Wrapping it up

For now we are in the process of wrapping up our script. We nearly have the full skeleton and a good portion of the scenes have been completely written, but we need to fill in the rest of the scene. Add  more detail and whatnot. Than we will do some "briefing" on the actors/actresses that we've inquired the aid of because up to this point, they have nearly no idea of what's going on aside from the movie title. Once we're done with that, we'll dive right into filming. I'm just hoping I can get the same determination and zeal out of everyone. I've got consecutive days of filming in mind, but the realistic side of me...

I'm scared of what the final outcome of the film will be. I always have to remind myself that this is the first time (whatsoever) that I've even remotely attempted to shoot a serious film, let alone with other people with zero experience and with nothing but a mediocre DSLR in hand. I knew from the start lighting would be crucial but I had to give up on that hope once I realized the camera we had couldn't be manually focused and adjusted in video mode. I'm tempted to ask a friend of mine to borrow his camera but I'm hesitant as I would not loan such a nice camera if I were in his position.

Pew Pew. Shot!

At last. Paper has gone to film and we have shot our first scene which is actually our last scene. However to be honest I am not satisfied with the quality of it, but nothing can really be done in terms of better equipment. It wasn't the brightest idea to go into this without a real video camera. One that allows for manually adjusting exposure and whatnot. And with no crew, I can't get a "boom-micker" or do very much with the lighting. It's as ghetto as it gets.

I did get a nice feel really shooting for the first time. It was a fun time with the guys. We have not edited yet but I'm hoping we can really pull through with that and use our editing wizardry skills on the footage. Again my fear of not being able to execute what I believe is a above par plot and execute some absolutely golden ideas have resurfaced. But we are in it for the long haul and there's no bailing out. We will continue working hard and putting our all into this to produce a wonderful film (once the "zero experience" fact is factored in).

Scene 1. Check!

We have finished writing scene 1 for the most part. We'll come back after the whole writing process to tie loose ends and touch up the planning but other than that, we're moving on to the next major scene. The problem that we confront in this scene however is working around the setting of the scene. In this scene, Brandon's girlfriend has died so it will consist of shots at the cemetery among others. In an effort to respect the deceased, we put a lot of thought into how we would get the necessary cemetery shots.

It will consist of various setting establishing shots. Broad sweeps of the cemetery. No harm there. We will use areas around the cemetery, away from other graves, and shoot above the actors' torsos. And for scenes where we need to see a gravestone, we have obtained permission from Patrick to use his aunt's shared urn memorial. I will be taking bokeh-style shots with a macro view of the memorial and Brandon in the background similar to this shot here:

Finally i was thinking of implementing a transition effect where the camera is on Brandon who stands motionless in front of the grave mourning silently (hard, broken, and bitter). The camera briefly shakes and it transitions from noon to dusk as a way to say, "Hey. This guy must be pretty darn heart-broken if he's willing to stand there for hours upon end."

Script

We have made some headway with the script. Enough to start shooting the first scene. This will be where the real work comes in. Organizing the actors, getting a good performance from them, and actually being able to capture what we scripted will definitely be difficult. But we hope to learn a lot from all of this. Luckily we only need three actors for this scene. There will be no dialogue either. So that will make this first take easier but at the same time give us enough experience to prepare us for the bigger stuff. However, with no dialogue, our use of music, the shots taken, and the actors gestures very well might make it or break it.

Our script is going to be bare minimum: an outline that gives the actors a goal but allows them creative liberties on their journey towards that goal. There will be no set lines but we will specifically state what we want from the actors in the particular scene. The script will consist of a description of the scene and the events that are to enfold. Where needed will be some basic lines. But other than that, what comes from the actor will truly be from the actor.

Do Work!

In the midst of writing all these blogs, I realized that I had not read either of my partner's (Patrick and Brandon) blogs. Of course being a team we need to have insight into each other's thought processes and see if they correlate. It was interesting to see that Patrick noted my involvement in the group prior to my joining. However, I could not find Brandon's blog on the spreadsheet but I'll be sure to get to that. I will encourage them to do the same when we meet again and get things rolling again.

I have created a Google Document (something long due) and we have decided to invest at least half an hour EVERY day into the project. Our productivity has been too on and off so this scheduling will balance out the work load over the course of this. So let's get crack-a-lacking!

Day to Night Conversion

As you all know this is a near zero budget film project coming from the hands of three adolescent kids. As a result equipment is our largest physical obstacle. Of course with experience, a great film can come about with little equipment but at least experience is free.

We at first planned to purchase some can lights and bulbs to light our set but Brian has some crude outdoors lights that will suffice. However, I am studying up on day to night editing in order to compensate for our lighting issues. By recording in the daylight, the footage quality will be very high, as I would not need to compromise grain for exposure. If I am able to avoid the pitfalls like lens flare, catching reflections, and the such I'll be able to retain a lot of detail so that I have more to work with in the editing process and end up with nicer quality. Of course there will be scene in which I have to record at night like on the streets (as we'll have to see the cars' headlights) or at the "Boomer's scene" where I'll need the lights form the ferris wheel to be on.  I'll be able to work on color correction a lot with this. Of course I'll be working on this in tandem with Patrick who is the designated editor. 

This is a very useful video tutorial that teaches us not only to change it day to night but also add certain realistic touch ups like the headlights to a car.

Celtx

Now that we are in the process of writing our short film, mapping out the shots, and the whole shebang, we went looking for an application to help us. We happened upon Celtx. The advertisement video that we were met with was absolute gold and we bit. It was a tasteful use of crude-ish humor that we loved. We were planning on jumping right into the writing process but the plethora of functions led us on a journey, exploring the nooks and crannies of the application.

However, we did make some progress with the first scene. The biggest problem we've encountered is not coming up with ideas but putting those ideas into words. I can imagine the shots beautifully in mind but not portray it. I can feel the atmosphere but I can't express it. I have flashback to movie scenes that perfectly epitomize what I want to show but I can never put my finger on where the scene came from. The little snippets that I try to emulate are always just out of reach.


Another challenge is keeping myself from spoiling the movie in my blog. But here goes:

So how we are starting our film off without audio. In my mind there's muffled, disembodied audio but whether we can pull it off with the sound gear that is available is highly doubtful. Little short scenes of good times. A dash of cheesy, lovey-dovey romance to set up the empathetic connection to come. I feel like it is also going to be difficult to find a balance of lighting. The whole movie is going to be low key so I probably can't pull off making the first scenes high key as the transition will clash. I also see a lot of "stock footage" type shots going on throughout this film as it's basically no budget and highly constrained in terms of manpower, experience, and time. These shots will serve to fill space and set up the somber mood.