And so it begins...

Hello again!  Although we are still in the very early days of pre-production, our team has definitely made some headway.  Virginia and I have decided to add a third member to our group: Clara, whom I'm really excited to work with.  I've worked with Clara in the past, and I love the dynamic that we take on when we collaborate on an idea.  She and Virginia have also worked together multiple times in the past (as they are both in CBTV), and the three of us create a pretty strong team.  Although adding an extra member to our group is a risky decision (since the flow of three different ideas could potentially lead to roadblocks) I believe that the three of us have a very unified idea of the direction that we want this film to take, and more heads will be better considering the amount of work that we plan to take on.

The film we intend to make is a character study of a man whose need for online notoriety and "edginess" causes him to push himself to disgusting extents, to the point where even he acknowledges that he is too far gone.  Virginia and I are both fascinated by the phenomenon of "incel culture," and we want to center our story around a man who is deeply linked to this community, while also displaying the toxicity of these online groups.  However, our team understands the cheesiness associated with high school students who want to make a short film on the effects of social media.  Rather than focus on the dangers of the internet, we instead want to focus on the danger of this mentality, with social media being nothing more than a tool for our protagonist to become a horrible person.

So, what does our protagonist even say that's so controversial and scandalous that it initiates this whole chain of reaction?  Something so vulgar and cruel that it becomes an overnight sensation, so shocking and incredulous that he even gains supporters, and so shameless that he realizes how disgusting he has become? 

Well, he wants to f*** a monkey.

Yeah.  This bold claim will skyrocket him into internet infamy, a position both admirable but simultaneously deeply deplorable.  The film will follow his life, which mostly withers away as he stays in his room, and how it gets flipped upside down by the alarming amount of attention that he receives online.  Sure this is a little unrealistic, but after all, we do want to make a dark comedy.  Although our script has yet to be written, we have a solid idea of the progression of events.  Our protagonist will have recently been broken up with by his girlfriend, and this unnamed character will be significant to his self-understanding and final grand realization that he is a shitty person.

Mise-en-scene will also be extremely important for this production.  The bedroom, in which most of the film will take place, has to be perfectly representative of our character.  Similarly, the wardrobe needs to be able to display where his values lay.  This is an aspect of pre-production that I'm eager to take charge of, and will definitely be documenting progress in future blog posts.

As of now, we need to finish fleshing out this character and begin working on the script.  I'm super excited, and I can't wait to begin production.  However, there's still more research that needs to be done.  Keep an eye out, dear reader, as I'll be uploading more posts as the week progresses.

Incel Culture 101

Hi there!  Have you -- yes, you, dear reader -- ever heard of an incel?  I'm sure you have.  A person who is "involuntarily celibate," better known as an incel, is an individual who, as the name suggests, simply gets no play.  Although there are varying claims on the origin of the label, the definition and its implications remain quite unanimous wherever you look.

The incel mentality is a relatively straightforward one, and the simplicity in its string of thought only makes it even more terrifying.  This deeply misogynistic subculture is made up of men who blame women for their sexual failings, believing that their unattractive looks have doomed them to a life devoid of love and intimacy.  Rather than take the time to self-reflect on the real cause of their inability to attract potential mates, incels tend to live a life of isolation which only fuels the frustration they feel towards the men who are more successful than them, and even more so towards the women that they are with.  This frustration often manifests itself in the form of misogyny and sexism (mainly on social media platforms), but in many cases has even led to real-world aggression and violence.  Some have even attributed the term "incel" to Elliot Rodger, the 22-year-old gunman who murdered 6 university students as an act of "revenge" for his inability to lose his virginity.  However, I don't believe that this mindset is an intrinsically violent one, only that it may lead to assault if several factors align.  I choose to instead view inceldom as a spectrum, visualizing a chart where the y-axis represents an individual's inability to maintain a relationship, and the x-axis represents the blame they put on women.  If this were the case, our protagonist would fall somewhere around here:

Our protagonist is not necessarily a violent man, but rather, a deeply insecure one.  He chooses to project these insecurities onto women, blaming them for his ineptitude when it comes to romantic relationships.  His friend group is made up of like-minded individuals whose toxicity feeds off of each other, ultimately brewing a storm so powerful that it completely spirals out of control.  Our short film is definitely characterized as a character study, and Virginia and I's fascination with incel culture has led us to create the outline for a story centering on chaos, introspection, and shock value all taking place in the digital realm.  However, I don't wanna reveal too much about the plot just yet.  Until next time, my loyal followers.

Proposed Timeline

Hello all.  As we begin to delve into this new project, it is imperative to create an outline for the 10 weeks of class that we will dedicate to our short film.  Using the outline provided to us by our teacher, I created a reference sheet for what will have to be done each week in accordance to the progression of the project.  

Week One

• Choose project genre
• Begin developing idea and plot
• Research genre and story ideas

Week Two

• Continue to research and develop the story
• Begin writing script
• Post to blog about planning (outlines, storyboards, moodboards, schedules, etc.)
• 4 blog postings

Week Three

• Finalize script
• Create a shot list/storyboard
• Create a filming schedule
• Create a social media account
• Continue to research and plan (digital and print components)
• 4 blog postings reflecting research and planning

Week Four

• Begin video production
• Document the production process (for the blog and social media page)
• Curate a posting schedule for the social media
• 4 postings to the blog - reflecting on research and planning, production process, filming, major changes to production and why

Week Five

• Continue production
• Begin planning ideas for the postcard
• Begin posting to social media
• 4 postings to blog reflecting production process, etc.

Week Six

• Continue production
• Continue planning of postcard
• Post to social media
• 4 blog postings reflecting on the entire process

Week Seven (Spring Break)

• Begin editing
• Work on print/digital components
• Post to social media
• 3 blog postings

Week Eight

• Begin research for the Critical Reflection
• Finish finalizing video
• Work on print/digital
• Post to social media
• 3 postings reflecting production process

Week Nine

• Finalize editing the video
• Finalize print component
• Post to social media
• Create Critical Reflection
• 3 blog postings

Week Ten

• Finalize Creative Reflection
• Upload all components to blog

The schedule is pretty similar to that we were given, but some changes were made to ensure that we would finish the script pretty early into production, which would allow us more time to film.  This time will be used very carefully and wisely, as we want to aim for a longer runtime.  However, we also need to allow ourselves enough time to edit, and I fear that we might have to cut it a bit short.  These changes to the schedule also give us much less time to work on our Critical Reflections, which I worry about.  Ultimately, this schedule is subject to change and is still very early on in terms of production, and we will likely make several changes as we work.

New Project Announcement!

 Hello all!  It seems as though these blog postings have become somewhat infrequent.  Fret not, however, as the looming threat of a new project is now among us.  This means that y'all will be seeing me much more frequently than you (or even I, for that matter) would prefer.  Regardless, this is a project that I've been much looking forward to, and I feel truly excited to restart the blogging process (no matter how tedious the work).

Being now a Media Studies A-Level student, our class is reaching the point in the school year where we begin our portfolio project, much like the one I completed last year.  However, this year the options are far broader.  We have the choice to create either a music video, documentary, movie trailer, or short film (along with other accompanying distribution factors, of course).

I'm really looking forward to being able to put my 100% into this creative endeavor and create something that I am proud of, as I truly appreciated the outlet I was given with this project last year.  To no one's surprise, Virginia and I have decided to work together to create a short film, which we have already begun drafting.  We've decided to keep things somewhat under wraps for now until we gain more direction, but rest easy loyal followers, as I will be eagerly updating y'all on the entire creation process.

I can't wait to finally begin working and to show y'all what we have in store.  Keep an eye out!

Documentary Critical Reflection

What Do You Think of the Documentary? is a piece that focuses on two artists, Martina and Virginia, and their respective methods of creating art and overall feelings surrounding their passions.  The documentary illustrates the two best friends' attitudes, emotions, and frustrations when it comes to creating art and exhibiting it, as well as providing a look into their friendship.

Our documentary attempts to challenge what defines the genre by using unconventional means.  For example, we as the documentarians made a documentary about ourselves, both of us working individually from each other, and then united our separate halves during the last stage of editing.  This was something that I have never seen done before, and the division and unity represented in the editing techniques are meant to be symbolic of Virginia and I's differences and the bond we formed through our friendship.

When first drafting the idea for the doc, we knew that we wanted to include a mesh of interviews and b-roll.  We had the idea to sit each other down and conduct indirect formal interviews, but to add direct "candid" interviews of each other at work as well.  A lot of this interviewing process was influenced by American Promise, a documentary that we had seen for class a few months earlier.  The doc follows two teens as they navigate through high school in New York, and the interviews are mostly direct and recorded as the kids perform their daily activities.  I took inspiration from this and decided to implement the technique as I recorded Virginia setting up lighting and camera equipment for her Aftershock segment.  Aftershock is an episodic news show where CBTV students make new segments biweekly, and I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to get Virginia at work - considering that she doesn't make short films very often.  This technique provided us with an abundance of very raw and emotional shots, but some of them lack context.  For example, the introductory scene where Virginia talks about how she feels when she makes her Aftershock segments are great to establish a sense of what her true passion is, but some viewers may be unaware of what Aftershock is.  Vir and I also planned to include a variety of b-roll - including shots taken from each other's rooms, and "staged b-roll" scenes of us with our art (like we had seen in the docu-series Abstract).  However, due to time mismanagement, we were unable to film a lot of the b-roll scenes for Virginia's half of the doc.  This left us with no other option rather than to find b-roll online, both from movies that she mentions, and films that she has made.  This left her half of the doc feeling a little choppy, as some of the scenes went on for a little too long.  

When creating What Do You Think of the Documentary?, we both understood that our target audience would be very niche.  Being teenagers ourselves, we understood that if we were to make a piece about our respective attitudes towards art, it would resonate the most with fellow high school-aged artists.  Although both Virginia and I are female, our target audience isn’t limited to a specific gender - the experiences we discuss surrounding art are very universal to all artists (specifically those who have yet to graduate HS/college), and it transcends both gender and socioeconomic status.  When editing, we used a lot of b-roll and changes in interviews to ensure that a single image wouldn't appear on the screen for too long.  The attention span of teenagers nowadays is relatively short, and by providing visual changes and distractions, we can maintain the audience's attention for much longer.  This was important for us to do, as the documentary already exceeds 12 minutes long.  Further, a lot of the documentary's subject matter regards coping with stress and failure when creating art, which is undoubtedly a theme that everyone can relate to.  We purposefully included scenes where we feel insecure about our art, or afraid to share it, or nervous about what people may think.  Yet, we also included scenes where we praise our art, feel proud of it, and pity what a miserable life it would be without it.  These sentiments are universal to all artists.  By expressing our attitudes through this medium, we hoped to reach a wider audience of fellow creators who can relate to our experiences - and maybe even find comfort in them.

What Do You Think of the Documentary? is very much a passion project.  Although we have a clearly defined target audience, the documentary was a piece that Virginia and I made to showcase our biggest passions - art - and how our friendship has united us through it all.  We wanted to develop the fact that we are two best friends who are also artists, and the similarities and differences in both our styles of art.  This, however, was criticized greatly by our teacher and some of our peers.  Although we both thought that the purpose of the documentary was clearly defined, we received criticism stating that it was unclear whether the doc was about supporting each other, making art, or about of friendship.  We were told that if we wanted to explicitly state our friendship status, we would need to expand more on that fact in the documentary itself.  This is something that I find myself agreeing with, especially since Vir and I had originally planned to conduct a "dual interview" on each other that ultimately fell through.  We wanted to represent a new generation of artists and the differences in both art forms (traditional and film), but more importantly - we wanted to represent our differences as individuals.  However, we realize now that this wasn't expanded on nearly as much as it should've been.  If we had included that dual interview, perhaps the purpose of the doc would have been more clear.  Yet, we still have the pressing issue of time constraints, as 12 minutes is already quite long.  

Ultimately, there are a lot of things that we should have done differently during the process of planning, filming, and editing, but I am still extremely satisfied with our finished product.  Regardless, it is far from perfect.  I am grateful for the incredible experiences I had throughout the whole process, but the compounded stress of it definitely impacted the editing process, which is (in my opinion) the most important.  As for now, Virginia and I plan to re-work the doc before submitting it to some competitions, as there is always room for growth and new experiences.

What Do You Think of the Documentary?

 My beloved blog,

Long time no see...  How have you all been, my loyal followers?  I apologize for my prolonged leave of absence, but rest assured I forgot you not!  I have been hard at work over these trepid months, crammed over my desk and camera to deliver my squadron with only the best quality work!

This past month, I devoted most of my waking hours to working on crafting a documentary for class.  This was a project which I had been well aware of since last year, and eagerly awaiting.  Knowing that we could work in pairs, I immediately chose my classmate Virginia as my partner.  Now, I wanted to work with Virginia for a couple of reasons: not only is she an incredibly creative mind with strong technical skills (being in CBTV's Aftershock), but she is also my best friend.  Virginia and I got to planning quickly, but after realizing that our original idea about the sex work industry was too ambitious, we began to plan our documentary to be about imaginary friends.  We planned to interview three people of varying age groups who have had imaginary friends, and how they impacted their social interaction and creativity. 

Vir and I had gotten pretty far in planning this - even having some of the interviews scheduled - when we both came to the realization that this idea really did not speak to us.  At this point, with only a few minutes of class left, and an entire outline to submit by midnight, we began to fear for the integrity of the documentary we had been so excited to make.  With time running out, Vir and I got on a call and brainstormed ideas as if we were discussing our master plan for an Oceans 11-level heist.  When we sat back and observed our work, we had come up with the outline for what had the potential to be a beautiful piece on art, art-making, and our friendship.

Virginia is a screenwriter who makes films, whereas I am a more traditional visual artist.  Art is a very important aspect of both of our lives, and something that both unites and differentiates us from each other.  With this in mind, we decided that Virginia would make half of the documentary on me, expressing my experiences with making art, showcasing art, and living as an art-maker, and I would do the same for her.  Then, we would unite both halves in hopes to make a cohesive piece.  Immediately, we knew that this piece was risky.  Making both parts of the documentary separately (and secretly) could lead to a plethora of inconsistencies. Regardless, we went in with blind trust in each other, and began by documenting each other at work.

I filmed Virginia as she worked on her Aftershock segment, and recorded candid interviews as she set up the camera and light kit.  We found that this form of "guerilla interviewing," as we called it, served to create a sense of connection and added realism.  Thus, Virginia did the same with me as I worked on my art piece for class.  I also recorded 40-minute interviews with Matthew and Ren, two of Virginia's friends who also do film, the latter of which is Virginia's creative partner.  To stay consistent, Virginia interviewed my friend Isa, who I have known for years and is also a skilled traditional artist.  To finalize, we recorded indirect interviews of each other.

Afterward, we had to tackle the monster that was editing.  With over 3 hours worth of interviews and a seemingly endless amount of b-roll, we got to work, each editing our respective pieces.  Already, transferring the footage was nightmarish enough, as it took hours to transfer and three different USB attempts.  Yet, after having it all uploaded, we got to work combing through the footage and pricing out which parts we found to be the most meaningful.  After this, we could start the process of piecing the clips together - a task made so incredibly overwhelming due to our lack of structure/direction which would be present with any scripted piece.  However, I quickly made an outline using the clips that I had selected previously and began piecing them together in a way that would make sense to viewers.  This was by far the most difficult part, as I also had to be extremely conscious of the time limit as well.  Finally, I settled on making it around 5 minutes and 30 seconds long, which, although it exceeded the limit I had in mind, I was satisfied with.  I then sent this to Virginia to edit, where she pieced both parts together.

This was an extremely long and stressful project, and we suffered several complications and setbacks which we are aware of, and plan to change in order to submit to film festivals.  However, our creation is finally done, and I'm extremely content with what our hard work has turned into.  With that in mind, what do you think of the documentary?

Without Sin

Honestly, after working on this for so long, sharing it with everyone feels as exposing as sharing my diary.  So, without much further ado, I hope you enjoy this small piece of me.  Now introducing:  Without Sin, a dramatic slice-of-life queer film, with some different conventions.

Creative Critical Reflection

Here she is, in all her glory!  I will admit, it is quite long.  However, I'm so happy with what I was able to accomplish, and if you watch it for anything, do it for my dad's incredible acting (and yes, the chapstick in the back is a paid actor).

That's a Wrap

 Finally, finally, after 10 long weeks of hard work (or should I say, 9 weeks of planning and one long week of anxiety-inducing pain), I can now proudly say that I am done.  My film opening, as well as the Creative Critical Reflection that goes along with it, are safely exported and now residing in my OneDrive and YouTube accounts.  Sure, I did go to sleep at 9 AM today (in all fairness, though, I did pass out and sleep until 2 PM), but I actually really enjoyed this entire process.

All my life, I have struggled with finishing passion projects.  I always start off determined, certain that this time it'll be different, but inevitably lose interest halfway through.  This project, and the amount of stress that I was under to complete it, have made me realize how capable I truly am to create something good when I simply put my mind to it.  This has been a huge learning process, and the experience I have gained from this is almost on par with the good times I had.

Being able to work alongside friends like Ren, Joey, and Ale, and being able to gain input and have meaningful conversations with the people I value most has been truly invaluable.

My project went through a lot of ups and downs.  Although I always knew that I wanted my film opening to follow a Christian boy struggling to come to terms with his homosexuality, the plot itself went through several different stages.  In writing this, I was able to communicate with friends, teachers, and my own family to discuss topics regarding religion, acceptance, and social ostracism.  If anything, I feel like these conversations were what I valued most about the project.

Filming alongside my friends and family, although at times stressful, was a great experience as well.  People like Lauren, Joey, and my own dad - who never fail to make me laugh - were always so comforting to be around.  Although at times I felt I could be a little demanding or nitpicky, they were always patient and eager to help.  Here's a behind the scenes of filming:

As for the CCR, which was a great source of stress for me, I'm extremely happy with what I have.  Upon examining the first draft, I was immediately overcome with the feeling that I had irreversibly f-ed up.  The whole thing, which I couldn't cut down to less than 12 minutes, was insufferably boring and long.  At this point (which was about 1 AM), I was feeling lost and disappointed.  Realizing that I was running out of time and was forced to work with what I had, I thought, "screw it man, lemme make this more me."

I found some silly music on YouTube Audio Library, gathered some goofy audience sound effects on FreeSound, found some funny emojis online, and got to work.  The final draft is what I can only describe as reminiscent of those really stimulating Cocomelon toddler videos.  Regardless, I think that this definitely accomplished the job of keeping the audience's attention.

To wrap everything up, I'm actually really glad that I took this class.  Despite really doubting myself at various points, I'm surprised at how good my final project came out.  I'm posting everything later today, so keep an eye out!

One Last Thing...

God, this weekend has been stressful.  After spending Friday, Saturday, and all of today bent over my computer screen working on editing the intro, writing my script for the CCR, and then finally shooting said CCR... I'm definitely tired.  No joke, I went to sleep at 5 AM last night... Media Studies might be a free course, but we pay in other ways.

In a bit of good news though, I'm finally done editing my intro!  This is a huge relief, but also a huge accomplishment.  It being my first (real) media production, I honestly need to take a step back and admire how far I've come.  Was it easy?  Definitely not.  Did I spend way too much time editing useless things in? Most certainly.  But was it rewarding? 100%.

However, as I wrapped up this portion of the project, I knew that I know had to face the much dreaded Creative Critical Reflection before I could truly clean my hands of this monstrosity.  The Creative Critical Reflection, or CCR for short, is an approximately 7-minute-long video where I am to discuss all aspects of my production in detail, basing my responses on these 4 questions:

1. How does your production use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
2. How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?
3. How did your production skills develop throughout this project?
4. How did you integrate technologies - software, hardware, and online - in this project?

These questions, which are tricky enough to answer in it of themselves, must be presented in a creative fashion.  In examples we saw in class, I noticed a pattern of kids sitting down in front of a camera, answering the questions, and later editing them with cool and alluring visuals and audio.  This was definitely an option that I considered, but, telling as I'm a little camera shy, it was something my teacher mentioned that stuck with me: "Some kids have turned in late-night show-type concepts..."

Upon hearing her say this, I knew immediately what I wanted to do.  Having gone through my own (quite frankly embarrassing) celebrity obsessions, late-night shows were something of an area of expertise for me.  Therefore, I drew from my own experience in watching these shows to create a script for what I needed.

Finally, I cleared an area of my house that I knew would make a good backdrop, added the necessary props and ornaments, told my dad that he had full creative liberty as a talk-show host, and got to work.  Upon finishing the script (which was to be more of an outline, yet ended up being read basically word-for-word), I called Ren last-minute and got her to come over and help me film.  Honestly, huge shout-out to Lauren Moise, I would probably be dead in a ditch without her.

After filming all my footage, I went out to Virginia's house for the SD card adaptor, imported all of my footage, took a quick pit-stop to Publix for some energy drinks, and that led me back to my desk where I sit now, writing this blog post.

As I began the editing process for my CCR, my first setback was the fact that I had recorded audio using lauvs (the microphones that you attach to your clothes), and needed to synch that audio to the video.  This was actually pretty easy, as the common practice is to clap on screen and then use that as a reference point.  Once that was accomplished, I had to play back about 30 minutes' worth of footage in order to grab the actual speaking parts that I needed.  This definitely wasn't difficult, just tedious.

Finally, the most impressive part for me was color-correcting.  I had filmed in a corner of my house that was lit up by filament lamps, which left the video looking piss-yellow.  I added an adjustment layer (see, I am learning) and managed to fix it perfectly.  See for yourselves:

Before

After

Now, as I sit here editing, I know that I'm about to have the most painful 24 hours before the submission date is finally upon us.  Regardless, I'm caffeinated, on a sugar high, and powered by Fleetwood Mac; I'm essentially unstoppable.  Sure, I probably won't get any sleep tonight.  And sure, I definitely will not be enjoying myself.  But I have determination and pride, and that's probably enough.

Finishing up!

 2 days until the due date.  I'm cutting it close, aren't I?  Still, progress has definitely been made.  Plus, I work better under pressure anyway.  

As of now, I can finally say that my production is a solid 98% done, all thanks to the last-minute decision to film yesterday.  The process was in no way easygoing, but the sloppy-made plans ended up working in my favor.  Let me paint a picture of my Friday afternoon, as I believe that this detailed timeline is the only way I can truly explain my situation: Friday.  2:42 PM.  The dismissal bell has just rung.  Upon leaving my classroom, I flee to my school's TV production classroom, where I meet Ren in a last-ditch effort to rent equipment.  After a few wasted minutes and conversations with people I didn't know, the task was done and we left, now having two more microphones than we did before.  2:53 PM.  We walk out to the dismissal area, rush to collect the assortment of friends I was driving home (Joey and Mica), and hurried to my car, which I conveniently parked 8 minutes away.

Once seated and secured (remember to wear your seatbelts), we began the grueling process of leaving the school as all 5,000 students are desperate to leave along with us.  This would have been tough enough if we only had to make it to my house, but there was one last pit stop I had to make before we could head home: this was the house of my good friend Virginia, who was the only person in possession of the equipment that we desperately needed.  3:30 PM.  As we begin to enter Vir's neighborhood, it becomes apparent to me that my visitor's pass has been thrown out, most likely by my innocent parents in an attempt to clean out the car.  Not a big deal, I think, but definitely could have saved us some more time.  Now we're outside her door.  We get the equipment, stick it in the back, and rush out of there.  3:50 PM.

By 4:05 PM, we'd finally gotten to my house.  By this point, we're all complaining about hunger and the heat, but time is running short as I need to be out of my house by 5 o'clock to make it to my shift on time.  Ren and I begin setting up the camera, all the while Joey is desperately trying to order pizza.  Now, I can't even begin to explain why calling Papa John's for a large cheese pizza took as long as it did, but the conversation ended approximately 15 minutes later... It was 4:23 when we began to film.  The shots were easy enough to get, but setting up the camera using this chunky and extremely complicated tripod was definitely time-consuming.

After filming the first scene, which we finished around 4:45, we took a short break as Joey and Mica recorded some of the shots he was missing for his own production.  Meanwhile, I pulled a random white button-up from my parent's closet, forced Joey to change into it, and instructed my dad to dress up in the pre-planned priest uniform.  It was around this time that we got a call from the gate, which I assumed was the pizza, but inconveniently turned out to be Joey's mom, who had come to pick him up... As you can assume, this did nothing to calm my ever-growing anxiety.

Now rushing at a speed faster than light, I set up the tripod downstairs, filmed some scenes of Joseph looking nervous as he awaited his meeting with Father Peter, and got ready for the big finale: the meeting itself.  For this scene, which was the only one in the whole production that required on-screen dialogue, Ren helped me plug in a boom (similar to the one pictured below) to the camera so that the audio would be synched.

Boom microphone

By this point, I was sweating profusely (both from the stress and the ever-persistent heat of Florida spring), but the scene went perfectly.  This was my dad's acting debut for the production, and his fit of uncontrollable giggling helped alleviate the tension.  I managed to get a few takes of this, some of which went by better than others, and I was insanely satisfied with the outcome.  Although you can see some defining characteristics of the room behind him (which aren't compatible with those of an office setting), I feel like they don't take away too much from the effect on the audience.  I would love nothing more than to link them here, but unfortunately, they exceed the maximum file size.

It's now 5:03 PM.  Having finally wrapped up filming and having received the pizza, we sat down for a very rushed and very well-deserved snack.  I sped upstairs to get dressed for work, said a hurried goodbye to my friends as they came to get picked up, and managed to clock into my shift only 8 minutes late.

Behind the Scenes

Upon leaving my shift, I finished the day off by having Ren come over to collect the equipment we hadn't had a chance to put away before, and then promptly driving back to Vir's to drop it all off.  We ended up staying there for about an hour, where I had the chance to import all the footage (including these sick thumbnails), and begin editing them into the final project.  This yielded mostly no real progress, although my two more experienced friends did teach me a little about Premiere that I hadn't known before.  Mainly, they taught me how to full-screen tabs (yeah, I know, I probably should have known this already...), and they taught me how to add constant power to my audio.  This was undoubtedly some of the best advice I could have received, as the seamless transitions that this provided me with enhanced the entire production.

As of now, I'm nearly done with editing, and nearly done writing the script for my Creative Critical Reflection (CCR), where I discuss my production in detail.  I'm filming the footage for the CCR tomorrow, and I intend on spending all of the day editing that together.  My final takeaway?  I probably should have done this all sooner...  Regardless, I'm extremely satisfied with what I have thus far and I know that the hard work I put in will be reflected in my final score.  This is where I leave you now, as I must go and edit.  Until next time!