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!

More Planning

Hello!

So I have a vision in my head of what I want for my film opening now. I want my film opening to be fairly quiet, maybe with some background music. I want it to start off with a black screen and a quote appearing on the screen. I want the quote to have something to do with my character and the overall "film." I will leave some of the ideas I have for quotes below:

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

"No man chooses evil because it's evil. He only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks."
- Mary Wollstonecraft

"Man's nature is not essentially evil. Brute nature has been known to yield to the influence of love. You must ever despair of human nature."
- Gandhi

"It's a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways."
- Buddha 

"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

Some movies that I know of that begin with quotes are Kill Bill, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and the Breakfast Club. I like the idea of a quote at the beginning of my opening as I feel it sets the tone for the rest of the opening/film. 

After the quote appears on the screen, the actual opening will start with the voiceover of my character talking about himself and why he is the way he is. The scenes will possibly be of the main character walking around or sitting somewhere looking off into the distance.  I want the audience to really feel as if they are inside my character's head. Between these scenes will be scenes of them planning the robbery. I pretty much have all my ideas sorted out now and it's just a matter of me putting them into a script and into a storyboard.

I'll update you all on my progress!

Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)

New Idea

Hi!

So as I said in my blog yesterday, I have a new idea for my film opening. My new idea would still include the planning of the robbery, except with more of a background on the characters.

I was thinking of doing a thing where I have the main character of the "film" talking in a voiceover explaining why he and his accomplices are the way they are and why they are doing the robbery. I think this idea will give me the opportunity to give the audience more of an insight into the characters and help establish a connection between the audience and the character. When watching films, I think it's important for a connection to be established between the characters in the film and the audience, as it makes the experience of watching the film even better.

I typically like voice-overs in a film as I think it's a cool way of introducing the character/characters in a more personal way.  I think I want to try this in my film opening as I think it will give my film opening a deeper meaning with more background information provided.

Some examples of films that utilize voice-overs are:

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Fight Club (1999)

Trainspotting (1996)

Second Group Meeting

Hi!

Today we had another group meeting except with different group members. I thought the group meeting was successful as every member pitched in an idea to each other that was helpful. We made a Google doc where we each wrote down notes from what each other was saying to put into use for our projects.

A couple of the members in my group suggested that I go down a comedic route for my opening. After discussing the use of weapons in my piece, my group agreed on the fact that I shouldn't use a gun in my piece due to all the liabilities. However, they gave me the idea of using a banana instead of a gun to give the opening that comedic effect or perhaps having my robbers "forget" their weapons when arriving at the robbery site.

I thought this idea was clever and funny, however, I'm not sure if I really wanted to go down a comedic route for my piece as I was aiming for something a little more serious. I like comedy films, don't get me wrong, I just would have to find actors who are actually funny and can make my piece funny without it being cringy. I'll have to think of this idea more before making any decisions.

Once again, I'm going to have to change my storyboard and my script. I have a new idea that is different from the comedic one that might be an interesting route for my piece. There are so many things I have to take into account now and I just want to start filming already! Ugh, the stress!!

I will update my blog tomorrow with the new idea I have for my piece and I think it's a good one :-)