filming day 1

Hi blog!

So my mom went to do some grocery shopping for my grandpa today since he can't leave his house and she was able to pick up the paint for me. In case any of you were wondering, it smells very bad. With that being said I decided I could start filming most of the scenes needing paint today. They mostly contained close-ups of paint being poured, brush strokes, and just painting the 4-5 pieces that I plan to incorporate into the film. (Saying 4 to 5 because one of them was just so horrible that I could do without it but I may just reshoot that to have some backup footage.)

I have a problem where I overestimate what I can do and get very discouraged when it cant be done and that happened today. I had specific angles in mind like overhead shots that I wanted to use within the piece but it's difficult when you're filming alone. This had me super frustrated so then I decided I could get that effect by trying to paint with one hand and hold my phone up higher with the other.

As you can see by the end of this video, I was getting super frustrated hahaha
But I was able to keep a steady hand and continue to film shots similar to that. So now I've got like a little bit over 60 recordings of various shots of painting and the different paintings I made.
Heres my favorite one!

Location "scouting"

So I've decided that I'm going to conduct the scenes where the main character is painting and being away from her mother in the porch of my apartment. During the day it gets really good lighting compared to the yellow tinted lights in my apartment that I don't think look that good. Also because everyone is self quarantining, there is little to no noise outside so I won't have to worry about that too much. The only noise that would be heard would be like the wind moving the trees against the porch which I could collect as foley and purposefully put in to make this porch seem relaxing like a "safe space". Actually, now that I write that, I really like how that sounds like juxtaposing the comforting and peaceful environment of the porch that the main character created compared to the hostility and the arguments that take place inside the actual apartment.

 This is the little workspace that I made for the main character. A little paint cooler if you will haha. I am going to buy more art supplies like actual wet paint that comes in a tube to make the character seem more artistic. But so far I just stacked a couple of magazines on top of each other, the only one being visible about painting to highlight how much the character cares about art and her improvement. Then I have watercolors open along with a little container of coloring pencils and markers, other art supplies just to further show the porch as an art room.

Updates

So originally I was going to have my friend Kayla play the main character in my short film but she is now unavailable. Like any other person self quarantining shes taken up more exercise like going on walks and just 3 days ago she was roller-skating around her neighborhood, fell and broke her wrist.

So now that means I'm just gonna play the part which is better because I can work on my own schedule and I know when I'm free so If I need to do any extra shooting it would be very easy. Plus my mom was gonna play the part of the mother anyways and now we can work together in this which would probably make her more comfortable since I had to practically force her to help me LOL.

With this being said, I still plan on starting filming next week, I just need to buy some painting products if I can't find my old watercolors. Also, I need to figure out where in my home I will be filming. But I'm very excited to start filming and seeing what I'm able to produce!

                  hehehehehe my mom hates this pic but its very funny to me, enjoy blog

Development pt.3

So the last 2-3 minutes of the short film is meant to have a resolution to the conflict that had just been developed within the middle 2 minutes. I don't want my resolution to be anything major like the daughter and mother getting over their differences and living happily ever after, never to fight again because one, that's cheesy and two, unrealistic.

Instead, after the daughter slowly defending herself in one of their arguments, I want her to snap back causing the mother to be speechless, like 0_0. Like it doesn't have to have any screaming or over exclaimed anger, just something that catches the mother off guard which causes her to finally realize that her daughter is standing up to her. Then the mother could just scoff and walk away in silence which makes the daughter smile and go right back into painting. And this last painting will include green for growth and purple for wisdom, what shes finally gained, knowing that she's allowed to stand up for what she believes in. A light blue will be incorporated into the art to represent where she started, and how her art expression has changed as shes gained more confidence.

(I feel like talking about these arguments makes no sense but they will be petty arguments about like leaving a dish in the sink, being "too" loud or distracting from her work, making a mess in the room, just small arguments that grow a larger picture that affects the daughter's confidence in herself.)

The short film will end with the daughter hanging up her last painting directly next to the one she first painted in the short film and then a medium shot of a growing smile. Its a very simple ending but it is very effective in revealing the progression in her artistic expression. Because as the film goes on, the subtle changes are not as noticeable as between the few art pieces created compared to putting the first and last pieces together.

I hope to begin filming next week and I plan to take about 2-3 days to film. Editing will take place after each filming session to see if there is anything that needs to be reshot or discarded and replaced by something else.

I leave you with this gif that perfectly depicts how online schooling is making me feel!

Devlopment pt. 2

The ending of the first two minutes will reveal her in wanting to stand up to her mother, I haven't figured out how I want her to yet, but she will. Within these next three minutes, the arguments will persist but she does not right away talk back to her mother. For example, she may start out as simply saying something under her breath that her mother doesn't hear, but just knowing that she partly stood up for herself makes her feel good. The shot may show her starting to speak under her breath in a medium shot then into a close up of her mouth as she finishes saying it, then back to a medium shot of her face shocked then cracking a slight smile. This will aid in revealing her starting to stand up for herself. 

This will be translated into her art by going into more earthy colors like green. She will continue to have the blues as a base since she isn't fully sticking up for herself but as she begins to stand up for herself, her art will become more bright. This can be shown through a short montage of painting with all the blue paints then following a close up of her face looking at something specific then eyeline matching to a close up of a light shade of green. This will emphasize the importance of the green by focusing on it while just montaging through the other blues and how that one incident of standing up for herself aids in breaking her out of her artistic comfort zone. 

Example of how the green may be incorporated

This will be the first time she begins to stick up for herself and she will continue to do so, the next time she does her mother will hear her and continue to argue which causes the daughter to not want to talk back, setting her back in a way but doesn't completely stop her from wanting to express herself. 

That is how I will develop the main growth in her character during the second act and her main conflict being staying strong and continuing to stand up for herself as her mother keeps bringing her down when she tries to. 

Developing the character

I've shared the new plot idea with both of the potential actresses and they are both still interested in the role but are further wanting more information on the character and how to portray her.

I want the character to be very timid at the beginning, very stiff body language, answering to her mother with a very low voice and overall just not appearing very sure or confident in herself. This will be done through the actor's portrayal but can be further exaggerated with a couple higher angle shots of her while having a conversation with her mother. This will be able to reveal the mother's domineering attitude and the overall relationship between the two. A shot counter shot can also help in revealing their contrast by going back and forth from the daughter's timidness and submissiveness towards her mom to the mother's angry tone.

Example of how a high angle shot may be incorporated

In class, we learned to break up the film into different acts that help establish the character and their development through the film. This portion will be used during the first two minutes of the film when establishing the relationship between the mother and the daughter. It will highlight her lack of confidence and self-assurance that causes her to make her feel upset. The audience will be able to see her hurting through facial expressions but also through her art, in the beginning, she will mainly be painting with various shades of medium to dark blues as mentioned in the color psychology posting,

The arguments between the mother and daughter do not have to be of anything crazy. In fact, I would prefer if her mother was to blow up over very minuscule issues to further reveal her negatively as a character. For example, like the daughter having 2 empty water bottles on her nightstand and the mother comes in yelling how her room looks like a pig stye because of it.

So far this is how I want to start the short film, next posting will go into further detail of the next 3 minutes.

Continuing on

I feel the quality of each of my blogs diminishing as I continue to write them with all these changes. I find myself having trouble trying to come up with substance or any research to write about. But that is my own fault for allowing myself to change the plot of the project so many times.

Today my instructor had scheduled a meeting to discuss further changes within the class and project. And I scheduled an alarm to wake up for it, but my half-awake self, sabotaged me by turning it off and going back to sleep until 2pm. Thank you past Layla. I contacted a friend who had joined the meeting and disclosed how despite Cambridge canceling all exams, we will still be continuing with the projects. Bummed to hear that exams are canceled because I was working on receiving the AICE diploma but they will give credit based on other factors which means that I have to put much more effort into this project now to ensure a decent grade for the course and exam completion.

With that being said, I haven't had contact with my partner for a week. The last message I sent was asking about which actress we should use and I never got a reply, I will continue to try and reach him but I will not let it affect my grade or blog postings. If need be, I will make decisions without him and continue this project on my own.

At the moment I still like the idea of the story being about a girl using art to grow and find her inner peace through it but I feel like it needs more flavor. But that can be another posting, I leave you with this picture to give you motivation during this coronacation.