the moment we've all been waiting for

We found a song. I'm gonna repeat that one more time. We found a song. YESSSSS. This has literally been like weight being lift off of my shoulders and I can finally relax. Finding this song was so crucial, since it plays a major part in our film, yet it's been the hardest part of this whole project. But I am so happy to say that we found a song. We found this song in Pond5 and we paid $30. Honestly, those $30 were worth every penny, because with that song, we were able to start editing.

Funny enough, we found the song and we had planned to edit that same day, it was as if the universe was on our side, finally. This song fits perfectly with the vibe of our song and I couldn't be happier with it. My partner and I literally had a dance party because of this song. Ugh finally. I feel so relieved, but I feel like I already said that. Ok ok, so enough about the song, I'm sorry I'm really excited, we need to talk about editing. Ohhhh, editing was fun. I'm being sarcastic, did you see it? Let's just say that editing consisted of salsa all over the counter, frustration, and some tears. Be on the lookout for an editing blog post. Sab out.

COUNTDOWN: 4 DAYS

RECOMMENDATION:

I just finished the second season of Bridgerton and let me just say, freaking ANTHONY BRIDGERTON. I'm in love with him. If you haven't watched Bridgerton yet, I recommend you to watch it and leave me your opinions. It's so good. And the English accent, ugh amazing.

UPCOMING

• project due 04/04
• CCR (filming and doing it on Saturday 04/02)
• finish editing and adding credits

still on the lookout

Our song. We have everything but a songggg. Why does this have to be so frustrating? Why so difficult? It’s really annoying to be honest. my partner and i are considering paying the $60 for the song we want to use because the rest that we have found are trashhhhh. I’m currently at Boston airport, on my way back home to miami. I’m glad that i’m on my way back home, but i’m really going to miss Boston, I love it here. the weather, the vibes, the structure, everything about it (and also probably that my sister lives here). well, i’m about to board my flight, oh did i mention that i’m flying by myself for the first time?? Let’s just say it was an adventure. Ok now really goodbye. OH NO WAIT! My partner and i are editing tomorrow, so be on the lookout for a blog really shortly. We are aiming to edit the WHOLE thing tomorrow. Wish us luck. Ok now bye.

COUNTDOWN: 8 DAYS

RECOMMENDATION:
this isn’t much of a recommendation, but i just started the book Picture of Dorian Gray, and it’s so far really really good. The Great Gatsby has some competition.

non film aspects

so now that we filmed everything, at least we think we did, it’s time to pick a calligraphy for our editing. these are some of the options:

we are also thinking on either doing a yellow or deep blue as the color. these are our options:

we find that calligraphy, and the colors especially, are essential since they also add to the vibe of not only the film, but our main character too.

comment which one you like best!

(p.s. im actually the worst person for this because i cannot make a decision for my life)

deleted scenes

so it’s been a little bit, but i can’t remember if i talked about our deleted scene. so basically we deleted our initial plan of having Amelia driving to the track, getting out of the track, and then running. we saw that these clips and shots would be unnecessary since it could arrive away from our main perspective. instead, we did many establishing shots of the track to let the reader know in what type of setting this film is based on. also, i want to touch on how we changed the school bell ringing to end the opening, instead, we decided to do a text. we found that this helped with the time aspect since it would’ve been really difficult for us to film really early in the morning, andddd we also enhanced that challenge and struggle with parental authority, since this text is from Amelias mom. i found that blogging about these deleted scenes are important since they were pre editing stage. talking about editing stage, we have set a date to edit! on march 28, we will edit our film. super exciting. the due date is coming up and i thought it would be fun to do a little countdown. hope you liked this quick little post. But last update on me, I’m in Boston and i’m literally freezing, like freezing. ok byeee

the text:

COUNTDOWN: 9 DAYS

me with twanting to show everyone the film:

but also me:

we filmeddddd

Yess we filmed. The day has come. Since we are doing a track influenced film, we obviously had to film at a track. The easiest location that my partner and I though of was the track next to our school. I already ranted about the weather issues, so now I am going to go further into what issues we faed and the step by step things we did to film.

SO issues. WE HAD SO MANY ISSUES. Like our phones were about to die, there was a lightning warning, it was so humid, and bugs were EVERYWHERE. I literally took a three hour shower after filming. But other than that, everything went pretty well. lol.

Ok so what did we film? We filmed lots of establishing shots. We did this to have multiple still shots to be able to show the credits in a way that it wouldn't look too busy for the audience. We also filmed shots of Amelia stretching and running. We did this in different angles, to showcase the same content in different shots. We then also filmed a jump cut scene of her getting ready to run. 

In filming we simply used our phones and a stabilizer that our teacher let us borrow. We filmed the take multiple times to make sure we got everything we needed. Next week, we are gonna be looking through the content to plan for editing and seeing if we need to film anything else to reach our time limit of two minute. But other than that, everything went great. Except for the song. We need a song. Like now.

nature NOT on our side

Literally, why does mother universe hate us. Well, that's a little dramatic. But seriously, why?! So we originally wanted to film on Monday, but that got canceled because of rain. Then, we wanted to film Tuesday, but that got canceled because of rain. Everyday we wanted to film, we couldn't. Like, wow, thank you mother nature.

Then Wednesday rolled around, and my partner and I were determined to film, no matter what. Event hough it was really cloudy, we made it work, oh but not without obstacles. 

Let's just say that our filming process determined of lightning, getting scared of getting kicked our, and being infested by mosquitos, oh and the humidity, not fun.

But I will explain more about it in my next blog. For this filming process we used props like air pods, backpack, water bottles, and of course Amelia's, our character, track uniform. Our filming location was by our schools football field and track. We did multiple shots like close ups, establishing, and mid shots. 

Here are some pictures of the setting:

   

On my next blog I will go more in depth of what actually did during our production. To our surprise we took a lot less than we expected to film. Now our top priorities are finding a song, yes still, and editing. Next week we are gonna work on finding a good calligraphy for the credits.

Bye now

This is me trying to manifest for a song:

time to meet

Finally got some feedback! Today in class we got put into groups to discuss or projects so far, and it was honestly such a good experience, because I got some feedback on my progress.

In my groups we discussed all of our projects and we all gave commentary. I was amazed at the broad range of genres and themes that my fellow classmates came up with. And I also felt a little more relieved when my classmates are also struggling with their music. Music right now is my biggest problem. I can't tend to get a response from the artist that I wanted to use, and my partner recently found a possible song we can use, buttt it was $60. $60?! Yea, no. So my partner and I are still in the process of finding the perfect song.

From this group meeting, I got an insight of what my classmates have been doing. Some have created storyboards, filmed, edited, and directed. It's really cool to see that my classmates have done this past month, and seeing their projects come together.

Ok well, I'm on the lookout for a song. Let me know if you find one. Oh forgot that's kind of impossible. Ok yes, yes, I'm being negative, I just hope to pull through.

My recommendation in this post is actually an artist an her name is Maisie Peters, I'm literally obsessed with her. Ok byeee

finalized storyboard and a quick change of plans

 Ok, yes! I wanted to quickly blog and finally insert the finalized storyboard. At first my partner and I found that making storyboard were kind of useless, but in the long run it really did help us when we started to film. Here is our storyboard:

And for the quick update, we had to change a filming day due to not having all the equipment. We wanted to film Monday March 14th, but we need a stabilizer to film, and we an only get it from our teacher that we see on Tuesday. So, what my partner and I are thinking on doing is either filming Tuesday afternoon, or Wednesday morning, but we will see what we decide on, 

we are in production

 Yes. Finally. We are in production! My partner and I met two days ago to start filming, accordingly to our schedule, but I didn't have time to blog :/ Butttt, I'm blogging now which is what matters. And I am so happy to say that we have started filming!! It's so surreal that the weeks are passing by so fast, yet so much has happened. But we are filming, which is what matters.

So, what did we film? 

We filmed most of our flashback scenes. The flashback scenes are vital for our film opening since it gives you an insight of what the audience might expect from this film. These flashback also adds to our characters development and characteristics. 

We obviously needed multiple flashback scenes to create that sense of chaos in our characters life. Oh! We picked a name for our character. Her name is Amelia. Anyway, we really wanted to incorporate multiple flashback scenes to show the obstacles that Amelia faces on a daily, but we are including these flashbacks while she's at the track (this adds to our ultimate purpose and meaning for the film, which is Amelia's love for track, and how that is her escape, and not just Amelia's but to any teenager that might be seeing our film, and all the hardships they go through high school).

So, the first flashback scene we filmed, we required a very special guest..... my partners dad. Yes. For our first flashback scene we wanted to show the hardships that a teenager might face with their parents. We also wanted to bring up the aspect of the pressure that many teenagers face with grade and succeeding academically. So, we filmed this in the kitchen with both my partner and her dad arguing. We did two shots and over the shoulder shots to show them interacting. We also did a few close ups of my partners dad slamming on the countertop of the kitchen. So why include all of these shots? To illustrate the situation and the relationship between them.

Then we filmed a trophy flashback scene. We filmed to flashbacks that included trophies. One was that we included just a viewing of the flashback to foreshadow the next flashback scene to the audience, and to also establish that Amelia is good at what she does. The other flashback scene we filmed was Amelia throwing her trophies to the floor. We decided to include this to illustrate that she is torn in her love for track, due to her other hardships in her life, as well as the emotions she feels towards her awards and accomplishments; she doesn't feel she deserves them (we did these with close up and mid shots).

Next, we filmed a shot post throwing the trophies. It's a shot of Amelia defeated sitting on the floor surrounded by all her trophies on the floor. She has mascara on her face, implying that she is crying. We wanted to included this to show the emotions that Amelia goes through. And to better illustrate it, here are some pictures:

Well, that's it for this blog. It was a long one. I'll be back soon for an update.

setting up a schedule

Finallyyyy, I have seen my partner. I'm back in class, and so excited to get bak to work. After an exiting and fun weekend with my schools DECA chapter, I am back and ready to work. Today my partner discussed many important thing, so I am going to break it down in three: music, storyboard, calendar.

1. Music

The music situation is something that has been concerning us lately since it is such a vital part for our film opening sine it enhances characteristics of our character. We discussed that we might need to go for a royalty free option, but we are still hoping for an answer.

Will keep you updated.

2. Storyboard

We decided to finalize our storyboard, and we will remake it this week, most likely tonight. We decided this to make our filming process more organized and easier for us in the long run. We also want to describe the different movement and angles we would like to use within our storyboard and different shots.

Will upload finished product in a different blog,

3. Calendar

And lastly, probably the most important thing we did today is set up a calendar and schedule for our filming process. We found that making a calendar will help us with organizational skills as well as time management

Below are some screenshots of the schedule for this week: 

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how i got in contact

 Yes, second post of the day. But I realized I never talked about HOW I got in touch to get rights to the song ( I have not received an answer yet, but hopefully I do soon). 

For the song Dirty Paws, I went to the Of Monsters and Men official website https://www.ofmonstersandmen.com/, and clicked on contact and emailed one of their contact personnel Rachel Pestik, and emailed her for the rights of the song. This was around a week or so, so I might re email, and if I don't get any answer I will try and find a different song.

For the song Jungle, I sent a message on Instagram to Emma Louise for the rights of usage.

I'm still waiting on an answer, but I believe that my partner and I might have to turn to some royalty free music, sine we don't want this to back up our filming process and schedule.

Pretty short post but just wanted to show the process on HOW I reached out to the artists.

Good night.

away but still in the game

Currently sitting on a the bed in my hotel room at Orlando, Florida, at DECA CDC State Competition. The last four days I've been participating in the DECA states and it has been a very rewarding and knowledgeable experience that I will never forget it.

However, I am still working on my film opening project. I've been in contact with my partner and next time we meet in person we will make a definitive calendar on when we want to film and edit.

It's been really hard to do anything school related as I've been away but I get back tonight, and I am ready to start back up with blogging and working to make this a good project.

Tonight I plan to watch a sports drama to get me back on my mood and pace for this project, as well as thinking of different techniques that my partner and I can use for this project

For this post recommendation, I am recommending the show Young and Hungry, this is an ultimate comfort show for me.

Ok, I hate to cut it quick but they are calling for room check and I have to get on the bus, but don't worry I will post again later today.

Byeeee

getting in contact

Now since my partner and I wanted to use streaming music, we had to message/email the artists for the rights tot heir songs. We contacted the team of Of Monsters and Men for the song "Dirty Paws," and messaged Emma Louise for the song "Jungle."

Of Monsters and Men:                                                

    

Emma Louise:   

Crossing my fingers that they answer bak in time. If not my partner and I might have to turn to other music for our film opening.

I'm not gonna lie, trying to work on this project has been tough because my partner and I haven't been able to see each other in person to discuss it; mainly due to me going away for a school competition, and my partner have soccer finals. It's definitely been tuff in that aspect but we are still keeping in contact to discuss ideas regarding our film opening.

We've discussed things like the final storyboard, colors, mood boards, locations, and wardrobe. We are also planning out our schedule to set out a weekend to work on this project.

But other then that, I don't have many updates. Schooling a lot, and just took the SAT this morning, so hopefully that went well.

For my recommendation this week, I am recommending the show New Girl, if you want to have a laugh, that is most definitely the show for you (you can find it on Netflix).

Bye now:)