Editing

 Me and my group had a lot of troubles going on during filming, so this set our schedule into kind of a mess. In class I had decided to for the production logo since I'm not that good at editing and would rather edit our very important final who’s more experienced, while I’m better talented in things like designs and animations that are basic. So, when Fatima offered to do it, I was relieved. 

RIght now though, our main priority is checking if we have two minutes, if the plot is clear, if the shots are visible, and if the sound sounds good. Filters, transitions, credits, and title aren't our first worry, since that needs to be deliberately chosen between the group and we can't do that before first, actually editing the shots together.

She would send us pictures of the progress, but she didn’t get very far since we had finished filming on Thursday. Since we don’t have a finished product yet, here are some sneak peeks:

 

Our Props and Set Design

 Since we filmed only in Maddie’s room, we wanted to show Maddie's depression but also show her old life. So, we included a lot of pictures. The majority of them were in a cork board. There were pictures of Maddie’s best friend and cousins, and there were also some pins and stickers pinned to the board.  

On Maddie’s nightstand, the diary and the picture of Maddie and her best friend are on the top. The picture is in an old frame I had from third grade that says “my best friend” that I personally thought would be a nice touch. The picture itself is around the age her best friend left and when Maddie last saw her. 

And at last, we had a framed picture of Maddie with her dad in the window from when Maddie was small. This picture was taken when Maddie was closer to her dad before he started to be more and more absent. When Maddie closes her blinds, it’s symbolic for shutting out her problems and leaving them out.  

Production Logo

 Today in class I decided to mess around with Canva and try to make a production logo. I had an inspiration from a film opening a previous student had done where the background was black, and the words were in yellow. It was also animated, something that I least wanted to try out.  

So, at first, I thought about “Door Productions” and I could animate a door opening and the productions inside the door, then shut it and fade it into black. I tried it on Canva in a slide show, but it was very hard. I couldn’t get the transition right and since I don’t have premium, my options were kind of limited. 

Suddenly, I thought about how when I was little and starting to learn english, my teacher would dot the two O’s in the word “look.” This inspired me for another name of a production company called, “Look for Productions.” My vision was having the two O’s as a pair of eyes and having them look around and blink. However, instead of editing it in a slideshow, I edited it in the video software inside of Canva. I messed around with the software and was able to have smooth transitions, and overall it was relatively easy.  

Here's the finished product: 

 

Change

 Today, we filmed several scenes for our project, including re-shoots. We planned to film more, but since the camera charger was missing, we had to use our phones and ran out of time before sunset. After filming, we put together a rough draft of the opening. 

Disclaimer: We changed our plot.  

When we filmed the first day, we realized we had too much in the opening and it was very fast paced. To aid our plot and tone of the story, the scenes had to be slow paced, and we decided to cut all our scenes except the ones in Maddie’s room.  

The scene in the school, Maddie in the car, walking into the house, and making a snack were all cut out. We decided to solely focus on Maddie’s main environment, her bedroom. The last day of school is implied in a calendar and her not having friends is shown in the texting scene. So, even though we don’t explicitly show it, if the audience pays close attention, they will notice. 

So, we made a new story board to help us organize better; 

 

We also decided to use my mom’s camera to film, and my sister’s tripod because last time I struggled to keep the camera stable and not shaky. 

Planning my CCR #1

 For my first CCR post, I would like to do some type of interview. I was inspired by 73 questions by Vogue.  This interview consists of 73 rapid fire questions but only done in one take, no editing, no cuts. In contrast to my CCR, I don’t have 73 quick questions, I have two long ones, so if I don’t have some movement or if I stutter, the interview would be more extensive and will most likely be boring. I might just have a change of location for the second question so it’s interesting. 

I want to do some type of intro with my car, because in the film, I play the girl who drives Maddie home. So, I was thinking of wearing the same clothes and doing a little ‘bit’ with the car.  

I was inspired specifically by Olivia Rodrigo’s Interview because she started in her car and slowly went to her house and had a lively personality while being clear and never boring.  

 

Day 2 of Filming Pt.2

 Yesterday we filmed everything and, in this blog post, I'm going to focus on the car scene. At first, we filmed in Fatima’s car but parked. However, I realized that you could tell the car was parked and since Fatima is playing Maddie, who had to be in the backseat, I offered to drive my car. 

The close ups of Maddie’s face were done with car parked and the camera set up outside of the window. This was to make the filming part easier but to also create a sense of intimacy between the character and the audience. 

The shot-counter-shots were a bit tricky since driving with a person next to you with a camera zooming into your face can be a little difficult, but I managed by going slowly and paying extremely close attention.   

There were no long shots made because there isn’t much space in my car, but we did include some mid shots when doing the shot-counter-shots. There were also many two-shots consisting of Maddie’s friends talking in the drivers' and passengers’ seat to show their bond meanwhile all of Maddie’s shots are of her alone to emphasize her isolation. 

Overall, the shots in the car scene were deliberately done to showcase Maddie’s depression and I believe the film is pulling itself together quite nicely. 

Day 2 of Filming Pt.1

 Today, me and my group decided to film the rest of the opening. However, in this blog post I'm going to focus on the bedroom scene.  

Throughout the day, we had some issues. We decided to film at Fatima’s house, since her room was the most adequate for the vibe we were going for Maddie. A nice touch was also that her curtains are thick, so when they’re closed, the room is completely dark. This and the light bulb are a very nice touch to create a depressing and somber tone. We included many close-up shots of Maddie’s face to create a sense of intimacy and long shots to emphasize the isolation Maddie is in.  

One main issue we had though, was the camera. The camera we had used on Thursday still had no battery because Fatima’s brother had stolen it and he was gone for the weekend, so we used a different one and it ended up being great. 

In conclusion, although we did run into some problems, I personally think that the end product is starting to look really promising.