Creative Critical Reflection

Along with the film opening, I wanted to additionally post the two creative critical reflections I created.

I linked both videos here in case there are any problems:

Creative Critical Reflection #1

Creative Critical Reflection #2

Goodbye!!!!!

Film Opening

 After 2 months and 25 blog posts, I am proud to say that my group and I have finally completed our film opening. While I'll miss working on a production like this, I'm glad it ended successfully.

Hope you enjoy!!

Here is the link if there's any problems:

Dear Mara Film Opening

Final Edits

     I thought I would be done today, but a small problem came up. Last night I was asked to also do the sound editing, which isn't too much to do, but I was still upset that I had such short notice to collect sounds and put them all together. However... there is no time to complain!! The overall project is due by tomorrow, and everything needs to be done. To avoid complications with my CCR, I used the same website Lucia was going to use for free sound effects - ZapSplat (found here). 

    I fortunately found a few sound effects from there such as water running and doors opening. For more specific sounds that I wanted, I used foley, such as white noise in the beginning (turning on my PS4) and Mara placing the pill bottle on the sink (placing ibuprofen on my nightstand). Throughout this entire process I was also luckily discussing with Andrea and Lucia. I sent them multiple videos to see how the audio sounded from their perspective. They recommended adding music, and Lucia sent me a song that she found earlier. The song is called "Still Miss You" (pretty ironic), found on Bulletproof Bear (linked here), a catalog containing copyright free music. I added this song and we decided to fade it out at the end, while Mara's ears are ringing, to avoid being overwhelmed by sound effects. It also creates a turning point in the opening, where everything gets worse.

This video, one of many, that I sent them shows five different ways I used to add audio.

Dialogue - from the video itself

Music - Bulletproof Bear

Voiceover - Voice memo recorded by Andrea

Pill bottle - Foley

Ringing, Water running, Door - ZapSplat

Overall, the audio ended up looking like this:

    The website ZapSplat also says to credit them in the video. Therefore, I'll need to remember to add it in the description of the video.

    This makes this blog post one of the last ones I'll do. I wanted to use this blog to briefly reflect on my experience. This project made me learn so many things that isn't just important to making a film opening, but overall in long-term projects like this one. I mostly learned the importance of planning and researching, how they both contribute immensely to not only the final production, but to your dedication and attitude towards it. Without proper planning and cutting straight to it, you'll have messy research and miss parts that you didn't think were needed. This leads the production and post-production process to feel unsure and improvised, which is never a good feeling. 

    Also, for me personally, I learned how working with partners can be as detrimental as it is beneficial. There are parts to working with a group that I never realized would be a problem, like disagreements, relying too much on people, and scheduling conflicts. Luckily, I chose really great partners, and these problems didn't occur often.

    I am so glad I had the opportunity to do such a big project. This was my first project that's taken over a month. I've always loved film; I'm still taking a film elective this year, but no project has challenged me as much as this one. Luckily, avoiding procrastination and dedication to research allowed me to feel extremely proud of the result of this film opening. I'm excited to show it!!

Reflections finished!

     Hey blog! I finished my second (or first) creative critical reflection!! I know the way I word it is complicated, but I'm planning on posting both of my CCR's along with my final project in one blog to make it less complicated soon.

Creative Critical Reflection #1

    This video was much more challenging to make compared to the other one. Making a podcast is surprisingly harder than I thought. I needed to make a proper setup that doesn't have too much of a distracting background. That's why while Nicole and Andreina are in front of the same background, I had to find a location that didn't expose my entire house to film my parts. Hopefully the white walls make it seem like we're all in the same part of the house.

Original background

Trying to change the angle

Different location, less distracting

    The audio was also a huge challenge for me. The microphones didn't actually work, they were just props. I thought it wasn't going to be much of a problem, but since I'm facing away from the camera (podcast hosts typically don't look at the camera while they're talking), the explanation is a lot harder to understand. This is especially because of the air conditioning and other background noises my family was making. Luckily, I found an effect on Adobe Premiere Pro called "denoise" that helped isolate my voice A LOT. I'm really grateful I found it. However, even with this effect, it's pretty hard to understand since I'm not facing the camera. If I added music, it would be almost impossible to comprehend what I'm saying. Mrs. Stoklosa emphasized adding sound when we were introduced to the creative critical reflections, but based on podcasts I've listened to, they typically don't have any sound effects or background music, unlike a talk show or a behind-the-scenes video. I've really been thinking of ways to make the audio more interesting, but I feel like with it, it would just make the video feel more like a mess.

    I also expected for it to be longer than the other one, since these two questions are supposed to be the ones that are more detailed and in depth. However, I feel like I also explained a lot in the behind-the-scenes video that could be used to answer the first two questions. Also, the videos shouldn't collectively be over 10 minutes, which is great, because in total mine is 9 minutes.

    On a more positive note, my two ideas were finished according to plan! This means soon I can reflect on my project with a bit more freedom and what I feel most proud of with the project (along with my obstacles and learning opportunities of course). Along with that, once Lucia feels good with the audio editing, I can show our final production!

Planning for CCR #1

     Hi blog! Luckily I was able to finish filming AND editing my reflection yesterday. So, now I have more time to plan for my "podcast". I actually began making the script on Monday before I found out I couldn't film it on Tuesday, so luckily I had a foundation already of what to do. 

    Two hosts on the podcast will ask me about how my film follows genre conventions and how it stands out, how it represents teenagers or issues, how it engages with my audience, and how it will be distributed. I made up the scenario that I just posted the trailer and will be posting my full film very soon. Since it's only a clip of a podcast, I decided to not include much of an introduction and a simple fade out at the end. 

    I also linked the websites that I directly mentioned in my script, and will mention more examples during editing. I mentioned my favorite video of all time (Breaking down the opening sequence of The Half of It), and I also mentioned a website named Gruvi (linked here) that helped me come up with distribution methods.

My script is linked here.

    I'll be filming tomorrow with my two fellow podcast hosts. I'll update then!

Creative Critical Reflection #2

It took me almost the entire day to make, but here is one of my creative critical reflection videos!! The other one (technically the first one) will be made later in the week.

Creative Critical Reflection #2

Preparing for CCR #2?

     Now that it's spring break, I wanted to use this week to work on my creative critical reflections and have them done before this weekend. This was my overall schedule:

    Monday: Plan for CCR #1

    Tuesday: Film CCR #1

    Wednesday: Edit CCR #1, Plan for CCR #2

    Thursday: Film CCR #2

    Friday: Edit CCR#2

    The CCR #1 was the podcast I was originally planning on doing. I wanted to make up a casual podcast with two film creators as hosts discussing overall movies. However, I wanted my video do be an "extraction" of the podcast from where the other director asks me questions about my recent film, Dear Mara. This is where I ask two questions where I go more in depth, and will most likely be longer. I wanted my friends Andreina and Nicole to be featured in this, since they are also working on their film opening, making it a little bit more realistic. However, due to scheduling conflicts, we can't film together on Tuesday. So, what I decided to do is swap the schedule. This means that I'll plan for the CCR #2 today, and film it on my own tomorrow.

    What I came up with for my second CCR was to make a behind-the-scenes video of the film. While I am being interviewed and discussing parts of the film, there will be clips of "behind the scenes" in the background. I still have every blooper on my phone, so getting the footage won't be hard. This idea is mostly inspired by the BTS videos that Marvel movies typically have. An example is shown here:

In this video, I'll be answering these two questions:

    How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

    How did you integrate technologies - software, hardware, and online - in this project?

I created a script for the video, linked here. I'm not sure if I wrote too much or too little, but this will be figured out and modified once I film. I'm planning for the producer to be called Alexandra, and the video editor to be called Alex, who will have a beard (creative, right?). I'll update my filming process tomorrow!

More Editing - Messages + Extra

     After coming back from a very nice vacation, it's time to get right back to work! I still have some video fixing to do before moving onto my CCRs. 

    First, I needed to create the messages onscreen. This part originally worried me because I didn't know where to start or what to say. Luckily, after talking with Andrea, she created a conversation between an unknown person and Mara for me to add.

    From there, I created a conversation on Messages by texting myself and deleting the extra messages. I imported the picture into Adobe After Effects to animate them.

    Along with this screenshot, I also imported the video so I can add it right away to the animation of the messages. This lets me place the texts in the right position a lot easier. From there, I removed the background of each message and used keyframes for the messages to move up and fade in. I also added a drop shadow so it matched the rest of the credits in the film.

Here is the final video I exported to add to my project in Premiere Pro:

    With Lucia's recommendation, I also extended the clip with the title. This way, it makes the title stand out more compared to the rest of the credits.

    We also fixed the "Blanks" and the "Actress name" problem. Using generators online, including a business name generator (found here), we were able to create a distribution company, production company, and three actresses.

Distribution company: Reel Magic Entertainment

Production company: Silver Screen

Starring: Aurora Sterling, Luna Everly, Nova Monroe

    I also wanted to add that our shower problem is fixed!! We originally couldn't film anything until I went to Andrea's house and did it because Andrea had her nails painted. However, her nail polish is off now, so there's barely a difference between our hands. She was able to record this on her own and send it to me for editing, making it a lot easier and giving us more time for the rest of editing.

    The final part of the video I changed is the font of the credits. Lucia also recommended to make the font look more bold, which would make it look more professional and nice. We tried the one she originally found, but it seemed too unserious for the mood we are going for. So, I found a font that was also bold, but more professional. It's called "Alternate Gothic No2 D", and I found it in Premiere Pro. After trying it for our credits, we believe it's a good fit. However, this took some effort to change, including needing to remake the idea I had with Mara closing the door. However, I think this effort was worth it to make our video look good, and for everyone to feel happy with it.

I won't show a preview, because once the audio is finished, we're done with the opening! From here, it's time for me to move on to my creative critical reflections, while also making sure everything in the film opening is doing well!

Planning sound

     Since yesterday, I've been working a while on editing the video. I added the rest of the text in the right order, along with the animation of the title. The only clip we're missing is the clip of Mara turning on the shower, which we'll be filming on Sunday. This weekend, Andrea, Lucia, and I will see what looks off or messy. Here is what we have so far:

    With this video, we could see what audios we could add and when. I made notes which watching the video to see exactly what sound effects we need, besides the music. This way we can completely understand what we're doing before we start editing the audio, just like the storyboard for the video. I included a timestamp for each sound, and from there listed which sounds we need overall. We can either find them through a sound library, or record it ourselves.

    As we're nearing the end of the "due date" for our video (Sunday), we might be a bit behind. However, we agreed to come up with a production and distribution company. This way, it'll look more professional compared to the "IDK" and blank space we have now. We're also filming the shower video on Sunday. After the feedback, company replacement, replacing the clip, AND adding the audio, we'll be finishing off our video and beginning our CCRs!

More Editing - Title

     Throughout this project, obviously the schedule has been pretty messy. Even though we're on track, we haven't been following the strict schedule. Speaking of, the editing was supposed to be due today (even though I've pretty much only combined the clips together). However, even with these messy "due dates", I think we'll still be finished before this weekend. I won't be able to work from Thursday to Sunday (vacation!! yay!) so I should pick up the pace and finish editing by then.

    Today I focused on text again. Specifically, I picked out my font for the credits and animated the title!! I originally tried it on Adobe Premiere Pro, but got frustrated easily. So, I switched to After Effects, a platform I'm more comfortable with when it comes to animation. Luckily, on After Effects, I didn't need a tutorial or anything because of prior knowledge. Here's how I did it:

1. Write out the text on a text layer. Then, trace the letters by adding masks (lines) over the text.

2. Add the "stroke" effect

• check all masks
• change the brush thickness (to make it look like the original font)
• set the paint style to "reveal original image"

3. Keyframe the "end" from 0% in the beginning to 100% where you want it to stop writing

4. (optional) Change the graph of the transition to make it flow more smoothly. In my case, I shifted it a little bit to the left so it goes faster in the beginning and slows down around the end.

5. Render it and add it to the video!! This is the animation I got after exporting it from After Effects.

    I also wanted to update more about the video and the problems I was facing. I chose a very basic font for the credits, Plantagenet Cherokee, which I found on Premiere Pro. I'm using different sizes within the text so they all fit within the same family yet have some variation. We decided on making the "denial" font also very simple, as a stage of grief doesn't have as much as an emotional connection compared to writing a letter to your sister. Instead, the text is more like a divider or a timestamp, meaning it should be simple, clear, and bold.

    We were also trying to film the additional clips that we forgot to originally film. We also wanted to include a scene of the shower running, and keep the shower running throughout the end of the video (until it gets to denial). I gave Andrea the original papers we originally used for the medium shot of the letter so she could rearrange them just the way we did before. She was able to do this and filmed a close-up that could fit well for in between Mara staring at the mirror and being on the floor. We also asked her to film a scene of her hand turning on the shower, but we didn't realize how complex it would be. Andrea's hand simply looks different than mine, including her painted nails. We tried to film a scene without her nails showing, but it was almost impossible. The lighting in my shower is also much different than hers, so me filming at my house wouldn't work either. We decided that, even though it isn't ideal, we could record that final scene on Sunday. This hopefully won't delay us much.

Credits and Fonts

    Before adding the text to the video, I wanted to see which fonts would work best for the title and credits. I also want to see if I should also have a different font for the "denial" text.

    I looked around for websites that could help me find a perfect title font. After searching for a while, I realized there most likely is no set formula to how to find a font for your film. Everything depends on the genre, context, mood, and audience. However, I found a few useful tips from websites such as Action VFX and Drizy Studio.

• make sure everything is legible
• choose fonts from the same family, but varying in weight
• pair fonts - one that works for credits and one for the title
• get feedback from others

    So, I'll need to look for fonts after researching common fonts in coming of age films.

Titles

    For coming of age films, I noticed two common trends. Many films in that category use a very basic, easy-to-read font for their title. This is most likely the easiest way to attract the teenage audience and keep the title legible. Below are two posters for coming-of-age films that I've already researched, Eighth Grade and Mid90s. Although both films are centered around kids, they still contain a basic, legible font.

    Another common font I noticed were those that look handwritten. Handwritten fonts tend to look more informal and unserious. However, there are some of them that have more formal handwriting. In some cases, it makes it seem more sentimental. Below are the posters for two other coming-of-age films, Boyhood and The Miseducation of Cameron Post. They have very different plots, yet handwriting fonts both fit due to the specific context of the film.

More formal handwriting to show
maturity and a serious topic

Childish font used to emphasize
his adolescence

    I think a font that looks like handwriting would specifically fit for our film because the title is based off of Valerie's writing to Mara. If we were to do this, I would find a font that has more formal writing, to show how much Valerie has matured throughout the movie when she finally writes the letter back. A more basic text, however, could emphasize Mara's numb feelings and overall the feelings that come with grief. 

    I looked for both simple fonts and a handwriting font for the film so our group can choose. I found a website that shows fonts that are free for commercial use called FontSpace (found here). What I like about this website is that you can type anything for any font to see how it looks. Here are a few fonts that I felt fit well for our film:

Credits/Names

    After researching the usual order for credits in films, I created a list that would most likely work best for the film. Typically, the credits begin with the distribution and production company, title, and then the least to most important credits. In more high-budget, full feature films, the opening credits contain many more specific roles. However, as we have more basic roles, I listed the ones that we have with the typical order that most films use.

1. Distribution company
2. Production company
3. Actress for Bella - fake name
4. Actress for Mara - fake name
5. Actress for Valerie - fake name
6. Film title - Dear Mara
7. Sound editor - Lucia
8. Video editor - Alexandra
9. Cinematographer - Lucia
10. Producer - Alexandra
11. Writer - Andrea
12. Director - Lucia

    With every coming-of-age film I've seen, the credits are typically basic fonts. Using the tips from the websites I was reading, I want them all to be the same font, but the weight changes when it comes to the name. There are many films that use this, but unfortunately one of the only ones I could find on YouTube was one that I've already talked about, The Half of It. However, it is still a good example of using a very basic, legible font that varies in size depending on the role and name.

(The credits begin at 1:20)

Stages

    When it comes to showing chapters of the five stages of grief, I looked for the films that we originally took inspiration from.

    In La La Land, the story is split into seasons. When it shows the text for each season, it uses the same Hollywood style font as used in the title. This font is very simple and thin, so using the same font fits. With Everything Everywhere All At Once, however, the two fonts contrast heavily. The title for the film uses strong, bold letters, while the different "parts" use a more thin, formal font. I can't find any information about why, but it could be to make sure the entire film doesn't feel as intense as its title font.
    

    When it comes to our title font, it's also soft and legible, like the font used in La La Land. I believe if we use the same font for the title and the 5 stages, it would fit the mood of the overall movie. It also gave me the idea of using animation with that text. Since it's "handwriting", the text could come in as if someone was writing the text. I've always been into making cool effects like this in other videos.

    This is a topic that my group members and I agreed to all research so we can see what is best for our film and we can come to a final decision. I'll update on this soon!

Editing Problems Already

     This week, after getting all of the footage from what we filmed on Sunday, I was able to combine the clips to get a basic idea of how the film opening would look.

    I didn't add every voiceover, as I was just trying to get an idea of the videos. When I give the video to Lucia, it will most likely only include the sounds from dialogue; everything else she can add through foley or a sound effect library. Next week, we'll come up with every sound effect to add and where, so the editing process is much easier.

    My problem is after cutting a few of the clips, it actually turned out to be under 2 minutes, instead it ends around 1:45. This is ironic, since originally I was worried everything would add up to be too long and look rushed. However, what I also noticed towards the end is that we FORGOT to add a clip in between Mara staring at the mirror and Valerie walking into the bathroom! I said I was going to come up with a way to fix this and never did. After discussing with Andrea and Lucia, we came up with making a more obvious reference to Mara's letter in between, implying that the letter has to do with what is about to happen.

    Even though this is another problem that we faces, it helps with the other problem. With this close up, it adds to the time. If this clip doesn't get us to two minutes, I'll simply extend a few of the clips that we already filmed. The reason why it's shorter than I expected is because I cut the videos by a lot to make sure it's not too long. Extending the video will simply make the video a slower pace, which is honestly not bad at all.

    Now that we're in post production, I'll need to research the best fonts to use for our opening and where we should put each text. With this, the text messages, and Lucia's audio editing, we'll most likely be finished soon!

Creative Critical Reflection Thinking

     Yesterday in class, we took notes on how to do your creative critical reflection after finishing your film opening. I didn't realize it would be this big, but I believe its a great way to show your personality and creativity while also talking more about what you made. Here are the notes I made for it, breaking down each question.

   

    Since the schedule we had for the entire film opening project included making time for the CCR, it won't be a problem when it comes to time management. As long as our group finishes the entire opening before spring break (3/25-3/29), we'll have that entire week to film our individual CCRs. It's recommended to do two of them, and I already have something in mind for one of them. I've always loved listening to podcasts, so I'll definitely do a podcast for one of them. My idea is to make a podcast episode of two film producers or directors (one of them being me), and they both discuss certain films and their own productions. I'll create a script for one section of the podcast where the other person asks me about my film, "Dear Mara". Through this video, I'll most likely answer two of the more detailed questions.

     In a lot of the podcasts I listen to, they post a video along with it of the person speaking. So, I'll incorporate that along with additional images, film examples, and clips from my opening to keep the audience engaged. When it comes to sound, I'm not sure what I should do. Not many podcasts include sound effects or music, but I still don't want audiences to get bored with just my voice. I'll need to think deeper about this, along with what other media product to create to fully answer the questions. I'll update on this later in the month!

Filming!!!

 HI BLOG! Today's a very exciting day to talk about, but it was also really stressful. Yesterday. Andrea, Lucia, and Gaby (a friend of ours, playing Bella) met up to film our project. I took place of Andreina, playing Mara. We filmed a total of 93 videos! They're mostly retakes of the same shots, though. We mostly stuck to the shots in the storyboard along with a few others that we thought were better at the time.

    The script file Andrea wrote is linked here. She focused on how we usually all talk as friends. However, during filming, we changed a few parts of dialogue that made it flow more naturally. We also cut out an entire part of Valerie asking Bella where Mara was, since we were worried about time. Instead, we decided to make it offscreen while Mara is in the bathroom. Andrea created voice recordings with Gaby for the parts that will be offscreen.

    We faced a few other problems, too. I brought a tripod that I borrowed from my cousin, but there were a few angles, such as very low angles, that the tripod couldn't hold. This led us to holding it by hand, making it shaky and looking like a handheld shot, which wasn't what we were going for. We even tried holding onto each other for support, but it didn't help much. If we ever end up reshooting, we can think of ways to fix this. We also had a lot of limited time, as it was a Sunday (school night!!) and we really wanted to keep the use of natural lighting. Luckily, we were able to focus and get it done before the sun set.

The final shot of the opening, where we were able to use the tripod

Lucia holding onto Andrea to get a stable, high position

    I'm posting this pretty late, but I just wanted to show that most things went well, and we most likely won't redo the whole thing. We'll edit everything together, and if there are any problems, we'll meet up again to reshoot. I know I said I didn't want to have this mindset, but we have time! I'll update with editing and others soon.

Set Location

    As I mentioned before, we decided to film in Andrea's house, as it has two equally-sized rooms and is simply a place that we don't need permission to film at. Andrea took pictures to show where we'll be filming.

Valerie's room

Another possibility of Valerie's room

 

   We have two possibilities for Valerie's room. While the first room is the same size as Mara's room, the other room has more lighting about uses more white, which could help with contrast. However, I think the first one would look better, as it adds more personality to her. Valerie shouldn't be introduced as completely bland as the audience should somewhat connect with her (a common part of coming-of-age films).

Mara's room

    Although this room has LED lights, which can help with lighting, we decided to keep them off while filming. This will keep the consistent use of natural lighting. Also, stronger blues typically create a feeling of peacefulness or loyalty, which isn't what we're aiming for with Mara. We will use greyish blues through Mara's clothes, instead.

Where Valerie will open the door for Bella

    We're officially filming tomorrow!! Unfortunately, our friend Andreina, playing Valerie, can't make it Sunday. We were originally going to reschedule, but doing it during the week or next weekend would just put us even more behind. So, we're asking a few of our other friends to see if they can make it. If they can't, I'll just take her place. This is bad last-minute problem that probably could have been avoided, but we're trying to make it work. I'll definitely document our filming process and the script!

The 5 Stages of Grief

    Today in class we discussed mise-en-scene and dialogue. However, we also needed to figure out what exactly we were going to do with the final shot before we start filming. We couldn't tell if we wanted to show Valerie in Mara's position, wearing her sweater or in her room, or if that should be later in the film. We also considered if she could be reading the letter that was written to her. However, we feel like this would be rushing the film, making it look messy. Valerie would look extremely different and it would look too confusing. We also thought of her looking through Valerie's room, as a form of acceptance. 

    The word "acceptance" made us think of the well-known "5 stages of grief". Why not structure the film based on her five stages of grief? This is when Lucia came up with the idea of setting the film up into "chapters", inspired by La La Land breaking the film up into seasons. I also liked this concept; it reminded me of different parts used in Everything Everywhere All At Once. It establishes different points throughout the film, which we could definitely use for ours. We can document Valerie's feelings through each stage, separating them through a black screen and text.

    These 5 stages, originally written by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, are made for people recovering from the death of a loved one. I was able to find an article discussing it here. It showed that the stages are broad for each person, they typically go through different changes, some bigger than others. So, for our film opening, I don't want Valerie to change completely. She would be going through the first stage, denial, and would progress throughout the film. Since each stage would most likely be over 20 minutes in the film, I don't even want to show that much right away with the first clip. I looked for an article (found here) that goes into more depth about denial. Here are some common characteristics I found.

• shock
• emotionally numb
• confusion/disorientation
• shutting down/forgetting about the loss
• staying busy
• mindless behaviors

    I feel like with this, we can make a singular clip that has a similar composition of the shot that we were going to put the title slide in, a medium shot of Mara. We can have a medium shot of Valerie, staring and feeling numb about everything. I'm not sure if we should put music in or not. It would fill the silence, but maybe silence is what is needed in the moment. We could add white noise like what we were going to do with Mara, or add slight music. I was also thinking of keeping Bella in the scene. It shows that she will be a great help during the film. I'll need to discuss this AGAIN with my group. I'll update soon!

Mise-en-Scene

     Mise-en-scene is a very broad topic to research when it comes to making a film. However, based on notes I took earlier in the year, they can be narrowed down to a few aspects. This film, based on the plot, will be realistic.

• Lighting
• Set Design
• Costume Design
• Make-up
• Color

    These elements obviously defer depending on tone, context, and characters. For my group's film opening, this is one of the most important things we need to focus on to create contrast between the two characters; even our peers during group discussions pointed that out. We can use all of these elements to contrast.

Color

    Before I begin thinking of the other parts of mise-en-scene, I want to focus on which colors work best for each character. As each color develops different meaning, I want to establish a single color for each person.

    I'm hoping to ask my teacher next class if I should mix different hues in the film or if its a bad idea. While warm hues represent excitement, cold hues represent calmness. Shots that center around Mara will obviously have a cool hue, but I'm wondering if I should make shots focused on Valerie a warmer hue, as she is more positive and enthusiastic. Warmer colors consist of reds, oranges, and yellows, while cool colors consist of greens, pinks, blues, and violets.

    For Mara, I've always pictured her with desaturated blues. When it comes to psychology through American representation, desaturated blues can mean sadness, depression, and negativity. Valerie, on the other hand, is more complex. I see her more with pinks, representing tranquility and comfort, and violets, representing beauty and inspiration. We could also incorporate whites when it comes to her to show innocence, which will most likely change throughout the film. This is also making me realize - how do Valerie's colors change during the time jump?

Lighting

    Just like the hues, I'm not sure if adding too much contrast in lighting will make the film look good. Something subtle that I do want to add is Mara's bedroom lights being off while everything else is turned on. However, I also want to keep natural lighting from the sun in Valerie's room, as it feels more refreshing than a room light. This means that I would have to just make Mara's room a little bit darker than Valerie's, but still make it visible enough for people to see everything in the beginning. So, lighting could be pretty difficult in this opening that involves a lot of detail, for not much effect. I'm not sure if I should use that or just keep the lighting neutral for all of the rooms. I will need to discuss with my group about this.

Set Design

    Set design develops the setting to create an intended atmosphere, and attempts to make the set look lived in. We also need to pick a specific location. As the story is intended to take place indoors, as long as we have a house to film in, the specific city or location doesn't matter much. We want to film the opening in Andrea's house, as she has two bedrooms similar in size that we can use along with a bathtub.

    Set design should especially be incorporated when it comes to the contrast between Mara and Valerie's rooms. Obviously, when I googled "how to make a room look messy", the exact opposite results showed up. So, I took this to my advantage and looked for things that the articles would say not to do. With articles like "5 Things That Are Making Your Bedroom Look Messy" (found here), I was able to create a list with props and other aspects that can make Mara's room look given up on and a mess.

• clean or dirty laundry
• open closet
• cluttered surfaces (with items on it)
• a lot of pillows
• singular shoes

    I also looked for inspiration from other teenage rooms in films, using an article that ranked them from worst to best. (found here).

    Along with articles, I also simply looked for images of common messy teenage bedrooms, as that as specifically what I am looking for when it comes to set design. Using the image below and others I found online, I listed more items we can bring on the day of filming.

• papers/schoolwork
• backpack
• books
• sports equipment
• stuffed animals
• plastic bottles/wrappers
• photos/posters

    Our group also wanted to add a physical picture of Mara and Valerie together to be displayed in a shot during the credit sequence, to show they are close at times and not absolute enemies. We will take the picture this week.

    When it comes to Valerie, I want to make it perfectly organized and nice. We can do this easily by cleaning everything up, making the bed, etc. There's not much inspiration needed, as most clean bedrooms online pretty much look the same. Valerie's room won't be displayed much, so all I want to focus on is organization and maybe a bit of color incorporated, especially white (emphasizing innocence). Overall, I want the colors in their rooms to be mostly neutral colors to add balance to the film.

As seen above, many "clean" rooms rely on whites and natural lighting

Costume Design

    This is where I think most of the color should come in. For Mara, of course, I want to focus on desaturated blues and greys. I've noticed in many coming of age films with sad or anxious teenagers, they use navy blue sweaters and very neutral colors.

Melinda from Speak, struggling to make friends
after going through a traumatic situation

Charlie from The Perks of Being a Wallflower,
grappling his friend's suicide

    They have a common trend of wearing navy blue zipper sweaters, very comforting yet casual clothing to blend in with everyone else. This fits Mara's character well, as she won't even be the main character later on in the movie. Below are two pictures I found that would fit the character. I like the idea of sweatpants or pijama pants, showing she doesn't try much anymore.

    If you haven't guessed it already, Valerie could use a light pinks, purples, and white in her outfit, as I believe it would showcase her personality the most. As I was looking for outfits from coming-of-age films to take inspiration from, I realized that the contrast between Valerie and Mara is really similar to the contrast between Nadine and Krista, two best friends from The Edge of Seventeen.

Krista from The Edge of Seventeen wearing light pinks 

compared to Nadine, wearing dark blues to show 

that Krista is the more positive, enthusiastic person.

From there, I found some outfits on social media that we could use for our film, that fit more common standards today.

        

Although these outfits are still casual, they feel more put together. These combinations of neutrals and color make the film not feel too over-exaggerated; there are already many aspects of the film opening that are emphasizing their contrast. We could also add accessories and jewelry to Valerie, such as earrings, bracelets, and necklaces, to show that she is put together to see a friend.

Make-up

    To be honest, I don't know much about make-up in general. However, I feel like for Mara, we don't need to add much, or we can maybe even emphasize lack of sleep by coloring under her eyes. Valerie could be wearing nicer make-up. If this is discussed within our group, I'll write more about it soon.

    After doing research on costume design and color, I believe that for the last scene, Valerie can put on a dark grey or navy blue sweater/shirt. It would show the impact the suicide took on her emotionally, eventually leading her to even change her wardrobe. The make-up could also become a lot less, maybe even none at all. Also, due to scheduling issues, we can't film on Wednesday, March 6th. I'll dedicate this time for more researching and blogging. See you then!

Applying Research to Storyboard

     It's crazy to talk about this now after already having it done for almost a week, but I wanted to dedicate this post on the storyboard I created and how I can apply past research I did to my overall opening. This doesn't mean I'm gonna stop research, I still want to have more details on how to make every aspect of my opening have meaning. I posted the storyboard in my last blog, but I'll show it again here for reference. 

(Also, the project name was just "Film opening" at the time because we still didn't have a title in mind.)

Mara's Room

   These sequence of shots was an attempt of following the outline of the opening. There are a few frames, like the medium and long shots, that might be changed if I can find out if there's a better way to display them. I don't want to just add a huge variety of shots that don't have much meaning to them. For the first scene, of Mara in her room, I cut down the amount of shots in the storyboard because of space. I'm thinking I can make a separate storyboard to display just that part. There will be a variety of shots establishing the room (the mess, the note, a picture with her and her sister) while also showing the credits. That's the most important reason why I need to have multiple shots in the room. However, I still also have that problem with time during the film. I'll need to see how I can limit it.

    Also, I want to add that we decided to get rid of the flashback idea. It simply takes up too much time and could add some confusion and mix of mood. It also won't give too much away in the opening. We wanted the letter to be really noticed later in the film, after Mara's death.

Interaction between the two sisters

    Moving on from that part, when Valerie walks in to Mara's room, I simply used long and medium shots to focus on the dialogue between the two characters. A shot-reverse-shot will be used between their conversation. I'm thinking of including a contrast in lighting between the open door in her room, emphasizing the mindset between the two characters and how they feel about each other. The script isn't finished yet (I might still need to do research on that too), but this is where most of the dialogue will take place. The sisters have a strong bond, but as most siblings are, aren't afraid to point out their flaws. From there, the focus shifts to Valerie, she closes the door and (maybe) the lighting could become brighter.

Graphic Match

    From here, I wanted to incorporate both graphic matches and crosscutting, also known as parallel editing. These techniques, of course, show the contrast in what they're doing and how they feel about their daily lives. During this part of the scene, to help with time, I could add any credits that I don't have enough time to add for in the first scene. When the camera tracks Valerie to her room, I could use the same shot showing Valerie's room compared to Mara's room. However, for this to work the way I want it to, it would be best to have the rooms similar in composition. Since we're filming everything in one house, we should probably look for bedrooms of the same layout or size. 

    For that specific shot, want them to both be on their phones. To avoid unnecessary detail, I don't think I'll edit any text messages onto the scene in Valerie's room. When it cuts to Mara's room, Mara will be on her phone, and text messages revealing the blackmailing are going to be shown, since it actually is needed to understand part of her character. 

Crosscutting

    This section of the opening was also cut down in the storyboard, but the concept of it is there. While Valerie is seeing her friend Bella, Mara begins walking to the bathroom. This is where I also want to add a contrast in noise; music and many sound effects when showing Valerie, but silence when showing Mara. We can implement white noise to fill in the silence. 

    This is the second part of the opening that will include most of the dialogue. Because of this, I don't want to show that many complex shots during interactions between Valerie and Bella, so dialogue is heavily focused on. When it cuts back to Mara, she is in the bathroom, staring at herself in the mirror. This is another section that I'm worried about when it comes to time. The clip from Thirteen that we took inspiration from took around 30 seconds to fully take effect. For our opening, we'll definitely have to shorten it, maybe to 10 seconds. I also want to add another shot of Valerie before walking into the bathroom, just so the time pass isn't immediate (this part isn't included in the storyboard).

Valerie's Reaction

    Valerie walking into the bathroom and finding Mara is one of the most confusing parts for me, and I definitely need to clear it out before we begin filming. As someone who's never witnessed a suicide, this will be harder for me to know which exact emotion Valerie should really be expressing. Should she immediately be in shock, or disbelief? So, I researched different film scenes of reactions to overdose, as this is the best way we could find an accurate reaction.

I found a scene from 28 Days and from Pulp Fiction that I think work the best in this scenario.

    These two scenes display two very different reactions depending on their personality or relationship with the character. The first video begins with shock, then as soon as she slaps her, she snaps into reality, and she feels horrified when she realizes what is actually happening. The scene in the second video, however, uses more of an aggressive tone with an immediate responsibility to save her instead of showing distress. 

    What I don't think I should do, however, is show her actual dead body. Although they're both shown in the clips and in many other videos I found, I simply don't think it's a good idea for us to do, as its a hard process to make it look good, including the makeup and other aspects to make it look realistic. Even though it's what Valerie witnesses in the scene, I believe it's too graphic for this film.

    In the second video, I really liked that they used a single shot and a voice over to show the reaction of the character. I believe for our opening, it'll match with the shot of her staring at her reflection in the mirror. Also, if I'm being honest, I don't have many ideas for what to put in the "fast cuts" I wanted to use originally in this scene. We thought of an open pill bottle, Mara's hand reaching out and a close up of Valerie's shocked face, but besides that, there isn't much to show without making it seem repetitive. So, with inspiration from Pulp Fiction, I think it would be cool to just use one shot with a voice over of Valerie saying something as her reaction. We can include the pill bottle in the right third and Mara's hand reaching out in the left third. This is just an idea that I want to share with my group.

After??

    Once that scene cuts to black, this is where we're thinking of putting the title Dear Mara. I'll do more research on fonts possibly soon or during post-production. From there, our group needs to come up with a scene of Valerie a few days later, by also implementing the date.

    Next class (next Tuesday), we'll need to discuss our final ideas for the filming of the project as we are planning on filming it on Wednesday, March 6th, as juniors need to take the SAT, and everyone in our group isn't going to school that day. We think setting it to one day will limit ourselves from that "we have plenty of days to finish" mindset. After that day, we can schedule another day to film everything again, maybe with a few changes that we want to make after reflecting our original clips. Before this, I definitely need to research mise-en-scene elements for the opening so we understand exactly what to bring and prepare for beforehand. I also want to include that we have set actresses for our characters! My group member Andrea looks very similar to a close friend of ours, Andreina, so they'll be acting as our two sisters. Our other friend Gaby has agreed to playing Bella. I'm already excited to film!