Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Editing is DONE
Tuesday, March 30, 2021
More Music Stufffff
Heyoooo☮
After doing much research on websites such as Chosic, Soundstripe, and Epidemic Sound, I have finally found the perfect song for the beginning. The song I decided on was "Suddenly" by The Commandeers. I actually found this gem on Premium Beat and I obtained the rights to it (see below). Once I listened to it, I loved the old feel it had to it. I had originally planned on looking for 2 different songs for the beginning and the end; however, this song is long enough to use it both for the beginning (before dance) and at the end (after dance). I really enjoyed the last 10 seconds of this song for the ending of the film opening because it ends with 3 beats and I realized that I could have something happening in those 3 beats. In the first beat, Geraldine raises her eyebrows. In the second beat, the iris shot closes the screen. Lastly, in the third beat, the title appears with floating, red hearts.
Licensing rights for Suddenly by The Commandeers:
Monday, March 29, 2021
Struggling to make a spinning transition :(
currently crying😀
I've been editing my film project for the past 6 days. I did not think it would take this long, but I guess it is since it's my first time using Adobe. Likewise, I 've had to do a lot of research and I've had to watch a lot of tutorials on how to do even the easiest thing. For example, I had to search up a tutorial on how to cut a video so I could use the leftover clip for another part of the project. I've spent the last 3 hours of my life trying to figure out how to make a spinning transition on Premier Pro, but none of the tutorials have been helpful and I think it's because the clips I want the transition on are too short:(
A. Spinning. Transition.
Sounds easy right?, Well it's not easy for a 17 year old teenager who has the intelligence of a grandma when it comes to Premier Pro. If I had a penny for every time I created a new adjustment layer to try to create a SPIN, I could buy 5 Teslas. Okay, I give up on making a spinning transition between "real life" and the "fantasy moment"... I'm going to try to make a whip pan transition. Send.HELP.
Enjoy this photo of me at 4am. |
Sunday, March 28, 2021
CREDITS
CREDITS! YUH! they have been added to the film opening😌
I put Mrs. Lutwin's name first since she's the protagonist. |
After introducing my actors, I introduced the composer of Lover's Fantasy, Alejandro Rodriguez. |
In the last edit I included my name under the title "Written, Produced, Edited, and Directed by". |
Friday, March 26, 2021
God Bless Youtube Tutorials
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
The Beginning of Editing
Now that filming is done, editing time has started. I usually edit my videos on iMovie and then edit the sound on WeVideo. However, I really want to challenge myself by editing through a new software. During a group discussion on our projects, one of my classmates recommended that I use DaVinci Resolve or Adobe Premier Pro. I have never used any of these softwares, but I'm definitely interested in learning how to utilize them. I decided to try out DaVinci Resolve and while it downloaded, I drove all the way to Disney World and back....jk... but it really did take forever to download. When it finally downloaded, it didn't work- yeah, bye DaVinci Resolve. After I got over my melancholic, yet short heartbreak with DaVinci Resolve, I decided to use Adobe Premier Pro. This software took about an hour and a half to download (UGH), but it works splendidly😌. As a newbie to Premier Pro, I felt scared to try this new platform out, but I was also excited.
Day #1 of Editing (03/22):
I imported all of my video clips into Premier Pro and ordered them on the timeline. I then adjusted the lengths of some of the clips so that the overall video would not surpass 2 minutes. After 2 hours of playing around with my new toy, I called it a day.
Day #2 of Editing (03/23):
On the second day (well, more like night because I started at 11:30pm) of editing, I assembled my videos in a different order than I had the night before because I thought that the new order contributed in advancing the plot of the film. I also started researching "how to" tutorials of Adobe Premier Pro because I'm such a grandma when it comes to using this high tech, video software (another blog post is up which talks about every tutorial I have watched thus far).
Day #3 of Editing (03/24):
I'm editing in a hotel in Savannah, GA. Although I'm on vacation, I toured SCAD today and got so inspired by their film & television department, that I rushed to the hotel after the tour ended and continued to edit my project. I'm focusing on finding music for the opening and the end of the film. My teacher suggested for us to look at an awesome website (chosic.com) to find free music. I went under the "Old" music category and found a couple of options to choose from, but I haven't decided on the two that I will use.
Well, this is all of the editing updates I have for you at the moment,,,
HASTA LA VISTA!- go eat pineapple and watch La La Land :)
Wednesday, March 17, 2021
FILMING DAY!!!
Today has been the busiest day ever. For starters, we filmed my school's musical, 9 to 5, today and boy was that exhausting. After we finished filming, it was time to film my film project. Since my actors and tech crew are all theater with me, they were also exhausted. I felt bad making them film my project on the same day as we filmed the musical, but today was the only day we could film at Lucille's.
Last night, I organized every single prop and costume accessorry into two boxes. I was missing some props like the spray bottle and a white mug, so I drove to Dollar Store to buy them and other missing props. When I finally collected all of my props, I packed up the prop boxes and the tripods in my car.
We finished filming the musical at 5:00pm and then I went to Publix to get some Pub Subs for my actors. We then ate at the dressing rooms and bonded . 6:30PM came around and we each went home to shower and came back to school at 7:30pm so that they could do their hair and makeup.
the coolest people ever |
We also had to do Mrs. Lutwin's hair and makeup and it was so funny seeing her wear tons of makeup when she hardly uses any. Ashley curled Mrs. Lutwin's hair and did her makeup with the help of Clementina. They added some blue eye shadow and highlight so that her makeup would match her dress. I was helping Bella get ready. We did not straighten or curl her hair, she actually ended up using the wig that I used for the musical since it had a 1950s style (I PROMISE WE DO NOT HAVE LICE). Clementina used the wig that she used for the musical for my film and it looked awesome with her costume. Additionally, Roy did not have to do much to his hair, lucky him.
Doing Mrs. Lutwin's makeup |
We ended up leaving school around 8:40pm which was a little late because we were supposed to be at Lucille's at 8:45pm. When we arrived, we came across a pretty big problem... my manager (who was also supposed to be my actor) was leaving and before I could stop him, he was gone, so I went to my other manager and she said she would stay while we filmed (thanks girl!). Since my other manager was gone, I had to cut his part and dialogue out.
By 10:30, we finished filming and started packing up. It was an exhausting day, but it was so much fun, I'm so glad I chose this group of people to do this with. I made my cast "thank you" cards because words can't explain how thankful I am for their help.
Here are some pictures of the shoot:
DREAM TEAMM!!! omg I was so tired look at my eyes |
HASTA LA VISTA!- go eat pineapple and watch La La Land :)
Tuesday, March 16, 2021
Da Bible
ALL HAIL DA HOLY BIBLE! She is beauty, she is grace.
With filming being tomorrow, I started a Google Document which will be my film opening bible since it will contain everything that I will need to make a film opening. I will also be providing my actors and crew with this bible so that they are completely informed. My bible is 18 pages long and contains everything from props to schedules to character descriptions and more! It took me about 6 hours to create her since there is so much information that I had to include. Since there are so many pages, I'm going to upload a video of me scrolling through them, but I will also attach a link to the full document. I hope you enjoy!
Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jrfWSMy1ZnSYpRH_Xx24sklGPhCXMTgZUlzGl0KbweE/edit?usp=sharing
Monday, March 15, 2021
Newbies
Katie Kanefsky |
Katie Kanefsky has experience using her dad's high-tech video camera. She help record my school's musicals: Aladdin JR. and 9 to 5.
Sunday, March 14, 2021
SCRIPT!
The script is done!!! Oh yeahhh!
She might seem short since she's only 2 pages long, but the overall film opening will not be as short since the dance take up about 75% of the 2 minute max limit.
update: the image of the script is so hard to read, but if you click on each image, it should look clearer!Saturday, March 13, 2021
Rehearsals!!!
We had 2 rehearsals this week and we got so much done!
In our first rehearsal, I had my actors listen to the song over and over again until we all became familiar with it. We had to cut this rehearsal short because we were all so exhausted after having a 5 hour rehearsal for our school show that same day.
During our second rehearsal, we blocked the dialouge scenes and choreographed the dance! YAY! I am so happy with how the dance turned out. I, myself, am not a dancer, but I did have a vision of some movements I wanted in the dance. I communicated my thoughts with my dancers, who also choreographed the dance, and they definitely brought my vision to life, they're insanely talented and I'm sososososososooso thankful for them!💖
Here's some rehearsal footage!
Friday, March 12, 2021
Target Audience!
Understanding what the target audience for a film is, is sooo important! Understanding and acknowledging the target audience can help make a director imply certain factors that he/she/they know the audience will enjoy. If the audience enjoys what they're watching, they'll invest in the film, which will increase profits for the film production company.
Before solidifying my target audience, I did some research. I read a couple of articles (all links listed below) and I learned a lot about target audiences in film: Here's some things I learned:
- The definition of target audience does NOT include everyone, only a niche group of people
- To define the target audience for a particular project, ask yourself: What makes this piece different from any other pieces? What would make people choose this piece over other similar pieces?
- The target audience for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (a show set in the 1950s) was about 62% women.
- Creating content that people can relate to will attract more viewers.
The target audience for my film ranges from ages 13-80. Yes, this is a wide age gap, however, my film includes comedic and romantic moments, which are appealing to the youngers ages while also being set in the 1950s, which will attract older people as they lived during that time period. Moreover, older people might be able to relate to it.
SOURCES:
https://red-rock-films.medium.com/how-to-uncover-the-proper-target-audience-for-your-film-bfbb101d078
https://decider.com/2020/01/14/marvelous-mrs-maisel-season-3-nielsen-ratings/
https://www.toprankblog.com/2019/01/marvelous-b2b-content-marketing-lessons/
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Decided on a Title checkkkk
I've been some thinking about what I should title my film... Many title names have crossed my mind but they've all been too cheesy and cringe yuck. However, I was able to narrow down my choices and now I'm deciding between these three:
- Colored Tiles
- Salt & Pepper
- Cupid's Advocate
Tuesday, March 9, 2021
MUSIC IS DONE!!!!
Sunday, March 7, 2021
Rehearsal Schedule
Thursday, March 4, 2021
Oldies but Goodies
Oh boy do I love music, it's the best thing ever.
Anyways, since my film opening is going to be a 1950s musical, I thought it would be appropriate to do some research on songs written in the 1950s. While I already know many 1950s songs (shoutout to my job-they play 50s on 5 Sirius XM every day...), I wanted to compile some of these in order to gain some inspiration.
I ended up making a Spotify playlist that's FIVE hours long (playlist link is at the bottom of this blog) ... I literally listed every song that I remembered hearing at work (they never leave my brain UGH). As I created this playlist, I came to the realization that men are creeps. Yes. You read that right. Most of these OLD, GROWN men are writing songs about SIXTEEN year old girls (*cough* Sixteen Candles *cough*)... uhhh child anyways, so.... I also learned that most of the songs written by females are obviously about romance & love. After doing some more research, I came to the conclusion, that the song for my film opening had to obviously be about love since it will be playing while Ricky and Annette dance. I texted Alejo, my awesome franddd and the coolest composer, some songs that have cool beats that I would like for our song to include (or to include similar beats).
The songs I sent him were:
- Fever by Peggy Le
- Who's Sorry Now by Connie Francis
- Teach Me Tonight by The McGuire Sisters
Wednesday, March 3, 2021
Era Research
Soooooo, the time period has been set. The film will take place in the (drum roll please🥁🥁🥁) 1950s! I've always been interested in this era and I'm excited to shoot it at Lucille's (a 1950s themed diner). I conducted some research on this time period to educate myself more and all the information I collected can be found below!
1950s:
- capitalism vs. communism
- good vs. evil
- drugs
- civil rights
- changes in love
- youthful rebellion
- violence and crime
Singing in the Rain (1952)
In Singing In The Rain, the directors, Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, use a variety of techniques to highlight some of the most special moments in the film.
Lighting
-Pretty bright throughout the entire film
-Spotlight is used on Lina when she's singing on stage to make her stand out
-Darker light is utilized when Don sings "Singing in the Rain". However, lamp posts are evident in order to show that there's light in the dark (in this case, something positive that just happened to Don was that Kathy kissed him)
Framing
-Long shots are used during dance numbers to show full body movements (for example, in "Good Morning")
-Tracking shots are used while Don sings "Singing in the Rain"
Color
-The film is shot in color which makes it stand out from most of the 1950s shows/films since most of them were in black and white
-There is an evident consistency of the usage of bright colors, which for the most part, represent happiness
Music
-Music = the soundtrack includes many, versatile melodies, each which represent characters' emotions (the music of this movie is composed by Arthur Freed, Nacio Herb Brown, and Lennie Hayton)
-Diegetic sounds = are used to make the movie seem more realistic
-Non-diegetic sounds = are example of this would be the songs in the film since in real life, characters don't break out into songs
Wandavision; 1950s Episode (2021)
The new, hit Disney + series, Wandavision pays an homage to American sitcoms from different time eras. Moreover, the first episode of the show, takes place in the 1950s and the director, Matt Shakman, gets creative with the mise-en-scene of this episode in particular.
Lighting
-Pretty bright throughout the entire episode
-Darker light is utilized when Mr. Hart and his wife are over for diner; this is to show that it's night and the dim lighting creates intimacy during the dinner scene.
Framing
-Long shots are used during the theme song as Vision carries Wanda inside their home
-Mid shots are used to show Wanda and Vision's relationship, specifically in moments when they're in the kitchen
-The episode ends with the screen closing in (in the shape of a circle) on Wanda and Vision as they kiss; this technique is used a lot with media from this time period
Color
-This episode is edited so that it's in black and white in order for it to resemble American sitcoms from the 50s.
Music
-Diegetic sounds = are used to make the show seem more realistic
-Non-diegetic sounds = are example of this would be the charming sounds that goes off when Wanda practices her magic on objects
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel(2017)
Lighting
-Pretty bright throughout the entire episode
-Dim lighting is utilized during scenes that take place outside at night
-Spotlight is used when Midge (or other comedians )are on stage performing in order to make her stand out.
-Natural light is used during outside scenes that take place during the day (scenes in the Catskills)
Framing
-Long shots are used during Midge's performances so that the audience sees her body language as she tells her jokes
-Low, side angle shots are also used during performance scenes
-Mid shots are used to show Midge and Susie's friendship, specifically in moments when they're traveling my car or plane
-Close-up shots show Midge's relationship with her ex-husband/lover, Joel.
Color
-The colors of this show are very bright and they are mostly seen through the costumes that Midge wears. I think that the reason why they have her wear bright colors is to represent her bubbly personality. On the other hand, Susie wears dull and plain colors which accurately match her personality.
Music
-Diegetic sounds = are used to make the show seem more realistic (feedback of the microphone)
Melancholic Farewell & CCR
It's currently 3:26am I just finished editing my CCR Well world, here she is. My second baby. CCR-Cupid's Advocate (link just in cas...