Aaaaaand that’s a wrap on editing!!

 Hey hey hey!!

Guess what? (I’m pretty sure you can do so!)

I finished editing my film opening!!!

                                                                (Source: Giphy)

So here’s a recap on my process!!

I can’t tell if it’s a blessing or a curse that I overfilmed, as it did happen to give me options, but I did also technically had to export and convert everything I shot on the camcorder, as when I plugged it into my computer, it was all .mod and mixed up (the same issue I mentioned in a couple of blog posts ago). After I was able of having all those MP4 files in my hands (my laptop), I started to work for real!! Shout-out to Cloudconvert for helping me out!! (I did have to create an account after oh so many videos that needed to be converted, but you gotta do what you gotta do!)

I organized these videos in a folder this time so that I could avoid the hot mess that happened to me when editing my CCR #2. This made it a lot easier of locating my files when editing, for sure!

Then, I got in, arranged the clips in the order I desired, so that I could have a rough idea of what to shorten, add, and basically edit. To my luck, of course, I lost a clip that was supposed to be the second to last scene :( It was on my camcorder, but when I would connect the camera to my laptop, it would not appear! I was pretty upset about it and tried several ways to retrieve it, but it did not work. So, I recurred to the “third to last” scene, as that final scene before THE last scene. 

Luckily though (for real this time), since I was using a camcorder, there typically is a bunch of jumpcuts when looking back at videos on it. I, though, although it seemed natural, I just tried “rounding” the corners and added a film dissolve transition (tried to make it as minimal and less cliche as possible) to kind of jump that. Most of the editing really, although I was really nervous about it (as I mentioned in my CCR #2), it was pretty simple. It was a bit iffy though, when “rounding” those corners and shortening certain clips as I meant for them to be somewhat sequential, but I felt that I was able to! 

The main thing, and what surprisingly took me the longest, was the credits. Yeah, words with fonts and in colors and that show the jobs of people during a production, I knooooooow. 

Here I was messing around with the fonts, colors, etc etc. I ended up going for DIN condensed, with a color emboss effect on top of the burgundy/dark red type of color. For the process of arriving to this combo, I first dove into the font, as I believe it is the most tedious part. There’s just SO MANY OPTIONS!!! Last time I was in class (more like a couple of classes ago), we did get told that font choice is actually very very important, as it can also aid in emphasizing the tone of a piece. So, I tested out all of them on screen, mainly the options I had in mind, and landed on a more simple font that looked like it blended into the camcorder quality. It was simple, yet meant business (scary), hence why its on my piece! The red color, besides the intensity of it, was also placed in there to break away the very white and airy background, as really the only other colors is the dark blue of the jean jacket and my friend’s dark hair. I felt that the red really broke up the simplicity in a sense. The color emboss, added this nice effect and richness to the red which I ended up key framing on the title scene!!

Besides that, I was really indecisive on the last two scenes, especially the last scene, as it felt empty. Sooooo, since it was meant to be spooky (not the right word), I decided to add a sting!! I was in between these two, that also happened to be free to the public, copyright free etc etc!

I will leave it to you guys to see later on which one I chose!!

Other than that, editing ran smoothly. It did take me a couple of hours to get through with it, but alas, I’m done!!!

Toodles!!

Anotha One!

 Hey hey hey!!!

I’m finally done with my CCRs!!! Yay!!!

Soooo, first…

Last night I started shooting the interview I planned on doing for the part 2 of my CCR! Remember Wired’s Most Searched Questions interview?

Just if you were able to jog your memory a bit, I ended up doing something pretty similar. I went ahead and grabbed a posterboard I had, around the same size which was perfect, and went on Canva so that I could add the Google logo and the searchbar with the questions. After I printed those, I continued to cut and glue them and added strips of paper to sort of have that same “ripping of paper” moment!

I then started recording, a bunch of times! I kept on re-recording because I really, and I think out of the nerves, kept stuttering. Even today I tried recording to see if I could compose myself, but nope! So, since I did record two parts, and was going to need to glue them together, I decided to make my video a bit out of the ordinary interview and decided to make it fun, goofy, and somewhat close to what may or may not have happened in my head when recording. I added in fun comments, memes, and generally, images so that there wouldn’t be that much of a talking head.

(e.g. when I was talking about the hardware I used, I spoke about this one camera that came in handy, so to add it in, I removed the background through Canva, then downloaded it and added it onto my video. I did this quite a bit but it turned out great!!

Here’s me adding in a fun picture of a very mentally-fried penguin!! I thought this was so fun and it made me enjoy the process much more!! 

Between one penguin and camera picture, my desktop looked like this (this is just the bottom half). I really stretched out my storage a lot and had to mess around with it to work, especially when exporting the video!! There was just one meme that ended up being added in a moment where I did not add it to, but it looked fine, and I accidentally mispelled Cambridge as Cambrudge, oops. Please dismiss those two instances!!

After that though, I did add it to my google drive as I did with my CCR part 1, so that next week I can upload it to my blog!! Stay tuned!!!

Toodles!!!!

1 down and 2 more to go!!

 Hey hey hey!!!

Here to announce that CCR part 1 is complete!!! I spent all day on it, well.. since 9 a.m. (it’s 6 now). I can’t tell if that’s impressive or that I’m a slow-poke. 

Anyway… Here’s what I’ve been up to. 

First, I finally cleared my cache, as thanks to my angel friend, she said if I did so it could actually help me download Adobe Premiere Pro, a software editing app, that because of my lack of storage, I have not been able to download. She sent me this great article, but in my case it was no use, so I went to Mr. Google yet again and found one that did help me. I’m not really solid as to what my cache is, but I do want to say that it’s a bunch of gunk from your computer than can get deleted and not delete other stuff (I hope). Just so you can see how needed it was for my computer, take a look:

                                                                               (Yikes)

Well after that, I finally saw light of day and was able to download premiere!!! Yay!! I’m so excited I could scream!!

Okay, so after my happy rush, I went and dove into my CCR, the first part at least. Remember how I said I was going to make a presentation? Well, I did. I really got into it and started researching and making sure everything looked perfect, hence why it took me a whole work shift to finish. I chose my template and started working!!

So what I did to tackle this was pull up the speaker’s notes tab on the bottom left of the page and started blurting out a mix of my research, stuff from my previous blog posts, and generally, what I had in my brain (comes in handy). I normally start projects, any type of them, this ugly and rearrange, set them out, stretch ‘em, and then make them look pretty. 

I chose these two questions for the first half…

•        How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social group/issues?

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

My choice of the first two questions were not only because I love my stuff in order, but generally, I thought that they were the more wordy ones, that with the video I plan on making, it would go over my 10 minute goal. Although I did answer them through my Canva presentation, it still ended up being short of 6 minutes!!

After I would finish my notes, I would look for images that matched what I was saying (Examples).

(This film is phenomenal, but this scene is absolutely crazy, so I thought it would go perfect in what I’d mention about the Drama genre)

After each and every piece of research, including images, I would copy and paste them into a slide I had for all the links/resources I had visited for my “source” slides. After citing my sources, I went back and added bullet points summarizing what I had said, made the pictures pretty with purple borders to match my template, and even some comments in some of them!!

Here’s a sneak peek!

After making my script and slides pretty, then came recording the voice memos to insert them in my presentation!!

This calls for… Bathroom lock-up!!

I have recently found out, considering the amount of VO’s I have had to do for Canva/Powerpoint presentations, that my bathroom is the quietest room I have to record, so I went for it again!! I recorded over and over again and sent it to myself, as I recorded through my phone and needed it on my IPad (don’t forget my lack of space guys)!! Considering what I mentioned like 3 words ago, it took long to receive, backup and all of that nonsense, so obviously that took a bunch of time. 

Finally, I received them and uploaded them to Canva, which to my luck, I somehow got them mixed up and took a bunch of time (yet again) to arrange them as appropriate and adjust the time stamps and everything. Butttttt, I was able to do everything!!!!

Lastly, I exported as an MP4 and uploaded it to my Google Drive, where I plan for the link to be pasted on my blog in almost a week!!!

1 thing down, 2 more to go (editing and CCR 2)!!!!!!

Almost there!! Toodles!!

                                                                        (Source: Giphy)

Planning for CCR! Pt. 2

 Hey hey hey!!

I’m still extracting my videos (it genuinely has become such a tedious process as sometimes the dates that appear on my laptop “are not” the same ones that align with the videos on the camera?) This upcoming week is crunch time to get through the editing and CCR’s!! 

Sooo, as I deal with the other stuff, lets look at what we have ahead!!

For the first part of my CCR, as I previously mentioned, I will be using Canva for my presentation in which I will showcase my experience during the production of my portfolio project. Here’s some templates I have in mind!

I thought these were funky and interesting! My teacher did say that if we were to choose this medium for our CCR’s, it didn’t necessarily have to do with our film opening, soooo, I have these two in mind to demonstrate my funky and colorful personality to show (or rather contrast) where my film opening came out of!!

As of the second part of my CCR, I honestly feel very inspired and drawn to the Web’s Searched Questions-styled interview!

       I honestly think these are so fun, simple, and concise! It really does feel organic and true to whatever the interviewee may feel!!

                                                      

Although this is my spring break, I will do nothing but get myself together and hustle!! These two tactics to tackle my CCR, in my opinion, are the best fit for me as I sometimes happen to be a girl of short words (ironic considering how some blog posts can be long). 

Well… That’s it for me today!! Sorry for the shorter blog post than usual, I got a portfolio project to do!!

Toodles!!!

Must-Do in Pre-Editing (Post-Production) phase

 Hey hey hey!!

Now that I have caught myself up a bit, now I can show you what the process is like so I can start editing!!  Today’s post will be primarily about what the process is like to extract these videos from my camcorder, besides that one scene I filmed with a “normal” camera with an SD card, as it can be quite tedious!! 

An obstacle I encountered, that I encounter almost everyday really, is my lack of storage on my laptop and phone! This is been quite the issue as I have had to rework my strategy to take on these, as you saw from my last post, quite of bit of clips. But again, it is better to overfilm than under right??😅😅

Sooooo, my strategy now is to directly delete the unnecessary footage from my camera, as before I tried (what a knucklehead) to go through the process of exporting all the .mod files, converting them, and setting another set of those videos on my laptop. Now, I will just directly choose what shots are the solid ones from my camera and then doing the whole process (yes, guys it took me a second to receive oxygen in my brain cells to come to this much easier solution). Here’s how that deleting looks like, as, to my defense, I did not know how to delete them at first, hence why I recurred to the much more difficult solution. 

Before you start, of course you have to plug in your camera to your computer, well to an adapter to your computer. 

Next, and what I happened to be confused on, the camera will take you to a screen that blocks out all the other amenities of the camera like the videos and that shows you options like playback on pc, connect to device, etc. This part was another trial and error because I first thought that the camera, even despite one of these options, was not going to be compatible to connect with a newer device such as my laptop, but fortunately it did! Here’s what that screen looks like. 

After this screen, and after you press “Playback on PC” it will connect to your laptop. The small catch is that after you try all the folders, like I did (there’s so many), you’ll be led to this beauty.

 

I ended up having to press the SD_VIDEO folder (pretty logical), and see through the PRG002 to PRG005 folders, scrolling to see where the videos I took were. Luckily, and what seems logical, is that they were in the last folder PRG005, by date. After I am assured where my videos are, I can start cutting down on them. Let’s go back to the camera!

See, if you just set your camera like this, where would you guess one could delete stuff? In the 3rd button down, the function button, it’ll open up to a bunch of options, including the delete button.

After I narrow down my options, then I just reconnect my camera again, and start dragging them out, which they shouldn’t be many (my storage is saved yet again), and I can start exporting to my newfound CloudConvert, download them, put them in a folder with another video shot on another camera that can be easily exported and start editing!!

My editing process should not be heavy as by my stylistic choice of mty production including such an informal tool such as a camcorder, would not really need crazy editing, besides them being put together, a black screen insert, some music, and of course, the credits. I plan on tackling that this weekend/week, alongside my CCR, so stay tuned!!

Well, that’s it for me today!! Happy Friday Jr., toodles!!!

Productive Production Day!!

 Hey hey hey!!!

Guess what? I finally filmed!! 

Yesterday, afterschool, I finally filmed and helped record my friend’s project (talk about a big cinematographer, actor, director, writer debut)!! So let me discuss what actually went down!!

I first got to my friend’s house at around 3:30ish, we had lunch and went to work!! I have yet to export footage from my camcorder so the explanation of the scenes I filmed with it will be brief for today as I will try to stick with my storyboard for reference (switched a couple of things up during filming).

I first started with the scene where we meet the protagonist…

We knocked out scenes 1-5 in an instant (but with a couple of mishaps, rearrangements, or whatever you want to call it). For scenes 1-2, I wanted the main subject to be a dress, but we could not find one that matched my vision (within what was in our closets), soooo, we switched it up a bit and I decided to back up from the jean jacket “Charlie” was wearing (to cover up the dress we did have but had a giant stain on it🤦🏻‍♀️). It ended up working, so yay!! Next was to cover dialogue for scenes 3-5. When getting to that, we realized that what I had written did not sound organic when delievered, so honestly, a lot of the takes I ended up taking say different things because we just decided to improvise with what came out during that moment, but still following the structure and vision I had. 

This is where the changes come in. From scenes 5-9, given time constraints, I had to switch it up. From scene 5, we actually did change settings (to the kitchen), and I had “Charlie” be preparing her cupcakes for her little birthday celebration. The her friend behind the camera would then take on the same/similar dialogue (remember the improv) onto scene 7. 

Scene 7 to 8 was different in the sense that I did not transition from day to night, as by thinking about it, and considering the camera I was using (very old), it was not going to work, so we just did it during the day. A problem with this scene was that it involved a doorbell. Doorbells and dogs don’t mix. Because of this inconvenience, we had to make creepy girl coming in during scene 7 to say she brought her dog with her (which kind of makes sense?) (shout-out to Brownie, my friend’s dog, for acting). Scene 9 was also in the kitchen and it went great until we randomly just began to burst out laughing (I want to say out of tiredness) and had to re-record several times. The re-recording also allowed me to have space to re-think and change how I approached my characters or even how I said my lines. Scenes 10-11 were fun and simple to film. I zoomed in on the candles, made my way around the table and captured when “Charlie” blew the candles (for the last time🧐). 

These scenes were also when things got funky. Because I did not have time or resources to print and make a whole evidence table, my friends and I tried taking creepy/unusual photos of “Charlie.” They were just of her which is unsettling. So, what I decided to do with these photos was to download them on my phone and have the mystery un-aliver reminisce on them and then move their phone-in-hand to eventually a unalive “Charlie.”

Just so you can see what I have to deal with soon, here’s the picture of some of the files I have to check on the camera first, delete what I don’t use, export and download!!

                                                        (The more the merrier right?😃😅)

Anyway, that’s it for me (for now!!) Here’s some flicks about me helping my friend film!!

Toodles!! 

Let’s pre-plan our CCR while we’re at it!!

 Hey hey hey!! Happy St. Patty’s Day🍀🍀

Production starts soon (tomorrow actually), so to take my nerves out I’ll just start looking at what my CCR may look like to shake it off!

I plan to discuss the four questions I need to answer, through two techniques!

The first way I manage to tackle down my first two questions is through a Canva presentation. I love love love Canva presentations, whether it be for school or out of pure silliness. 

Canva is some type of magical software that aids in helping anyone with designing the best presentations, flyers, posts etc. It’s a graphic designer’s la la land!

Given its endless amount of pre-made templates, made by the most creative artists, it really does become fun to play with. It has thousands of elements (stickers, gifs etc.) and fonts to play around with as well, allowing for one’s creativity to explode!!

Here’s an example of one of my past projects (for english language A level)! My project was based on studying Olivia Rodrigo’s (a celebrity) idiolect. The presentation itself did have to include components that somewhat emulated the style or persona of the celebrity we’d focus on. With the help of Canva’s amazing pre-made template, as well as the agility to switch around a couple of things, add stickers that screamed Olivia’s style, and even add in voiceovers (what I plan to do with my CCR), we were able to do great on our assignment (we got a 100%!!!!)

So, given my history with the software, me being comfortable with it and all, I think that this is the best way to tackle the first half of my CCR!!

The next way I plan to tackle the second half of my CCR is through an interview. In my free time, even when I was much tinier, I loved just wandering around the Youtube jungle to watch interviews. I really cannot tell you why a 7-year-old was watching The Ellen Show interviews, but my time has come, so because I have an opening to fulfill my 7-year-old girl dreams, I will take advantage of it!! Let me show you some examples of current and trendy interviews that I have my eye on as they truly do inspire me!

Variety’s “Actors on Actors” lets the actors do their thing! They sit down and interview each other on the highs and lows of their careers, strengths and weaknesses, and typically tend to star actors who have had a recent project release. This is perfect as I can possibly pair up with a person from my media class, as we both have the film opening project in common, yet different as we have two approaches, as an opportunity to interview each other with the questions we have to ask while getting to know each other!!

 

Wired’s “The Web’s Most Searched Questions” interviews has become a fan favorite in the industry. This interview consists of just one star, or two co-stars, answering, literally, the web’s most searched questions. This dynamic is also fun as we see how the stars get to know each other and rip off small white pieces of paper from the board (it drives people insane)!! If I were to choose this route, I would have to re-create my own board and would do the interview by myself. 

 

Lastly, and the honorable mention, is the very popular Puppy Interview brought to the public by Buzzfeed. This type of interview has been one of the most sought out as it catches actors in a different element. Especially after a very “heavy” or serious movie, or any movie really, these interviews allow for fans to feel as if their favorite celebrity were right there with them. The very informal and unserious element make these interviews binge-able, even despite there really just being a room with a backdrop, person, and puppies. 

If I get to this interview, with my own and my friends dogs, I would add in inserts of pictures/videos of the process I discuss in that question during the moment. I honestly think that this is a great way to unwind after such a demanding project!! Love this!

Well… Take this as food for thought, as I will too. I honestly feel as if my Canva presentation is not the problem, but the interview. I will have to get behind my computer and tweak my version to fit my needs in terms of editing to add in some interesting shots/clips I have to show, but besides that I think I’m set!!

Toodles!! Goodnight!

Say cheese!! Let’s talk about cameras, especially old ones!!

 Hey hey hey!!

Well… I thought this blog post was going to be cute and short, but when you deal with a relic you haven’t seen since you were a baby, things get complicated. Before I begin ranting, I want to give my biggest thank yous to the one who saves us all in the 21st century, Mr. Google. He knows everything and helped me with the pickle I was in, so shout out to him!!

So… Remember how I said a couple of posts ago that I wanted like a cute and vintage and personal video, hinting at “My So-Called Life.” I honestly thought, and think it is a good idea (I mean at this point I would have to stick to it, right?), which meant pulling out an old camcorder I have, more specifically, the JVC GZ-MG 130u, I believe. This camcorder in my house has a bunch of old home videos of me, which to my mom is solid gold, so I was already nervous to even touch it and felt that I was walking on egg shells. 

I grab my camera, (some may feel old when I say this), but I didn’t know what to do with it. I knew the basics, but I felt scared touching anything else because I didn’t know if something could delete. I clearly wasn’t thinking because I immediately stuck an SD card in the camera and it had ask me to format it, which in my vernacular, does not exist. I just saw that it said it was going to delete everything and I found myself in a huge pickle. So, because of my confusion, I went to Mr. Google for answers. It kept saying it wasn’t going to delete my camera’s content, which is logical as I did end up finding out that my camera is a hard-drive camcorder, aka it has storage built in it. Either way, I tried it again and accidently said yes to formatting the SD card, scaring the literal crap out of me for a second, but also, honestly ended up giving me the boost I needed, as it did just what Mr. Google had said, just delete the stuff in the SD card. 

After I figured that out, I found a couple of cables in the little camera bag we have and plugged it into my laptop to see what was on it or where I could start. This is where I was in my second pickle. I went through the folders where the videos I have were supposed to be (because why not check out some baby videos and export them while I’m at it), and everything was in .mod!!! I almost cried and went bonkers!!! What is .mod supposed to mean!!!!! Besides that, the only thing visible or “open-able” was a starter video that I ended up watching because why not. Picture of me watching said video:

(When it said “World’s First Hard Drive Camcorder,” I almost lost my marbles!! How old is this thing??)

After that debate I had with myself, Mr. Google was there for me yet again. This is where I meet my new favorite thing on the internet, a video converter that is not annoying or has a paywall!! His name is cloudconvert. (Jazz hands)

I set that aside and start looking at what I’m dealing with, the .mod files, that according to a 2007 FAQ on the Apple website that I read, is either useless, bootleg, hard to deal with, or all of the above. I take the risk of starting to export the videos already on the camcorder (my home videos) to see what happens and test how it would be like when the post-production comes and I need to do this. Through the converter I mentioned and my set up… I was able to export!! Ignore my messy set up, but it really took all of this (and the Biscoff cookies) to get to success!! The videos exported really quick and smoothly which I loved, as I, as a rookie, have had to come across some knock-off pages that take an estimated trillion years to export a small video. 

I feel so relieved that I was able to go through with this camera as my project weighed heavily on it (no biggie, no pressure right?). I didn’t want it to be one of those (in my opinion), tacky filters on top of a really good camera because it kind of just ruins the charisma to it. I’m so happy I could scream!! This process was basically a bunch of tedious trial and error, which allowed me to learn a few things and, more so and importantly, how to use this camera!! This will make my production process much smoother now that I know where everything is, as well as post-production, as I now know how to look for them on my laptop, convert and export them!!

Everyday you definitely learn something new! That’s it for me today, happy humpday!

Toodles!

Guess who learned about CCR’s!!

 Hey hey hey!! Happy Monday, Lunes, Lundi, or Lunedi!!

As for the Oscars last night (I know you’re not asking), they were great!! Oppenheimer bagged a decent amount of awards (10 I believe, not too much😉), and one of my favorite actresses, Emma Stone, won Best Actress which was great too. I loved the performances, and as my teacher did say, those who had to win finally won!! Anyway... Before I get too ahead of myself… 

Guess who learned about CCR’s today!! Me! 😊

As I am starting production, which because of the length of it, does not take long (at least in my case), I do have to start thinking of my CCR, or my Creative Critical Conventions. Today in class my teacher went through a great and thorough presentation clarifying what is a CCR, what it contains, and more importantly, how should we do it. 

To start things off, the CCR is basically a medium in which we reflect on our time in the portfolio project production process. In the creation of these minimum of two pieces, whether it be a presentation with a voiceover or a talk show, we get to show our personalities! There are 4 important and specific questions we need to answer...

• How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it help social groups and issues?
• How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?
• How did your production skills develop throughout the project?
• How did you integrate software, hardware, and online technologies into this project? 

We are to answer each question thoroughly, with details and adequate evidence. Ideally, and what I plan to do, is to answer two questions through each medium. As I answer these questions, I must make these mediums as entertaining and not boring, but as straightforward as possible, meaning it can be at most 10 minutes (who wants to listen to a 30-minute presentation anyway?). 

Towards the end, we should give a final statement reflecting on the project as a whole, in addition to what we have learned, what we can do differently, and how we can improve the next time we come across a project like this. 

                                                                        (Source for "Final Countdown")

Well... The clock is ticking, less than a month left until closing!! See ya soon!!!!

Character/Costume Color Schemes

 Hey hey hey!!

Half asleep by now, but going strong😁😁😁 (can you tell I just found out that emojis can be added in blogs)

Today, or tomorrow (I happen to be writing this way too late in the night than normal), I will be talking about the color schemes or even auras I want my characters to radiate (may it be through their costuming or their personality, if that makes sense) and examples of what I mean. 

Most recently, an example of color schemes in costuming hinting at the personality and even their outcome is (drumroll please...) in Encanto. I will not put Encanto down, as I have mentioned in a previous blog post, it made me very much represented and I generally think Disney did an outstanding, phenomenal, unforgettable job with it (can you tell that I love it??). Setting my adoration for Encanto aside, if you didn't watch the movie, there's a very large cast, all with different attitudes and personalities, so, to distinguish them, and really to tell them apart, they all had different, yet similar color schemes.

(Source: Encanto Wiki)

If you see here, we've got Abuela (grandma) and Abuelo (grandpa) with their own very different color schemes, with their children then owning their own color but tracing back to their parents. On the left side, we have a more yellow color palette, as the daughter of Abuela, and her family all have bright and spontaneous personalities. The son of Abuela, Bruno (we are going to talk about him now), is rather neutral and even, faded out compared to his sisters (viewers of the film may know why). His sister, right next to him, is a more conservative and rich blue. Through the movie, we see that she and her family happen to be more closed-off, correct, and by-the-book individuals. This personality contrast, which we obviously could tell throughout the film, could also have been predicted if we were to think about it!! Because of this realization, I have found myself constantly overanalyzing costumes and make-up which I find really interesting!!

As for my own characters in my opening, I will really only emphasize costuming on 2 out of 3 characters, as the third will be behind a camera and rather the "bystander," neutral person. In my piece, I want to also sort of do what Encanto did in the sense that I want both of them, to give off drastically different energies. Black and white, or any two colors against each other on the color wheel is what I'd want. 

(Source: Pinterest)

This is my first point of reference. I would want my protagonist to wear very airy and light-colored clothes, to emphasize her youth, naïveté, etc etc. I would aim for mainly white and pink to really hit hard on the naïveté and girliness of our protagonist, but I will have to check the costume department!!

For my antagonist, I would even go as far as doing the colors in the bottom row, but much richer and darker. My protagonist would be light and airy, so when the antagonist walks in with the rich and dark blue or black costuming, audiences can be alarmed and a change in tone can be more emphasized. 

Planning this has allowed me to visualize and set more of an idea of what to see that I can work with and how important it is for costuming to also tell a story!!

Sorry for this sudden break-off, it's me, not you.

Toodles!

Schedule!!

 Hey hey hey!!! Happy Oscars weekend!!

So... today's blog post will be a bit short... Yikes! But don't fret, it is mainly because of scheduling, how I will figure it out, and what conflicts I already have regarding it😀😐!!

As I do want my piece to establish some change/progress in time, I would have to split my filming half and half basically. To clarify, I would have to film half or 3/4 of the film during the daytime and the other part when the sun goes down. Without further ado (if that is how it is spelled), here is what I have planned!!

Because I am filming at a friend's house and we are using herself and another friend as an actor, the current pickle we are in is when we can all join together. As of now, I have planned to film next Saturday, as my friend can't on Friday and I can't on Sunday! Fun!! She has yet to answer my text so I'm guessing Saturday it is!! Luckily my piece does not require much editing as the shots I'd film, as well as the camera I plan on using (possible blog post I will make about such camera), has a purpose of being natural and effortless. Shot-countershots, dissolves or any of the very much learned editing techniques won't be necessary, so I feel that I can film the following weekend, may it be Friday, Saturday, or Sunday!!

When I get the date solidified, TBD, I plan on doing the following...

3:00 P.M. - Arrive at my friend's house, maybe steal a snack, and prep for production.

3:15 - Prepping for production including but not limited to final costume rehearsal, testing cameras (again because I'm crazy and considering I am using a "vintage" camcorder (it's as old as I am so I hope not), testing how the setting would look like on camera.

3:50-4:00 ish - Begin rehearsal/run-through just to make sure my actors understand and grasp the gist one last time.

4:20 - Maybe snack time because I can just tell my actors are gonna "need" constant breaks.

4:30 - Begin recording!! I love over-doing everything, so I will most likely take multiple of the same shots over and over again, because the more the merrier!!

6-7:00- I believe this is where filming may stop (total guess). As daylight savings begins this upcoming Sunday, by the time we film, we will have extra time until the sun sets, meaning a bit more of a break if we can get everything on time!!

7:15 - If my actors do not complain too much, we can get the evidence table scene out of the way, either at this time or in the very beginning. 

7:30 ish (If the sun sets at that time)- we can film the second part of the pan that shows how time has passed and other scenes.

8:30 - my estimated finish time!!!

Well, that's it for me. I hope this goes grrrrreat (as the Frosted Flakes tiger would say so)!! Time is ticking, and the time is coming soon!! So nerv-cited!!

Toodles!!

Voila! She’s here!!

 Hey hey hey!!

Drumroll please… (drumroll sound)

My storyboard has arrived! Finally she’s here!

Yet another honest confession (I might start my blogs with a bit a confession), it took me a fat minute to get to my storyboard and even get it finished. I tried old school first, with paper and pencil and it was a complete fail. I just kept on getting frustrated as I was genuniely really nervous and was seeking perfection, which clearly is impossible and even crazy that those two ideas are in a sentence. Soooo, I did a little research (not that much), and went on Canva! In the midst of that small research, or rather confirmation is Canva was a place where I could work, apparently it is a great way to work on storyboards, as it does have an abundant amount of pre-made templates for storyboarding!!

                                              

 

Here’s the workplace I took over for a good couple of hours! Per usual, to my left I had the “element” section where I had what seemed like a billion stickers that I could personalize my storyboard with. Although there was a bunch, I did struggle with finding several similar ones, especially the ones for the characters, and even in adjusting the clothing for it to emulate the costuming I had in mind. 

In respects to that issue, I did have to agree to disagree with Canva, hence the mix matching of the characters!! After that it was just a bit time consuming moving everything manually, bringing stickers forwards or backwards etc.

Canva honestly saved my butt!! The process, at least for me, ran much smoother, as it allowed me at least to have a bit more thinking space and process my ideas in my head, as personally, when I’m on paper and pencil, I get more nervous and block everything out. The pre-made templates also helped me even knocking down that sketching-of-scenes phase, which also helped me earn more time and brain space. 

I will definitely be using this again for other projects in relation or not, to media!!

Here’s my storyboard (subject to change, obviously!!)

Toodles!!

Storyboards…

 Hey hey hey!!!

I’ve got to confess. I’ve honestly been dreading my storyboard.

But here’s the thing. I am generally just super nervous about this project as it is my very first project where I write, direct, produce, and everything, and I also happen to be a terrible artist. Why would my artistic capabalities be topic of conversation today? I will be running down on what are storyboards and ways I can make them that don’t require my artistic abilities (I hope). As I’ve just confessed, I am a newbie, dummy, you name it, so I feel that I need to answer a couple of my own answers with a bit of ‘search, as well, an extra research post won’t do me harm!!

Let’s get into the art of storyboarding!!

Storyboarding is basically setting out the visual elements of a project on paper. This magical paper consists of sequential images, scene by scene, that add up to the final project. This process allows for clarity in the vision of the creator, while also allowing for a creator to revise, check, erase (a lot), or add more elements that may transcend the piece. To my surprise, storyboards can be used from anything to a 15-30 second commerical, to big films (I can’t even image how long and extensive that process may be).

Storyboarding, as one would get the hint of, is part of the pre-production process. It can be done old-school, with paper and pencil, or online even through apps like Canva! 

Next, one draws out the “scenes” or frames. During this time it would be great to take into consideration the average 16:9 ratio of a camera and basically know what you’re working with.

                                                                    (Source : Studiobinder)

Through my research, I have come to realize that artistic abilities are not required for a storyboard, as the primary idea is to “Scamp,” or bring one’s ideas into a visual element. What is highly important is to clearly convery your ideas, so when your in production, you’re not scramming to translate what in the world you drew time before. Buuuuut, what is really cool about storyboarding, is that there are pros in the industry that make a living out of it!! Real artists making real-life and cool storyboards, check this video about a Pixar storyboard artist named Christian Roman and what he does!

Some things to consider about storyboarding are concepts such as color schemes, continuity, and switching it up a bit. During this time, when putting your thoughts on paper, you’ll realize how maybe it looks good up in the brain and not on thoughts. You’ll also see how you may lack and need to add technicalities, such as the ones previously mentioned, making storyboarding great (and possibly stressful).

Overall, from what I have researched, its perfectly fine and rather preferrable to keep things as simple and straightforward as possible. My respects go out to storyboard artists (even though they probably love what they do) because it truly is an art, even besides me speaking from the point of view of a really bad artist. 

Well… Goodnight!!

Sources: 

How to storyboard: Step-by-step storyboarding guide (2024): Boords. boords.com. (2023, December 11). https://boords.com/how-to-storyboard# 

StudioBinder. (2021, August 13). The Definitive Guide to Aspect Ratios. https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/aspect-ratio/ 

My First Screenplay!

 Hey hey hey!!

So… Today was the day.

My very first screenplay was born!! Well, written.

I’ve honestly been dreading it, I do have to admit. I love writing, but screenplays and scripts are not of my expertise, so obviously, I felt that bit of weight in trying to make it as best as possible (as I also happen to be a perfectionist). It took me a while to understand the puzzle pieces and set them together (hence the time I’m writing all of this) and make sense out of the concept I learned in class, as well as finally putting it into practice.

I did hear about a program called Celtx, that helped writers structure their pieces, or beginners (dummies) like me. Unfortunately, I went in and it did have a price tag attatched to it, so I recurred to searching for another option with the help of my friend Mr. Google. After an extensive amount of research (hitting a whopping total of 5 minutes), I reached writerduet.com, a site that seemed like I was not going to get my personal information stolen from, as well as having a decent script-writing software. 

When I first hit the blank page, I suddenly went completely blank. Thank goodness that I had my “word vomit” document, decently known as my outline, to base my screenplay on. After a good 30 minutes of debating everything I have ever thought of, I got to work. Here’s what the software looked like for reference!

It was great because, as a person like me that gets overwhelemed with technicalities, I was pretty nervous about the placement of things like dialogue, actions, and even characters in the script. This software made it so much more easier to not only place these elements for you, but also to understand where is it that they go and realize why they are placed where they go. Although I got told all of this in class, this software helped me understand and really have everything add up together. 

After a good while of writing, as well as understanding what in the world I was playing with (I took the time to play with the software and understand everything), I finally finished. I definitely see myself editing as my project, especially the storyboard, comes along, but for now, I believe that this is a great way for me to start as I did learn and understand the process that goes in to make a decent screenplay. 

I’ll link my screenplay here :)

I’m tired. Goodnight!