Filming Blog: At the Beach

Today we officially started our filming for our project. Right after school, we were picked up by a member of our safety crew, my mom. We made our way down the street to film at the beach. There, we filmed our beach scenes for one of Autumn’s flashbacks. First, we took a few picture to put in the frame that is dropped. Then, we filmed an establishing shot of the beach along with a tilt from the sand to the sky. Lastly, we filmed a tracking shot of the couple and Summer walking along the shore. Then we filed back into the car and headed to our next location. The next place we went was my house, however, we ran into a small problem. The main characters had to leave earlier than expected so it was just me, one other group member, and one of our actors. We decided to go over the footage we took and then tried to edit. However, we forgot that we didn't have an SD card reader. Our plan for  these next few days leading up to the day our project is due for review is as follows. Tomorrow we will dump the footage we have. We will edit it during class time as well. Then, on Saturday morning, we will film the rest of our movie. This includes all the scenes at my house. These scenes include a scene in a restaurant, two scenes in a store, and scenes from inside of Autumn's house. The pictures below are of what we did today. We filmed on Fort Lauderdale Beach.

Filming Blog: First Day of Filming

Today, after school, was supposed to be our first day of filming our movie, Misconstrued. However, due to miscommunication, our group member who plays the lead role couldn't make it. Instead of not doing anything, two of us still met up at my house. We went through the storyboard and then connected it to the physical settings. For example, we came up with a method for filming our tracking shot down the hallway at a low angle. We connected it to a skateboard and it will follow the main character, Autumn, as she hurries through the hallway. We also took a series of videos of how the scenes would play out according to our shooting script. We went through each scene and looked at camera angles, movements, and shots. For example, we filmed an extreme close-up of me washing my hands in the sink. Then we filmed the tilt up to the mirror. The two of us went through each setting. We first started with the easy settings such as the hallway, the stairs, and the bathtub. Then, we went on to try and figure out how we would set up my living room to be a restaurant, a dress shop, and a shoe store. In this process, we moved around a lot of furniture and acquired new ideas for props. This includes multiple pairs of shoes and silverware for the restaurant. We planned out each scene and took pictures of them to be sure to recreate it when we film on Thursday, February 27. We will film and edit on this day and then continue and finish the whole process by Sunday, March 1. The picture below shows the moment Autumn touches the doorknob and then has a horrifying flashback. This happens after she comes back from attempting to throw away the wedding dresses she had just cleaned. This was just one of our settings modeled.

Filming Blog: Our Plan

In the process of creating this film, just before we began researching titles, we realized our pitch about the seven deadly sins was already created. We changed our pitch to the following: A bridesmaid  is obsessed with the bride, her twin and she plans to kill her in order to take her identity. This pitch falls into the thriller genre because it is meant to create suspension and fear in the audience. The bridesmaid envy's her sister and will go great lengths to take over her life even if that includes killing her. All of our blogs after the "Deciding Our Pitch" blog are corrected. 

After much consideration and planning with my group, we came to the conclusion that we won't be able to film until the week of February 23, 2020 because of family-oriented commitments. We came up with a careful schedule to make sure we can get the filming and editing done by March 3, 2020. On Monday, February 24 and Tuesday, February 25, we are going to film all the scenes that require my house. These include the bathroom scenes, hallway scenes, stairs scene, dress shop scene and shoe store scene. Wednesday, February 26, we will work in class to edit these scenes. On Thursday, February 27, we will continue editing and try to shoot more if we need to. On Friday, February 28, we will continue editing in class. Lastly, we will film the beach scenes and the restaurant scene (which will also take place at my house) on Saturday, February 29 and edit on Sunday, March 1. Another plan we came up with is as follows. We would begin filming on February 22 (in the morning). Then we would continue filming on February 24. Next, we would edit from the 25th to the 27th. Also on the 27th, we will film the scenes on the beach and edit them the following day. We aren't sure which schedule we are using yet, however we will make the decision by Saturday. Below is a picture of one of my group members working on a blog.

Planning Blog: Storyboard

Today in class we completed our storyboard. In total we used 10 pages to show all of our scenes. My group member Anishkaneel drew out all of the shots because she draws very neat and detailed. While she was drawing my other group members, Aaliyah and Lauren, and I guided her through the process. We were each reading our shooting and sound script to describe to her what was going on on the scenes. However, we ran into some trouble along the way. About half of our storyboard scenes were missing. As a result, we had to divide the first few storyboards amongst Aaliyah and Lauren. Thankfully we were able to finish it on time, and it turned well. We were able to clearly and effectively explain our scenes.

Planning Blog: Location, Participants, Health and Safety, Schedule

Before we can begin the overall filming process of our movie, we had to finalize some important details to be sure we were all on the same page. In this powerpoint, you will see four different aspects of our planning process. This includes location, participants, health and safety, and schedule. In the location slides, we were sure to include where we were filming along with pictures of the settings. For the participants slides, we included both people who were seen in the movie and people who are going to be behind the scenes. For example, we included each characters' names along with the person who was playing them. We also included our director, filming crew, etc. For health and safety, we included a brief description on the safety regarding elements used in the film. We also added the names of our safety team. Lastly, our schedule. Here, we made a week-by-week plan of what is to be done. This includes filming, editing, re-shooting, etc.

Planning Blog: Title Design

In this powerpoint we explored our options and came to a conclusion on the design of our titles.We explored six different areas. First, we decided what fonts and how many we were using. The fonts a big part of the titles because it feeds into all the other elements. Next, we talked about how the fonts we were using contrast in color and size with one another and what's going on in the scene. Then we explored spacing. This included leading, in between lines, and tracking, in between spaces. Then we came up with a working title for our movie. Right now we are calling it Misconstrued. Then we worked on how the titles will enter and leave the screen along with where they will appear. Lastly, we said how long the titles will appear on the screen throughout the two minutes.

Planning Blog: Sound Script

Our group’s intention was to leave the effect of contrast in the opening. The scenes alternate between the present, after/during the murder, and before. This includes scenes where Summer, the sister, meets her twin’s groom. The key element in this is dialogue. The dialogue is used to show the conversations and events that occur leading up to the murder in present time (i.e. being chased), which is contrasted by the fond and serene conversations prior to it occurring. We also wanted the film to come with an eerie or anxious tone. In order to bring this out, we intend to use a soundtrack throughout the film. The music will include high and sharp notes, intended to be exciting and climatic. There will also be diegetic sound. This will include footsteps, the sounds of Autumn’s body against the wall, as well as the crash of a lamp. We decided to include this in hopes that it would give our film a raw and realistic feel to it, something that is crucial to our genre.

Planning Blog: Shooting Script

My group members and I created the script for this PowerPoint by each contributing ideas. We tried to keep everything in chronological order. to make sure that the film looked organized. We each threw in different ideas until we all could agree on the one that would best fit the film. For example, Aaliyah   said that instead of starting our film from the beginning of the opening sequence we decided to start it from the ending of the film which includes the ending of the climax. The film will open with Aaliyah (the evil sister) washing blood off of her hands.  In order for us to fill up each scene  Jahrvia came up with the idea to have each scene include a flashback. After an object is touched by the evil twin a flashback of a good memory will occur. Another thing that we did to create the script for the PowerPoint is take a voice recording of everything that we say. We did this so that we could keep a record of good ideas that we might want to add into the film. By doing these things we were able to come up with a detailed PowerPoint of how the scenes in our film will play out.