Final Day of Planning!!

 FINAL CAST

     

MEET MARTIN AKA CALEB!

  Today in class I got to meet with my final cast and schedule days of filming. Our Caleb for this film will be played by Martin Rosario, he is a great friend of mine and I think he could do a great job for this opening. With my cast, we also talked about the days we will be filming the opening. Since this week is a little hectic because there is SAT testing at our school, we have chosen to film part of it on Friday March 3rd. I have shared the script and mood boards with them through a chat so that should help with the outfits they should be wearing and their color pallets. 

Tittle fonts

I had the opportunity to work on the font of my tittle today in class as well, I had a little bit of a struggle figuring out how I wanted to look specially because there are so many ways I could have gone with this, but I went with a similar bubble letter title with little sparkles on the side. 

For right now the 2 main titles that are very hard to choose from is the middle and last one. They are both very similar, obviously, but the fill in letters versus the non-fill in letters make it a little difficult to figure out which one I should do. 

I am planning on getting different opinions from my peers at our next group meeting or when I meet with my counselor. 

Special Effects:

I have recently installed Adobe After Effects and Adobe Photoshop onto my laptop in order to crop out the tittles but to also crop out an image of the effect I want to create within my film. 

I have been scouting through different parts of social media and the internet to find a type of butterfly drawing that I though best suited the opening of my film. So far, I am planning on using these butterflies I found on google but I might end up changed it to a different object since it might be hard to animate. 

    

Almost at the End of Phase 1

 Dialogue

        To be completely honest, I am not the best script writer. But from what I have made for this opening film it isn't horrible. I believe this script captures everything exactly as I want for my film since this scene is fairly basic compared to other complex film openings. 

Tittle

        I have honestly been thinking about the tittle for this film for so long that I still had no idea what I wanted to call it until literally 2 minutes ago. When I do schoolwork, I like to play music in the background because it's just a way for me to concentrate on my work and fully finish it without being distracted by outside noise. 

        While I was writing this blog post, I was listening to Coldplay's 2000's album Parachute. I was also researching descriptions of how people when they fall in love.

The first line from this google search really made me think about specific words that match that description. I started to think different words like heartstopper, uplifting, safe, secure, but obviously none of those would have been a tittle that matched the idea my film is trying to execute. 

While I was thinking, the song Sparks by Coldplay started to play, and that is when it hit me. Sparks is the perfect name for this film because it includes all the elements of love at first sight, and it ties back perfectly to the effects I want to incorporate into the opening when Ana and Summer first meet (I am so smart OMG). In my next blog post, I will be discussing scheduling with cast members along with changes of project that will probably be made. 

Finishing up Planning

 YAY Almost at Production :))

Storyboard:

    I am very happy to almost be getting to our production stage of this project due to the fact that that is my favorite part of every film project is the filming. Our storyboard starts out with an Establishing drone shot of Cypress Bay indicating the environment of where the story is taking place. Then it's going to shot kind like a montage of different Medium and Close-Up shots of the school including people in class learning, lunch, people going to class in the hallways, maybe some moments of people laughing, etc. This montage will probably a good 15-20 seconds which will also include the credits, and tittle of the film.

    After the montage, it will go into a medium shot of Ana promoting an event for her photography club at school. Then it will most likely cut into a shot of Summer receiving her schedule (indicating she is a new student) followed by a tracking shot of her walking out of the front officer into the school a couple of steps near Ana.

    While Summer is looking at her new schedule, there is a long shot showing how they bump into each other which is their meet - cute. A close-up of both of them picking up their papers is shown, while Summer apologizes for making the mess she made which transitions to a two-shot of them finally making eye contact. The eye contact scene is supposed to show the intimate connection they share between each other as soon as they meet which shows the love at first sight. 

    Before they actually introduce themselves, they are interrupted by Caleb (Ana's boyfriend) which kind of ruin the moment for both of them. Ana leaves with Caleb to go to class and then Summer is left alone to find her way to her next class when the bell rings. It later then transitions into a shot of Summer walking into class and seeing Ana which provokes the question of what is going to happen next, are they going to talk? Are they going to ignore each other? Etc. 

Shot List:

    The shot list is just an idea of what type of shots I want to include in the montage and kind of like an order for me to process how the filming stage is going to go and between the beginning and end of my opening. I included a lot of Medium Shots because I want the close ups to be for more intimate things like the moment Ana and Summer meet. 

Cast: 

        For this project there is going to be a lot of common face that I have used in passed projects like the Music Marketing Project and Film Pitch Project. Our main 2 characters will be played by ..... who is playing Anna De Luna and Victoria will be playing our Summer Park. I have always loved working with these 2 and I believe they will do a great job of delivering the performance needed for this film. I will also be having some special guest from CBTV to help me film and make this opening as best as possible. I am still on the hunt for a Caleb for my opening, but it will soon be announced. 

Summer Parker                                                                             Ana de Luna

Group Meeting

 We <3 Feedback!

In today's class we had ground meetings which gave us the opportunity to talk with our peers and discuss our ideas and plans for our film openings. During our discussion I got to listen to different ideas that were very interesting and helped me with really structuring the idea of my film opening. 

When it was my tour to explain my idea, I gave them a detailed plan of what is trying to be executed within my film opening including the mood boards, schedule, full plot of the film, etc. After speaking with my group, they suggested ideas that really helped open my mind like maybe changing the setting of where the story is based like a summer camp or an after-school activity. They also directed me to certain places that could be potential filming locations for example, if I end up switching it a Summer Camp environment, I could film places like at Markham Park or Vista View. 

Similarly, when the individuals in my ground presented their ideas, I tried to be as helpful as possible in order for them to overcome their obstacles within creating their film openings and I hope they take it into consideration to really help them create meaning. During these meetings, I want to try my best to give as much feedback as possible in order to elevate their films but also help them learn a little from my own personal experiences while making films. 

After the meeting, I took the time to consider everything that was said not just by my peers but also my advisor, and I have decided that the opening of my film will start with a meet-cute at the "promotion" of an after-school activity that Ana is organizing for photography club (emphasis on her love for photography) that Summer becomes interested in after she bumps into her while looking for a specific classroom. On my next blog post, I will be posting the storyboard and shot list, along with the possible script of their dialogue and choice of music for the opening. Hopefully a tittle idea will come along the way!

Editing Platforms and Equipment

 Preplanning Production and Postproduction

Platforms:

        Two of the main platforms I want to use for editing is Adobe Premiere and Adobe After Effects. Adobe Premiere is one of the common editing platforms I have been using for the past couple of years and I really like all the features it includes and all the tricks and effects I can create within the platform. In addition, I will also be using Adobe After Effects to create the font and title of my film opening, there is also another effect I want to add during my opening, but I still need to learn how to develop it in the app. I also find Adobe After Effects very useful for titles because you can make really cool animations with the fonts and titles. 

Adobe After Effects    

  I will be using Adobe After Effects for a special effect I want to create between the 2 main lovers. This filter/ effect that is used to create a moment of love and desire (kind of like getting butterflies in your stomach) really helps to emphasize that feeling of falling in love within the first sight of a person. I have yet to figure out how to do it so I will be depending on YouTube, and other resources to create this effect. 

Equipment: 

The main camera that is going to be used for this project will be provided by non-other than CBTV. The Cannon T8i is one of the most common cameras that people in the TV3 or Aftershock used to film their segments, so I will be using some of their equipment like microphones, lights, cameras, and tripods to create this film opening. 

For certain shots like the instant moment of falling in love at first sight will probably be filmed with a different camera called the Mark 4 which is one of the most advanced and professional cameras that we own. 

Since I am still trying to figure out exactly how I want to shoot the film opening, I will probably add equipment to this list, but it will really depend on the storyboard. 

Why I Might Change the Beginning?

        After talking to my advisor, I have realized I am limiting my imagination of how I can make this film have more meaning. There are so many ways I can start this film to provoke a question and really impact the audience in such a short amount of time, so some things may change according to the how the shooting of the film opening will go and how things turn out in the end. 

Schedule: 

        For the next couple of weeks, I plan to follow a schedule to give myself enough time to really film and edit the opening to my liking while also developing a great executed project. 

Week of 2/20-2/25:

• Find actors to play the role for the film opening. 
• Create tittle of the story.
• Land on a possible film opening or at least a strong idea. 

Week of 2/26-3/4:

• Storyboard and create the shot list.
• Location Scouting
• Make the script for actors.

Week of 3/5-3/11:

• Meet with cast and crew to set up dates of filming.
• Start filming!
• Finish filming and make sure there is no need for retakes.

Week of 3/12-3/18:

• Start editing.
• Figure out fonts.
• Add special effects and tittle.

Week of 3/19-3/25:

• Finish editing 
• Add music and any other things needed for the opening.

Week of 3/26-4/4:

• Get feedback from advisor and see what should improve.
• Turn in project :)

        I believe this schedule will help me achieve my goal of creating an opening I am happy with while also doing my best of developing meaning through the different elements we have learned throughout the year. 

        

Mise-En-Scene and Shot Composition

Creation

         To help me develop the best romance film I can make I am diving into more research to fully understand the importance of music, conflict, and specific shot composition to create a film opening that not only develops a question, but it creates meaning. 

More Romance!!

        Diving into the romance genre research a little more, I have learned that (as obvious) romance films are films that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Their conflicts mainly include finances, physical illness, various forms of discrimination, psychological restraints or family resistance. For our film we will mainly focus on the obstacles of family resistance, discrimination, and other love interest restrain that make the film more dramatic as this is a Romantic Drama. 

        Romantic films also serve as great escape and fantasies for viewers, especially if the two leads finally overcome their difficulties, declare their love, and experience their "happily ever after", often implied by a reunion and final kiss. Since there are many essential themes to romance like love at first sight, young and mature love, unrequited love, obsession, sentimental love, spiritual love, forbidden love, platonic love, sexual and passionate love, sacrificial love, explosive and destructive love, and tragic love, my film will be focusing on the theme of love at first sight and young and mature love.  An element that is really important for this opening is the use of music. In Romantic Dramas music is often used to indicate the emotional mood, creating an atmosphere of greater protection for the couple. 

Mise-En-Scene Elements:

From what I have seen and learned romance movies use a lot of 2 shots within the love interests. I believe they use this shot a lot to show interaction between the two lovers but to also show their behavior towards each other in public, private, and everything in between. 

Another common thing I have noticed is that the characters either have similar or different looks that complement each other's personalities and their love journey throughout the story. I believe they use these types of contrast/similar looks to create a deeper connection with not just the audience but with chemistry that the characters share.

I have also noticed that they use a lot of light and heartwarming lighting along the storyline to project that idea of being in love and they use more dark lighting when they want to show conflict between the main two love interest. 

Makeover!

        

For Ana and Summer's costume design, I made mood boards of specifics I want to include within their opening film outfit. For Ana, her main outfit includes blue jeans and a top that matches well with her color palette most preferably pink or yellow. For Summer, her main outfit consists of dark blue or black jeans and a simple but stylish colorful top like the sweater on the left of the second picture or maybe a little red blouse like the one in the middle of the second picture since red is part of her color pallet. Another thing I would love to add to Summer's outfit is mainly a green jacket or cardigan to show off that down to earth vibe within the opening of the film.

Sources: 

Romance film - Wikipedia

Character Backgrounds

 People, People, and More People

        The process of fully coming up with character names and their personalities and what they are really like was somewhat an easy but also difficult progress. There are many important characters in this film but for this film opening I will be mainly focusing on 3 main characters. Ana, Summer, and Caleb. Girly-pop, Bookworm, and Boyfriend

Ana:

        Ana De Luna is one of the two main characters within our film. She is a Hispanic 16-year-old girl who moved to Florida when she was around 5 years old. Her hobbies include photography, dancing, and listening to music. Her main colors are blue, pink, yellow, and green to represent how she’s not only honest, trustworthy, and comforting but also how she is a very humbled person who loves to spread positive energy towards others. I thought it was really important to include the Hispanic representation within this character because of her family issues with homosexual relationships, speaking from experience some Hispanics are not the biggest on homosexuality so it really makes a personal connection with audiences who struggle with the same problem as Ana. 

Summer:

        Summer Parker is also one of the two main characters within the film opening. She is an American 16-year-old girl who has lived in the same place for all of her life until she moved to Florida for her dad's new job. Her hobbies include reading, manifestation with crystals, writing, and gardening. Her main colors are red, green, and black to represent how she isn’t just compassionate and very down to earth but also has good leadership skills and is a powerful person. One of Summers connection that she makes with the audience is her insecurities with her body. Many people in modern day society struggle with finding beauty within themselves because of social media trends, models, and distortions that manipulate the realism of a person versus what they want you to see on the internet. Summers character is mainly based as the love interest of Ana and how they fall in love with each other. 

Caleb:

        Caleb Jimenez is your typical 16-year-old dream boyfriend in every teenage romance movie. He's part Hispanic part American because his mom is from Argentina and his dad was born and raised in the United States. He is a straight A student, charismatic, funny, kind, and your gentleman type boyfriend that every girl moons over in at school. His hobbies include cooking, guitar playing, and working out at the gym, one thing about Caleb is that he can get jealous very easily which sometimes causes conflict between him and Ana. His color pallet is mainly red, dark green, and yellow to represent how he is also compassionate, optimistic, and very down to earth. He is very similar to Summer because of Ana's love type. Since Caleb and Summer share similar characteristics it makes sense that Ana falls for her because she is so much like Caleb but also different in a way because Summer isn't the jealous type unlike Caleb.