be going over everything before we start filming, but I will be sure to update the blog and include BTS of production! :) I hope all goes well and the weather is nice, help me out sunny SoFlo!!!

My Actors

I've assembled the cast!

Today I got into contact with three friends: two girls and one guy.

This is Kim Blum! She's a sophomore at school, and she's definitely a talent on camera!

She's going to be playing the part of Delilah Russo, the main character. She fits the image of Delilah that I'm trying to go for. I wanted Delilah to have a girly, casual style.








This is Bianca Jaramillo! She's a freshman at school. She's an actress!

She's playing Delilah's best friend, Rosanna Garcia.

Rosanna and Delilah are two different visuals, which is what I wanted. It's one of the things that adds to Delilah's confusion on having intimate feelings for her best friend.






This is Alex Land! He's a sophomore and an actor!

Alex is playing Delilah's boyfriend, Johnny Russell. I wanted Delilah's boyfriend to have a similar style, but opposite from Rosanna. I'm gonna have Alex dress very casually. One of the things Delilah is going to realize in the film is that she needs a little bit of spice, color in her life!

This is Crazy!

School is cancelled next week!

The county just announced that they're cancelling school next week as a precaution now that Corona Virus cases are popping up more and more frequently. Apparently Broward County has the most cases in Florida!

This definitely gives me more time to work on my project, but now my parents want me to be careful while I'm out filming. I need to film a couple shots in my house, but my grandparents are staying with us for a while, so I need to be extra careful about letting my friends in the house during production.

I definitely plan to film next week. I need get confirmation from my actors that they'll be acting in my project as well as set up a date for filming. I believe I'll be able to get filming done in one day.

Now that we don't have school next week, hopefully their schedules are cleared up and their parents will let them help me. Some people are really concerned with the virus and all.

But now I actually have time to film and start editing right away. I still need to work on the soundtrack, I think that will be a bit difficult, but I just need to feel out the vibe of each scene. I'm planning on going through the YouTube Audio Library. From there I can see each artist's licensing instructions. Sometimes all they want is to put their name in the credits, but I will triple check!

Sad Update 😞

SO... Right now my TV crew and I are in Washington D.C. for our TV competition. We just got information that the convention has been...

CANCELLED!

My crew and I are really heartbroken; my teacher is working to get us a flight back home tomorrow morning. So, I guess I will be working on the project this week from home. I have not been able to think about it too much. Yesterday, we settled into our hotel at about 10 pm. I immediately crashed! But I have been talking with some of my fellow crew members about casting them for the project. Everything is very sensitive right now, so I'm not going to talk to them about it now. When we're all home, settled in, later this week I will bring it up again for full confirmation. Anyways, just thought I'd use this time to update the blog. See you soon. :(

Title Choices

From my last update, I was unsure if I'd be heading out to D.C. this week for my TV competition. Well, right now I'm typing from the airport because the convention is still on!

This post will be about choosing a title for my film opening. I think I have most of my project ready to start production when I get back from Washington D.C., but I still need to actually name my film!

Here are a few options for the title:

• Confused
• Dazed and Confused
• Yes No Maybe
• Burnin' For You
• Hurts So Good
• Rosanna
• Jack and Diane
• Bad Moon Rising
• Octopus's Garden

I went through names of older rock songs for inspiration because I want my film to carry the vintage aesthetic in modern times. While I like the title "Yes No Maybe," I really like the idea of naming my film after an old rock song. It will be somewhat important for the project, but it's also for me because I think it will be fun!

I think I'm going to go with...

OCTOPUS'S GARDEN!

If you look at the lyrics for The Beatles song, I think it can be related to my project's theme.

"I'd like to be under the sea
In an octopus' garden in the shade...
We would be warm below the storm
In our little hideaway beneath the waves
Resting our head on the sea bed"

I've been doing research to see if I can get permission to use the actual song, but sadly I've been hitting walls. I don't think I'll be able to use it, but I have to do my research on the soundtrack for my project. We'll see how it goes!

What's Another Word for Update?

Update!

So I leave for my competition trip to Washington, D.C. in two days. Today STN, the convention we're going to, sent out an announcement that they will be meeting with correspondents in D.C. to decide whether or not to cancel the whole convention due to concerns about the Coronavirus!

I'm not sure if I'll be able to start the production process for my opening this week, but I thought I would restructure my schedule in case I end up going on the trip.

This week, from March 9 to March 15, I have to create 4 blog posts. I will be doing this throughout my trip (if I go). I can work on film titles, finalizing characters, and thinking about location.

I get back late at night on March 15, so from then on I will continue creating the blog posts I need to make for next week. I will also start up the production of the opening, I may have to wait until the weekend of March 21 unless my actors are free on certain days of the week. I will check up with them for an update.

If I can film that weekend, then I will devote the rest of my time to editing! I'm really excited for the post production process, I just hope to do well when filming so I can feel really excited about editing. I think sometimes when you're not very confident about what you've created during the production process, it's hard to get into post with editing. That may just be a me thing, I'm not too sure. But this was a quick update, so let's see what happens!

Shot List

Hello!

Today I'm going over my shot list for my film opening. The list is provided below!

I think the only shot I need to change is the beginning shots. It's supposed to show a mysterious, angelic figure in the main character's life. I was hoping to fill the shot with purple smoke for a powerful, mysterious effect, but I don't think I'll be able to get the smoke for the shot. So that would be the only thing I'd need to change. The rest of my shots look good to me so far. If I have another idea later, I'll make changes. But let's see how it goes!

Update Time

Welcome back!

I'm stressed!!!

This week has been quite difficult, I haven't been able to meet my goals on my list (from past postings). And today...has been the longest day ever! I was school for over 12 hours! I have lots of work to do for school and for CBTV and this project. I gotta keep my cool! 

I talked to my potential actors, and sadly this weekend won't be a good time to start filming. I will have to wait until we get back from our trip to Washington, D.C. next weekend.

I hope this weekend I can finalize my shot list. I honestly think it's done for the most part, but some things might change in the future. I might do a separate post talking about the shot list, go through it to see if I need to make changes.

Anyhow, this was a little update post for this week. 

We'll see how everything goes! 

Group Meeting

Soooo...

Today in class, Mrs. Stoklosa put us in groups so we could get opinions and critiques on how our projects are coming along. We looked at each other's blog posts and went over our film opening ideas. We were supposed to ask each other for opinions and input on any gray areas in our projects so far. We also talked about our blogs and made sure everything looked good!

While talking with my classmates Santiago, Andres, Lucia, and Mason, I jotted down some bullet points of what they said:

• Main character dress up in tie dye
• Blue and pink tones are cheesy
• Not accomplish what I’m going for
• Grey and white clothing for the boyfriend and girl #2
• Storyboard isn’t mandatory but might be a good idea to create

My main question was about the Boyfriend and Girl #2 characters. As I mentioned in past posts, I am confused about the costume design for these characters. I want them to represent the main character's confusion between heterosexuality and homosexuality. 

Lucia and Mason said I could have them dressed up in various colors, like a tie-dye theme. Mason said to do something with rainbow colors, but that might be a little cheesy. The group agreed that having Boyfriend dress in blue and Girl #2 dress in pink would be way too cheesy and quite basic. They thought I would not be able to accomplish the message I'm trying to get across with the blue and pink costume design. Another idea Mason had was to dress them in monochrome, so grays, whites, and blacks.

I also made a list of bullet points in my previous post for things I am hoping to accomplish this week. One of the bullet points was to create a storyboard, if it is necessary. So they also told me that creating a storyboard is not mandatory, but they think it would be a good idea to make. For me, I'm a shot list type of person. Once I have the perfect idea for shots, I don't forget them even after I make my shot list. Storyboards are useful, but my ideas get lost in translation when I try drawing them out. If I have time this week to create one, I will try to.

Their ideas for their film openings are really interesting! I can't wait to see how they come out, they have creative ideas. I'm intimidated! I hope my opening will be as cool as theirs to be honest... ツ

Update

Sundays are lazy days, aren't they? I hate to use this word, but there is just a vibe to Sundays that makes me feel melancholic of the week coming up and the end of the weekend.

A visual representation of how everyone feels on a
Sunday

Next week, the week of March 9, I'll be in Washington, D.C. for. 5 days! That means no time for filming my project... I'm going to try to film this upcoming Sunday so I have more time for post-production and any re-filming I might have to do. The time I come back from my trip is going to be hectic because all of my friends and I will be doing make-up work and catching up in our classes. I'm hoping that some of my friends who are also going on this trip will act in my film opening, so I don't want to make their lives more difficult by asking them to film when everyone will be making up assignments. 

I believe in my original schedule I planned to film March 16 through March 28, but I didn't think about all the make up work we'll be doing on top of having a short school week and Spring Break coming up right after.

So my goals for this week are:

• finalize outline
• create a storyboard (if I find it necessary or my teacher says I have to make one)
• figure out color palette and aesthetics
• solidify characters and their backgrounds
• film over the weekend

We'll see how it goes! Do I say that a lot?