Camera Work

 We tried finding a camera to film our opening to ensure the best quality and stability for our film but we could not find one. We ended up just using our phones because they were perfectly suitable for the job and we found out on settings, there is a way to make the quality better and we filmed it at the highest iPhone quality. Thiago had a stabilizer at his house for us to use so our camera work wasn't as shaky and seemed more professional but even after charging the stabilizer, it was not working for some reason. It was turning on but it couldn't hold the phone up when we tried filming. 

I ended up filming the project because I had the most stable hands, with the exception of certain scenes where Lorena also filmed because we wanted different angles of the same take. Filming with my phone was definitely not as bad as I thought it would be, obviously, a camera has better quality but we worked with what we had but I still think everything turned out great! The most challenging part of filming with an iPhone were the shower scenes because we wanted to get as close as possible and film a lot of close up but also not get my phone completely wet. Some water splashed on it but we were able to get the shots we wanted and they looked cool on camera. After we were done filming everything we just shared an album with all the pictures and videos from the shooting days, and we made sure to take pictures for our CCR and document the whole process. 

Filming Part Two

We believed the most complicated scenes to shoot would be the shower scenes since they would be the messiest to film. Lorena brought cocoa powder and red paint, and I brought corn syrup as well as a different kind of paint to create the fake blood. We weren't sure if it would stain and which recipe would be best to copy, but we ended up mixing some water, red paint, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar to create the fake blood. It was quick and easy to make and also make it seems as realistic as possible. The substance seemed perfect for us to put on the body and bathroom so it didn't seem runny. We first tested it on our arms and on the bathroom stall to ensure that it wouldn't stain, and luckily for us, it did not. 

The first person we filmed was Gaby (Betty) and we tried different shots and angles to make it seems as real as possible. She was wearing a bathing suit and we couldn't show that because we want it to look like she is taking a real shower, so we focused on her shoulders and up, her knees and down, and her hands. This is the beginning of the film opening where we have jump cuts between the characters to portray the shock and chaos that they are going through. We shot a variety of angles such as a close-up of the blood going down the drain, the shower being turned on, blood going down her face, etc. 

Filming Thiago and Dani was a lot easier because at this point we knew more of what we were doing in terms of how to get the best shots and dealing with the lighting. We used different colored vinyl records and put them in front of a light to illuminate the bathroom with the color that matched the character description. The different lights as each person are in the shower is used to differentiate the characters when we show the close-ups of the hands, feet, and drain but also match their personality. For example, for Betty's character, we used yellow vinyl to project the yellow light onto the bathroom because it signifies joy, naivety, and optimism, which is exactly what she portrays in her friend group. These characteristics would be later shown in the film throughout the events that would take place if the audience were to see a whole film, so these colors are just a glimpse into how the character plays out in the story. 

Filming Day!

 We started shooting our film opening! The entire process has been challenging, but as we create progress and see it slowly come to life, it's an amazing experience! We shot all the scenes that did not include any of the fake blood first because we thought it would be easier to do and get done quicker. It was basically all of scenes two and three. We all arrived at Thiago's house to shoot early in the morning because we wanted to make sure we had as much time as possible and we did not want to rush the process. The first shots we ever did were of Gaby (Betty) getting ready in the morning. We wanted to show her personality and characteristics of her through the scenery and setting To make sure we had enough shos to edit and ensure that at least one of them was good to be edited, we refilmed each shot at least three times. 

The next few shots were of Betty leaving her room and getting into the car with James and August. The most challenging part of this was making sure the cut from one camera to the next was smooth enough to seem like it was done at once. I had to stay outside the car filming with my phone while Lorena was on the other side of the car with the phone through the rolled-down window filming her getting into the car. To film the conversation in the car, we had trouble capturing everyone's reaction and face to the conversation and matching the audio to their mouths so it did not seem like separate conversations. The storyboard was an extremely helpful guide in ensuring that we knew what we wanted to show the audience but since our phone could not capture everything we wanted, we had to adjust to some of the angles and shots we had originally intended to show. 

Changes to the Story

 I mentioned before a struggle we were trying to deal with was fitting everything into the two-minute limit that we have. We discussed so many great ideas we didn't know what would work best with our film opening and how to fit everything in two minutes. Our original idea included showing two characters, August and James getting ready and switching between different shots of them. This would establish the relationship between them and we would be able to show more characters in the film opening as well as different settings. We were decided on this being part of the film opening for a while but after a lot of discussions, we decided to change it for a number of reasons. 

We decided to change it to only showing Betty getting ready for the day. This would serve as a great parallel to the last shot of scene one where we show her screaming into the towel and then cutting it to a black screen. After this takes place, we see her happy and obvious contrast to the setting and vibe of the opening. Where we go from a dark and mysterious scene to a vibrant and light-spirited scene. This enables us to use editing to show our techniques and thinking processes, and give the audience that feeling of uneasiness because they don't know what has happened to the characters that led them to be covered in blood and how the evens drastically changed for them. Also focusing on one character and giving her more time in the opening lets the audience pay more attention to her and ponder on her importance to the overall story. 

Creating a Script

Throughout our film opening, there is not much dialogue, we wanted to focus more on what was happening on the screen and visuals rather than the conversations they had. We also believe we're able to show the dynamic and part of the plot just from what the audience will be seeing occur. So the only part that includes specific dialogue is when August and James go to pick up Betty at her house and we see the three of them in the car having a casual conversation. This is the part where the audience will be able to learn more about each character and how they differ from each other, but work so well together. 

The three of us spent some time discussing what the three characters would be discussing just the main idea and if that was going to have an effect on the overall story. To make the scene more natural and authentic, James, Betty, and August are going to be portrayed by three people who are best friends in real life so we are hoping the chemistry will be able to get picked up on the screen. With Covid and trying to make it seem less awkward as possible, this felt like the best option we had. At first, we just wanted to include bullet points of topics we wanted to have the characters talk about so it doesn't seem forced because, in the end, they're not professional actors. Since Thiago is one of the actors and someone that has been involved with the project since day one, he wrote the script but discussed it with me and Lorena as he went along. He knows the type of dialogue we want but at the same time he knows how the dynamic between him and his friends are so he tried making it as natural as possible. We are filming soon and I am excited to see how this will play out on screen!!

Class Discussions

 Today I had my second group meeting in class, where my AICE Media AS teacher put us randomly in groups. The last time we had group discussions it was extremely helpful because we were all still creating our ideas and just sharing our though with each other. This time I thought it was a little different, mainly because now we all know exactly what we want to do and are set on a specific storyline. Regardless, both were very helpful and provided me with new ideas. 

We took turns talking about our projects and showing each other images, our blogs, and various other aspects of our film openings. It was great to see their projects and ideas because I thought they were creative and different from what I had seen before. There were five of us in the group and each one of us had a different genre or theme we were going for which made hearing their ideas even more exciting. I find group meetings beneficent because you get inspiration from others and you are able to improve your own project. 

I posted my blog link in the chat, so they could see my thought process and how much progress my group had gotten done. I'm not sure if they were able to read the entire blog because of time, but they got the main idea and some of them had heard about my project from the previous class meeting. They seemed to like the idea we had and how we were going to bring our project to life. Ryan mentioned the locations I put in my blog and how we were going to film it, which was a good point. Since they aren't final, we are still adjusting our story and storyboard to fit the film opening. This was another point  I brought up because my group had been struggling on figuring out if we were gonna be able to fit all of our ideas and our entire storyboard into the time limit of two minutes. I asked them how they were dealing with this issue and Ryan gave me helpful advice. She mentioned filming scenes that don't make an important effect on the overall opening, so in case we go over the time limit we can cut those out. There are a few scenes in our film opening that we love but think are not critical to the story, so we might cut them out or shorten them to fit the time frame such as the shot of the characters talking in the car and instead of filming two characters getting ready, we will just film one to save time. 

Adjustments

 I mentioned in a previous blog that Lorena and I started the storyboard based on the shot-list all of us created over a meeting. Even though we finished the shot-list we've been continuously discussing the opening and making changes to it, whether it is a specific angle or overall shots that we want to include. A challenge that we have is trying to decide if our idea will fit into the maximum of two minutes for the film opening. We have a lot of ideas and different scenes we want to include but we don't know how to measure how long each shot/scene will take up of the two minutes available. We are creating different scenarios that have somewhat the same ending in case we go over the time limit. 

Lorena did the storyboard for the first scene, which we are certain we are going to include. So we are not making any changes to that part unless it is needed, or something goes wrong. For scenes two and three, there are two different routes we might go depending on how everything works out. The first direction we are considering is having the characters James and August getting ready and switching between different shots of them in their rooms, then following them outside into their cars and going to pick up the next character Betty. The last shoot will be of the three characters in the car having a conversation and hanging out. This will show the audience their relationship and bond with each other. 

The other scene we are discussing is having Betty get ready instead of the two of them because we believe it might take up less time in the film opening, leaving more time to show other scenes. The camera will show her getting ready in her room which will reflect her personality and then show her leaving her house and getting into the car with James and August. A shot of the car getting to her house might also be shown so they know James and August are arriving, and end it with the three of them in the car. No matter the specific scene we choose, we are going to end it with them in the car because we believe it is important for us to establish the bond the three of them have and how important their relationship is to the story. 

Settings

 We have compiled a list of sets our film opening will be taking place in. As I mentioned in my last blog, Thiago and his friends are going to play all three characters during the film opening. To make sure we are safe and trying to keep everyone healthy, we are going to minimize the number of set locations we shoot in. So far we have decided to shoot at Thiago's house so we are not going to various different places at once. We are going to shoot in different locations inside his house and try to make it seem like each scene is being shot at a different place, so that is going to be a struggle for us. To do this we are going to manipulate the lighting so they appear different, change the objects and environment colors, and hopefully try to make each set match the character's theme/vibe. 

These are some of the specific places we are going to shoot at:

-Thiago's room 

-The bathroom 

-The car

-Guest bedroom 

-His sister's room 

-Guest bathroom 

-Outside the house 

We are definitely going to have to manipulate the camera shots and angles in order to make it seem believable that we are doing this in different places. Also, we are planning on shooting this weekend so we have time to edit and reshoot if anything goes wrong! 

Finalized Characters

The characters are here!  Dani and Gabi, who are friends of Thiago. They are going to portray Betty and August in the film opening. I mentioned in one of the first blogs that we wanted representation in the opening with a non-binary character portrayed by a non-binary person, but we could not find someone for the role. With this in mind, we decided to just have two female characters and one male character. 

Casting people for our project has been a challenge because of Covid, we are trying to be as safe as we can but also have the actors match the description of the characters. We've been trying to cast a James for the opening for the past week but we can't seem to find someone perfect for it until we had a discussion over one of our meetings. We decided to cast Thiago as James because we believe it'll make the scenes more authentic and real since Dani and Gabi are two of his best friends. Most of the shots include the three of them hanging out and spending time together, so this will work out perfectly. They already know each other extremely well, so it won't be awkward to film the scenes. 

Creating Fake Blood

 Hello! I just wanted to first give an update on how our project is going and what we have coming up in the next few weeks. Lorena and I are continuing and finishing the storyboard for the film opening. I'm so excited to see how the final product is going to look like because the last time we worked together, we had a great vision of how we wanted the overall project to be. Thiago is starting the script for the film opening soon, and I know it will be great! We are still trying to find people that are willing to work on our project and be the main characters in our story, so in regards to representation, we have still not decided completely on how it is going to be. 

I've been doing some research on a prop that is extremely important in our opening and that it will be incorporated in various scenes, and that happens to be blood, well fake blood at least. It is going to be shown in different shots and surfaces, so I believe the substance has to be different depending on where we are going to place it, and the color is also something we have to think about when creating it (can you tell I've never done this before?). Different websites suggest different ways to make them, and so far we have not decided on who is in charge of specific props, we have just been suggesting different things we can bring on the shoot dates. I found the recipe below easy and quick to make, also the reviews were great, which I always look at and think is important when buying or creating from something you see online. 

• 3/4 cup corn syrup
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon red food coloring
• 5 drops blue food coloring
• 2 drops green food coloring
• 1 tablespoon corn starch

The video below I also found to be helpful, and they use somewhat different ingredients than the other recipes I read about. The consistency looks great, and it seems quick and easy to make. It all depends on the ingredients we have available and which one we think will look best on camera. I still haven't decided but it will probably be between these two recipes. 

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/fake-blood-51199810 

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/halloween-ideas/how-to/a35075/how-to-make-fake-blood/

Storyboards

 I mentioned before that we discussed our strengths and weaknesses at the beginning of the project to ensure that we could utilize them to our benefit and make our project the best version it can be. After we worked on the shot-list on Tuesday, Lorena and I discussed getting started on the storyboard from the shot-list. We find this process essential because it is easier for us to picture how the film opening is going to look like and adjust any of the choices we make throughout our scenes. The vision we have when deciding the shots, angles, and composition can sometimes be different on paper, so it is great that we are doing this now. Even though the shot-list is subject to change, we wanted to get started, and if anything we edit the storyboard too. Below are some of the shots we have for the storyboard!

These images are from scene one and I plan on continuing the rest of the storyboard. There is still scene two and three to work on and edit the shots if anything changes. I will keep you updated on the storyboard and let you know if anything changes in our plan. 

Creating a Shot List

 Hello! I've got some pretty exciting updates!! Today, Thiago, Lorena, and I had a group meeting over FaceTime during our AICE Media class. Even though we have been communicating every day and exchanging ideas all the time, it was good to have a conversation "face to face" and talk at the same time. It was extremely helpful too because we are different people and when we listen to audio messages from each other, we each have a specific vision in our head of what it is going to look like. So as we talked, we clarified all the ideas we have and are now on the same page on everything. It was funny to see that even though we agreed on the ideas, we had envisioned different scenarios for specific scenes. 

During our group meeting, we discussed various aspects of the project such as shooting locations, lighting, and the character's personalities, but we didn't fully decide on those. We spent a majority of the time writing our shot list for the opening scenes. We shared a document so all of us could type at the same time, and began at the very scene shot that would appear. We made some changes from our original ideas such as having the title screen be the very last thing to appear instead of having it in the middle of the film opening. We also adjusted some other confusions that we had between us and made sure we all had the same images when we pictured the film opening. The shot list is subject to change as we made changes and progress through our project, but it was great to have this meeting with them. Here is a picture of the shot lists we have done!