Week 8

As I continue to work on my project, I think I might have to add a few more shots as the timing I think will not make it to 2 minutes. I am currently thinking of extra scenes I could possibly add to lengthen the opening film. I talked to some fellow peers and they recommended that I gave more background information on the protagonist as to how she committed suicide and insight on her inner thoughts or emotions. I think I am going to incorporate a montage of the protagonist feeling unease and puzzled with all of her emotions, followed by a black screen. I will also search up scary high pitched music to help set the tone. I searched up for possible sounds I could find and I came across this page that depending on the mood, you can find the ideal/adequate music for the scene.The link is: https://www.fesliyanstudios.com/royalty-free-music/downloads-c/scary-horror-music/8

Moreover, I wrote on my calendar to remind myself to make sure I include to cite the source in the credits. Another link that I found that I could possible use to incorporate sound effects would be:

https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/?genre=horror 

I also took the time to research various types of noises that are usually found in the thriller genre.It took me to this page: https://prezi.com/-lsd76atj379/sound-in-thriller-movies/

Feedback

I recently began editing and it was difficult as I forgot how to work the app and all of its settings/features. It took me a while to download the videos since my wifi was down but I managed to restart the router. I also took the time to watch videos on how to use editing apps so I could become familiar with all the tools. I used links such as: https://wevideo.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/215518787-How-do-I-trim-a-clip-and-close-the-gaps- 

And the video:  https://youtu.be/kf25nK2XsIo 

These helped me work around the app and use various tools to my advantage. I also took the time to communicate with my fellow peers to see how they’ve overcome their obstacles and if they have any commentary on my current ideas or to see if there's anything I should alter. I also told my fellow classmates on issues I’m currently having and if they have any techniques to work/solve them. It has been very helpful as most have given good feedback and have responded quickly. 

Update

Recently, I had to update my schedule since I am kind of stuck. I think I decided I am going to use real life actors, as using figures would not be as interesting and I feel like it would be looked upon as unprofessional. It would also be difficult as my hands would be in the shot and I would have to imitate different voices. Tomorrow I begin and hopefully finish filming. Since I begin class on the 30th, my free time will begin to decrease but, I will hopefully finish all my assignments early to have the whole afternoon free, to dedicate all that time to my project. On the good side of things, I managed to get different shots of my backyard to resemble a cemetary. It looks pretty good and believable. I also have everything ready and set to film. I got all of my supplies ready to go and I already decorated the guest bedroom in my house to resemble an 80's 80’sbedroom. I even managed to find an old tv in my garage that still functions to emphasize that the setting takes place in the 80’s and not in the present day.

Week 7

This week has been very stressful. Due to the Coronavirus, I currently have no actors, rather I have just a few family members who are not the best actors. I don’t know what to do to solve this problem. The only idea that's so far occured to me was to grab dolls (ex: barbie dolls or polly pockets) to use as actors. I want to do some research on it to see how I could develop a good film opening. I was thinking about researching perhaps the “Lego Movie,” released in 2014. Had a box office of $468.1 million and resulted in other movies being released such as the “Batman Lego Movie.” Since I haven't begun filming I am trying to decide whether or not I want to use actual people as actors or dolls/figures.

Filming

Tomorrow I am going to grab my camera and take different shots from different angles to see which lighting benefits the scene/mood and tone. I will also bring my own flashlights/lanterns as I also want to film during the night time. I want to have one shot of the cemetery at night and during the day. The rest of the filming will take place most likely indoors and it will be in my guest bedroom. Although the coronavirus has made the situation extremely difficult, I am trying my best to improvise and work around it. I need to prioritize my filming and get it done before things continue to worsen. I’m right now planning a calendar to carefully organize myself as I have been waking up very late and sleeping a lot. I will now be setting an alarm to wake up at 8 am and will start filming by 10 am as my main actor does not have online class at that time. I also want to take advantage of the sun shining bright at that time. 

Good news

Starting tomorrow since I have time to kill, I am going to dedicate myself to redecorating my guest bedroom to make/convert it into an 80’s themed bedroom. More good news, I am allowed to go to my community park that’s about 2 minutes away from my house and since there’s a big field. I can use that as a cemetery instead of my backyard. I still don’t know which one I want to choose/decide on but, tomorrow I am going to go outside to see which has better lighting and can benefit from the film. I have to work quickly for as of right now we are not technically in quarantine but, I have fears we may soon be. I’ve also decided that if some actors are not available, then I will have to improvise and grab my protagonist and disguise her as different characters and put make up on her to fulfill different looks. Luckily my protagonist is very good at working with make up, as I have no idea.

Week 6

Since I decided to re film my opening, I need new actors. Luckily, my sister had to come home from Boston college and I’m going to use her as my protagonist. I think I might have my next door neighbor also help me. It’s difficult since I need a couple actors but I think I can make it work if I keep a distance and if I use people nearby or family members. Moreover, in one of my scenes I wanted to go to a nearby local park (Markham park) to film the tombstone as before mentioned in my past blogs and I can no longer do this. However, I found a way to work around it. Since my house has a pretty big backyard, tomorrow I am going to dedicate myself to wonder throughout it and see from which angles I could possibly film to make it look like a cemetery and which angles would work with natural lighting. I am also going to search throughout my house for possible supplies I could use to emphasize that the scene is taking place in a graveyard. 

Covid-19

One huge problem I am currently facing is that I have no idea how I am going to film as though I was in a cemetery. I think tomorrow I am going to see if I could possibly step outside for a bit to see some possible locations. If all goes well, I can pull it off without having to scratch everything off and begin with a new film opening. Another current issue is that my new actors (family members) are busy or occupied with online classes or work. This makes it difficult as I have to see what time fits each and every one of their schedules as they are each busy at different times. My goal is that by exactly a week of today, I will be done editing and filming and will only need to work on my CCR. It’s a bit difficult as I don’t have all the supplies I need nor can I leave my house due to the pandemic of coronavirus. 

Issues

I’ve been a bit behind on schedule and on my blogs. Everything has become chaotic as the Covid-19 has become a greater problem than we thought. I’ve been wanting to update my blog posts but I’ve been trying to go to grocery stores looking for necessities that way my family and I can quarantine ourselves. I decided that I am going to re-film my film opening. My goal is that by Tuesday of next week I will have started and finished by Wednesday due to all the free time I have. I then need to work on my CCR. Originally I wanted to film some scenes maybe outside a church but, due to the conditions we’re in, I am only allowed to leave my home for emergencies. The corona virus has really set me back a lot but, I am trying to work around it and make good use of all the free time I have until I start online class march 30th. Moreover, I saw that they extended the due date of the project so I am in luck I guess. 

Problems

Recently there’s been a few problems with the production of my film opening. Since classes/school got canceled due to the coronavirus, many are at home trying to prevent either the spread or from catching the coronavirus and don’t want to go out. People are trying to limit the contact with others, so this makes it difficult to leave my house and to get my actors to show up for filming. Luckily I’ve managed to work around this by getting family members to help me for scenes I may need and this gave me the opportunity to begin editing as I am stuck at home for a while. Moreover, I believe by next week hopefully, people will be allowed to leave their home and film the last few scenes/shots I need. I’ve managed to work around this dilemma, as I’ve learned to take advantage of all this free time in my hand and have prioritized all the things I need to get done with. I’m currently going to alter my schedule/calendar to fit all the accustomations of these next two weeks. I want to also begin to finalize my project by doing my creative critical reflection. 

Week five

This current week, I began filming. I’ve filmed a few scenes and experimented with different kinds of shots and angles. I hope to start editing this weekend as next week is spring break. Some challenges I’ve recently faced was that I got sick. Due to the coronavirus, I had to stay home and wait till I got better, just to make sure it was nothing severe. It’s also been difficult since everyone is preparing and shopping for supplies. Many of my actors were unavailable this week, therefore it made it difficult to get all my shots. Hence, this weekend I hope to finish all my filming. I also wanna have enough time to make sure that if something is wrong in one of my scenes, I can meet up with my actors to re-shoot. Overall, there've been a few challenges but I’ve tried my best to stay organized and get things done. Another challenge that  I’m currently facing is that I might possibly be traveling to Colombia for spring break, so I have to work really hard this week and next. I also need to find the time to go to Markham park and get a few shots. 

Researching

During this weekend, I did some more research on what is to be expected in a thriller opening film. I visited https://blog.reedsy.com/how-to-write-a-thriller/

which told me to focus on building a climax to entertain the audience and keep them intrigued. While reading this, I decided that in order to illustrate the main characters being haunted/scared I’m going to grab some string and connect it to the door, the closet and the cabinets of the room to demonstrate unnatural events occurring in the bedroom. In my last blog post, I mentioned how lighting was going to play a big role in my film, so I searched up different techniques I could use to help do this. I went to:  

https://nofilmschool.com/2016/10/8-spooky-lighting-techniques-you-can-use-your-horror-film I really liked the idea of silhouette lighting such as: 

I want to do one like this but of the tombstone. I wanna have a shot of it during the day and night. 

I also visited: https://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/by-writing-goal/write-first-chapter-get-started/10-basic-ingredients-of-a-successful-thriller

which suggested that I started my film opening with action, which is perfect because that’s exactly what I’m hoping to do/accomplish. 

Planning

I currently ran into some issues as I have not begun yet to film. Therefore, I created a calendar to carefully organize myself and to not procrastinate. By this week, my goal is to have all my shots completely done with. I came up with the idea of grabbing the guest bedroom in my house and re-decorating it, to fit the 80’s theme I’m going for. I really want to emphasize the time period so the audience will immediately recognize what decade the film is taking place in. Earlier today I also began to sketch a storyboard. It was very broad without much detail but, it’s currently just some ideas. Moreover, I realized that lighting is going to play a very important role in my film opening and it must be incorporated to embrace that sense of suspense and fear. Since my film opening is going to have some scenes during the night time, I began to play with lighting while I was in there. I grabbed some of the lights and neon signs I have in my room and put them in the guest bedroom to see how it would look. I decided that if I want it to look like it’s night while it’s actually day inside, I can put the shutters up or put the blackout curtains that I have. To bring in light into the room, I can grab this very bright lantern and flashlight that I have and can make it look like it’s day outside, so I won’t have to rely that much on natural lighting in case it's a foggy day outside. 

Objects/decor

Today, I went throughout my room and looked for things/objects that could resemble 80’s themed. Here are some of the things I found: 

Week 4

This week was very busy. I changed my schedule to hopefully start filming by this weekend. I hope to then edit by next weekend. I began to write to my friends who are going to be actors or are going to help me. So far most people have confirmed. I came up with an idea of what’s going to be my opening shot. I’m going to go to Markham park (which is a local public park) and I’m going to take a low angle shot of a tombstone of which I haven’t decided whether to make or purchase, due to timing.

Peer Review

I recently had a group critique with my fellow peers, and they gave me very good feedback. They helped me come up with ideas on how I want to film and incorporate thriller aspects to my film opening. I decided that I want my opening to take place in the future and then cut to a week before the climatic scene happens. I’m going to begin my opening scene with various shots and then cutting to a black screen to emphasize the thriller effect. Throughout this opening scene, I am going to add various unsettling noises and screams to add various types of sounds to create suspense and fear.