First Filming Day Recap

The first day of filming went extremely well. I feel like I got most of the shots that I wanted to get for the trailers and we were able to use the room without any disruptions. However, as I am reviewing the footage that I have, I think I may have to gather some additional footage as I fear that there may be a lack of variety once I begin editing.

I have already asked the leasing office if there is any problem with me using the room another day, and they responded by saying that I only had to be careful during the day. I think I will begin editing on Monday to have a clearer picture of what I do have, what I want, and what I may also be able to utilize for the social media page.

We did also do a quick photo shoot to gather some still images for the poster and Instagram. I think with a little bit of editing tomorrow, I will be able to create my first post for the social media page. Recently, I have just been trying to get some family and friends to follow the account to make it seem more active. One thing I am curious about, however, is if a random person will follow the account with the idea that the film is actually in professional production, and not just my project. I think towards the ending of the project, I might put a poll inquiring about this specifically. 

Creating the Social Media

One minor, yet still important, component of this project is also creating a social media page for my film. Initially, I saw many examples of creating websites for the film, however, I personally have never searched for the website of a film. I have looked for the Instagram of one. Especially with all of the new features Instagram has added to the platform recently, I feel that many of these can be utilized extremely well with the promotion of a film. 

One feature, for example, would be the IGTV where I would be able to post videos that exceed the typical one-minute limit. With this, I would be able to post teasers as well as the full trailers. Additionally, I think I will utilize the story's features to introduce and tease some aspects of the project. One idea I had was to create a story highlight about "meeting the cast". With stories, I would also be able to get feedback from the audience about certain aspects of the project, similar to a test screening.

The Instagram profile is linked here, and the username that I was able to use is @teddymovie2021

Storyboard/Script

As you may remember, in my initial post about storyboards, I found a few online programs that allow you to storyboard and connect each frame to a piece of the script. I also thought that these sites would be perfect to use with the iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil, but I was wrong :( However, I did already have the notability application, so similar to how I did my storyboard last year, I simply drew it on regular paper. Also, I did really enjoy being able to connect the script to the storyboard frames so I made my own version of it. Without further ado, here is my final storyboard/script for one of the trailers.

Quick Update

I got approval from my building to film there! I was only allowed Friday of this week to film, which works out perfectly since I have no school as well. On Friday, I also hope to have a small photoshoot with certain poses that I would be able to incorporate later into other portions of the project, like the social media page and the poster. 

Also, today I will be going to a few thrift stores with my friend to find some extremely distressed clothing. My hope is to find an XXL tan, blank T-shirt because I really want to keep a consistent color palette. While I do have a lot of stuffed animals myself, none of them are extremely distressed or at least do not look that way, so I will also be looking for that prop as well. I am extremely excited to get moving along with this project. I can not stop envisioning the final version in my head, I can't wait to make these visions a tangible reality.

Setting the Scene

From the beginning, I knew I wanted a project that would allow me to film safely, either alone or with one other person, so naturally, I thought that filming in my room would be perfect for this project. However, as I look around my room and look at my vision for the trailers, I do not think my room is the best place to film.

My vision revolves around Jane being in a completely empty room. Even if I were to completely empty my room, just the presence of the carpet flooring ruins the coldness I want to portray. 

My sister actually suggested that I film in the garbage room at my dad's apartment building sometime late at night. Surprisingly, the garbage room is a massive garage and the dumpsters only take up one small portion of the wall. The rest of the room is open concrete, and at night there is only that yellow fluorescent lighting. Today, I am going to ask the leasing office if I have permission to film there as long as I do not disturb anyone. I hope I get the approval because it is honestly the most accessible and fitting setting!

Shot List for Today

As excited as I was, I am not content with using Boords for a storyboarding tool. I do have all of my ideas down, but now as I am reviewing to post it, it looks more like a shot list. Without any pictures of any drawings or existing shots, there is no other way for you to create a true storyboard. However, I do have another idea that will hopefully suffice. My dad does have one of the iPad Pro's with the Apple Pencil that he uses for work, so if all goes well, I will be able to use that to finalize a visual storyboard by Wednesday at the latest. However, I did want to still share my shot list to help give an idea of what my ideas are. I have a feeling this might change as I do have another group discussion in class on Wednesday, but I think it will be fun to show any drafts as well as final products within this blog. So, without further ado, here is my shot list:

1. MPAA Rating Screen
2. Extreme close-ups of bruises on her body and tears on her face
3. Pan around the room to show the emptiness
4. Extreme close-up of Teddy
5. Wide-shot of Jane with Teddy and talking to him
6. Black screen flash transition to indicate a change in time
7. POV shot of Jane Doe waking up
8. POV of Jane looking around the room
9. Mid-shot showing Jane bang on a locked door and crying
10. Close-up on a speaker to show the source of a male voice
11. High-angle shot of Jane
12. Montage of Jane around the room trying to find things to do
13. Close-up of the appearance of Teddy
14. Close-up of Jane talking to Teddy
15. End Screen

This is only for one of the trailers, but my plan for the second one is to reveal different aspects htorugh the voiceover and dialogue and emphasizing different portions of each shot. 

Beginning to Storyboard!

As I mentioned in my planning post, I am trying to minimize how much paper I use. One activity that I used a lot of paper and pages in my journal for was storyboarding. Not that I consider myself a perfectionist, but I tend to get extremely obsessed with my handmade drawings being perfect, which resulted in a lot of ripped-out pages from my journal in my trash can.

I remember last year, in a discussion with my fellow classmates about our projects, that one person used an online storyboarding tool, but sadly I can not remember the name of the tool. With a quick Google search, I was able to find a few free ones!

1. Canva

I love Canva, but I never thought about using it for storyboarding! I used it last year for some of the graphics in my project, so I am extreme,y comfortable using this tool. I think the way that this article is thinking of using is by using the slideshow or presentation feature and their free stickers of people and objects. This option is also free, but I do not exactly see myself using Canva for storyboarding, it seems extremely foreign to me.

2. Boords

Oddly enough, the article is from Boords and is promoting other storyboarding tools, but I do find that respectable. This option is free, web-based, and the interface looks very easy to use. I did open up an account and 'begin' a project just to see how it looks. One of my favorite features already is that it allows for notes on the image that connects to what the action, sound, lighting, and camera would be in the shot. I love how detailed it would allow me to get with the storyboard, in comparison to what my hand-drawn storyboards look like. 

3. Plot

This tool is similar to Boords in the way that interfaces look simple and easy to navigate, but the features are different. This tool allows you to still draw your scenes and connects your images to certain parts of the script. The screenshot is not from my own project but from the video on the initial page on their website showing the tool, but I think it shows the main features extremely well. One aspect I especially like is that it connects to the script and the full script is then to the side with footnotes to each image.

I think that I will begin with Boords, as it seems more simple, but as I finalize my screenplay, I will use Plot to have an extremely clear image as to what I want each of my trailers to look like. Hopefully, they work out!