Group Meeting #2

ALL MEDIA ELEMENTS SOURCED FROM STUDENT BLOGS

W (Click Here for Blog)

I heard W's original project idea in the first group meeting. Initially, his project was supposed to be something akin to The Truman Show, but his group ended up pivoting towards a sports comedy, as they were more comfortable making a sports film. This was a good decision, as everyone in W's group knew a thing or two or three or four or five about sports. Their story focuses on a teen who aspires to be a basketball player but is terrible at basketball. 

Their shots seem well composed, stylized, and well lit. I offered advice to also mess with the color in their project as it could bring that cinematic look they are seeking.

S (You Know the Drill)

S is working on the zombie movie project that I discussed in my last group meeting post. It seems the group stuck with their exact idea, which shows how well they planned ahead. There is not much footage on S's blog post, so I do not really have an idea of how their project will turn out, but based on some behind the scenes photos it is clear they are going for a darker look with the use of low key lighting. One thing I was confused about was the costuming, as for a zombie film they did not use a zombie costume, but instead a grim reaper costume. However, I think it will work as the zombie is not supposed to be seen until the end, and very briefly so.

One thing the group struggled with was the low lighting, so I recommended that they maybe shoot in higher lighting conditions and make it look darker in post. I also recommended they check out the camera app I used (Black Magic Camera) as it would give them control over how their image comes out. Last, I recommended they shoot using a tripod, even if handheld, just for that extra bit of stabilization. One thing I especially admired was their efforts in making both prop blood and their foley sounds. When going into this project with my class, this was probably my favorite film idea, so I am excited to see how it turns out!

M (There Are Bugs in My Shoes)

This project is looking great so far! A simple plot following a quiet high school girl treated as an outcast. Where this production shines is in the mise-en-scène elements and the music. The group first focused on the color of costuming to reflect characters' emotions. They also put a lot into their set design, creating a board with photos, a diary, and probably more that I do not know of yet. 

The COOLEST part of this project is the fact they are making their own soundtrack! That's friggin' talent yo.

V ( ) <----- still a clickable link

V's project was about a girl who succumbs to peer pressure. In the opening, the protagonist feels lost following her mother's death, and her friends take advantage of this, pressuring her to drink with them. V's project is my favorite use of color and costuming. There are two characters who dress the same, wearing bright pink. This highly stylized approach to costuming and color sets their project apart from the most realistic costuming of other project. I also liked the shots they had on hand to show the group. I am excited for the final product!

                                          

Group Photograph

"This one was fun." - Jd

CCR Research

 CCR Research: Question #1

Question #1: How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

    The main genre I want to focus on when answering this question is the coming of age genre. To quote myself from an earlier blog post:

"Coming of age sees the psychological and moral growth of characters from childhood to adulthood. Coming of age films tend to imply a heavy focus on drama, relying on dialogue as opposed to action to illustrate this growth. While the genre is common in teen films, a more mature approach can be taken to the genre."

    Most coming of age films will see the positive psychological and moral growth of their protagonists. However, our film intends to challenge these conventions, essentially flipping the genre on its head. They Lay in a Pool of Blood That Is Not Their Own! follows a protagonist, Belle, interacting with her father, peers, and religious community. However, over time these interactions only build to create a negative, distorted outlook on life and those around her, which in turn leads to her self-exaltation, the harm of those around her, and eventually her self-destruction.

    The film will tackle social issues regarding religion, specifically focusing on ideas of morality and community, in a representation of a Christian community. What do I mean by this?

    Morality is a big issue when discussing religion, as many point towards religion as containing the moral standards required to function in society. However, those who are not religious argue it is entirely possible to have good morals, and in some cases, better morals than religious folks. Our film sees a Christian community's morals in action, and how it affects the individuals within the community.

    Religious communities are also commonly seen as wholly positive. But what happens when a community takes their practices too far? What happens when everything, even ones own actions, is attributed to God and not to oneself? A loss of identity. Feelings of guilt. A questioning of faith. There are many more possible outcomes.

    While tackling these issues, the film also points towards the necessity for religion. The destruction that can occur if one has nothing to live for. For Christians, even if all fails and there is nothing tangible left to live for, one can always look towards Christ as a driving force to keep living. The idea of eternal life in the Kingdom of God leads many Christians to act in their righteous ways. However, when one does not have this, or when one loses this, what happens? Our film explores this question.

    I would like to assert that this film is not an attack on religion by any means. It is purely a discussion on the philosophy and psychology of religion from the perspective of creators who grew up non-religious. Personally, it is also a view into many of the questions that occupy my mind. As someone who has never believed in God, and will most likely never be able to believe in God, will I never be able to experience the benefits of having faith? And it is with that question that I believe that this film mainly highlights the necessity in life that is faith, as without faith, suffering can become too close and too real, and sometimes having a God is an outlet like no other.

"I come prepared (with genre research)." - Jd

Portfolio Project: Post-Production

Shot Sequencing: Rough Draft

    I have imported all of our footage into Premiere and have now gotten a pretty good idea of the main shot sequencing. There is still adjusting to be done, as much of the flow of the shots will be determined by the music. However, the rough draft that I have now is enough to give us a good idea of the order of the shots in the final edit as well as the approximate length each shot will need to be.

    As it is right now, the overall flow of the cuts feels awkward, and I think it will still be this way even with music. I will continue to work on the editing a find the right flow, which may require some shots be cut so other shots can get time to breathe. The current flow feels too fast and too consistent. The slower scenes will need longer shots to allow that time to breathe, while the more energetic scenes will require shorter shots to create a fast pace.

Rough Draft Timeline

"Premiere Pro light theme is perfectly acceptable. Leave me alone." - Jd

Portfolio Project: Post-Production

 Color Correction

    The first thing I wanted to focus on was learning color grading, which begins with color correction. Color correction is essentially altering the exposure, temperature, tint, and the white and black levels in a shot to make it look neutral and natural. This step is important because different scenes may have different lighting, causing a camera to respond in different ways. Because of this, different shots, although shot in the same setting and same camera settings, may end up looking different due to the smallest changes in the environment. Also, shots in different environments will not visually flow together.

    My research began on YouTube, where I found some color grading tutorials. In order to put the ideas into practice, I tested them on some of the footage from the church. Below is a link to a playlist with the videos I learned from.

Color Correction Research

    Then, I brought my footage into Premiere Pro and took a crack at it.

My Premiere Pro workspace

Before Color Correction

After Color Correction

    The part I always found confusing about color correction was the fact that color is so hard to keep consistent when just using your eyes. However, my research gave me a basic understanding of some of the tools one can use to objectively assess the color in the image, leading to consistent results and a more efficient workflow.

    Next I want to learn how to actually create an intended look in my film by manipulating the colors. I think may be best to start with a LUT and then tweak the colors from there. However, I would like to learn how to create the look from scratch, so if I put in the time and effort to learn that, I can realistically just create my own color preset to apply to the footage after color correction. This way, our film will be completely personalized to our intended look.

"My favorite color green." - Jd

Portfolio Project: Production

 Making It Up To Ourselves

    Since we had a couple of delays in shooting, I will use this last production post to cover every aspect of production we have accomplished since our last post.

Day 1.5: Family Photos

    A very important part of our project is the mise-en-scène, and specifically the set design of our main shooting location. This is why it was of the utmost importance that the family photos got done first. So, we headed over to the park with a few outfits, got some photos, and then edited them at home. Below are some examples of the photos before and after editing.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

    The technique I used to capture these photos was taking frames from videos I filmed of the actors posing. I would direct them perform a certain action such as, "point at the water," and while they talked about how silly their actions were, I would record them. This way, the photos came out with an extremely candid feeling which I thought would show the family's love for each other.

    To edit the photos, I used Photoshop Express, which is one of the best and most intuitive photo editing programs for mobile devices. I first created a look preset based on the family photo on the stairs, and then applied it to the other photos before fine-tuning them. Other photos such as the ones below took a different approach to the color and style of the photo. I even recruited help from my boyfriend to edit the main portrait, in which he edited based on his own personal editing style... 

Similar look, less intensity in colors

Monochromatic look

Vibrant look

    Below is a video showing the directing process behind capturing one of the photos, featuring a familiar face...

Day 2: Church Day

    Although we only needed three shots at the church, it was one of the most fulfilling aspects of the production process as shooting required asking permission. It was like, "Wow, what we are doing right now is so official that we need to ask someone for permission." I felt like a big boy ready to go into the big world that is film. Anywho, we asked the main office of the church and they said yes. I don't know why, but I was expecting at least a little pushback.

    The filming process was quick. We filmed a couple versions of one of the shots that did not require any of the actors while the actors were on their way to the church. Then, when the actors arrived, I just sat them down and did my thing. Below are some of the screen captures of the raw footage, as the files are too large to upload here.

Celebration, Yay

Day 3: House Day

    The last leg of the production journey also saw most of the footage. In fact, on day three we shot nearly 30 minutes of footage for this two minute short film (granted, a lot of that time was me directing the actors). We arrived at the filming location (my grandparents' house) at around 7:30 PM and filmed until around 11:30 PM. The first step was to set up the memorial altar, which required some moving around of furniture. 

Memorial Altar

    Filming was fun as even though we had both the script and storyboard, we had to improvise certain shots as they just did not work in practice. THIS is my favorite part of directing. There is not much to say about filming as it went relatively smoothly, besides the fact filming took a few hours longer than intended, which was honestly expected. At one point, we took a break and went on a late-night run to the market for some food and to pick up a print from Walgreens we forgot to print beforehand. Another small setback is that we forgot to prepare a moving box, which was a required set piece, so I ran to Home Depot and picked one up before shooting.

    As previously stated, there is not much else to say, so I will just show instead of tell.

    One issue during production is that we worked with only a phone and tripod. In some scenes where we needed stable movement, it was just not possible. However, we used this to our advantage, going for a more handheld approach to our dynamic shots. In the scene where the father storms out with the photo, we take this to the extreme in order to really imbue the shot with the energy and the anger felt by the father.

    Also, the microphones we rented did not work for what we were trying to accomplish, so in certain shots we hid a phone which recorded exclusively audio.

Behind The Scenes

Moving Forward

    Now that production is finished, we will move on to post production. Here, I intend to hone my current editing skills learn new ones. I would like to focus on learning color grading, specifically manual color correction and simple grading in order to achieve our intended look for the film. Beyond that, we will also need to work at the sound, as much of the film will not use diegetic audio, and the scenes that do may require some foley.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy." - Jd

Portfolio Project: Production

 Mini-Photoshoot

    Since the daughter's actress was not available yesterday, we took advantage of this time to shoot the main portrait that will be displayed in the large picture frame on the altar. Originally, we had planned to do a more serious photo shot inside; like something you would see out of a yearbook. However, we wanted to appeal more to emotions, so we decided to do a more light-hearted, wholesome photo of the mother outside. Like a memory captured on a whim that the family is now attached to following her death. We chose to shoot in my partner's backyard.

    Below are only some of the shots we were able to get. Keep in mind, this is before any editing. We will edit them in an attempt to match that blown-out film look characteristic of earlier photography, which will be illustrated in the same mood board from earlier this week.

 

    To celebrate our first mini-day of shooting, we dined with the actor of the father. We used this opportunity to discuss our future filming plans and began editing our photos.

"One week of singing: Yeah yeah~" - Jd

Portfolio Project: Production

The First Church Day

    Our production efforts began with a single shot. The church scene is composed of three shots, one without the actors. We decided to search for this shot today. It began with us finding a church in the first weeks of planning, where we were instantly drawn to the art. Specifically, we wanted to utilize the crucifix that was in the worship area as it is such a realistic depiction of Jesus' suffering.

    We were able to get permission to film today, but unfortunately the church was being used after mass as an area to practice a play, so we avoided disturbing the people inside and did not film the crucifix. We will be coming back later this week anyway to film with the actors. In the meantime, we were able to get some useable footage in case filming the crucifix does not work out for the film. Here are a couple of the best takes.

Footage Album Link

    I also wanted to mention an app I found called Blackmagic Camera. Since we could not rent equipment for this project, we needed a way to control the iPhone camera that went beyond the basic controls in the camera app. Modern iPhones are actually very impressive cameras and can look great with the right settings and color correction. It is worthy to note that this footage is untouched, straight out of the app. Below is an image of the UI of the app.

 "One day of singing: Yeah yeah." - Jd