One Last Bump in the Road

    Since my partner and I did not get another chance to discuss the project over Spring Break after the shooting days since we were both out of town, I am currently sitting at my desk trying to settle on the order of the footage as well as the title. 

    Before my partner and I changed the trajectory of the opening, we had a title picked out. However, the title "Another Chance" no longer resonates with us. We have class on Tuesday and will more in-depth discuss this then and pick out the title as soon as possible since we need to edit the project this week.

 

Figuring out the B-roll

  

    Above is a still from one of the shots we will be using at the very beginning of the opening as the credits roll. We are currently still deliberating on what fonts to use and such. But, with the shooting we did yesterday in the garage and the B-roll we got in Las Olas, we are pretty much-done filming and are very happy with the content we have gotten. 

    However, shooting was the easy part and now we must think about the order in which we will edit the different scenes and where we will begin the credits.

   

 

Painting is Fun

     With some help from my boyfriend who is also partaking on a portfolio project of his own, my partner and I painted and drew a bunch of artworks that Jack will be contemplating and working on in the opening. 

    While painting we had one objective in mind: make each painting look abstract or eery. We reached this objective 10000%. After painting in the garage we decided that the garage could also double as a shooting spot for the parts where Jack is concentrating on his artwork and isolating himself. 

    Since we liked how the garage looked in the test footage, we decided to use the footage we got last week in Las Olas as B-roll footage while the voicemail plays in the background. 

Location Scouting

    Today my partner and I went to Las Olas Ft. Lauderdale to location scout and better visualize our project and how it would fit the narrative etc.

    We decided Las Olas was perfect especially since there is a lot of construction going on right now on the roads. The construction added to the sort of somber industrial look we were looking for to put in our opening. We walked around for an hour and picked out locations. We were going to film today but my partner's outfit did not really fit the idea we had in mind for Jack and since he will be playing Jack we postponed filming the main parts for next week!

 

Fixed Issue

     As mentioned before, my partner and I ran into an issue with how we were going to end the film opening in a way that did not seem abrupt.

    We decided to entirely scrap the idea of Jack waking up and having it be the day before again. Instead, Jack will be portrayed as a disturbed artist who is struggling with a mental disorder, isolation, and a family tragedy. He expresses how he feels through his art. 

    We will develop this backstory through a voicemail playing in the background rather than a dialogue in the scene. It will show how he is isolated more than having him talk to someone to convey this idea. 

Above is a draft of the voicemail that will be playing in the background. I will be the one speaking as the song The Future by Have A Nice Life plays as well. The voicemail will last about two minutes and the rest will be scenes portraying Jack's mental state. 

Group Meeting in Class!!!

     Here is a picture I took today of my classmates and me discussing each other's projects and progress. Today was our first day of group class meetings and it was very insightful. I spoke with Aneesa, especially about what I should do to end my 2 minutes as my partner and I were not sure yet. She gave me an idea about utilizing pictures to add to the characterization of Jack: for example, placing pictures of him and a loved one in the background.

     However, I am not sure if I want to go the picture route since we were already discussing making Jack an artist and the pictures might take away focus from Jack's actual artwork. 

Moving Along

     We intended to begin filming this weekend but my partner and I had some scheduling conflicts and a lot of assignments to finish so we decided to move filming to next week, we are looking at Monday, Thursday, and Friday as possible filming dates. Since one of our scenes will have to be filmed in Fort Lauderdale at night we need a lot of time to location scout and film. 

    My partner Eric Diaz bought a phone tripod to facilitate our filming (especially since I have shaky hands and I will be filming most of it) and make for a better end product. We are making our final changes to the storyboard tomorrow during class and will make an updated posting accordingly.

Here is the tripod we will be using. link to tripod on Amazon. 

A Few Changes

     After meeting in class, my partner and I decided to change the end of our film opening. Our original ending seemed a little cliche and too much for a 2-minute opening. The idea of Jack falling and waking up to it being the day before would be too much for the small amount of time we have to introduce the film and would not be as executable as we thought it could be.

    We're still currently debating what the ending scene will be but since we plan on filming soon we will have it finalized by Monday. Spring break is also coming up and we both will have limited time to film and edit so we want to have most of it done before we go on break. 

    We also have been deliberating more on what songs to use for the 2 minutes and decided we were settling on only using two to three song snippets to not make it overwhelming. We decided on the song "The Future" by Have A Nice Life for one of them, this song will play as Jack walks through the city.

    

Even More Good News!

     Just when we thought we were only going to have one artist to choose from for songs, another artist answered us! The band Duster finally answered my message yesterday night.  

    I asked for permission in a formal manner with the same message I sent Have A Nice Life and received a somewhat passive-aggressive response from Duster. However, it still means yes so we will take it. Even though Have A Nice Life was a bit more enthusiastic about it, we are still very excited to be able to use Duster's music, especially the song "Earth-Moon Transit". 

 

Final Steps Before Filming Week :)

    Above is a screenshot from our original brainstorming document in which we just threw off some ideas to run off of. My partner and I like to reserve our creativity for the actual shooting days and not stick strictly to how the storyboard or script looks since it can result in a project that comes off as robotic. We wanted to have a set idea of how the opening would flow, but we may also change certain aspects as we film if we realize it doesn't seem cohesive. We have cast our characters and gotten our film opening's score settled as well as our locations and filming dates set; we are organized and ready to go! I am so excited to finally begin shooting, especially since getting permission to use one of my favorite band's music :)

The Recording Schedule Has Been Set!

    After getting approval to use Have A Nice Life's music in our project, we could finally set the schedule as we had finalized every detail for our film opening. 

    Since I work most weekends, I had to request a day off to ensure we had enough time and days to get all the footage we need. Since we will be shooting in three different locations, we split shooting into two days. Next Saturday we will shoot the party scenes and the bedroom scenes in my room. Because it would be difficult to shoot at an actual party, we are simulating the party by turning on my room's LED lights in flashing mode and having some friends in the background to make it seem like a crowded party. 

    The scenes where Jack is aimlessly laying around and drinking will be the simplest to film so we're not really worried about those since they are pretty self-explanatory. Because we obviously cannot actually use alcohol since we are not 21, we are faking it by using glasses and apple juice. 

    The most difficult scenes in the film will probably be the ones in the city. We plan on going to Ft. Lauderdale on Sunday night to film when Jack is on the walk he falls and hits his head. The drive is not too bad however, finding a spot empty enough to film will require some location scouting and walking around but there's a spot nearby Las Olas which is usually not as crowded and pretty dark which may perfectly fit the exact background we were thinking of for the opening. 

This is the song that will be playing in the background as Jack wastes away his days on the couch..

Never Mind, Really Good News!

    Finally, we got a response! The band we were hoping for most to answer finally did today. When we first came up with the concept for our film opening, my partner and I imagined the song "Bloodhail" playing in the background. The low-toned and brooding bass on the song would perfectly create the mood and tone we are trying to convey for the rest of the film. 

    Having an actual song to work with and not having to use copyright-free music is such a relief and we are so excited to work with Have a Nice Life's music since we are big fans of their work. Plus, we know exactly which songs will fit each scene of the opening therefore we won't need to waste time looking through dozens of copyright-free music samples to find what fits best.