Action!

The time has finally come. All of today, we’ve been filming since 2:00 to 10:00, shifting between two different locations. Sofi, Paloma, and Ricky care to my house to set everything up and we had an hour to spare so we hit a garage sale. Once our actors arrived at around 2, we started filming right away and did not stop until it was 4:00 to eat pizza. We took a 30 minute lunch break, then continued filming and taking pictures until around 6. Afterwards, from 6-10 it was constant filming, rearranging lighting, and working with sound to tell our story. It was very fun, but it was exhausting.

We were so incredibly fortunate to have obtained such incredible actors that devoted themselves to producing this film as much as we did. They did a fantastic job playing their characters, and being able to keep up with us for 8hrs must’ve also been tiring. More information about them will be revealed on our website, but their names are Juan and Alejandra. 

I’ll go into further details about the production in my next blog post, but for now it’s time to sleep.

Lights...Camera...

Lights...Camera...

So we’re going to start filming on Saturday, and hopefully it will only take us the entire day. In order to make sure we can maximize our time filming, we decided to do a trial run at my house Wednesday afternoon.

Sofia, Paloma, and Sofi’s brother Ricky care over so we could test out where to position the lighting, and practice the shots we wanted to create. The whole process took us about two hours deciding which stylistic elements we needed to use in order to tell our story. In addition, this helped us decide on the different types of props we wanted to utilize in the background. My study was filled with antiques, so we decided to remove some props and keep a few to create a nicer setting. Creating the setting also helped us determine clearer wardrobe choices that would match well with the colors displayed on camera. A lot of our lighting is dependent on the sun, so hopefully it will be a nice sunny day tomorrow.

Tonight we’re heading out to Sofi’s to test out lighting again, hopefully it won’t take as long. Another benefit from this experience is that we now have a defined number of shots we need to take in order to have enough film to edit and to tell the story. Here’s our rough estimate. 

All of these measures are to hopefully facilitate filming on Saturday 

Setting? Actors? What?

Okay... things just keep getting more chaotic as time goes by.


A major emphasis we wanted to establish with our film is to portray our actors as realistic as possible. Hence, Sofia took the liberty to ask her friends that attend Florida International University (FIU). The idea was to start filming this Wednesday in my house... but it seems like we won’t be able to manage.


Apparently, the girl playing Penelope can’t film on Wednesday, so we have to drive down on campus if we want to film that day. The other alternative is to film on Saturday, but the thought of waiting even longer just sent us into panic attack mode. We might try to do something crazy... film the whole short film at the FIU campus. This is a major shift to what we planned to do with the mis-en-scene and setting because it’s no longer in a controlled environment and we have no idea with what we are working with. To top things off, we don’t even know if we’re allowed to utilize the facility since we’re not even students. Sofia thinks it’s best to stick with our actors because she worked so hard to get in touch with them, but even if it does end up happening, it’s very risky. We texted our actor asking him a ton of questions to see if it was feasible, but no one answered.


The original settings which we maybe or may not be using are in my house, where we have complete control over how to change the furniture and decorate the house a certain way. Here were my thoughts.


For the psychologist office, I was going to use my dad’s study since we have large white sofas and a book shelf. My parents keep several antiques from countries we’ve lived in, but they can easily be removed and replaced with modern items. Sofi wanted to create the effect we discussed before concerning the neon lights so we can add in a few lamps in the background to give it the futuristic vibe.

We have two dinning room options, but I think we’re going to go with the second one just because it’s more modern and suits a husband and wife better.

   











My kitchen does not have the shinny appliances or white marble countertops like we wanted, but we can once again work with the neon lights to create that effect

I feel like we can work well with the living room since there’s a lot of white and the red elements help create the tonality of anger when the couple is arguing.   

Like I said, I would prefer to film here because Sofia and I can manipulate as much elements as we can, but the odds haven’t been in our favor.

Script..... maybe?

So we immediately started working on our script this Wednesday. Sofi was able to finalize it with the help of her brother. I’m pretty satisfied with the script, but it’s still pending Paloma’s approval...

https://docs.google.com/document/d/13-23dRC0DPPtZSY4dbOa7_5NSHW2iSKHrQymhVAh0iI

Starting Over

So scratch 90% of what my blog has been about these past few weeks. We’ve been planning to have our “frozen in time” story developed in order to start our filming this Saturday, but sadly all of those ideas had to be disregarded just as we were about to finish our script. Our teacher has been meeting with all of our classmates individually to discuss our projects last week, but we were just informed yesterday that we had to change our whole story. Our film had too much of a Black Mirror vibe (which I understand) so we had to change the context of our story as a whole, not just the ending. With only three more weeks to go, we have to make up for all of the lost time we’ve devoted to an idea isn’t feasible. I’m aware that these changes are essential to develop a better story, I just wished we would’ve been informed sooner rather than have kept waisting our time.

Nonetheless, Paloma and Sofi came up with a new idea that I’m already on board with. Sofi was able to get in touch with 20 year old actors that will be able to play the parts of Simon and Penelope. The plan is to finish our script by the end of this week, and then pick up any missing pieces of information we need. This is our new idea:

We start off by introducing a married couple in their twenties that are currently away at a couple’s counseling. They’ve shown no progress over the past few weeks, so their psychologist chooses to try an unconventional approach that involves using a simulator to go back in time to whatever moment they please. The couple agrees that they wish to go back to their first fight (where all problems originated), so they are hooked to machine and we see the clock rewind.

It’s late at night a few years prior, Simon and Penelope are arguing about the events that unfolded at a previous Gala that they had just attended. Simon had accepted a job to move from Florida to Oregon, which Penelope found out about from one of his co-workers that night. Immediately they start arguing over Penelope’s desire to control every situation, while Simon stubbornly makes impulsive decisions without her. Through their fight, the audience understands that neither of them had ever discussed what the other one hoped to obtain in their lives, and since then, all of their marriage has been a rough patch. Penelope storms out that night, and Simon spends the night alone in his room. 

The next morning, a montage of bad memories convinces him to go look after Penelope, so Simon goes to the only place he thinks he can find her- the coffee shop where they first met. Penelope is sitting outside and they finally have a discussion about where their marriage is heading. Eventually, they realized that they got married too quickly, and the feelings they thought were “love” weren’t really there. Both of them accept they are completely different people since they got married, and find it best to part ways. The simulation ends the second they hug and we close the scene when their psychologist asks them “How’d it go?”

I’ll meet up in class to discuss how we want to go about with this idea, hopefully we’ll get our ducks in a row on time.

Follow the Leader

In order to develop ideas for how to create our website, I looked at some examples for short films that also had such platform. Here are my case studies:

Terminally Happy

This was a website created specifically about the writer and director of two short sci-fi films. Although it doesn't specifically advertise only her film, here are some elements I liked:

-minimalistic aesthetic- made the website simple to navigate

-social media on top- offers easy access to her Vimeo, Instagram, Mail, and Twitter

-about- lets the audience know about the creative process, and establishes critical acclaim

-mobile friendly- whole website is one page, so user can scroll down to find all info

-easy to follow- both her films are displayed at the bottom

Strangers
This website is actually focused on the specific horror film, therefore more detailed than the one seen before
-header- here is where they chose to introduce quotes of what people thought because it makes it abundantly clear that they have positive reviews.
-cast and team- I thought this was a wholesome idea because it allows audience to know more about the people who worked to develop the film
-credits- Clever idea because most credits get skipped, but not practical in our scenario since only three people worked on making our film
-artworks/ soundtrack- Great idea to interact with fans because it allows them to engage with more elements of the story. Unfortunately, I don't feel like we'lol have enough time to fully create both of these points.
-bloopers- another good idea to interact with fans that seems more probable since it's easy to create

Timecode
LOVED the website, it included a lot of smiliar elements as Stranger, but the layout was cool
-News- good idea to show updates on recognition the film is receiving
-Around the World- Shows all the places around the world where the film is being displayed which is cool
-Multimedia- Once again it shows a poster that fans can use for the film, which I think is great
-Awards, press, festivals- Definetely establishes a more formal vibe compare to the one used by stranger
-Overall it's less focused on fan engagement, but rather emphasizes information about the film.

Sweetooth
Simplistic compare to the other websites I viewed, but still contains the same general information
-super mobile friendly- looks better through a phone than through a laptop. Probably because the creators though film would be more accessible through phone
-art gallery- I loved how all the images in the gallery worked together to kind of tell a story about what the film was about
-talent/ filmmakers- utilizes the same idea used in Strangers to let the audience know about cast and crew
-offers info for potential incoming short films on the same sight.
-header- kind of messy because you can't really see the "home" and "about"

Final thoughts:
Based on these four sights, I understand the importance of making our website smartphone friendly, since it allows for the video to be easily found for "on the go". In addition, I want to create small icons for each of the social media pages because every website had the same symbols that accessed new links. I loved the idea to include information about the cast and crew, not only because it offers more content, but because it creates a sense of admiration for the people who worked on the film. A common theme that I noticed among all sites was minimalism, so it would probably be best to keep our layout and design simple. Nonetheless, pictures utilized to decorate the website really helped establish the tone of what the short film was about. All of these ideas along with photos and bloopers will most likely be integrated as well.

Wheels are turning...

So the past few days in class, we’ve been working on our script for the short film. The idea is to start filming spring break weekend, which is highly convenient since Sofi and I will both be here. As far as our actors go, we tried reaching out to our friend who’s in drama, but she hasn’t answered. We’re probably going to have to talk directly to the drama teacher to see if she recommends any actors. To compensate any troubles, we promised to give them full credit and allow them to use our video for any portfolio experience. Hopefully it will work out okay. 

As far as our pamphlet and website go, we intend to take photography along the way that will be used for both those products, and any social media. Depending on the shots and elements of mis-en-scene we use in our film, that will determine our aesthetic for both elements.

For our distribution, I was thinking it would be a good idea to show our film at the Miami Short Film Festival. They have several venues, but I was thinking it would be a good idea to emphasize on their Miami Beach venue, in front of the new “World Symphony”. Last November, I went on a date to that exact event and I remember having a lot of fun. There were large bean bags dispersed in an open field while films were being projected along the building wall. I remember the place was absolutely packed, and people would just walk by and lay down if they wanted to. Also, since it’s a very popular, touristic area in Miami, much our expected target audience would most likely be there. Based on my experience, I remember seeing couples, teenagers, and people in their twenties enjoying the wide variety of films. Like always, I have to check to see if Paloma and Sofi want to advertise for this crowd, so I’ll keep you posted.