Final Product!

Well, here is my film opening titled "Misfit." I'm proud of her :'-)

I hope you enjoy and thank you for following me on this journey!

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1FPJKP9UnB8GltOMHMgHne4ybbJ9dUzLb

Here's the backup link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=youjzN34i9I

Creative Critical Reflection

Here is my CCR! :-)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RCxzNTIAiAHMBAyqkACeeEcOQ7fzECev/view?usp=sharing

Finishing Touches & Reflection

Hi!

I wrapped up filming today with my cast!

Filming was very fun and I'm so thankful for my main character, Kruis for being so patient with me as we filmed.

Filming the last scene of Kruis at the gas station was pretty funny as we had to re-take it a few times due to people walking in the scene and Kruis getting nervous over people looking at us. We knew that scene would be hard though considering the people around us were probably alarmed to see some teenager getting out of a car and putting on a creepy mask outside of a gas station.

Oh, and we ran into some complications. When we got to Vista View to film, we realized they were closed! I didn't even think of the park being closed which was dumb of me. So we decided to film at Regional Park instead. I'm kind of glad we filmed there instead because it looked more fitting of the main character to end up in a location like that (on bleachers, or in front of a skate park).

Overall, I'm glad I decided to take a different route for my film that didn't involve robbing any places as I think going down that route would have made this project a lot more complicated than it needed to be.

I am editing and adding the finishing touches all day tomorrow so that should be fun.

Working on this project has been quite the roller coaster but I am so glad to have done so because I've learned so many things. The whole thing was a learning process, really. and I was glad to have gone on this journey :-)

Well, this is pretty much my last blog post before I post the final product and my CCR. Thank you all for following me on this journey!

Filming Update

Hi!

So I have officially set the date of filming to next Friday the fifth of April. I let the people know of this and so far everyone has agreed to keep Friday open. I can't afford for these plans to fall through since the project is due that Sunday. I plan on spending most of Saturday editing and putting together my film opening.

Something that I forgot about which I can probably do tomorrow is buy masks for the characters. I decided on using skeleton masks because they are cheap and they look cool and not too cheesy. I have all my shirts as well that match up with that Romeo + Juliet look I was going for. All I really needed was a few Hawaiian looking shirts and I was good to go.

As for weapons I decided to go with knives and bats. The weapons won't cause as much controversy or problems as guns would. I plan on using pocket knives rather than something like kitchen knives cause that might look a little weird.

I'm getting the rest of the supplies together this week and continuing planning. I have the whole week to finish up planning and I'm hoping that will be enough time.

I will keep the blog updated on the process!

Change in Plans

Ugh :/

My worst fears have been confirmed. Everyone bailed out on filming today. Just my luck! I'm not sure what to write for this blog other than I'm stressed out of my mind!!! I wanted to get filming out of the way today so that I would have the whole week to edit the opening but unfortunately, I can't now. I can't film tomorrow because I have a family thing so that wouldn't have worked out. I'm gonna have to think of another plan.

I'm thinking of moving the filming immediately after school next Friday and just telling everyone that they must be ready to film and to keep Friday opening. I can film everything in one day which is good. Most of the shots are going to consist of the planning of the robbery in the basement and the shots of the main character looking off into the distance in the park. The only other shots besides these are the shots of the characters getting out of the car preparing to walk into the gas station. The shots of the characters in the garage are the ones where I need everyone present.

I think during the week I am going to set up the set of the scene in the garage so that will be done already. I plan on filming the scene in my friend's garage with dark lighting so I hope I can achieve this! I will update the blog on any more changes in plans.

Filming

Hi!

So I'm supposed to start filming tomorrow and I notified everyone that I want in my opening of the plans. I just really hope they don't bail out on me.

I have my storyboard squared away and I'm still adding some tweaks to my script. Writing the monologue for my main character has been a little challenging since I basically have to come up with all of it from the top of my head. I'm moving along though so I'm not too worried about that. I am stressed about a few other things though.

Some of the things I'm stressed about are people not showing up for filming, or backing out last minute. I'm also worried about people getting impatient as I probably will have to re-do a lot of shots/scenes to get the perfect one. I get frustrated when people are impatient with me and it just stresses me out. I get stressed easily so some aspects of this project definitely haven't been easy, but it's a learning process.

I'm using my mom's Nikon camera to film the opening as I want the opening to look a little more professional rather than filming on an iPhone. My phone isn't as new as some of the more recent iPhones that may have a better camera and I also don't have a lot of space on my phone and I plan on filming a lot of takes. I'm looking forward to filming and really hope everything goes as planned :-)

Song

Hi!

So something really cool happened today.

There's a song I've been listening to a lot lately that I like by this artist who isn't too well-known. The artist's name is Odie and the song is called Little Lies. Well, I thought the song fit well with what I am envisioning in my head for my film opening but I remembered we have to use royalty free music unless we literally personally ask the artist themselves if we can use their song. I really like the song so I thought, what the heck I'll tweet Odie and see if he answers, which I didn't think he will.

So, I tweeted him and asked if I could use his song in my school project. I wasn't expecting a reply, but it was worth a shot. I was checking my twitter the next day (today) and saw I had a message. Odie actually replied to my tweet! And he gave me permission to use his song in my opening! How cool is that? I was so happy he replied and I was really thankful too. Not only did he give me permission to use his song, but he asked if I could send him the opening when I'm all done. I thought that was very nice of him, so I'm gonna make sure to support him and his music in the future.

With that being said, I have my music for the film opening squared away so that's one less weight on my shoulder.

:-)

Cast

Hi!

Great news!

I have my cast together! However, I just realized I'll have to give my characters names so the names I'm choosing for my characters are going to be basic because I don't plan on introducing them by name in the opening. Therefore the names will be Ben for our main character, John for robber #1, James for robber #2, Sarah for robber #3, and Paul for robber #4. This will make it easier to identify the characters in the script/storyboard. 

So my cast is going to consist of my friends Kruis, Shane, Taylor, and Gordon. Kruis is going to play Ben, Shane will be playing James, Taylor will be playing Sarah, and Gordon will be playing Paul. I will be filming the scene, obviously. But I feel more confident now that I have my cast together, I just hope it all works out and everyone shows up for filming.

I'm going to start filming this weekend and hopefully, I can get all the filming done in one day. I kind of doubt it cause I don't want my actors to get impatient so I'll prob split up filming and film the scenes of Ben sitting at Vista View Park on a separate day since those scenes don't require all of the characters. I'm really looking forward to filming I think it will be fun. I'm going shopping this week for all my supplies and costumes. I'll keep the blog updated on any news or changes in planning :-)

Location

Hi!

So I've thought about all the places I want to shoot my opening and right now I have:

- Vista View Park
- A friend's garage
- Outside of a gas station
- Inside of car

Vista View Park (Davie, FL)

The scenes at Vista View Park will consist of the main subject sitting alone as his monologue plays in the background audio along with subtle background music. The scenes in the garage will consist of the robbers "planning" their robbery. The scene inside of the car will be of the robbers talking but with no audio of them talking, the man character's monologue still playing in the background. The final scene will be outside of the gas station and will be of the robbers getting out of the car and then the scene cuts to the name of the film. I am still thinking of a name for the film.

I decided to use Vista View Park as the main setting of the opening for the character's monologue. It is going to be as if the character is thinking what he is saying in the monologue and the audience is going inside his head. I will have the character sitting on the bench in the photo or just on the grass looking off into the distance, pondering over his life. I chose this location because I want the main character sitting on a hilltop looking over his town as it adds to the effect that the main character is in deep thought.

Now that I have all my scenes laid out, I can type up my script and implement into a storyboard. I will update the blog on any changes on location or script!

Notes

Hello!

So I'm at a drama competition in Tampa right now so unfortunately, I can't work on my project too much at the moment. In that case, this blog post will mostly just consist of notes and thoughts I have in my head for the opening.

I'm going to give a layout of the scene:

So the scene is going to start off with a blank screen with a quote appearing on the screen. The quotes I liked the most from one of my previous blog posts were:

“Maybe there is a beast… maybe it's only us.” 
― William Golding, Lord of the Flies

"Inside each of us, there is the seed of both good and evil. It's a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other."
- Eric Burdon

"These violent delights have violent ends."
- William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

I'm such an indecisive person so I have no idea which one to pick! I like the Romeo and Juliet quote cause it's kind of a nod to my mise-en-scene elements of the 1996 film. So continuing with my layout:

After the quote fades from the screen, the screen is still going to be black when the main character's monologue starts. The screen will be black for a few seconds before the scene cuts to the main character (a guy) sitting on a bench or in the grass looking off into the distance. His monologue will continue playing in the back. The scene will then cut and continuously switch to the main character and his friends planning a robbery in a garage. There will be a whiteboard in the back where they are planning everything. The scene will cut back to the guy looking off into the distance perhaps filmed from behind him and then cut to the guy and his friends in a car. It is implied the robbers are talking about the robbery and are acting it out, with the monologue still playing in the background. The scene will cut back to the guy looking off in the distance one last time, then cut to the robbers getting out of the car with the main focus on the main character. As the main character shuts the door, the screen will go black with the title of the film appearing on the screen.

Well that's my layout of the scene, can't wait to start filming!

Clothes

Hi!

I found a shirt in my closet that I want the main character to wear in my opening. I wore the shirt for Halloween, I'll leave a picture of what it looks like below. The shirt is fitting to the whole Romeo + Juliet look that I want to implement into my opening.

Don't worry the cigarette is fake!!!

Romeo + Juliet (1996)

I am going to Goodwill soon with my friend to see if I can find any shirts that are fitting to the image I want to create for my opening. I looked for shirts online that are similar to what I'm looking for but I'd rather find something at a thrift store so I don't have to spend $20-$30 on a shirt. 

Along with the shirts, I want my characters to be wearing jeans or shorts, preferably ripped to give off that "rough" vibe I'm going for. I also want them to wear jewelry such as rings and long necklaces, which I already have. 

I'll keep the blog updated on clothing/costumes!