Group Meeting #2

The people who I had a group meeting with today (03/12/25) were Renn, Miguel, and Roman. We discussed our film ideas and brainstormed creative content for our next project, the critical reflection. Renn is looking to do a Western film, she has already recorded and is almost done editing. She explains the only thing missing is color correcting and sound production. Miguel's film is about a senior rock band having a falling out with a guitarist with anger issues that ends up killing the lead singer of the band in a dispute. Miguels group has not recorded yet but they are looking on doing so this Saturday 03/15/25. Roman and his group are making a film about a drug dealer getting arrested by cops and interviewed. They have already recorded and were able to use real props as they had connections to a real cop they were allowed to use his badge and cop car for the film. Renn needed our help deciding the font for her introduction and we took a vote within the group. I needed help discussing my creative idea for my critical reflection. Renn explained she is looking to put her camera on her bike and talk about her film and answer questions as she rides her bike. I was thinking of filming a cooking video from POV shot, however we agreed that is not professional and media based. I ended up deciding to do a interview in which I watch my film and pause it as I speak about the BTS I went through as I was recording certain scenes, inserting BTS images, like a directors commentary.

A picture of my group and I:

Working on script

 I do not want to give my characters a script as these are just a group of girls hanging out and gossiping I am afraid of script writing making the the audio unnatural. I trust the cast can have fun and implement their own improvised lines to the scene. As we all, I am planning on recording each individual say 2 to 3 phrases I may implement and adjust the volume to anywhere throughout the scene in the editing portion of post production. The phrases I will request my cast members to say are "Someone call the police!" and "Hide the alcohol!" and I will have them record cries for help. These recordings will be used for the final shot of the digital camera in the long hot Dutch angle position.

Camera Technique

 For my film, I want to create the illusion that the audience is with the characters. I also enjoy films shot with a hand held camera. However, as this is a student film I fear this might make my film look uncared for. So, I had the creative idea of implementing two different cameras. I own a professional canon camera and a digital camera. (I like the vintage noise the digital camera makes when it zooms in and out so I will very likely find a way to include that in my film). I am planning on shooting the characters with an outside perspective using long shots with the canon camera and switching back and fourth with the digital camera. I will show the characters recording with the digital camera and inserting the video the digital camera took to show the characters POV and as a acoustic feel to the film.

Sound Production

 For todays blog post, I was working on my original sound track for the film. I have an old friend named Jack Kimmel who is looking to have a career in the music industry. I contacted him in regards to making a simple sound track for the background of my film.

Story Board

 Throughout the week I have been finalizing my storyboard. Unfortunately due to an unexpected event I was unable to record the short film over the weekend. However, the date has been rescheduled. I have made a second group chat with a different cast as a back up plan in case another emergency takes place and my original cast members are unable to record on Wednesday 03/12/25

Set Design

As my parents are architects my mother is used to working with interior design. As well as she used to help prepare sets for commercials and music videos in her first years working back n Argentina. I explained to her that I like the space of our kitchen to film the video as it is spacious and well symmetrical compared to the play room. However, my kitchen is cabinets are black and white. What attracted me to filming in my playroom was the amount of color and vibrancy the room has. I want to, in a way, prepare my kitchen by adding props by giving it color. I was going to add a colorful vas with flowers, add a purple candle I own, I have various random things in my playroom that I will locate in the kitchen area to bring it to life. Such as, a red record player, a pink telephone, a disco ball, a pink mini radio, a rack of costumes, puzzles and movie posters. 

Shopping!

Over the weekend, I had some friends loan me some arts and crafts equipment they had laying around. I managed to collect some paint tubes and glitter. For the film, I need fake blood. I was thinking of shopping somewhere in person but I am afraid that as it is not currently Halloween season I wont find my. I have learned through research that people often make fake blood using red food coloring with very little bit of blue and combining it with corn syrup. I think, worst comes to worst that may be my option B but I have found a large amount of fake blood on amazon. I need to make a puddle of blood so I will need to have a lot and specially if I want to overshoot I will need for various takes. I will ask my mother to help pay for it soon that way it can arrive before the shooting date. 

Filming Dates

Unfortunately, as this is my senior year of high school, my friends and I are constantly busy preparing for the end of the year. This makes it difficult for mw to find a filming date in which all four of us are free and can spend the majority of the day filming. However, thankfully we established a date for next Saturday, March 8th. I made a group chat in which the description explains a gist of what the film is about and the role of each character. I will soon be creating short scripts for each character to keep in mind throughout the filming process. I will likely record each character saying their lines into a microphone later that way when editing I may include the background comments and adjust the volume of each voice accordingly and efficiently.