The Filming (In LA) Pt. 2

Today I filmed two more memories. We walked to Downton Disney so I filmed just walking to it. It shows that the character is still doing things with others and is relatively active. Also, it was a beautiful day out so the sunshine and blue skies can represent positivity and happiness, per www.dreamsymbolism.info.

My next clip was filmed eating lunch outside at Catal in Downtown Disney. Once again the character is eating with a group, although a little smaller. What's interesting about this memory is the prominence of orange. The table is orange, the seats are orange, even the menu has a little orange. According to www.bourncreative.com, orange represents many positive things, like joy, warmth, balance, and success, to name a few. This can depict that the character is happy, as he is surrounded by friends and the color orange.

In all seriousness, I do not necessarily plan to use all these clips. I just want to make sure I have enough to fill time. On the flip side, if I am over on time I can take out a couple clips. This portion of the opening gives me great flexibility in terms of the duration of my film.

Update into the title of my film: I still have not found one. I want a short, concise title that upon seeing it leaves the audience to wonder what the film is about; I do not want it to be long and straightforward. I want audiences to think of it easily and know exactly what it is. Some of the best movies had short names, like Titanic (pictured below) and Castaway.

"Dream Symbols - Sky." Sky. Dream Symbolism, n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.

Bourn, Jennifer. "Meaning of The Color Orange |." Bourn Creative. N.p., 03 June 2016. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.

The Filming (In LA)

I am in Southern California right now on a national competition for tv production, and I need to film the first section of my opening. The goal is to film simple events or activities to make it look like the character has a pretty solid and active life. I want the audience to feel that things are good, until the "memories" turn bad. Even though each "memory" will only be up for a second, I will probably take a 5-6 second video for each activity just to give me variety and a choice. Over the next couple days I'll film some activities from a POV angle with my phone (I can't carry around a camera everywhere I go and it will be easy to get certain activities, like eating or walking). Today I filmed a couple things.

We stopped at In N Out Burger and I filmed me drinking from a straw with someone (from waist to neck). It is an everyday activity, but it also shows that the character has someone to eat with it. This was actually funny but the actor in the opening, Alec, was the guy sitting across from me so I made sure I didn't get his face because it was technically from his point-of-view as the character. 

When we got to the hotel, my friend and I were walking around and we found a steep stairway. I recorded the camera looking down at it. Hopefully, I can use this towards the end of the memory sequence as bad memories start flooding in. I want to use this clip as a way of showing the loneliness that the character feels and to portray a downward spiral, literally and figuratively. According to https://reelclub.wordpress.com, stairs going down can reflect negativity and depression, which is what the character starts to feel before he "wakes up". 

The third thing I filmed today was a dinner with some people. Like the drinking scene, Alec was in the shot so I asked him to move. This scene shows that the character does have friends and is active in that he went out to dinner with them. This can suggest that he is very well-liked and outgoing, or at least enough so that he gets invited to dinner.

In the next few days while I'm here, I'll hope to get some more shots that depict how good the character's life is and how he starts to view it in a negative way. Being in LA and Anaheim, there should be a to of opportunities to film easily and quickly. Also, I tried to put a couple of the clips again but for some reason they still will not show. Thanks Blogger. 

"Stepping on Symbols: Staircases and Symbolism in THE VIRGIN SUICIDES." Reel Club. N.p., 17 Mar. 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2017.

The Setup

I had a lot of fun filming my film opening, but it took some work to get things the way I wanted them to be. As I mentioned in my last post, I needed my house empty. I also needed my street empty. However, I did have to do a couple things I did not anticipate for while planning my film.

The boy notices a clock in a scene with the time 12:00 PM on it. I couldn't change every clock in my living room, brother's room (his has more space than mine so I used his), and parent's room so I just turned them on it's face to cover the time. If you look closely in my parent's room and living room, you can see the digital clocks all turned over. I also turned off all fans and the A/C. Those are set manually and without any people, how can they be turned on? Needless to say Alec and I were pretty hot, pretty quickly.

As far as decoration goes, I asked Alec to wear all white (he wore black socks so I gave him a pair of white ones). I did this to represent a heaven-like presence. Alec's character thinks he is the last person on Earth, but he will learn at the end of the movie that he is actually the one dead and is in a stage of limbo. That is why he wears white. Www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com says white can represent "the end of one life and the beginning of another, moving forward to a new life." Many movies use white to represent heaven, as I address in my blog post The Research.

I mentioned my addition of the breakfast table in my last post. I included things normally seen on my breakfast table in the mornings. I placed a label-less Gatorade bottle and a half-empty breakfast bowl with a fork, a used napkin, a cup of coffee, a water bottle, a plate with a half-eaten piece of bread with peanut butter, a jar of peanut butter, and an open math textbook with a pencil and paper. Again, I tried to mimic my breakfast table because that's what I was most familiar with. Reaffirming my choices was BBC News, saying that most modern Americans breakfasts feature a drink of choice (Gatorade) and a quick, simple meal (bread with peanut butter), among other things.

The trickiest thing about setting up the table was making sure no logos or brands were pictured. While nofilmschool.com says I didn't have to, I probably should hide or remove the logos just in case.   For example, I ripped off the Gatorade wrapper on the bottle. I also turned the Skippy jar around to face away from the camera, and did the same with my mom's San Diego Zoo coffee mug.

I actually really enjoyed filming this and setting up my "set". It made me feel like a professional director, and I hope it looks professional when the film is finished. I leave for Anaheim tomorrow for my national tv competition, so now I must film the first section of my film.

"The Color White." Empowered By Color. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

Siegelbaum, Debbie. "What Does America Have for Breakfast?" BBC News. BBC, 15 Aug. 2014. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

Marine, Joe. "Do You Need to Remove Company Logos from Your Film?" No Film School. N.p., 16 Mar. 2015. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

The Filming

My plan is still on track, as I finally filmed today. There were some changes prior to filming, but everything went smoothly. I'll detail how filming went in this post and any changes I made and why I made them. In my next post I will describe why I set up things the certain why, like my casting and my set design (I'd rather use those professional terms then say I asked my friend and put my trash on a table).

I cast an acclaimed actor and a good friend in Alec Marsh for the lead, and only role, of the film opening. I wrote the script with him in mind, and it's safe to say he nailed his performance, but I might be biased. Here's a quick sneak peak of the filming. (For some reason, I can't put videos on my blog so here's a pic).

Prior to filming, I made a change to the scene with the clock. I couldn't convert it to 24-hour time so I set it at 12:00 PM. 12 is the closest number to 13 and it resembles space and cosmic order, according to http://mysticalnumbers.com. I originally wanted 13, and if you want to know why check out my blog post The Research.

Since I presented my blog to my classmates, their only issues seemed to be a lack of representation of disappearance and isolation. Therefore, I included a scene of Alec's character coming across a kitchen table littered with trash, or so it seems. It actually is an abandoned breakfast breakfast table, and I'll go more into how and why I set it up like I did in the next post. I got the idea from two places: my breakfast and Family Guy. When I was eating my breakfast, I was drinking a Gatorade and it kind of hit me to just leave it around to make the setting seem more abandoned. Also, I remembered an episode of Family Guy (pictured below) when four of the characters wake up and discover that they are the last people on Earth, similar to my character. You can see trash on the ground and an abandoned car, all representations of abandonment.

As for the rest of filming, I made sure I had the house to myself because no other people could be in the film, because Alec's character is the last on Earth, or so he thinks. I did however have to lock my dog in a room, and she was not happy about that. I may have to mute clips if my dog's whimpering is too loud. Luckily, I recorded audio clips for every action Alec did, like footsteps and closing doors. 

I filmed my clips in order because I was too lazy to not follow the script I wrote. It took me multiple tries to get two vertigo shots I was satisfied with. My last shot was almost ruined when I woke up. People were mowing the lawn outside and I couldn't have any people in the final shot outside. My dad also pulled up during the final shot, but after a couple tries I think I got it right.

I really hope this turns out well because I want to shake the "Sports-Only" stereotype that I've been labeled. I've done a lot with sports in my tv career, whether it's making highlights or broadcasting sports games. Don't get me wrong, I love it. I've known since I was little that I wanted to be in the sports television industry for a career. However, if I can produce a really good film opening hopefully people can look past their perceptions and recognize me as more than one-dimensional. My mom put this quote up on the fridge years ago, and I seem to find my mind drifting to it a lot nowadays. I feel an underlying message from it is if you want something, you can do it, even if no one thinks you can.

"Number 12 - Meaning and Significance - Fun Facts." MysticalNumbers.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

"Quahog Sporting Goods." Family Guy Almanac.  N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

The Pre-Film Stage

According to my schedule, I have to film this week. As of now I have no actor and no definitive day to film. I need to change that. I wrote the script with my friend in mind so hopefully he can do it. I need to do it sometime Thursday through Sunday because I leave all next week and my mom and brother won't be home this weekend, so it will be easier to film.

All I will need is:

-an empty bedroom

-a white shirt

-white shorts

-an alarm clock

-a gloomy day

I realize that a gloomy day may be hard to get, and if I have to film not on a gloomy day so be it. Maybe I'll juts add more effects when the boy runs outside. I just looked at the weather and it is supposed to thunderstorm on Thursday and be gloomy Friday through Sunday. Nice. 

Speaking of effects, I want to add a fade and white tint to emphasize a sort of "heavenly" place. As its revealed later in the movie, the boy is in a place of "limbo" similar to heaven, but not quite there yet. In shows and films, heaven is usually depicted as a shiny and overly-white place. Some examples are the tv show South Park (pictured below) and the film Bruce Almighty, directed by Tom Shadyac. 

I guess all I have to is figure out officially when I am filming, and come up with a title.

Bartman, Derek. "Depictions of Heaven in TV." Time Entertainment. Time Entertainment, 6 Dec. 2015. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.

The Shots

I was originally going to put a storyboard into this post, but I have decided against it after I put an A/V script into my post The Outline. I am however going to talk about why I plan to use different type of shots in the film opening.

I start out with a series of POV, or Point of View shots to indicate that the scenes the audience is seeing is a direct interaction with someone's vision; it is what the character directly sees. I wanted the audience to feel like they are the character participating in the scenes. The scenes start with happier, everyday actions and become darker. The goal is for the audience to feel as if everything was right, and then it went wrong for the character.

After the boy realizes he can hear his thoughts aloud, a high wide angle is used to show the boy in his bedroom. I want to depict the room he is in and show that it is empty aside from the boy in his bed. I also want to give a sense that the boy is small and almost inferior to his surroundings. According to videoeditingsage.com, a high angle can be used to show  a subject as "smaller and/or weaker". That is what I intend to portray the boy as in this scene.

I include two notably unique and crucial shots in my film opening. The first one to appear is the dolly zoom, or the "vertigo" shot. It's when the camera is pulled back from the subject, but the lens is zoomed in on the subject simultaneously. The main purpose is to "tell the viewers that the character in the focus of the camera has just had an emotional shock," according to tvtropes.org. I want the audience to realize that the boy just had a sudden and disturbing realization that will affect his actions and the following sequence. The vertigo shock was first made popular in the 1958 film Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock and has been used in countless films and shows, like Jaws by Steven Spielberg. (pictured below). (I really look forward to shooting this type of shot).

My next unique shot is when the boy runs outside and has he rotates, the camera revolves in the opposite direction around him. All this shot requires is the camera operator to revolve around the subject in a fluid circle. It took me a while to find the official name for it, and it doesn't seem there is a universal one. However, tvtropes.org calls it the "Orbital Shot". It is used to primarily portray that the character is spinning and is appropriate in scenes of confusion or paranoia. I want the audience to realize that the boy is not only confused and scared but that something is very "twisted," hence the twisting camera shot.

Blair, Dan. "Camera Angles High-Angle: Give Your Scene More Impact!" The Video Editing Sage. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.

"Vertigo Effect." TV Tropes. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.

Tarantola, Andrew. "How To Recreate Hitchcock's Famous "Vertigo Effect"." Gizmodo. Gizmodo.com, 03 May 2012. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.

"Orbital Shot." TV Tropes. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.

The Research

My last post I promised I would mention my decisions and the research behind it in this post. Let's get right to it.

The video starts with a sequence of "memories" from the main character. I wanted to give a glimpse into the character's life and make the audience feel what he was feeling. I needed to place memories of a typical white teenage boy. According to Quora.com, most white teenagers actually do attend high school. So throwing a couple scenes from a classroom and cafeteria makes sense. Also, all teenagers have the ability to get a driver's license, with all states except New Jersey allowing 14-16 year olds to get a license, per Verywell.com. This means I'll also have a a scene of him driving (of course in a safe area like outside my house). I also have a scene where the boy throws his phone. Oregonlive.com says over 80% of all teenagers have phones, so it makes sense for this character to have one.

On to the "Present-day" portion of the film. The boy wakes up and is clearly confused as he can hear the voice in his head out loud. My goal is to make the voice slightly echo to show that it is a strange voice, whereas when the character's talks there are no sound effects. I got the echo idea from the show "Legends of Tomorrow" (pictured below) when two characters enter the mind of another character. In the episode, every time they talk their voices echo because they are in someone's mind and not in real life. I wanted the character to hear himself think not just to represent a strange new place, but so the audience can fully understand what the character is thinking. I could just have the character speak out loud, but personally I hate when character's do that because no one really talks out loud when they are alone; they think it.

I included the part of the boy asking where his parents are because most kids' first reaction when they are unsure of something is to ask their parents. My parents are the most important figures in my life and I always look to them for guidance, as does the character in this. According to kidshealth.org, 79% of kids say they feel close to their parents, and this character is one if them.

One of my biggest decisions is to make the clock say 13:00. I needed the character to realize the time and that it is different, suggesting that this "place" is not what it seemed. I chose the number 13 because of its symbolism of death and unluckiness. Ridingthebeast.com says 13 "symbolizes the death to the matter or to oneself."

As for the title of the film, I am still thinking about it. I want a title that is symbolic of isolation or survival. I want a title that gets people wondering about what the movie is about. I don't want something straightforward like "Last Man Alive" or "The Final Human". I'll keep updating my hunt for a title on my blog.

Davidson, JD. "What Is the Life of Teenagers like These Days in the United States?" Quora. N.p., 9 Apr. 2016. Web.

Witmer, Denise. "Here's How Old Your Teen Needs to Be to Drive in Each State." Verywell. N.p., 31 Jan. 2017. Web.

"Survey Results: How Do Parents and Kids Get Along?" KidsHealth. Ed. D'Arcy Lyness. The Nemours Foundation, 9 Mar. 2016. Web.

"Properties of the Number 13." Number 13 Symbolism, 13 Meaning and Numerology. N.p., 19 Dec. 1998. Web.

The Outline

I finished my official outline for my story. I did it in the format of an Audio/Video script. I typed it on Pages and exported it to a PDF, which I turned into a JPEG. Here it is. (Sorry if the quality is bad, I had to convert it three times. Thanks Blogger.)

As for the research and my decision-making for what I chose to do and why, you'll have to wait for my next two post. There I will dive deeper into the madness that is my mind. (I just felt like saying that. Seriously though, I'll go into full detail on my research and decisions in the next two blogs.)

I actually decided to add a part underneath it with a pan of the boy laying upside down talking into a recorder. He says “It’s been 2 days since I last saw human life. Supplies are limited, and energy is running low.” I did this to provide the audience more clarification with what's going on.

I used an A/V script to layout the camera shots and its audio for me to easily determine what shot needs to be filmed and what audio needs to be recorded. For the indoor shots, I plan on doing them in order and the POV shots whenever I can, probably during the week I am in Anaheim for a national TV competition. However, it is possible that the day I shoot the indoor shots the weather is either too good or too bad to film in. My desired environment is a gloomy, dull day, but I know that may not happen. I may need to shoot the part where the boy runs outside another day when the weather is in my favor.

The Technology

When I was first given these options months ago, it was a no-brainer that I would be doing a film opening over a magazine layout. I am a TV Production student and have had vast experience making videos. Of course, those videos tend to be sports, like sports highlight for my school. (I tried downloading an example onto here, but the video wasn't compatible with the site. Thanks Blogger)

While I am not as skilled in the entertainment industry as I am in sports, I certainly have the tools to make a high-quality video. I will check out a Panasonic AG-AC90 camera, or AC90, to film the video. I have worked with this camera for three years now, and it can do many things that a professional camera can do. For example, I plan on using a rack focus and a vertigo shot in the film. Those are just two "tricks" this baby can do. For more information, check out the official description at  http://www.panasonic.com/in/business/broadcast/camera/avccam/ag-ac90.html.

As for editing, I will use Adobe Premiere Pro CC. I have used this since it came out and find it quite easy and helpful. For more information, check out the official description at http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/features.html. 

"AG-AC90 AVCCAM - Panasonic." AVCCAM - Panasonic. Panasonic, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

"Adobe Premiere Pro CC." Premiere Pro CC. Adobe, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

The Story

I have been thinking about my film opening for a while now, so this post will be relatively easy. I know my genre, plot, and character so now I will describe each a little more in depth.

The synopsis of the entire movie is "After waking up one day and realizing there are no humans left on Earth, Collin Bryant must overcome the elements, loneliness, and intense mental conflict to survive and discover the reason for humanity's disappearance." The opening starts with a slow heartbeat while scenes are shown from a first-person point of view. As the heartbeat picks up, the "memories" pick up to, both in speed and in the action depicted in the scenes. Suddenly, it cuts to eyes opening and a gasp. The boy sits up, rubs his face, and looks around. He gets concerned and steps out of his bed. He pops his head out of a door, looks around and slowly comes out. He walks out to into his living room and asks "Mom? Dad?" He looks around and stops on his alarm clock. It reads 13:00. He mutters aloud why the clock is in military time. He looks outside and down at the clock, muttering why he would sleep in so late. He looks at the clock in the corner and it also reads 1. He panics and runs to his parent's room, only to see it empty. Now he is really freaked out and and runs outside and collapses to his knees and screams. 96 hours later he is bored on a couch, upside down, talking into his phone saying "It has been 96 hours since I last encountered a human. Sometimes I wonder what will get to me first, the loneliness or the boredom. The electricity will surely run out soon and I don't have much food left". I wanted to demonstrate the confusion of the boy and show how he knows something is wrong. When he mutters while looking at the clock, I hoped to clarify that the boy is confused, and that something is not right. I want to use advanced camera shots to show his confusion, like a vertigo shot when he goes to his parents room. Also, I want to circle around him with the camera to give a spinning affect to the boy, as if he is dizzy and confused.

I have always been a fan of science fiction and mystery. It only made sense to make my film opening a mixture of both. A good science fiction film has, according to filmsite.org, are "usually scientific, visionary, comic-strip-like, and imaginative, and usually visualized through fanciful, imaginative settings, expert film production design, advanced technology gadgets (i.e., robots and spaceships), scientific developments, or by fantastic special effects." I certainly intend to make this opening imaginative as I explore the storyline "What if everyone disappeared from the Earth?" Science fiction has always intrigued me. Some of my favorite movies include the Marvel/DC movies and the Star Wars saga. I feel like I can use my love for science fiction to appropriately drive this film and produce something that I as a sci-fi fan will enjoy. Additionally, I added some element of mystery because some of the best science fiction movies have had some mystery, like Alien and E.T. (I don't know why the first ones I thought of were both about aliens, but they are pretty good). Through advance camera techniques and realistic reactions from the actor, I hope to fully capture the mystery and suspense that a science fiction film like this should possess.

The character's name will be Collin Bryant, but viewers will not know that from the film opening. I want a strong, young teenager to make the audience feel a connection. I want a male because of the dominant male stereotype. Most good movies have a central lead character being a male, as griid.org reported that out of 67 of the best movies according to a poll, 55 had a male lead character. They say that women are generally viewed as "soft", and for my film I want someone viewed as strong and independent. That way, the character can more easily overcome this dilemma. Disclaimer: I view mean and women as equal, but for the cinematic purposes, I must follow the stereotype of a dominant strong male as the lead character.

"Science Fiction Films." Genres: Science Fiction. FilmSite, n.d. Web. 9 Mar. 2017.

Dunlap, Geoff. "Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy." Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Mar. 2017.

The Process

One of my biggest things in accomplishing something is having a process to get it done efficiently and effectively. I understand that if I have an outline to follow, it will be hard to slack off or fall behind. This first post is just a design of how my film opening will be laid out and the steps I will do to accomplish my task. I consider this post my holy grail for this project.

In the week of March 6th to March 12th, I will develop the process to which I will complete my film opening. That blog post (this one) will outline my entire process and the steps I take to effectively completing the project. The next post will describe the overall story. I will include the genre, the plot, and the character and my decisions for them. The final post that week will be describing what I will use to work on this film opening with and why I chose that technology.

In the week of March 13th to March 19th, my first post will outline the actual film opening. I will not go into depth about the outline, I will just simply lay it out. The next post will go into detail about my decisions I made in regards to the film opening. This will include a good portion of research and support into my decisions. My final post that week will include a full storyboard featuring different variety of shots. I will explain why I used certain types of shots to portray the scene and where/when I filmed.

In the week of March 20th to March 26th, I will film the "present-day" portion of my film opening. The opening will start with a series of "memories", and then snap to "present-day". In three separate posts, I will talk about the day's work and what I filmed and why. I will include any changes or issues that have come up that affected my work.

In the week of March 27th to April 2nd, my first challenge will arise. I will be in Anaheim for a week for a national broadcasting competition for the Student Television Network. While there I will film the "memories" portion of the opening. In three separate posts, I will describe what I filmed and why.

The week of April 3rd to April 7th I will edit my film opening. I will discuss how I edited it, what I used, and any changes/issues. In three separate posts, I will describe my days work.

From April 7th to April 8th, I will write and record my Creative Critical Reflection. I will reflect on my choices, obstacles, and the overall process of completing this film opening on a podcast. I will post the final project of the video.

It is important I follow this "Holy Grail" because a step-by-step process is important to completing a task efficiently and effectively. Preparation is a key component of success, and I hope I can accomplish that with this project. As Alexander Graham Bell said, "Before anything else, preparation is the key to success."  That seemed to work out pretty well for him.

"Alexander Graham Bell Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 7 Mar. 2017.