Big Issues

So I’ve ran into a lot of issues this past week and I need to record them before progressing into my following blog posts because they’re going to change a lot of things! First, there have been many scheduling problems with my main actress. As you know, I started shooting last Saturday but the footage was lost as it was shot in the wrong format and, thus, unusable. We filmed a big scene on Monday and I cleared Tuesday to get the majority of the remaining scenes that afternoon but an hour before shooting Isabelle asked to reschedule for Wednesday. I said okay however on Wednesday there was another issue where we were going to shoot a scene in the morning in addition to the afternoon but she cancelled because she realized that she had the SAT at 7:40. A miscommunication ensued where because we cancelled the morning shoot she thought that we had also cancelled shooting after school which I had no intention of doing. She said that she would be available Thursday instead and so yesterday I shot over half of the film combined with solo scenes of another character (the one from Isabelle’s imaginings) after she left.

I was stressed for time, of course, because the due date is steadily approaching but it also seemed doable to complete the rest of the film on Wednesday after I get back from NYC if I edit and work on my film, CCR, website, and postcard advertisement on my trip.

The message that appears when I try to play one of the files.

The folder made by the recovery program.
The blank files are the ones that I'm missing and won't open.
There are also many files just not showing up.

When I went to import the files, though, something strange happened. Although it was in the proper (.mp4) format it said that the files were unable to open on my computer and when I went to play them back on my camera a question mark appeared where the file should’ve been. I called the Sony customer service line which redirected me to San Disk’s number and after a very long phone call it was explained to me that I would have to download their recovery program and hope for the best. I did exactly that and in the morning checked on the files’ states to see that none had been recovered. I am heartbroken, stressed, and have no clue what to do! It is possible that I could reshape the idea around my brother and film Saturday and Sunday but if I don’t like some of the footage there would be no way to reshoot because he has work Monday through Wednesday. I would also feel terrible restarting because my other actors have already lent me so much of their time, it would be saddening for them to not see a final product. I’m going to ask my teacher for advice today in class, hopefully a solution presents itself!

Talk soon,

Cassie.

Vlogging??

Here's a little video of the preparation I got done on Saturday before shooting. I filmed the clip on my laptop's camera as to not waste the Sony's battery, which explains the quality. Regardless, the day went really well, I definitely feel more than ready to embark on future scenes now that I've dipped my toes in the water.

Talk soon,

Cassie.

Obstacles Ahead

As I’ve mentioned in my scheduling post, I was supposed to initiate filming on Wednesday, the 29th to start things moving. Because I was still working on my idea, however, I decided that it was best to just meet and organize things like costuming as well as specific times we can shoot. Saturday marked the first official day of filming and it actually went really well. We focussed on the solo scenes and afterwards I went to Markham Park to help Isabelle with her opening for the AS media level. All was beautiful and dandy until that night when I uploaded the files to my computer and my heart literally broke to see that they were all shot in the wrong format. It turns out that my mom had been using my camera earlier that week and changed the format so that she could do fancy stuff with her photos. There's nothing I can do but to look forward and take this as a lesson learned to always check the file format before filming!

Coming home from helping Isabelle, though, I felt overwhelmingly inspired by the way we shot and decided to use my fumble as an opportunity to rework and maybe simplify some things in my story before shooting on Monday. Because of Saturday I'll be adding Wednesday to the list of shooting days so I can compensate with time!

Talk soon,
Cassie.

List making!

Things I Need

A list of things I need to shoot!

1. 

   Blue Valentine, deleted scene (2010, dir. Derek Cianfrance)

   Location: As I’ve mentioned before the film will initially take place at a pool. For this I’ll be using the pool in my community out of convenience. In my imagination the pool would be one that’s smaller and more square shaped, but it’s ok because the size of the pool I’m using now might be able to better express the space between the characters that I want to convey. I’ll also be using my room as the setting for the protagonist’s scenes at home. The final scene will take place at a park in a nearby community (The Ridges) after she’s met the person from her imaginings. I really like the spread out look of the park combined with the fact that it has a roundabout. I’d like to show her sat on it spinning in one of the last frames to imply a sort of cycle, similarly shot to the image above from a deleted scene of Blue Valentine.

2. Actresses: A couple of posts ago I mentioned that my beautiful friend, Isabelle, volunteered to act as the protagonist in my project. Since then I’ve also found two other actresses, a lovely young lady named Jessica and my wonderful pal, Michaela, to play the friend character [Jessica] and the stranger [Michaela]. Jessica and Isabelle are already friends in real life which will help when shooting, even if I want there to be a disconnect between the actual characters, because the actors will be comfortable around each other. Moreover, although I originally envisioned a male to play the person from the protagonist’s dreams I was unable to find a male actor which is honestly fine because Michaela is also really into film and has expressed an interest in acting before so I’m excited to work with her, nonetheless!

3. Equipment: For filming I will be using my Sony a6000. Editing wise, I typically utilize iMovie. Lately, however, I’ve been having some real issues with it regarding lagging and general performance. Sometimes in the middle of editing all of the audio will fail or images will severely decrease in quality and even after exporting never return to their original quality. In addition, several times I’ve exported and it’s changed the coloring of images without my doing so. I would really like to use an editing program such as Adobe Premiere Pro but I would need to update my computer first so that they’d have compatability.

4. Wardrobe: In the opening scene I imagined Isabelle to already be wearing her cover-up to show that she hasn’t been swimming with Jessica. For this I would like to use something like a pale yellow top or a long T-shirt over her bathing suit. In general I would like to have her typically clothed with more layers than the people around her to indicate her guarded nature. This excludes the dream sequences, though, as she would be revealing more of who she is there. On Wednesday Isabelle showed me some of her clothes that she believed fit the character but I still have to specifically plan what to use for the ending scene and dream sequence!

5. General Set Design: I’ve already started toying around a bit with my room to make it more along the lines of the living space I imagine for the character. Especially because this character is more reserved, her room is where she spends the majority of her time. Thus, it is necessary that I take the proper time to plan and build her world. I’ve already talked about using mainly primary colors which I would like to follow through with but I would also like to decorate her room with cues towards her longing for connection, like paper dolls holding hands and paintings she’s done.

That’s really all I can think of right now!

Talk soon,

Cassie.

Everything Else

Chinatown (1974 dir. Roman Polanksi)

Even though filming has yet to begin, in the awaiting days I figure that I should also put some time into thinking about my CCR, website, and postcard advertisement. Last year I focussed heavily on my film opening and left the CCR to becoming more of an afterthought in the process. This year, however, I will change that! I would like to create a director’s commentary as opposed to a podcast because I believe that the mix of audio and visuals will serve as a more engaging and effective way of illustrating my points as I will be able to specifically reference certain frames and influences on my film throughout.

Furthermore, I have a vague idea of what I'd like to achieve with the advertisement. As both pictures surrounding the text demonstrate, a large component of any postcard is an alluring image. Because drawn movie posters are less and less utilized today, I believe that the drawing will provide a separation of my film from other films and leave a more lasting impression upon potential consumers. Additionally, I would like to somehow incorporate a mirage- like image as was used in the Chinatown movie poster to reinforce themes of distorted perception in the film and also create a visual barrier to reinforce its themes of connection.

Talk soon,

Cassie.

Birds Without Feathers (release date unknown, dir. Wendy Mccolm)

Storyboarding

Storyboard #2

Storyboard #1

In writing dialogue for these scenes I’ve found that because a large portion of my film has to do with a lack of connection I’m leaning more towards something less dialogue concentrated and more visually telling. In this process, I’ve begun storyboarding alongside to ensure that I remember exactly how I picture these scenes. I’ve also changed it so that the opening scene is set at a community pool instead of the beach because I was getting too stressed about transportation, sound, and many other factors that can be (mostly) eliminated in a more controlled environment that isn’t too far away.

Storyboard #3

Furthermore, I’ve been using the notes application on my phone to storyboard instead of a pen and paper. It allows me to more clearly translate what I envision using color and shades which I appreciate. As I mentioned in the schedule I should be done with all of my storyboards by the end of the day on Tuesday.

Talk soon,
Cassie.

Getting Organized

I walked into class on Thursday greeted by the beautiful news that we have since been allotted an extra seven days to work on our projects. I have created a series of deadlines for myself, as accounted for in the photo below, to form my official schedule.

Isabelle (by yours truly)

Isabelle (by Isabelle)

Although I had expressed earlier that I wanted to be done with my script by the 22nd, several doubts came up about my idea that ate away at my time and I realize now that I need to make decisions or else I will get lost in a sea of possibilities. My goal is to start shooting (or at least rehearsals) by Wednesday. My lovely friend, Isabelle Miller, is set to act as the lead character in the film and, although she has never acted in a film before, she is very eager and I trust that she will be able to perform with the subtlety and naturalism I imagine. In addition, she is no stranger to the world of film so I believe that having that perspective will help to guide her understanding during rehearsal as I will be able to reference specific films when going over lines with her, etc.

Moreover, I would like to complete filming by the 6th because I am staying with my brother in NYC for the first four days of spring break. I plan to start editing on the plan ride over and to continue while he's away at work. I gave myself until my return date to finish and from there on out I have to complete my CCR, website, and postcard advertisement. I am not going to lie, I'm a little nervous about getting all of this done but it is definitely more than possible if I stick to the schedule!

Talk soon,

Cassie.