Editing day 1

 I have to re-record...

I started to edit my project YAY! To be completely honest I had not started before because I was overwhelmed and a little intimidated by the editing process, but today I decided to take on the challenge. 

I started by choosing which version of the clips I liked better, and it took me way longer than I thought it would. I am a very indecisive person and for various clips, I just could not decide between two or three. I asked my classmates for feedback and they helped me choose which ones to use. Everything seemed to be going fine while I was cropping all the clips until I looked at the time stamp and realized there was not enough footage. I was so close to crying because I started to see everything come together and got all excited and now I have to think about what to add or which parts to re-record. 

I am a little frustrated but I will not let this bring me down. I have to re-group my thoughts and stay positive. I think I can add a few clips of Maia driving before she parks and continue the conversation at the end. 

It just really sucks because I cannot record this week because I have rehearsals for the school musical I am in and next week we have our show. I will make time to record next week and hopefully get it all done this time. 

I am trying not to stress too much and I will focus on finding the audio components of the opening and start researching for my CCRs meanwhile.

Until next time, and hopefully on a more positive note. 

Credits and Fonts

Before I edited, I wanted to plan which and how many credits would be in my opening and what font I wanted to use for them. This is a crucial part of a film opening, and every rom-com opening I watched included credits. 

I want to credit the producer, director, writer, cinematographer, editor, main actors, and the music I end up using (there will be a post about that soon I promise). 

I think it is really important to give credit where it is due and I know for this particular project crediting myself over and over might be redundant but I am proud of my work and want to be accredited for it. I will also credit my friend Zain for working the camera and my friend Isabella for acting.

As for the fonts, I found a website that has a variety of fonts that people can download for free you can type in any text and it will give you samples with each font. Here are some options I am considering

I liked the first one because it has the little heart on the i, but it did not convince me fully. I found the second one and I liked it because it feels juvenile which is the vibe of the opening. The third one thought was also really cute but I think it does not match the vibe as much as I would like it to, similar to the first one, I think they give off too much of a sweet romantic vibe, and even though the movie is a rom-com, the opening has a different vibe. The last option might be my favorite because it is both juvenile and pretty while still matching the vibe of the opening and the story in general.

I am between the second and fourth because I feel like fitting the vibe of the opening is more important than it being cute hehe. I am a very indecisive person so I have not decided which one I am going to use yet... but I will, very soon. There will be an update, I promise. 

Until next time!

Filming pt. 2

 Action... again

After our quick snack break, we got right back into filming and this is where I thanked myself for starting with the dialogue scenes because the last few scenes were so much easier and less time-consuming which was perfect as we were all hot and tired from being outside for so long. It also helped that most scenes we had left were from the inside of the car so we had AC, yay!

First, we recorded the middle scenes right before "scratching" the car. We made sure to get various shots of the same scene so I could choose the best one when I edit it later. We spent quite some time doing this scene because I wanted it to look as realistic as possible (without actually scratching any of the cars, of course). 

Then we recorded the beginning scenes where Jade drives to school and parks in her spot. Those were honestly pretty easy as there was no dialogue and since Isabella was concentrated on driving she did not overthink her acting too much. 

And that was it! Once I edit and revise I will schedule another filming day if needed, but I got so much footage that I think I will not need it (fingers crossed).

Here is some raw footage that we took (and yes, it is sped up so that it is not painfully long to watch, I promise my voice is not that squeaky and we were not driving fast in a parking lot). 

Also, a little not-so-fun fact, I had to go to the carwash by myself for the first time to get all the drawings off. I was so nervous because the only time I had done it before I was with my dad (whose job is to fix cars...) yelling at me to do it right. Long story short, I was so nervous and concentrated on getting the tire in the right spot that I forgot to roll my window up... It also started raining the second I got out of the carwash. On top of everything this what my car looked like the next morning, I have no idea how that happened, but it is safe to say I will not be taking my car to the carwash again any time soon. That's it, I hope you laughed at this, I did not. 

Until next time!

Filming pt. 1

 Action!

After I got everything ready, we started filming. I directed every shot and reviewed the angles before recording each scene. First, we recorded all the scenes that had dialogue in them as I thought they were going to be the hardest ones, and I was right. We had such a hard time not laughing and trying to stay serious for a few seconds after our lines to create a buffer. 

We recorded the scenes from inside Jade's car right before the scratch and her reaction to the scratch, which were a little frustrating to do as Isabella kept laughing whenever she looked at me, so I moved behind Zain who was recording and directed from there so she would not laugh and thankfully, that worked. 

Then we did Maia's line before she got out of the car which also took a few tries because I was acting and directing at the same time and I could not take myself seriously until after a few tries, but eventually we got the shot. We recorded all the lines at the end of the opening which also took a little while since we kept messing up and I wanted to get various versions of the same line so that I could choose which ones fit the best.

I think one of the hardest parts was to make the lines sound like I had envisioned them and to not get frustrated when things did not work on the first try. The good thing is that my friends kept a smile on my face and we kept trying until the scenes came out the way I wanted them to. Overall it was a successful filming session and I did have a lot of fun. 

Here is proof we had fun hahaha

At this point, we thought of calling it a day and resuming the next day, but I decided to continue since we only had the easy scenes left and I did not want to risk the parking spots being taken the next day or any inconsistency with having different cars parked in the proximity of ours. So we took a quick snack break and finished after. I will blog about part two of filming in the following days because I do not have time right now oops, TO BE CONTINUED...

But before I go, here is a very unflattering picture of Zain and I that Isabella took because why not?

Preparing to film

Almost there!

It is finally happening—I started recording! This post will focus on all the preparations we made before we started recording. The day before, we coordinated all the outfits and props we would need for the filming day. 

My friends and I got to leave school at 12:30 on Friday, so we went straight to the library and started preparing everything. We chose two parking spots that were next to each other, where we liked the scenery behind them, and in a spot where not many cars were driving by. We then painted my car with chalk markers to showcase Maia's artsy personality.

Then we changed into our outfits and did our makeup. The eyeshadow for Maia was the hardest part as none of us are experts at doing makeup, so we had to trust the process. Thankfully, I think we did a decent job as the result looked good. Next, my friend Zain has a camera and mics that she let me use for this project, so we set everything up and tried it out to double check everything was working the way I wanted it. 

I then practiced parking my car next to Isabella's without actually scratching it and we started to work out which angles would look best to make it seem like I scratched it. Lastly, we took a water break and practiced our lines and decided to change a few of them that felt awkward to something that felt more natural for each of us. 

Here are some clips I took of my friends and I decorating the car and doing the makeup and some pictures we took before filming:

Preparation for filming 

 

Mise-en-scene (costumes and makeup)

 Appearance matters

I am continuing to plan for the production of my film opening, the next mise-en-scene element I want to consider is costuming and makeup as it is something that represents the character's personalities. 

For Jade, I was thinking of a cute sweater, sweatpants, and comfy shoes, maybe UGGs. She would not think too much about her outfit but she still has some class and I want to channel that through her costume. I want her to have her hair up in a messy bun and have minimal makeup on as she likes to look put together without going all out. 

                        

 

As for Maia, I want her to wear overalls, a T-shirt, converse shoes, a lot of bracelets, and a bandana in her hair. I want her outfit to fit the vibe of the character and I think this is something she would wear. For her makeup, I wanted to do a simple base but add eyeshadow and maybe eyeliner to show she enjoys doing her makeup as a form of self-expression.

               

   . 

I know costuming and makeup is a big part of mise-en-scene so I wanted to plan it ahead of time. I will do my best to stick to this planning and start recording soon. I will be posting about the production process as soon as I get started!

Mise-en-scene (set and props)

It Is All in The Details!

I am preparing to start filming soon! I think one of the most important things to consider is the filming location. The actual scene takes place on the town streets and the school parking lot, so I first considered filming in my high school's student parking lot, but then I realized I could not go out there during school hours and if I were to record after school there would be too many cars driving out or if I wait until later, not many cars at all, so I scratched that idea. 

I told my friends about my project and asked for their help and one of them suggested we record in the library parking lot that is right in front of our school. I thought it was a perfect idea since the building is school-like and the parking lot is usually pretty full and if we go at the right time there will not be too much movement.

All my friends were eager to help me with this project, in fact, my friend Isabella asked me if she could play the main character, Jade. I agreed because I trust her and because I feel like she fits the vibes of the character well. As for the love interest Maia, I decided to play her myself since I have a very specific vision for her and feel like I need to capture her essence perfectly. Since I will not be recording the film myself, my other friends offered to help, but I will be the one directing the whole process and telling them what to do. 

This is her in the first picture, I am the one in the second and the third is a picture of both of us. 

.       

 

As for the props, we will be using our cars and this is actually gonna work out perfectly because Isabella just got a new car that perfectly matches Jade's vibes. As for my car, I am planning on asking my friend Sara (who loves drawing) to use chalk markers and draw on the windows of my car so we can make it more colorful and fitting for Maia's personality. We will also be emptying our cars and just putting in the things we think each character would have in their car. 

For Jade, we will put a dark-colored backpack in the passenger seat with notebooks and notes. I also want her to have some kind of drink in her cup holder and a gym bag in the back of her car. I want her headphones to also be somewhere visible in her car. I think the most important thing for Jade is for everything to look organized and clean. 

On the other hand, for Maia, I am planning on putting clothes, paint supplies, and even toys in the back seat. I want it to represent her messy but full life, I also want to make sure everything looks colorful when it comes to her. 

I am extremely excited to start filming, I want to see how everything comes together and bring my vision to life.