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.
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.
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.
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".
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 :)
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..
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.
