Entry #21 Week Five Post Two

Hey fam!

This post part two of the Early Release Day class. We had covered a lot of material, so I wanted to split it up into two posts! I will still cover everything we have done this weeks in the upcoming posts.

We had planned the exact shots of scene one which I had covered in very light detail in the past. We had finished it up the first scene buy #1 looking at the laptop screen and showing her reaction. It then it cuts to a montage of #2 out for a run. We thought it would be humorous to do a montage to capture the vibe that #2 had felt while running and to show that #2 was in her zone. We would start with a close up of their feet running on the sidewalk, a close up of their face, and more close ups. We would show a long shot of #2 centered in the middle third running towards the camera. Simultaneously, there would be music playing in the background which is actually the song that #2 is listening through #2's headphones.

When #2 is waiting at the stoplight running in place before #2's headphones are pulled out, we wanted to include a long shot of #2 in the right third with the volume of the song much lower than the shot before this one because we thought it would be pretty funny to show.
When #2 is waiting at a stoplight to cross the road, running in place, and hears a ding notifying #2 of an incoming email. #2 pulls out their phone and headphones, one at a time. For each headphone, the volume reduces by a quarter for each one. You can still hear the music but you can tell that it is coming from the headphones.



Random things I have been loving:
Google maps with the tiny person that you can put on the road. It has been FANTASTIC for planning out shots, such as above.
The other one I forgot because my parents just surprised me at the cafe and I lost my train of thought.

Entry #20 Week Five Post One

Eyyoo!

Today, my group members met up in class today, but Shelby wasn't here because of something for Drama. Reem and I worked on the storyboard in this time. We only had about thirty minutes, more or less, because it was early release.

I emphasized that we really dedicate sufficient time to the planning stage so that we can get some details down and also, it mays the production stage all the more efficient. We have divided the film opening into a couple of scenes. We loosely summarized what each scene would be about for ourselves when looking back at it. We then continued drawing out shots that we wanted for the first scene. After that, we moved on to scene two.

We really spent some time debating about how we wanted this film opening to work and to do that we had drawn out each character and named them for reference. Here is an example. There is the #1, the girl in the kitchen who is preparing the breakfast, #2 who is the individual she ends up being paired up with at dinner who is also a girl (not compatible in sign), and #3 who is the character she was supposed to be set up with at dinner (compatible in sign) but #4, the waitress, had messed up the seating. #5 who is #1's best friend (compatible in sign).

The predicament we faced was how we would show that #1 and #2 were set up with different people and how they ended up together. We also wanted to show that homosexual relationships were not approved up in the dystopian society.

This class covered a very dense amount of material so I shall continue covering this information in the next blog!

Entry #19 Week Four Post Four

Today is Shelby's birthday! We decided to give her the day off so she could spend that time with her family! Instead, Reem and I met up alone to start filming!

Today we did many establishing shots in a shopping center called Town Center. We chose this location for its very well-kept, colorful look. We took some video clips of the water fountain, the bell tower with the clock, some individuals walking, and a long shot down the aisle.

We also planned on getting some shots of the front of my neighborhood to pretend it was the neighborhood of one of my peers.

Other than that, Reem and I went to my neighborhood clubhouse to film the video that the main character would be watching to follow along and make her breakfast. I had brought some hand towels and an apron so that Reem could put-on on her shoulder and the apron folded around her waste. She had brought some fruits that she could cut up in the video.

I took a variety of shots as she cooked. Some include high angle shots with an aerial view of what she is grabbing for. Other include just mid-shots where Reem filled the middle third with room over her head.

While on site, we had gone through a couple rehearsals to make sure Reem could master the outro of the video that would play in the kitchen of the opening scene. After we did so, we recorded it. I also took some plain shot of the fruit bowl to include as some cutaways.

Entry #18 Week Four Post Three

Today, my group split up into different groups with members of other groups working on the AICE Media film opening/magazine.

My teacher had organized this so that we could get a wealth of peer review on our project to help us further the plot and workout certain details of the project.

Some of the members discussed problems they had with location, timeline of the film, editing techniques and plot/character development. I had helped out some of my members by recommending certain locations that I have shot at before and certain episodes and movies that may inspire my peer to advance with their current product.

My group had approximately 6-7 people including me to provide commentary on everything we had done so far.

When I went, I briefly discussed a summary of our plot and they had all enjoyed the idea but thought it missed some important links and transitions between scenes. They gave us some input on the shots that we had storyboarded, which you will se in effect next post!

Entry #17 Week Four Post Two

Reem, Shelby, and I all took our teacher's advice on dividing some roles so that we can come to class with some work done. When Reem and I were in class together (in the last post) we started to storyboard our film opening so that we could recognize which details we are missing in our plot outline.

We had identified a couple of details that we need to work on:
1. Designing an email which is what the two individuals dating each other would receive as their invitation for later that week.
2. A social media platform for video distribution, similar to YouTube. We want our main character in the opening scene to be in her kitchen making breakfast, following a cooking show video. We want it to be on a tablet of some sort that is a very critical element of each citizen's life in the society. The tablet would have everything they would need.

With my experience in graphic design/editing/photoshop, I will be working on the template and layout of these items while Reem will be creating the content of the work that go into each. Shelby will also help Reem write things, like the email.

3. We also have to figure out if we are going to have an icon of the zodiac sign floating above the citizens of the dystopian society. If the icon is too cartoon-ish it would not fit well with the vibe of the film, since the actual film is more realistic. We have to find a way of presenting the icon in a realistic way where it does not look like it is layered on the video, but actually present.

4. We also came up with different types of establishing shots we wanted to include.

Entry #16 Week Four Post One

Welcome back! It has been a tough couple weeks at school. We are in the longest quarter of the year and it ends next week, so it a lot of teachers have given dense workloads and I am pushing through.

Today, our groups met with the teacher today to just inform her about where we are at with our project and where we should be. One of my peers was absent today, but Reem and I had very helpful discussion with out AICE Media teacher. We told her a little bit about where we are at with the project and what our film was about. She had read all of our blogs so she already knew about it, but she did ask some guiding questions to push us in the right direction.

By the end of the discussion, we agreed on including another scene before the end of the film opening to help develop the plot further. Reem and I want to talk about it with Shelby and agree on what we need to do. Aside from that, we did talk about dividing up some roles. We all collaborate well with each other, but to make sure we are being as efficient as possible, we are planning on dividing up the workload with our future deadline!

Entry #15 Week Three Post Four

Ayoooo!

I just came back home from a weekend-long tournament in Gainesville, Florida and I am absolutely exhausted. This did not stop my group. We had a group call during my 5-hour trip back to continue working at the script of the film. We also worked out a filming schedule to make sure we could see which slots of time were all available to make sure to book shoots for filming.

For the first, we created all of this:

Opening Scene

• Establishing shots
• Weston Town Center Long Shot
• Golf Course
• Isles at Weston Neighborhood Sign
• House (clubhouse or house)
• Long shots
• House Ideas
• Isles of weston common area
• Nawals House
• Shelby?

Scene #1

• Sound bridge of alarm (for leaving the house)
• Character needing to leave
• As she is cutting fruits: close up of hand and tattoo
• Taurus
• Ding for email
• Invite for date

We decided to add some more detail to different aspects of the first scene and opening. For example, in the first scene, while the taurus is cutting up her fruits, we would show her zodiac sign which is tattooed (with henna) on the character's wrist. This close-up hints at the idea of this film. It also raises curiosity in the audience, especially when they see not only does she have it, but everyone else. It foreshadows the rigid structure that the system holds. We wanted the tattoo to be similar to being branded. We my include a number below it as well.

As for creating a schedule, Shelby worked on finding a platform in which we can all share our calendars and when we are busy. This included any trips and tests that we had so that we could accurately visualize where we could not meet up and film. Rather, for those parts, we decided to go group calls to make up for it to at the very least. We are still learning about this platform, but I will tell you how it goes in the next blog!