I Hate It

Week Eight: Time Crunch  

    I have been thinking, thinking hard, and... I don't like the opening. Of course, it isn't a final copy, but it seems more like a two-minute short film focused around a concept, that concept being teenagers. That's a problem. Openings don't give away the film in two minutes. Most of the movies I have seen contain very minimalistic film openings. And you may be thinking, "Hey! Maybe she just watches bad movies!" No, most of the movies I watch are coming-of-age, which is terrible BECAUSE THAT IS MY FILM OPENING GENRE. And it is not like I am breaking genre conventions or thinking outside of the box. It is simply a bunch of shots and information thrown at our viewers. 

    I feel defeated, but I am not entirely hopeless. I need to speak with Hannah. Half of being a teenager and growing up is your environment, where you live, and who you interact with. So maybe we edit it to focus less on the storyline/concept and more on the initial stage of who these girls are. In short, who are Maxx and Sami, and what makes them who they are. Before we began this project, our instructor, Mrs.Stoklosa, showed us a TedTalk on creating ideas from scratch. "2 plus 2 but not 4" was the big takeaway. Our current opening SCREAMS FOUR. When I tried mentioning this to Hannah, she almost seemed insulted, or maybe she felt helpless too. I can't blame her. We are running out of time, so how would we fix it? 

The current opening has six sections: 
Beginning nature shots, bike riding, running into the house, records, reading, love attack on to the bed, girls pause and have an intimate moment. 

I think it needs more in between, more details embedded into the significant sections. Also, remove one extensive selection. The long, drawn-out pause and Maxx brushing Sami's hair to the side. I know. I sound like I have lost my mind, but hear me out.

1. Nature Shots

2. Bike Riding 

3. Arrive at House/Run Inside

4. More Nature/Setting Shots

5. Sami Looks through Vinyl

6. Shots of Maxx's Room

7. Maxx Reads a Book

8. More Shots of Maxx's Room 

(This is where it gets rough)

9. Love Attack Scene 

10. Laughter from Maxx and Sami 

11. "It's Complicated."

Everything I listed above has already been filmed. It would simply be a matter of re-ordering our footage and dragging out certain shots to emphasize location or a character trait. Instead of the ending revealing that the girls are lesbian, that would be revealed or hinted at through Maxx's room shots. If this were to be developed into a full-length production, the details would be developed later in the story. I am glad I could write all my thoughts out. Tomorrow I see Hannah, and we have the entire class period to work on it, so I will re-order the shots and hope for the best. 

Editing Dilemmas and CCR Crazy

Week Eight: Time Crunch

Hannah and I compiled all of our footage and initially created a really rough copy. This first draft highlighted continuity errors and issues within our opening. We noticed two mistakes right away and had to decide if we wanted to reshoot or edit around them. If you've been following along, scheduling a production date was horrific; therefore, we chose to edit around the problems.

ERROR 1:

Gomez is riding her bike ahead of me, indicating that she will arrive on the grass before me.

I arrive on the grass before Gomez. 

ERROR 2:

Wrestling Gomez in a medium shot.

Immediately cuts to this close-up high-angle shot. There's no flow. It's too abrupt. 

Hannah gave me most of the footage, and I am still playing around with it to tweak the errors. As I continue editing, it flows smoother, so I am not too worried. Basically, the opening is done. We just need to add the credits and overlap the opening with royalty-free whimsical music.

CREATIVE CRITICAL REFLECTION

I have begun writing my script for my CCR. I can answer most of the questions based on research from my blogs or my own knowledge from the filming process. I want to make it uniquely me. I am thinking of doing lots of cuts and sprucing the script up with my annoying verbiage. I want to devote one sitting to filming my CCR, so I plan on doing it one day over the weekend, especially since our film opening will be finalized by then. Side note, I am glad the CCR is done independently. Through this experience, I have learned that my creativity feels inhibited when I work with a partner. Now that's a reflective point. 

Production Day Part 2

Week Seven: It's Coming Together

Happy Sunday! As I promised yesterday, let me talk about the bike scene/nature scenes. Hannah and I didn't have bikes, but Gomez did, so we took a little trip to Gomez's house and filmed there. We needed four people for this process. Hannah to film, Gomez to play Sami, Me to play Maxx, and Gomez's mother, Dawn, drive a car forward. We stayed safe, guys, I promise! Hannah sat in the vehicle's trunk with the trunk open. As the car moved forward, so did Gomez and me.

Hannah safe in the car, waiting to film.

The bike scene! YAY!

The bike scene took a few tries. There were cars in the way and people driving by, but once we got a good take, we were satisfied. Then, we filmed the running in the house scene, which didn't take long, but we wanted a few of the same shots just in case. As you can see, I hate continuity errors. And then we filmed some nature shots. 

Hannah and nature shots!

And that was the second half of the production process! It took around three hours and then we got lunch. Now, we edit. We will compile a few REALLY rough drafts and go from there. Talk soon!

Production Day Part 1

 Week Seven: It's Coming Together

What a day! We all woke up bright and early to film. Hannah and Gianna Gomez arrived at my house at ten in the morning. Hannah came bearing gifts, coffee, of course. We couldn't have done it without you, Starbucks! Not to stereotype me, but my room is very spot-on for a grunge teenager (that statement was gross). They entered my room, and I first gave Gianna Gomez a complete run-down on the storyline. When I asked if she could be filmed, I gave Gomez an overview, but I wanted to clarify anything she may have been confused about or uncomfortable with. I then asked Hannah if there was anything in my room that would be out of place for our character Maxx. We took down one item. My pride flag. Unfortunately, there is nothing closeted about having a pride flag in your bedroom, and Maxx isn't out, so it wouldn't make sense. 

My pride flag literally ended up in my closet. How ironic!

I also wanted to point out that I texted Gomez what I needed her to wear on Friday night. Gomez sent me a bunch of options. I knew that I would wear baggy jeans and a band t-shirt with converse, so I wanted a little bit of disparity without making it too obvious. 

Gomez, our Sami, ended up wearing boots, cargo pants, a crop top, and sunglasses. Although Hannah was behind the camera, she came dressed up too. We all looked cute. 

The bedroom scenes were... fun?! We started by taking shots of my room and then moved on to the girls interacting. Having to be both in front of and behind the camera was aggravating. I am a bit of a control freak, so trusting Hannah wasn't easy. There was a lot of bickering. 

Statements that left my mouth:
"Film me at this angle." 
"Okay, let me see."
"No. Twist the camera this way."
"A little higher."
"A little lower."
"Switch spots with me. Let me show you."

Me filming my room scenes.

Hannah filming me reading. 

Me correcting Hannah. Sorry, Han!

And then... the intimate scene. Full disclosure, Gianna Gomez has been my best friend since I was 12, so this scene was a little hard to film, but we both act, so it wasn't complicated. We had to reshoot it a few times because the pillows made our heads look abnormal on camera, and Gomez and I kept laughing. 

Sami jumping on Maxx. 

We got one REALLY great shot of this scene, but it wasn't close enough, which made the moment too distant from a potential viewer; therefore, we had to redo it. I almost cried, but we ended up getting it. The whole process took roughly three hours, and then we drove to the second location. The bike scene (BUM BUM BUM)
I will talk about that tomorrow. Goodnight Shoes!

Overthinking

Week Seven: It's Coming Together 

We film on Saturday and, since we are on a time crunch, we cannot afford to have errors. I am thinking of all the ways to bypass problems. We want the opening to start with the girls biking. It seems more authentic if the shot were to be the front of the bikes rather than the sides of the bikes, that way, you could see the girls swerving and having fun. I am using the front-facing bike riding scenes from Normal People (2020) and Call Me by Your Name (2017) as my inspiration.

Call Me by Your Name (2017)

Normal People (2020)

But these aren't amateur productions. I'm sure they used a dolly, drone, or Steadicam mount. My idea is to have Hannah sit in the trunk of a car (I know this sounds bizarre but bear with me), have a parent drive forward at a very slow speed, and have the girls ride bikes. We will switch to a car scene if this doesn't work, but I think it will work. We will also film extra footage just in case our opening is too short or doesn't flow smoothly. Aside from that, there really shouldn't be any issues. We plan on filming the whole opening Saturday morning at 10 AM. Spending around three hours in one location, the bedroom, and spending three hours in the second location, the outdoors. I already confirmed with Gianna Gomez and Hannah; therefore, we are right on schedule. 

When In Doubt... Do Something

Week Six: Under Pressure

If you tuned into yesterday's blog post, you would know I am upset. I would use more vulgar terms, but this is a school project. So, "upset" will suffice. Since we cannot film until next week, I have been thinking an awful lot about editing. I am a tiny bit scared. Will I embrace the fear? Of course. But why not overthink now? I have been thinking about color grading, making our opening a little bluer than the camera can pick up. I saw a picture from a scene from Joker, and that was it. 

I feel like being a teenager is sad. Yeah, yeah, "hormones." But, genuinely, as exuberant as life can get, it is equally balanced by loneliness and sadness. Maybe that's just my perspective, but considering that I am a teenager and have consulted many others my age, I feel pretty qualified to give my opinion on this topic. 

So, yeah. Blue it is. But a brighter when Maxx is with Sami. Sami is Maxx's yellow and visa versa. We color grade to emphasize a tone and color grade we will. Now, regarding fonts, I was thinking of capitalized and messy letters for the title but more uniform and smaller letters for the credits. I thought I didn't want the viewers to see any "funk" yet. They are two ordinary teenage girls who are friends until they are not, and messy font would give that away too early. 

TITLE

Here were the testers. For obvious reasons, there were flaws.

Now, these. These are darling. I really like the first but they all look very similar, you get the first. It is messy but not scribbles. 

WHAT WE DON'T WANT

This is way too dramatic. Not light enough.

CREDITS

Formal, light, teenage, not too bold.

I feel less upset. Goodnight my shoes :)

I Am Upset

Week Six: Under Pressure

Why does everything have to be so complicated? Were we supposed to film two days ago? Yes. Did we? No. Why? Gianna, our lead actress, had to film her AICE Media Project. Believe me. We tried to find backups, but you want to hear something comical. There was a high school states thespians festival this weekend. So, all the drama nerds (I am one, so I can say it) were gone, Hannah had no friends, and all my friends were at the festival. And any other people we could find out of desperation were on vacation. The good news is, Gianna is coming back next Friday, March 25th, so we are filming on March 26th. I promise. We literally cannot change that. We need to film, or we will get nowhere.  

March 26th we film, there's no changing that. We film it all. It shouldn't take too long since we have our storyboard, and then we begin editing and choosing the fonts and fine details. I am not too stressed... yet. Obviously, not being able to film was a bummer but we TRIED EVERYTHING. On that note, see you tomorrow. I am starting to think of fonts and editing tricks, so I will let you know!

Group Meetings

 Week Six: Under Pressure

I worked with some lovely people this morning to discuss any issues or concerns we had with our projects. It's funny how much you can resolve by simply asking for advice. My biggest problem was scheduling and the bike scene. One of the girls, Hannah, said that she faced the same problem due to daylights savings time and she said that she adjusted her film to fit any scheduling problems. Hannah also recommended that we make a schedule on Canva, which I liked a lot and I will do.  I also learned that Vane is doing a coming of age film with similar LGBTQIA+ elements, it's called Scrambled and it is adorable. Gianna Gomez, our lead actress is going out of town, time to call for a backup? I don't know. 

A photo of my lovely helpers!

In regards to the biking scene, I learned that you can stabilize when you edit OR we can switch to a car scene if we want. Both are suitable options. I'm still hoping to film either Thursday or Friday. I am starting to feel a lot of pressure surrounding this project. There are no issues, just scheduling conflicts.

A Pessimistic Mess

Week Five: Storyboarding and Scheduling

Since our opening is mostly in one location, we cannot film at school, so Hannah and I might have mundane blogs until we do. Call me a pessimist, but I already see some problems with filming. 

I made a list:

• Availability
• Weather
• Camera Movement
• Spring Break
• Bikes

Everyone is going out of town for spring break. How dare they! I know Keira won't be able to film since she is on vacation. So, we have to find a new assistant. Gianna Gomez has to film her AICE Media project, so Friday may not work. It is tricky scheduling around so many factors. Additionally, CAMERA MOVEMENT. We will film on our iPhones, which I don't love because the quality can be poor, and the video's usually come out shaky. I plan on asking our AICE Media teacher to check out either a stabilizer or a tripod, and if worst comes to worst, maybe borrow a camera? We also need bikes. Even though Hannah and I are teenagers, we don't have bikes. Worst case scenario, we change the bike scene to a car scene, but I hope we can borrow bikes from someone. Thanks for peaking inside my mind post-story board. Good night!

Yes, the Storyboard

Week Five: Storyboarding and Scheduling 

Simply put, I am exhausted. I finished West Side Story, so I am back to my part-time job as a blogger. BUT! GOOD NEWS! Hannah and I did the storyboard.

Maybe I'm doxing myself a little bit, but we decided the shooting location will be my house and neighborhood. My room has the misc-en-scene of a grunge queer teenager, and my community has pretty nature sights. I ❤️ Florida! I wanted to note that our video will not be only 16 shots. But, our shot count may be lower since our genre focuses on development rather than quick cuts. The beginning will consist of long shots of the sky, the trees, and a lake. Then, we will incorporate movement by doing a tracking shot of the road, and in the far distance will be two girls riding bikes. There will be a few shots of the girls riding bikes, a combination of tracking shots, mid shots, and long shots. The girls will reach the house, and the camera will stay still, focusing on the doors and the design outside. Once the door closes, there will be a pause to indicate time passing as they go into Maxx's room.

The room scenes are intended to focus on the posters and the objects in the room. Maxx and Sami will be browsing the room. There will be ad-libbing between the two. Eventually, the girls will end up pulling each other to the bed, and the laughter will change to silence, the "It's Complicated." 

That is our storyboard! The next few weeks will be heavy! Talk soon!

Its Been a Long Week

 Week Five: Storyboard and Scheduling

The number of times Hannah and I have changed our minds about film opening is insane. I am sorry. We went from this long Miami-montage idea to a park setting to our current vision. This week, I have also been playing Anita in West Side Story, hence my lack of blogs. Again, I am sorry. Here is our current idea: it still follows the same premise I mentioned last week, except we converted it to a film opening. The film opens, establishing a nature setting, then two girls ride their bikes, arrive home, hang out in their room, and end up on the bed together. 

Here is the outline! I am almost certain that we aren't going to change our minds again.
(This may be a lie)

Second-order of business. Filming. Goodness. There are a few minor scheduling issues. March 21st-27th is spring break, and Hannah isn't available Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Luckily, we have an early release on March 17th and a day off on March 18th, so we plan to film those days and edit over break. Because I am going to be acting in the opening, we are calling on a friend to help us with transportation and props.

OUR CREW:

Hannah Ackermann - Cinematographer 
Gianna Schultz - Actress [Maxx]
Gianna Gomez - Actress [Sami]
Keira Hochberg - Assistant to Cinematographer 

OUR DATES: (Tentative)

March 17th - Film

March 18th - Film
March 21st to 27th  - Edit

New Hobbies: Photography and Art?

Week Four: Character Development and Storyboard

Okay, I slept on it. If we do the outline, Hannah provided, that is a montage. But, if we pick two or three scenes from Hannah's outline, develop intimacy, and put in a few ad-libs of dialogue, that could make it an opening. So, I went on a walk for inspiration. 

I understand there are pictures of nature. Humor me. The beginning of the opening is scenes of the girls swinging on swings, blasting music, and biking/driving home. These scenes establish a bond, a setting, and a feeling of intimacy and freedom. 

I also used my room as inspiration. The nature scenes transition into the second half of the opening, which is either Maxx or Sami's room. There are a few exchanges of dialogue, each shot gets tighter to develop intimacy, and then both girls end up on the bed, and bam, "It's Complicated." The shots would range from close-ups on nick nacks found in the bedroom to shoes on the floor to the girls looking at each other. 

PUT ALL THAT TOGETHER AND DRUMROLL PLEASE...

Listen, I am no Picasso, but this is my rough storyboard and scene progression.

There is also the issue of endings. Should one girl break the fourth wall at the end? (INTERNAL SCREAM) I see Hannah tomorrow, and we will finalize the storyboard/overall concept. I have a love-hate relationship with partner work because the storyboard would be done if it were up to me, but Hannah needs to have a say in it. 

Please Don't Have Trust Issues

Week Four: Character Development and Storyboard

Ironically, I titled my last blog post "Keeping my Promises," yet didn't keep my promise on the storyboard. Again, I want to work with Hannah on it in person, but we have pushed it off long enough. We planned to do it on Thursday, but we didn't look at the syllabus (Our Fault), and we had to write an essay that day. So! Hannah and I talked about it and planned it out.

I'm going to sketch it out tomorrow, and we will finalize everything on Monday. 

HANNAH'S OUTLINE:

I love it, but here are some issues we are encountering:
1) How do we make this opening NOT a montage?
2) How do we make the opening flow?
3) How do we give detail but not reveal everything?

I call the following information "Gianna is SO Indecisive!"

Gianna is SO Indecisive

OPTION ONE:

Girl taking a BuzzFeed quiz with each question answered has a memory, a scene listed in the outline.
PROS:
Sets the film up as LGBTQIA+ based. 
CONS:
Seems like a short film rather than an opening.

OPTION TWO:

Flow similar to the Waves movie opening, going from scene to scene, removing Buzzfeed quizzes, and everything else remains the same.
PROS:
I am having trouble finding a pro to this option.
CONS:
- Seems like a montage/gives everything away.
- Takes many resources and locations.

OPTION THREE:

Swinging on swings, car jamming, dancing, arrive home, lay in bed, girl one brushes the other girl's hair behind her ear, and "It's Complicated" is shown. Each scene heightens intimacy (I.E., Camera shots get tighter).
PROS:
I really like this option. It removes the cons of the previous two.
CONS:
Not really a con BUT is something missing?

OPTION FOUR:

SAME as Option three, but before the title is shown, the shot freezes, and one of the girls gets up and says something along the lines of "Ah, shit!," breaking the fourth wall. 
PROS:
I really like this option. 
CONS:
No cons. Is the tiny bit of dialogue the "something missing" from option three?


I keep repeating to myself, "2+2 but not 4," option 3 and 4 seem to be "2+2" rather than "4," but the small detail at the end will require Hannah's opinion. For my visual readers, I will provide some sketches tomorrow. I am going to sleep on it. Good night!

Keeping My Promises

 Week Four: Character Development and Storyboard

   

I promised mood boards and background on my characters and a story board this week. WELL! Here is all the information on the extraordinary leading ladies. Hannah worked on one character while I worked on another, and we both gave each other inspiration. That being said, may I introduce to you Maxx and Sami!

I created the awesome Miss Maxx. Maxx's name and grunge style (Graphic T-Shirts and Baggy Jeans) play a huge role in her personality. As seen in the bottom right, Maxx has an absent father. As seen in the bottom left, Maxx struggles with her body image. The quote is indicative of how Maxx often feels unlovable or hard to love. 

Hannah created Sami. Sami's style is earthy, elegant, and edgier than Maxx. Sami constantly doubts herself, represented by the quote in the top right. Sami is a music fanatic, indulging in vinyl shopping, represented by the bottom right picture. Additionally, Sami is a book lover, as shown in the book picture. 

Sami and Maxx are closeted teenage girls, around seventeen years old. You may be asking: Why the mood boards and emphasis on developing characters that don't speak? Ironically, the answer is found in the question. Because the characters don't speak, there's such an emphasis on their emotions and WHY they act the way they do. Why they remain closeted. Why they remain so intimate, yet don't express their true desires. It all has to do with their internal emotions and their past. I loved creating Maxx and Sami, as I got to pick traits and aesthetics that I see around my high school.

The storyboard will be started on Thursday and hopefully finalized over the weekend. We are making good progress. After the storyboard, we intend to start the filming process (locations, planning, scheduling). After filming, we will edit, and finish up with the portfolio project. I know I sound overly ambitious but the process so far has flowed smoothly, and it is only a matter of time until we are pressing that submit button. 

If you want Hannah's take on ANYTHING regarding our portfolio... Han's Take