Beginning My CCR

             While the CCR lesson is still fresh in my mind, I want to get my ideas down before I forget anything. I'm very passionate about the representation subject, meaning I'm most excited to answer  "How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?" I already have many ideas about Andrea's age, her latin origins, and religion, and how all of these elements have a role in the story. 

            As for how to present my CCR creatively, I'm not sure. I think my mom has a green cloth I could use as a green screen, but that level of editing may still be too advanced for me. I could do some parts as an interview with myself, and set up different camera angles to record me as the interviewer and interviewee. I could also use memes throughout it, or make a Power Point presentation with my research to edit onto the screen. 

            Hopefully I'll be able to execute my ideas as well as I possibly can. 

Thanks for reading, 

Michelle

Final Editing Report

            When I finished editing last time, my runtime was 3:16, meaning I had to make a lot of space on the cutting room floor. I rewatched the opening to see if there were any clips I could simply cut or make shorter. Then, I compared my storyboard to the opening to see if any shots or clips could simply be reduced or substituted by other existing ones with the same purpose. 

            I cut the first close up of the pregnancy test because the OTS shot right before it shows what Andrea is staring at and the relationship between her and the test without needing the focus the CS gives it. Besides, it’s much more impactful to have the first CS of the test be when it is positive and Andrea is reacting to it. 

            I also reduced the clip where she was checking that all the stalls were empty. It took up too much time and ultimately, a person can quickly scan if there are other people in a bathroom. You can still see she checks the last 3 stalls, though. 

            Additionally, I cut the clip of her pacing around the bathroom. It was too long, and it only showed what had already been established: she was nervous and trying to convince herself it would be negative. 

            I also cut the whip pan transition, and the clip where she puts her glasses back on after washing her face. The movements she does right before are still there, so it can be inferred she puts them back on before the next shot. 

            Finally, I shaved off a few seconds from the beginning of clips here and there, which made the cuts and transitions a little quicker than they were before. 

            The final runtime is 2:10. After the overtime issue was resolved, I did the credits. I figured out why the color adjustments weren’t working; it was because the font had to be in bold. The font for the texts is the same one I had chosen (Fira Sans), but it is in bold, so it looks a little different. 

            I looked at this website to look at the order of opening title credits for movies. I changed the order a little, since I’ve always envisioned the title of the movie at the end. 

And with that, I have finished my film opening. Now all that’s left is my CCR.  :)

-Michelle

References:

“How You Should Structure Your Film Credits (Free Template): Evercast Blog.” RSS, 

https://www.evercast.us/blog/film-credits. 

Editing Progress Part 2!

            Continuing to edit has been… interesting. First of all, it has been a hassle to put the credits, even though I expected this part to be the most simple. For some reason, the text isn’t changing to the color I want it to be. I want it to be white so you can see it more, but it won’t change from black. I originally thought black would be best and most simple, but it’s difficult to position it where you can see it well. 

            I even had to watch this video to make sure I was doing it correctly: 

            I also tried with other fonts to see if it was just an issue with the font I had chosen (Fira Sans). It wasn’t. 

            For now, I’ve been continuing to edit and leaving the credits for last. I think I’ll be able to position them with the black font in a way that’s visible, as I already have done with the “Starring” credit. 

            Another difficulty was trying to edit out a sound clip that doesn’t fit. It’s right at the end of a shot, and it was hard to mitigate. I managed to do it by splitting the shot from its audio, and splitting the audio multiple times to eradicate the sound. Once I did that, I duplicated the sound clips that worked and put them over the part where the weird sound was. Then, I lowered the volume of the last three sound clips. I think I managed to do this pretty well. 

            I finished editing the clips together, now I have to cut some of them (I'm a minute over two) and put the credits.

Until my next post,

Michelle

References:

Timmer, Eric. “IMovie Tutorial - How to Change Title Text Color.” YouTube, YouTube, 13 June 

2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb5wVaknngU. 

Editing Progress!

             As I begin and move through the process of editing, I've begun to realize just how well prepared I was for this moment. The sound perspective project I did for AICE Media Studies a couple of months ago has especially well-prepared me for this step in the process of crafting my film opening. 

            So far, one of the most difficult parts to edit has been the transition between the first video clip to the second. I had to crop the first one a little bit so that the audio transition would be as smooth as possible. 

            Additionally, the cut transitions between these clips (a midshot, a close up of the test, an over the shoulder showing the test, CS of the test again, and then back to a MS) has been difficult to make clean. I think the close ups of the test work well together, but if the transitions between all these shots are so choppy, then I may have to remove one of them. The choppiness is also due to the difference in audio between all the clips, so I must take out the audio from some of them, and duplicate the audio I'd like to use, to make it as uniform as possible. 

            Something I unexpectedly love is this whip pan transition I didn't even plan for. I may edit it differently in the final cut, just in case it doesn't fit the tone of the rest of the movie, but I think it's nice to have something different. 

 

            I'm not going to lie, I was very nervous about editing because it would mean I would have to watch my work back, as well as make crucial decisions for the opening. But it has honestly been fun to do and I can't wait to progress further. 

Thanks for reading,

Michelle

Production Logos

            I spent some time designing a production logo to incorporate at the beginning of my film opening. At first, I produced one on Pages, but I didn't love it. It seemed very basic, and didn't have any pizzazz. Here is what it looked like:

            Then, I met with a group of students that showed their own logos they designed. They told me they had created theirs on Canva, which inspired me to remake my own.

            I came up with the following options:

            After asking my teacher and classmates for advice on which one looked best, the consensus was Dynamic Pictures. They recommended I make the background ombre instead. The navy blue I'm using represents a classic look, very mature and simple, which fits the tone of the movie.

        Here is what the final product looks like.  I'll be editing this clip into my film opening:   

Until my next blog post,

Michelle

Editing Preparation and Decisions

            Before I begin to edit all the clips together, it was necessary that I cleared some elements up and made some impactful decisions. 

            I've started going through all the videos I recorded to select the best takes. Before deciding which ones I will and won’t use, I added them all to an album. Instead of deleting the takes I’m not going to use, I’m simply removing them from the album just in case I want to refer to them later, or end up deciding to utilize them. 

            As for which editing program I’m going to use, I was stuck between DaVinci Resolve and iMovie. I think DaVinci has more options, but I’m much more familiar with iMovie. The editing is going to be very straightforward, seeing as most (if not all) of the transitions are cuts, which means iMovie would work fine. Relating to the text (the title and credits I’m going to include in the opening), I looked through all the options both programs have for titles, which helped me choose which program I will use.

            I’ve decided on using iMovie for the exact reasons I listed above. I’m familiar with it, and I like the straightforward title transitions available on the program. 

            After making these decisions and cleaning up the videos I have to choose from, I’m prepared to start editing soon. 

As always, thanks for reading,

Michelle

Filming Report 2.0

             We finished filming! We wanted to shoot Wednesday afternoon in the bathrooms where we had started on Monday, but they were all locked, so we had to schedule a different day. School was closed the day we decided to shoot on, so we ended up filming at the community bathroom in the actor's neighborhood. It worked well, but the formatting of the bathrooms was a little different to what I had prepared for on the storyboard, meaning I had to alter a few of the shots. For example, I had to merge shots 19 and 20 since the trashcan was right next to the door. 

            It still works well and in service of the story, seeing as it is still a wide shot that demonstrates what Andrea's doing, where she's going and what comes next for her. 

            The most interesting shot to film was the last one, where she rests her head on the wheel of the car. We tried various ways of formatting the camera, since it was uncomfortable for me to hold it, the lighting from the sun was weird when I didn't, and it would look a little slanted when it was just resting on the car's dashboard. 

            Here I am trying to figure it out: 

            Here is how I finally formatted it: 

            And here we are together in the acting/directing process:  

            I'm very happy with the footage I filmed, and I'm excited to start editing. 

Until my next blog post,

Michelle

My First Filming Report

             I began filming two days ago and will continue today. However, my actor had an unexpected emergency and had to leave early, meaning we weren't able to finish filming. If we don't finish today, I'm going to try to schedule another filming day Friday. And if my actor can't fit it into their schedule, then I may have to start all over again with a different actor, which would set me back. Thankfully, next week is spring break, so I'm going to have adequate time to edit and work on any other component I need. 

            My storyboard and screenplay really aided in the process of capturing all the necessary shots, angles, and movements. You can see how much I referred to them in the following pictures: 

            I also tried to film from other angles in case I needed different options while editing: 

            I have to make my hands shake more while filming because they've been surprisingly stable. I did not think this would be an issue, since my hands are usually shaking while taking any other kind of video. 

            You may have also noticed that the bathroom is different. Due to schedule conflicts and restrictions from the original location, I had to find another one at school. Luckily, this one works just as well and has the same defining characteristics I need: a door, stalls, a sink with mirrors above it, and florescent lights. 

            This first day of filming gave me enough experience to be able to work more efficiently today. I saw what works and what doesn't, so I'll be able to shoot with more knowledge from here on out. 

Thanks for reading,

Michelle 

Group Feedback

            Before filming today, I was able to get in a group with my AICE Media Studies classmates to discuss our projects and give each other feedback. I found this time extremely helpful, and it really helped me narrow down on some more specifics I wasn't sure about. 

            I still wasn't clear on whether or not I wanted to show the positive pregnancy test, and they all agreed that it was best to demonstrate it. They reassured me with their ideas, as some of them were similar to my own, and the others were fresh and original. 

            They suggested to show Andrea's face first, as she reacts to it, and then cut to the pregnancy test. They also suggested to have her take two pregnancy tests, since she's in disbelief about the first one being positive, but I don't think I'll have enough time to do this idea. 

            They also recommended Canva for the production and distribution company logos, which I am definitely going to try out. 

            Anyways, here we are. What a group of cuties: 

Thank you for reading,

Michelle

Filming Tomorrow!

               Tomorrow begins the journey that is filming my opening. I'm not going to lie, the nerves are starting to take over my initial excitement. 

               I'm going to be filming on my phone, so I am going to try to minimize how much I use it throughout the day and take a charger with me just in case. I'm also going to delete a few apps and a couple of pictures to try to save as much storage as possible before trying to use so much tomorrow. 

                I was able to get in contact with the actor I originally wanted. She had mistyped her phone number by accident. Once that was resolved, we were able to set up a schedule.

                We're going to film tomorrow (Monday) starting at 3:30 PM, and then again on Wednesday. We're also trying to set up to film during first period Tuesday, but we haven't officially scheduled it yet. 

                I don't think we're going to take a long time filming since she's an incredibly talented actor, I have all the shots planned out, and they're all relatively simple. As long as we're focused, we'll work as diligently as possible. 

                I'm going to look through all the footage Wednesday night, as well as Thursday, to see if we have to reshoot anything later. 

                Hopefully it all goes well.  

Wish us luck,

Michelle

Casting Choice Conflict

            Well, I held auditions this week. They went great, and I thought I had found my lead actor, but she hasn't responded to my last two text messages. I messaged her yesterday morning telling her she got the part, and asking her to reply so we could discuss film schedules. When I didn't receive a response, I messaged her again this morning, asking if she was still interested and to please respond as soon as possible. 

            She has yet to respond. 

            If she doesn't reply by tonight, or says she is not interested anymore, I must hold auditions again soon so I can start filming. I would message someone else that auditioned, but the only other person that was interested stated that they were no longer available. 

            I really hope she messages me soon saying that she is still interested, seeing as she is a talented actor, and I really want her to star in my production. I also need to start filming as soon as possible. But as they say, the show must go on! Tomorrow, I'll ask the drama teacher to try holding auditions during a different class period, or stay after school to do so. 

Thanks for reading, 

Michelle

Screenplay

 

    I finished my screenplay, which has somehow made me fall in love with this project even more. My first draft was a little rough, since I had Andrea talking to herself in full sentences. This was unrealistic, so I shortened it to smaller, more straight-forward phrases. I don't want to rely on words to demonstrate her anxiety, so there isn't much dialogue. The little there is advances the story without telling it completely. 

I hope you enjoy. :)

-------

INT. PUBLIC BATHROOM

ANDREA walks into the bathroom. She closes the door behind her and then checks the stalls are empty. She stands still and takes out the pregnancy test from her pocket. She looks at it intently.

ANDREA

(Anxiously)

OK. Take the test. Take the test. It’s gonna be negative so just take it. Then forget about all of this. 

ANDREA turns around and walks into a bathroom stall. She stays in there for a second before speed walking out. 

ANDREA

Nope. Can’t do it.

Close up of ANDREA’s face as she nervously purses her lips. She takes a deep breath, looks up, and closes her eyes. She holds her cross necklace.

She then splashes water on her face. She looks at herself in the mirror as determination comes into her eyes. She turns around and walks in a stall. 

She takes the test, and we hear the FLUSH a second before she walks out. She starts pacing around the bathroom. She interchanges between fiddling with her cross, crossing her arms, picking at her nails. 

 

ANDREA

(Talking to herself to calm herself down)

We used protection. It’s gotta be something else. 

She checks her watch. It’s time. 

It’s just stress. It has to be. Because there’s absolutely no way that I am preg- 

She flips the test over to see the results. They’re positive. She starts tearing up. After a moment, she throws the test away. 

ANDREA walks out of the bathroom. 

EXT. PUBLIC BATHROOM

INT. OUTDOORS- DAY

ANDREA walks out of the establishment and walks to get into her car. She gets in and rests her head on the wheel. 

TITLE CARD APPEARS: “PARALLEL LINES”

Titles, Fonts, and More Fonts

            I don’t have an official film title yet, so that’s something I want to prioritize figuring out. Juno is titled after the main character and Unpregnant is titled after the story, since the movie is about a pregnant teenager going on a journey to receive an abortion, but I don’t think I want to name my film after the protagonist. I’m certain I’ll be able to determine one as I start filming and the rest of the pieces fall into place, but it would ease my mind to have a definitive title sooner rather than later. 

            Right now, the best title I have in mind is Parallel Lines. I genuinely really like it, but I’m not sure if I should hold out to see if I can think of anything better (but I don’t think I’ll be able to, seeing as it’s already pretty great). 

            For fonts, I want something simple that reflects the simplicity yet rawness of the story. 

            Some fonts I have in mind include: 

Smooch Sans:

Roboto Condensed:

Oswald:

Fira Sans: This is the one I like most. I think it represents the drama/coming of age genre very well, and I think it looks nice. It has a personal, indie feel that I want to achieve with my story. 

            I’m going to try all of these fonts while I’m editing just to see which one fits best, but I’m pretty certain Fira Sans is going to be the winner.

Until my next post,

Michelle

Beginning the Auditioning Process

            I have begun the search for my lead actor! Yesterday, I got in contact with the drama teacher at my school to find out some information on when and how I could begin holding auditions. She recommended her periods with the most advanced students, and luckily one of them is during my study hall. On Monday morning, I’ll head on over to her classroom and begin the auditioning process. 

            I’ve been thinking of the best way to go about it, since this is very new to me. I’ve never looked for an actor through an auditioning process, so I’ve decided to reflect and do some research. 

            Here are the best No Film School’s tips for holding auditions: 

• Know the story

• Make sure the actors also know the story (the character’s details, the setting, etc.)

• Make the auditioning space comfortable

• Have assistance while holding the audition

• Assess actors as they come into the audition

• Record the audition

• Say something positive and final at the end

            I should also remember to make sure the actor is comfortable portraying a serious character in what could be a controversial role. I must also make sure that the actor has time in their schedule to film and if they are free to do so on a weekend. Communication is imperative, so the actor and I must have a proper way of doing so. 

            Some requirements:

• You must be comfortable with close ups of your face.

• You must be comfortable being mask-less in a public setting while filming.

            I’m interested in seeing how the actors portray the stress and anxiety Andrea is feeling. During the auditions, I’m going to ask them to demonstrate talking to themselves in an almost-manic way while trying to calm themselves down. 

            I’ve been looking forward to this step in the process so I’m really excited to begin.  :)

Thanks for reading, 

Michelle

Renée, V. “10 Tips for Holding Better Auditions.” No Film School, No Film School, 31 Dec. 2015, https://nofilmschool.com/2015/10/10-tips-holding-better-auditions. 

Storyboarding

            OK, so to be quite honest, storyboarding causes me a little bit of trouble due to the fact that I can never stick to one idea. I always come up with new shots or storylines in the middle of or after producing my storyboard, meaning it takes me forever to decide on which route I want to do, and then even longer when I change it in the middle of my process. But I’m going to use this to my advantage, as new ideas are meant to be beneficial. And if I decide to make some edits while filming and editing, I’ll report on why and how they work better than my original idea. 

            So without further ado, here is my storyboard: 

(Please note that some aren’t in natural order, hence why I numbered them on the top.) 

            The last shot is meant to make the audience wonder what will happen next. For this reason, I’m contemplating how to produce shot 23. I feel either 21 or 22 would evoke more curiosity, but I’m not sure they’ll feel like a natural ending to the opening. I’ll film everything and decide whilst I’m editing. 

            Other than that, I feel my storyboard represents what I envision for the opening very well. I can’t wait to start filming.   :D

-Michelle