Editing/FINISHED????

 EDITING IS DONE...

    So, it's Saturday my film is due on Tuesday and I literally worked all day editing. I realize now I probably should've filmed a little sooner it was just hard due to my cast only being here this week. But besides that today was a day of editing as well as critiques from other individuals. I'm going to include some text messages that were sent to me that were giving me notes to fix in my work and honestly, I think the film is pretty much done. Editing today consisted of using Premiere Pro for editing the line and using Photoshop for all graphics/titles. The main critiques I got were easy fixes so it was great that I had that line of correction when submitting this it was my best potential. 

    I was struggling at first to figure out a title color/font but once I figured it out it kind of fit perfectly in place. I really loved the use of coloring in my filming process and got a lot of compliments on it in post-production when I was doing a little bit of color correction. I think the coloring really added to the underlying purpose of portraying the emotional change/development in Gabby once her mom passes. 

    Another issue I slightly had was the music. I wanted to include the song "Coats" by Independence and I did but I had to lower the audio when Gabby spoke on the phone with her dad so you could hear her clearly. 

    But on the happier side of things... THE EDITING IS DONE??? Sooooo next post get ready for the big reveal. I'm truly so proud of how far I've come in this opening and I can't wait to show you what I created 

Big reveal in t-2 days :))

- Emma

Filming is done

 AND THAT'S A WRAP!!!! 

OH, MY, GOD. We're done. Today was genuinely one of the most enjoyable and memorable experiences of my life. 

Oh, and I got this funny photo out of filming... 

Ok, but all jokes aside I think that was one of the most incredible filming experiences ever. My aunt, cousin, and uncle worked so hard to learn their lines and even had a script reading seen here. 

Everyone helping in this truly made it so much more memorable and allowed everything to get filmed

within two hours in the doctor's office. It was a pretty crazy time crunch to attempt but due to the major efficiency, we got it all done. All in all, I got around 60 shots in the doctor's office for around 30-45 second scene so I think that I definetly have an array of footage to go through when editing tomorrow. My cousin Colin who wasn't in the film was also a huge help in lighting and genuinely I dont think I could've done this without his extreme help with framing shots and lighting them correctly. It was really a whole family effort to get this done but I'm really happy it is done. Also, the office was super accommodating to us and even gave my aunt her own like "injection"? or so it appeared on camera. It was kinda funny because the normal patients had no clue what was happening so there were definetly some interesting reactions to us filming but I think all in all most people working in the office are just excited to see how it turns out. So I know the next couple of days are going to be veryyy busy in editing the entire film opening as well as filming my CCR's but I know it's all going to turn out great in the end. I will update you as soon as I begin editing and start the process of creating title graphics. 

Until next time 

- Emma 

Filming tomorrow..

 Tomorrow is the day...

    So we're filming tomorrow and I'm trying to get myself organized in what I need to do/what I've done already for this opening. Today I've been working on redesigning my room a little bit, creating props like the whiteboard for the hospital and, lastly annotating my script as a director's copy to understand the shots and sequences I need to get. My cast just got here from Denver so they're a little bit tired buttt I know that won't stop tomorrow from being a great day. 

    We set up a time with the doctor's office to go film at 2-4 tomorrow so I'm really excited about that but that also means everything needs to be ready to go. For lighting in the hospital, I'm really focusing on blues, whites, and things close to heaven to be symbolic of her passing. I already am aware I'm going to have to work with my main actress Campbell a lot to make sure she really digs deep into her emotions to play Gabby but I know that she's going to do a great job with it. Below I'm going to attach some pictures of the costumes as well as the props that will be used for production tomorrow. I'm also going to show a little sneak peek of Gabby's room. Overall I'm just really excited and just a bit sad for this process to be coming to an end. It's really been an emotional rollercoaster but I know it's all going to be great. 

Annotated Script//Prop created: 

As you can see here this is my annotated version of the script. This includes things I want to get out of the actors as well as some cinematography notes like how tight a shot should be and different angles for each line. I think this is going to help in organization when I'm filming.

 

The three images here are props/set designs I used in Gabby's bedroom/in the hospital. The whiteboard is for establishing Nicole's situation and the two other images are indicative of things I will need in my first scene. 

So yeah! Tomorrow is the day and I can't wait to update you on how everything comes out 

Talk to you soon 

- Emma 

Location & Props

UGH, why so close to the filming day...     

Sooo there's been a tad bit of a problem when it comes to one of my filming locations... The original plan for the second filming location was to use my grandpa's (who is a doctor) hospital wing to record in an outpatient room. The problem is I didn't realize that my dates of filming overlapped with his trip to Ireland. So clearly we can't exactly film in his hospital if he's like 4000 miles away... It was time to problem-solve...

My parents and I sat down and talked through different possibilities for what we could do to make this scene work without a hospital and here's what we came up with. Obviously, we can't go into the hospital without him but his medical office is a different story. We called him to speak about using an examination room as our filming scene. We then arranged a meeting with him and the office manager and all came to the consensus they would save a room for us to use on Thursday to film in. 

Because we aren't filming in a hospital bed but an examination bed we didn't really have a lot of the props I was expecting to have access to so I had to get a little bit creative. I got onto Amazon and looked into finding a hospital blanket similar to the ones seen in movies - you know the blue slightly scratchy ones. So I found this "Linteum Textile Hospital Thermal Blanket" and think that it not only matches my color palate but looks realistic to what I would find in a hospital room. I also wanted to create a patient whiteboard to hang next to bed so I jumped onto Pinterest and the internet to create something similar. I found that most patient whiteboards look something like what you can see here. So as you can see these whiteboards contain 

information such as name, care team, activity goals, and others where we could discuss pain level, discharge information, etc. I think this is a good way to add a personal touch to Nicole and I really like the idea of having something more unique to her character. Other than these two props I know I need to have some costuming choices so Kathy the woman playing Nicole is going to wear a robe she owns but I also may look into getting a hospital gown and some tape for her arms to indicate her having received injections or given blood... I've been looking for some advice from friends and family who may find some other important details missing from this scene but for now, I'm going to work on the details I think are important. I'll update you soon and I'm so excited to be less than 5 days away from filming. 

- Emma

CCR 

So I'm beginning to finalize my three ideas for my CCR. I wanted to do something creative and fun so that it's not like every other video. In one of my previous blogs, I had discussed doing a type of manual with voice-over and embedded images. The second CCR I want to do is a sort of wired-inspired video. Wired does numerous videos where famous celebrities such as Olivia Rodrigo, Jenna Ortega, and even Josh Hutcherson answer the web's most asked questions about them. I thought this would be a cool and creative way to answer three of the questions. The last type of CCR I plan on using is going to be a Director Commentary where I answer my questions utilizing videos and images over top. I don't want this video to be too stand still and boring so I've contemplated using a phone gimble (which keeps the shot from being shaky) and doing a walking shot where I still use motion whilst talking. The day is coming quickly when I need to submit and finalize all the steps of my project so I've begun thinking about some of the topics in my ccr. I'm going to include my brainstorming of some topics/ideas I have to answer some of these questions.

How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

• I think one of the things I'd discuss within my film challenging conventions is the misunderstanding of grief when losing a family member. This is something that is sometimes talked about, losing a parent at a young age can be something that many people don't know how to cope with. With the creation of "Passing Bye" I hope that viewers can get a stronger understanding of the true loss this is as well as the life-altering situation this brings across. This represents the issue of mental health in teenagers as well because Gabby now deals with Depression and Anxiety after the loss of her mom. 

How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

• My target audience for this film was young adults who have either gone through a similar situation or want to support others who are. Due to not being a larger film yet and being something student-created, this will be distributed on Instagram as well as YouTube. I believe as I am targeting a younger audience I think this distribution method is appropriate for reaching these individuals in a cheaper more efficient way. 

Filming!!

    Wait I'm like filming in a week...

 The time has finally come and it's officially less than a week till we film "Passing Bye". I'm excited for this entire experience and I am ready to work with my actors on such an incredible piece. I've been working on finalizing some details for my project. So originally I had thought about filming in my brother's room to have a clean slate but then thinking more into it I decided that my room would be easier to convert into Gabby's bedroom as I already have a lot of the props and scenery needed. 

So I started composing a list of all the things I need to do leading up to the production and I think I'm finally getting a lot done. In my room I have a photo wall with pictures of my friends and me but I realized that due to Gabby being played by someone other than me I needed to cover up the pictures. I really love creating flyers and posters on Canva so the thought is the second picture you see to the right is my inspiration leading up to the days of filming I'm going to work on designing and printing out the posters to look similar enough and to cover what is currently on my wall. I'm really excited to report that I found a record player in my house I plan on using for the opening scene and most of the props are set in place. Props for Gabby such as her dress and makeup are all set up and I even bought a makeup organizer to put on the makeshift vanity I created from my current desk. I plan on using my GVM lights to create a more yellow and green tone in the room which will hopefully blend with my grey walls. The plan for today is I'm going to test out different camera angles and shots with a friend to see how things will look when I film so that all of my planning is done before I get into filming. 

Due to my actors not living in Florida but in Denver, I really only have a few days to shoot this film. It's a little bit scary to think about but that's why the plan is filming is going to primarily take place next Thursday this way I have about a week to look through all the footage and make sure that everything looks good before they travel home. I'm starting to think a lot more about the details currently about particular shots I want to get and the acting techniques I want to stress to my actors to make this opening more realistic. 

I really am truly so happy with how everything is turning out and I'll update you soon :))

- Emma 

My birthday + STN

 Heyyyyy!!! So today I'm 17 years old. Kinda crazy... I've been at STN since the 13th and it's genuinely been such an incredible experience. This morning we found out that my team and I won FIRST PLACE at STN for a human interest feature story. Genuinely I think this was just such an incredible trip and I learned so so much. 

My portfolio project is going good its been a bit hard since I've been away but I think I'm doing a good job at trying to still remain organized so I can film when I get back. I don't have much to update on other than I get back home tomorrow and then I can start shopping and setting up all equipment to film the next week. 

Talk to you soon 

- Emma

Casting....

The cast and set design..

Soo as you saw I made a post a week ago discussing my casting decisions. After talking to my teacher however I realized that Campbell the girl who's playing Gabby might be a little young to be playing a high-schooler. So I decided to change her age in it to being an 8th grader getting ready for her end of school dance. 

Costuming Changes 

Due to changing Gabbys age I knew I needed to make a little bit of modifications to my costuming choices. So I'm going to suggest campbell to wear more natural clothes to her wardrobe to match her age and Gabbys maturity level. 

I spoke to Kathy and Neil, Gabbys parents in the piece and they're bringing wardrobe with them when they travel from Denver here for spring break. I'm really excited to see the costuming and I know the next step is to decorate Gabbys room.

Set Design 

So for set design I started looking at Amazon and Five Below for small things to make Gabbys room look more personalized to her. I found some vines and a record vinyl to buy for her. Also I'm going to use Canva to make some fake movie posters and pictures that will be hung up on her wall. 

Anyways! I'm going to keep researching on set Design and how to make her room look more like the one of a 13 year old girl. 

I'll update you soon 

- Emma

Creative Critical Reflection 

 So today in class we learned about CCR, the reflection at the end of the project. As I'm working on my project and thinking about all the different shots, angles, and compositions I need for each scene I now know how important behind the scenes is. I plan on having someone take pictures for me so that I can document every stage of my three different CCRs. 

But like let's backtrack for a second and talk about what I found out today...

Ok so I have to create three CCRs after completing my blog discussing things like audience, how I created my film, what I learned from it etc. We also learned that they need to be creative and different from other CCRs. We discussed creating these mainly through talk shows, podcasts, videos with evidence, or another creative technique. I'm a really engaged member in my school's DECA program where we create things called manuals. They are highly decorated papers that I use to compete in a business community service category but I had talked to my advisor about possibly utilizing a manual with voice-over for one of my CCRs. So as you can see next to this text that's an example of a manual I've created in the past.. I'm excited to see how something similar to this could turn out for a CCR possibly the one focused on the audience as I could create interesting graphics to explain and indicate what I am speaking on. 

Also just a brief update.. I leave for STN (Television Production Competition) on Wednesday and I'm really excited to see all the different workshop opportunities and learn some more things that I can bring into my film opening. I'm beginning to film in two weeks at this point which is really scary and exciting to see all my hard work come together finally. I'm gonna update you after the first few days about the things I've learned and how it's going to help in my development of "Passing Bye"

Talk to you soon 

- Emma

Cast :))

 ANDDD the cast is final!!!

Soo ok new update! I have been struggling so much to find a cast that not only fits my aesthetic but is available to film when I need to. My family is coming into town the week of our spring break (3/4-3/20) and I realized that my aunt, cousin, and uncle fit the perfect casting description as well as all have a history in acting/theatre. I had a call with them today discussing costumes they're going to bring as well as things I have for them to wear and figuring out a filming date (3/28-3/30). On the 28th we're going to film all the major scenes like the hospital scene and the getting ready prom scene and hopefully, we get everything done. The plan is to use the 29th and 30th as buffer time to get all my footage on the premiere and check to make sure I not only over filmed but all the footage looks good. 

Also, I'm looking into finding a crew that can help with audio and lighting so I'm going to contact some of my friends in TV to help. I gave them access to the blog as well for them to understand my thoughts on the film a little bit further. 

Oh and another thing I'm starting to redesign my brother's room for Gabby's bedroom tomorrow so I'll update you with some pictures through the process. I think Five Below might have some good options for finding fairy lights and vines. I talked with Campbell about her costuming and makeup since Gabby must have the very particular image that I want for the character. I'm really excited to see her acting skills and her to take over the character that is Gabby. 

I'll update you soon and I can't wait to film with my actors :))

Until next time 

Emma 

Set design

 Setting the Set 

Hey, I know I've touched on it a bit in the beginning but I'm beginning to choose sets as well as purchasing props for how to film. I have different scenes I need in two different locations Gabby's Bedroom as well as Nicole's hospital room. I have started coming up with aesthetics for each of these as well as certain props that are essential to utilizing mise en scene in my piece. My thought for actual sets is utilizing my brother's old bedroom to make it over into Gabby's Bedroom in possibly a comforter, pieces that attach to the scene, and more. Below you will be able to set a mood board with more aesthetics as well as my thoughts on how I will use shots in that room. I'm really excited to say I'm planning to film in a real hospital room for Nicole's death scene so that will be something that the set is primarily already the way I would like it however I do have a few plans of how to make it more personal to "Passing Bye".

Gabby's Bedroom

This is what Gabby's Bedroom aesthetic looks like. :)) I'm really loving the use of fairy lights and vines in her room and am thinking a white comforter with hints of yellow and green within the pillowcases. I think a lot of the set pieces for this room I can take from other places in my house or borrow from friends except the one main piece which is the record player. Although it isn't absolutely essential to my piece I think it does add to the piece so my plan is to attempt and thrift one/ask around for those who may have one. As I said above my brother moved out of the house a few years ago so I have an open bedroom which I plan to set up for filming. I'm excited to see how it'll look but I think that the layout of the bed being next to a window and there being a desk that can be perfectly set up for a vanity is going to work great for the aesthetic I'm going for. 
Nicole's Hospital Room 

This is what Nicole's Hospital Room aesthetic looks like. So as you can see I'm really touching into not only the realistic feel but a very cold and inhuman environment. I plan on creating a patient file with Nicole's name on it and her diagnosis to make the audience understand more context and also to bring more realness to the room but I do want it to feel cold. The main colors are going to be neutrals, whites, and blues and I plan on using very white lightning because the way the hospital is portrayed is through harsh lighting. As I said this is going to be filmed at my grandpa's medical practice where he has access to a hospital room I can film in gaining me access to a monitor and hospital bed. The props and set will not be as strenuous here as many of the things needed will already be set up. The main things I need to create for this scene are the patient file as well as maybe look into a personal blanket and photo frame of Nicole and Gabby to add that final touch. 

I'm starting to finalize these small details so I can film in the upcoming weeks, my next post will finalize the cast which is starting to come together and it's really great getting to see all the details that create this piece.

Until Next Time

- Emma

Schedule problems...

Competition season and my busy busy schedule 

Hey, so little update on my life... So since Thursday, I have been at a DECA competition where we compete in numerous business categories. On the 13th I leave for Long Beach California for a television production competition. It's going to be a busy couple weeks meaning filming is going to be difficult. On the bus ride back I plan to reach out to my actors and see if they can possibly film this next week but I feel like all this scheduling might get pushed back due to the fact I'm physically not going to be in Florida in T-minus 11 days.... Besides that though I feel like pre-planning is coming toward the end... I still want to do a little bit more research about set design and make all the storyboards necessary but other than that my script is done, my brainstorming is done, my costuming choices are done, and I just need to go out or speak with my actors about clothing they may own. I think the set design might be a little time-consuming but other than that I think that filming will go by smoothly once I can actually film... Besides the point, I wanted to look a little bit into the color theory of my genre today. I know that I wanted to use yellows and greens to showcase my protagonist's personality and aesthetic but I also want to utilize colors that fit into my genre to make my point go across further. 

Color theory for the drama genre 

Film Makers Academy states in their article: "COLORS IN FILMMAKING – WHAT DO YOURS REPRESENT?" that the color red signifies drama. Although I think that red could possibly make the scenes more intense however I think that in the case of my film opening, this wouldn't work for the message and the vibe being put across. The color blue symbolizes sadness and peace which is a color that I really want to utilize in the scenes where Nicole and Gabby are in the hospital together. This is something I want to use so that I can get my point across that Gabby and Nicole had a special connection that was taken away from them. 

Colors already chosen for the film

So there were some colors that I already knew I liked and wanted in the film such as green and yellow but I wanted to look into their theories to make sure it made sense before I use them. Film Makers Academy once again states " We use “green” to describe a novice and always for all-systems-go. It is a relatively friendly and positive color, the color of balance and harmony that gives us peace." This is something that I actually really like and would love to utilize because I want Gabby to feel like a peaceful, warm person for the audience to grow that personal connection to her as well as understand the "peace before the storm" so to say. Also, the harmony of the colors yellow blue, and green which are the three colors I plan on having all work together to create a mix of emotions and thoughts to create an overall "serenity" in the piece. Yellow is associated with happiness and joy which is something that I again want to contrast between the beginning and the end of the film. In the beginning using colors such as green and yellow and then switching to colors such as black, white, and blue will make a contrast so the audience can understand the grief and intensity of what has happened. 

So... that's the end of this blog I'll be honest to say that when I get back from my trip I'm going to have to go crazy to get this all done but I feel like with the correct motivation and push (which is what I have right now) I can get it done in time. 

For now, 

- Emma