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!

Not My Type

 As the deadline draws closer, my anxiety levels begin to take a sharp pivot upwards at surprisingly alarming rates.  April 4th; less than a week from today.  And still, I need to finish filming half of my project, edit (both visuals and sound), select a font, insert the cast and crew credits, and create my CCR from scratch.  Needless to say, I'm a bit worried.

Now, I know that admitting to missing half of my project is foolish.  One could easily read this and say, "why didn't you film it sooner?"  Honestly, sometimes I find myself wondering the same... Regardless, what's done is done.  Unlike the restaurant scenes (which took about an hour and a half to film), the missing two scenes are only a few moments long, and I've decided to film them both at my house.  The scene of Joseph waking up and getting ready, which I had already filmed on an iPhone, will be re-shot.  This is due to the contrasting quality and definition of the scenes, which is stark and immediately noticeable.

Therefore, knowing that I will already have Joey and Ren over at my house to film this, I decided to just kill two birds with one stone and film the scene between Joseph and Father Peter as well.  Originally, filming this scene at my house was something that I wanted to avoid.  I feared that the setting would resemble that of a home instead of an office or ministry, and that the effect on the audience would be lost.  However, as I'm fighting against time, I've decided to just settle with it.

However, without half of my project, editing has been slow.  I've managed to edit the restaurant scenes down to a point where I am satisfied, but I still need to color-grade the footage and add background sounds, which is something that I intend to work on as soon as I finish pressing "publish" on this very blog post.

As I take my attention away from editing and on to other post-production aspects, I've decided to focus on creating my title page.  Because the content of my film is quite harrowing and dramatic, I wanted these same traits to be reflected in my font selection.  Instead of going with something more whimsical and light-hearted, I looked for more poignant and frail font types.  This led me to craft a selection consisting of thin lines and sharp edges, although I played around with some calligraphic fonts as well.

Using this website, I browsed through some community-created fonts (all copyright free) and was left with the four pictured above.  I liked these for the same reasons I just listed, but also because they feel fancy and quite professional.  Additionally, I messed around with some fonts on Adobe Illustrator, although none of them quite hit the same (and are quite honestly not even worth mentioning.)  Torn between the first and last fonts pictured, I ultimately selected the first one, due to it being more legible and less extravagant.

Knowing that I wanted this font for my title card, I decided to also include it in my credit sequence.  Using the same website, I browsed through some more fonts, looking for one to use for my cast and crews' names.  This time, I browsed through fonts with bolder, stronger elements.  I wanted to create a contrast between both, while still having them be complementary to each other.  After some tinkering around, I produced a credit layout that I was satisfied with:

To finalize my decision, I inserted this into Premiere, and messed around with it a little to see how it would look in the final production.  The final product is something that I'm extremely satisfied with, and it honestly makes me a little optimistic about how the production will look in the end.  Heres a little sneak peek:

In the end, I still have a long way to go.  However, I feel like some progress was made in this decision.  For now, I'll focus on color-grading and sound editing, and I'll be back soon with (hopefully) more progress made as the deadline aproaches.

Editing

Despite my long and dramatic monologue about the trials and tribulations of being a Media Studies student in one of my latest posts, I actually have been enjoying myself this spring break.  Because of my pretty loaded schedule, I've been struggling with finding time to work on my production.  As of now, I have relatively little left to work on, and little time to accomplish it.  However, these tasks require a lot of attention, and they're better done sooner rather than later.

Primarily, I need to film the last scene of my intro, which features Joseph's first encounter with Father Peter.  This scene only takes up a few seconds and should be wrapped rather quickly.  However, the issue arises in the fact that I still haven't been able to find an office setting where I can film, and that my dad (who plays Father Peter), would need to find an hour or two of free time in his schedule to come film with us.  Regardless, this scene is quite important, and I want to get it filmed as soon as I can.

The second thing that I need to check off my list is that I need to create a title card for the movie, and I need to start selecting fonts and text placement for the credits.  However, I'll do that once I'm done editing.  This leads me to my last and certainly most important point: Editing.

Although I started editing my production already, I am incredibly unsatisfied with what I have thus far.  The scene shot on the iPhone is very noticeably different from the one shot on the Camera M50, and the change is throwing me off.  Additionally, I've been finding it very hard to edit the scenes using the monologue/score as a reference.  Instead, I'm considering reworking the audio to best fit the scenes once I have them all cut together.

The editing process

Some good news, however, is that I've been working on color-grading the footage that I know will for sure make it to the final piece.  Changing the color settings to create a more dull appearance is something that I wish to do both as a stylistic choice, but also a metaphorical one.  As Joseph describes the adversities he must overcome in his life, I want the audience to see his depression manifested on the screen.  Here's a look into what I've been changed:

Before

After

Still, this is just a work in progress.

Day Two of Filming!

Progress has been pretty slow recently.  After filming the first batch of scenes on Wednesday (which was the most time-consuming and stress-inducing by far), I've taken things pretty slow.  On Thursday, I was reunited with Joey yet again after he came over to my house to film his own production with my good friend Mica.  Joey's production is about an edgy aspiring musician, and I guess that he just found my room to be stereotypically emo enough (ironically, this is the second time that my room has been typecasted like this for a Media Studies project).

Anyway, while Mica and Joey were shooting some footage, I was hard at work downloading all of my files and importing them into Premiere Pro.  This sounds like an easy enough task, but actually took a good while considering the length and size of the videos, as well as the fact that my PC isn't exactly an editor's dream.  As soon as I managed to get all the files in Premiere, I noticed immediately how slow the app was working.  Having never experienced any problems of this kind before, I was struck by them now.  Mainly, I noticed that the "File" tab wouldn't even open, which made me anxious over the app crashing, and me losing all the progress I had made.

As soon as Joey and Mica finished filming all their scenes, I decided to take advantage of the fact that I had Joey with me and film another one of the scenes for my film.  This was a risky choice, considering that I didn't have Ren's camera with me, and that my main actor was wearing different clothes.  The second problem was pretty easily overcome, as my brother happened to have the exact same beige crewneck that Joey wore throughout the first day of filming.  However, there is a shot where you can clearly see that he's wearing a white shirt underneath.  This is a huge continuity error, as Joey was wearing a dark brown shirt on the first day.  When I noticed this, I asked him to wear the beige crewneck by itself, and managed to minimize the damage (to an extent).  Regardless, I fear that this will be seen as unprofessional and sloppy.

Yet, the biggest issue is the fact that I didn't shoot the footage on Ren's camera.  Instead, I filmed on Joey's iPhone 13, which has a superior camera quality and looks pretty professional.  However, when I imported this new footage onto Premiere, the contrast to the other footage was stark.  In comparison, the new scenes looked blurry, overexposed, and overall just not up to par.  I can see only two ways out of this: Either I ask Joey and Ren over and re-film everything, or I just live with it.  Although I would feel extremely annoying if I were to re-shoot, it might be for the best.  Additionally, I have one more scene to film involving Joseph and Father Peter, and I could kill two birds with one stone by filming them all on the same day.  Updates to come!

Me directing Joey (taken by Mica)

Day One of Filming!

Spring is finally among us; flowers bloom, skies are blue, birds wake me up with their chirping.  The night comes later now, and the sunlight shines over us like a guardian angel.  It's a beautiful season, made even more so with the arrival of spring break.  A week off of school, perfect for day trips to the beach, hangouts with friends, dips in the pool.  A week free from homework and school projects, a week of total rest and relaxation... At least, for students who aren't taking Media Studies.

While most kids right now are enjoying their time off, lazily basking in the sun and sweating in the 90-degree heat, I spend my days crouched over my computer screen, furiously writing blog posts and ignoring the pleading cries of my loved ones to take a break.  The daylight slips away from me, but still, I refuse to take a sabbatical.  I work tirelessly over candlelight into the wee hours of the morning; I work until I forget what I'm working for.  Sometimes, I feel like my labor is fruitless.

But, other times, I see the shining light at the end of the tunnel.  Finally, my hard work has solidified itself into something real, something tangible.  Well... as tangible as a video can be.  

Me and Ale

After days of working to create a schedule -- factoring in work, trips, and overall availability -- we were finally able to film on Wednesday afternoon.  The cast and crew consisted of an odd group of characters.  That is, a series of friends that I never thought would be in the same room together.  My friend Joey Coste, who's playing Joseph Farley, was obviously a given.  However, I also needed a dude to play Joseph's crush, who later turns out to be a bit of a homophobic bully.  Originally, I was going to get my little brother, Lucas, to take on this role.  Yet, after some complications surrounding his schedule, I panicked and called my friend Ale last minute.  I thought Ale worked well for this role, as he's pretty good-looking, and also looks a little older than the rest of us.

Ironically enough, my brothers' plans ended up falling through last minute, and he was able to tag along as Ale's friend.  Finally, my good friend Ren came along with us, as she's helping me with cinematography and teaching me how to use her high-quality camera.

In the end, the filming went great!  I was able to get some incredible footage, and we were able to wrap everything up in under 2 hours.  Additionally, I'm pretty sure that I got all the shots I needed from the restaurant scene, which is relieving, considering that I had to film the music video project over the course of 3 days...  Although filming isn't complete by any means (I still have 2 more scenes to film), I consider today to be a huge success.  Finally, I must admit that as tedious as it was, the storyboard came in clutch.  It was a huge help to have a detailed plan of all the shots I wanted to include, as well as their composition.  Although, perhaps I'll just make a shot list for the next project.

With that aspect now done, I'll dedicate the rest of my week to filming the last two scenes, and to begin editing it all together.  Finally, here's one last picture I got that shows the actors sitting down and Ren setting up the tripod.