Post card brainstorming begins

Hello Again!

   SO because of my whole SD screw up, this week I have started to think about my post card as much as I can. Since I haven't really been to Colombia in a long time, it has been difficult to write stuff down in my journal as much as I used to because I am usually out all day. I really wish I had my SD card so I could start trying and learning things on photoshop, but unfortunately this screw up sets me back a lot. Its okay though because I'll figure it out and it'll come out just how I want it. 

   Okay SO, the idea I had for the post card was that I wanted the style of the card to be a tarot card itself. I want a picture of my main character (Eva) to be looking directly into the camera crying with a dark background incorporating the 3 colors I'm using in the film: yellow, red, and purple.  Here is a sketch of what I thought about: 

I was thinking of making all three colors kind of blend into each other to show her transition from her bright self (yellow) to then the version of her self she became because of Aidan (red), and then purple which would represent the love she once felt being ripped apart with the realization of the manipulation she experienced. I'm not 100% sure if I like it a lot but I'm going to keep thinking about different ways to style it. 

     Until next time,

        Jess

Schedule changes..

Hello!

   Okay soooooo theres going to be some changes to my original schedule due to the fact that I just realized I forgot my SD card at home. Unfortunately because of this I'm going to have to work on editing when I get back from Colombia. Here was my original schedule:

Week 2/26-3/4: Begin Research on genre, characters, plot, technological elements etc. 

Week 3/5-3/11: Extra research on genre conventions, create a schedule for shooting, start writing script, storyboard etc. 

Week 3/12-3/18: Start shooting as much as possible until day of trip. 

Week 3/19-3/25: Leave for trip on 3/22, shooting will continue until 3/21. Once I leave for my trip, I will begin working on editing what I can, my postcard, and website.

Week 3/26-4/1: (Spring Break) continue working on website, post card, and editing. 

Week 4/2-4/8: Work mostly on editing and reshooting whatever may not have worked in shooting prior to spring break. 

Week 4/9-4/14: Final posting and spend the rest of time working on CCR.

   The week in red is the week I'm going to have to change because of my whole SD card situation. I would usually get really frustrated about forgetting it at home but its cool because everything happens for a reason and maybe me editing at home is better because there will be less distractions. Instead, this upcoming week I'm going to work on my post card design and website!!

      Until next time,

         Jess

Filming Day 3?

HELLO

SO Monday I started and sorta finished everything I needed to film in regards to the reading scenes.. which kinda means I'm done with filming!!! All I need now is to edit and figure out if I have anything that I forgot or anything that I want to reshoot. I'm going to post some of the pictures and things I did with mise-en-scene to make it seem like an actual card reading!!

   The first thing we used was this table, I thought that with some fabric draped over it and some candles laid on each side it would be a perfect table to try and use compositionally in shots and to do the reading on as a whole. Another cool thing we did with the table was add some old little vines and cut up yellow flowers around the table to represent Eva and who she used to be. 

   We ended up putting a bed sheet over the table where the reading would take place, and then using all the other fabrics to hang over the walls.
   I would also now like to talk about lighting and how Carlos Ramirez is not only one of the greatest people I've ever met but he is also a lighting GOD. I was struggling a lot with lighting because on my camera every shot would look way too dark and I was getting so stressed out and couldn't find a way to figure it all out. I then asked him if he could come on down to my house and help me figure out how to move the lights around and add and take away lights to make it look good on camera. Carlos also let me borrow his camera to film because since my camera is a DSLR, it doesn't work very well in dark lighting. I tried everything to make my camera work, I played around with the aperture and my settings and nothing was working, even when the lighting was all figured out and the same thing had happened last year with my previous project. Here are some behind the scenes pictures from the shoot!

Peep Carlos being amazing and
perfecting the lighting!!

   I'm really happy with the way everything came out!! Although I'm probably going to have to reshoot some stuff, I'm really happy with what I have and am super excited to edit it. I'm going to be going on my trip soon so I'm glad I was able to finish what I wanted to do and if I need more then at least I know where to start!

      Until next time,

         Jess

Progress report!

Hello again!

So basically more problems with filming have come up. I was supposed to film yesterday at night but my lead actress unfortunately got scheduled to work last minute and my whole plan try and film Sunday at night was completely out the window. I was able to reshoot some stuff that I originally wasn't happy with in regards to their flashback scenes and I really like the way they came out. I think because of all the excitement I missed the most important parts of what the flashbacks were intended to do which was show the lack of affection and not just the affection itself. The whole Isa not being able to film Sunday thing did set me back a day but on the plus side she is coming to my house today to start filming the reading scenes!! The struggle now is finding out how I'm going to set up my house and my room to make it look like an actual card reading. I know I'm going to use all the fabric I bought from Walmart that I posted on my other blog post and I'm thinking about hanging them on the walls or over some tables. I'm also going to rely a lot on the candles to give it this eerie feel with the lighting but I'm really not all that good at lighting so we'll see how it all works out!! Although I'm stressed most of the time, I'm actually really proud of myself and the way I've handled all the obstacles that have crossed my path. I usually would just cry and I have cried, just not as much which honestly feels pretty good! Hopefully filming today goes really well!! I'm really excited to see how all this works out.
     Until next time!
         Jess

Final Script

HELLO AGAIN!!

    Okay so I finally figured out the ending that I wanted to show. My whole problem with the ending was the fact that I didn't want to change the part of my story that was showing that sadness and brokenness of realizing that the love she felt wasn't special anymore. I kept turning around a million options in my head and I finally came up with one that I really liked as well as felt didn't completely go against what I had originally wanted. I'm going to post some screen shots below of my entire script after I finished it. I couldn't feel more excited to see how it all turns out! (also I'm sorry if it doesn't come together perfectly I promise it's better than it seems! I hope)

1

2 *first shot after 'If you love me'
no-audio flashback

3

4

5

6

After finishing my script, I sent it to some friends and they made some comments and suggestions and this is what I finally came out with! I honestly feel good about it because although it's not what I had originally planned I feel like it's much better and I just really believe in it. It's pretty late to post right now but I really want to dedicate my day tomorrow on filming and only filming so I can get as much done as possible!!
     Until next time,
        Jess

Filming Day 1

HELLO!    

     Okay so, my first day of filming was yesterday and I'm honestly so happy with the way a lot of shots came out. The lighting in my opinion was perfect in most of these shots and I loved the way all the colors were so vibrant which is exactly what I wanted my flashbacks to look like, something bright and beautiful. I also really got a feel of how my actors were going to be and if I'm bing honest I really wasn't expecting anything amazing, but I was pleasantly surprised with the way both my friends acted. In reality they weren't really acting much because they are usually very lovey dovey with each other, but everything I described and wanted them to do was executed exactly how I wanted it to be. I''m going to post some pictures of stuff behind the scenes!! Looking back now, in all the excitement I didn't film some really important scenes that I needed to tell my story. I needed to film more scenes of Aidan pulling away from Eva, and making that lack of interest more evident. I did get footage that I'm going to use in the film which is going to show the happy memories and that sense of love Eva thought was there. Because my friends are helping me out and being a part of my film, I have to work around the days that they can film with me which this week is getting a little more complicated. We started filming Wednesday and Thursday Isa (Eva) worked so she wasn't able to film. Friday and Saturday we all worked until late and now the next day we can shoot is on Sunday. I already know and feel I'm not going to finish filming by the time my trip comes around but as I'm on my trip I'm going to try and work on my post card and my website so that when I get back I can fully focus on whatever I have left to film and edit. As I literally always say I really hope it works out! In the next couple of posts, I'm going to post my final decisions on my script because I think I finally figured out what I wanna do.

      Until next time,
          Jess

My ending struggle continues

Hello once again!

   Over the past couple of days, all I've thought about this project. Every second all I'm thinking about is how I can make it better, or picking it apart and thinking of what doesn't work anymore. I've written and rewritten my script a million times to figure out how exactly I'm gonna organize my story so that it makes sense, and after talking with Stoklosa she made me realize the reason the order of everything is coming out weird is because I still haven't figured out my ending. I wanted to originally end it with my main character crying into the camera after her realization. Unfortunately since the film is only going to be 5 minutes and I am not Luca Guadagnino, crying into the camera is not the move. She told me to take a day to just not think about the project and relax. I realize now that that was the best idea because after not working on it for a day, I realized what tunnel vision I had. I wasn't allowing myself to look at the big picture because I was only looking at part of it. Later today I'm going to  start filming shots of my two main characters being happy and in love. I'm really excited to see how this turns out because I want so badly for it to be good. I'm going to continue looking over my script and trying my best to look at the big picture and not get so frustrated with myself if something goes wrong because that's literally all I do. I think my move as of right now is to keep telling myself that I'm not stressed and that everything is great until I speak it into existence.

     Until next time!

          Jess