Erica'sPhotoshoot.jpg

We finished Erica's photoshoot, and got some nice shots to use within the credit sequence as well for Christopher to burn (yikes) at the end of the opening.

Between these two shots, which we decided were the best of the bunch, the top one has more of the look we're going for. The pleasant scenery in the background highlights how vibrant and loving of a person she was, and has more of the vibe of a picture that would be stared at by a mourning husband who misses her deeply.

Through the pleasant scenery of my backyard, JD's phone, our actor's 90's vibe, and being bothered by my dog on occasion, we were able to get some shots that we were really happy with.

The internet is a wonderful place with many video game sites, online communities, and places like Vsauce's YouTube channel. 

More importantly, there a bunch of free resources online to put filters on photos to give them a certain aesthetic. For example, imgonline.tools has plenty of filters, from noise, to vintage, all the way to Polaroid.

Before:

After:

Ultimately, we have completed a very crucial aspect of the production process, despite limited actor availability. Next week, we are taking advantage of our free time and locking in on bringing the production process to an end. See you then!

The Match Cut Ultimatum

 Today, after calling ahead and asking for permission, we stopped by the St. Bonaventure Church in Davie, Florida, to film the match cut of the crucifix in our opening. I'm stuck between two options, so come along and help me decide.

Immediately, the second option is clearly more vibrant and colorful. While it is more visually captivating, I'm not sure it's what we're looking for exactly. Additionally, the cut would be less continuous as the shapes are not obviously similar, and the colors would be juxtaposed.

We are using a crucifix like this as a prop, for reference.

The first option would match this crucifix above a lot better and establish a greater sense of continuity and smoothness within the opening. Despite not necessarily being the most visually jarring or juxtaposing, it will serve it's purpose. It will smoothly link the present to the past, highlighting the opposition between Christopher and Belle regarding how they would like to move on, or stay attached to it.

Out of these two options, I feel as if the first works better, as it would match the mood of the opening better and not provide to stark of a contrast between the cross and the crucifix. While the second is more "cinematic" and vibrant, it's not necessarily what we are going for within our opening. Therefore, I can say with almost certainty that we've found the final footage to use for the match cut in our opening. That was a lot easier than I thought.

Womp Womp... Production Difficulties

 Everything was going great. We were all excited to get the majority of our filming done this weekend, as well as the photoshoot, and then the unthinkable happened. Our actors had lives outside of our portfolio project. I know what you're thinking, what kind of "friends" are these right? Well, unfortunately, life happens, and the people you think are your "friends" end up stabbing you in the back (I'm kidding, these are great people who unfortunately had scheduling conflicts).

Despite planning on completing the photoshoot and church shots on Saturday, and filming the main scene and credit sequence on Sunday, our actor for the mother informed us she would unfortunately be busy all day on Saturday, and the actor for Belle would be approximately 3 hours north for all of Sunday. So I don't know if you noticed but these are 2 separate days, both in which one of the actors are missing. If they had been missing on the same day, we could have perhaps crammed filming into one day, but unfortunately that wasn't an option. We failed to account for something like this in our planning, and this is a great learning experience for us. Life happens and we should probably account for it next time.

I feel however Michael Scott felt

Nevertheless, we are aiming to do as much as production as humanly and practically possible this weekend, including the photoshoot of the mother alone, and some shots within the church. Next week, we are all free on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and will be sure to work on and conclude the filming process. In the words of Robert Burns, "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men, gang left agley!" - whatever that means.

Planning - Photoshoot

 We found an actor for the mother! Production is nearing! The first part of production we'll have to knock out is the photoshoot to get pictures of the family for the credit sequence, and we hope to complete this by Saturday. We hope to be able to create a sort of retro/vintage 80s look with the photos to match the time period.

Due to time constraints, we've elected to simplify the costumes, as while our props are scheduled to arrive on schedule, the green dress would take too long (it's also crazy expensive🤑🤑).

Belle will likely wear a sweater and overalls, indicative of her innocence and young age. Christopher will wear a nice button up tucked into some jeans with sneakers, a basic yet effective outfit representative of the time period. The mother, Erica will wear casual clothing in her pictures, like jeans and blank shirts to provide balance with the father's costuming. The actor has also said that they have a bunch of jewelry, which will be a nice trademark to help define the mother's character.

As for the location, we will use my backyard, as it is relatively scenic and pleasant, providing a nice backdrop for the portrait of the mother at the very least.

This mood board is well representative of the time period, vibe, and overall aesthetic of the costumes and pictures we are creating.

Overall, we are excited to begin the production process very shortly and see how things play out!

Music Planning

 As much as I would love to incorporate a song I truly love, which I also feel would work well within the opening, like an Elliot Smith song, it turns out that getting permission to use a copyrighted song is more of a headache than I previously understood, so today I'll be deciding on what music to use in my film opening.

(RIP these two bangers)

While scrolling through bensound.com, a royalty-free music database, I discovered this gem:

"Sleepless" by Diffie Bosman captured me when I first heard it. It's ambient, somber, and reflective, and sounds like your listening to it played in a giant dining hall. It honestly reminds me of some of Thom Yorke's solo ambient stuff like "Dawn Chorus".

 I can just imagine having this play over the title card after the poem is read, and I know it would work great. Thank you, Mr. Bosman for creating this absolutely beautiful piece of music.

As for the more eerie, sinister sounding music to go over the poem that Belle reads at the very beginning, I believe bensound also has us covered. Me and JD were looking for something unsettling, atmospheric, and dissonant.

"Hollow Eerie Whispers" by FoePound is very atmospheric and unnerving, and it can serve as a template for layering more suspenseful dissonant sounds. For example, samplefocus.com offers a bunch of royalty free suspenseful, fiercing sound effects to layer.

Overall, I feel excited to have finalized our music choices and I can't wait to actually get some footage to edit on top of it! I'm happy with our choices and excited to see how the music and footage clash together later on.

Costuming

 I am by no means a fashion designer, but I have a vision for the two character's costumes, and today I'll share them with you. They might be good, or they might be bad, but I think their good. I'm pretty sure they're good.

Belle will be played by me and JD's friend, who looks like this:

For the opening Belle will wear a dark green dress. This green hue represents her purity and innocence, while the dark tint represents her trauma and depression. We still have to get our hands on this dress, but for now here's what we have in mind:

Belle will also be wearing a cross which her mother gave her, highlighting her relationship with her mother and God at the beginning of the film.

Belle will also wear these slippers I stole from my mother (thanks mom) as they would fit in with the vibe of the outfit perfectly.

Belle's green dress acts as an extension of her internal state, highlighting the clash between her trauma and innocence, and therefore will work well within the opening.

Christopher will be played by another one of me and JD's friends, who looks like this:

Yes, he can grow out a beard and will look much older in the opening. All I really had in mind for Christopher's costume was something mature and professional, like a white dress shirt, slacks, and dress shoes. The white dress shirt highlights his relationship with God, while the blandness simultaneously highlights Christopher's dull life. The dress shirt would likely be wrinkled and not fully buttoned, highlighting his disarrayed and chaotic emotional state. Something like this:

Luckily, the actor has shared that he has clothing which meets this criteria, which greatly saves us the headache of buying clothes and finding his size. Overall, I feel that these costume designs find healthy balance of practical and effective, despite the fact that I'm not a fashion designer. I feel that we are right on track to filming on time due to the completion of the vast majority of our mise-en-scene planning, with my partner focusing on set design. However, we desperately need to take family pictures to frame for the credit sequence, and most importantly FIND AN ACTOR FOR THE MOTHER. Her role is very minor within the opening, but nonetheless we need her for family pictures. JD has already communicated that he has two potential actors he is thinking of, so I'm not too worried, but we still need to get this figured out.

Pamphlet-ing

 I love Canva, but I also hate Canva. I utilized the program to design 2 potential flyer/pamphlets for the "cult" in the opening, and why the HECK did they have to come out so good? So now I'm tasked with choosing one, and saying goodbye to the other forever :( Come along with me as I try to decide which one I like more.

So right off the bat, there is an obvious difference in the two flyers . The first one, we'll call it "mono", is far less colorful and vibrant than the second one, we'll call it "purple". Mono is far more moody and less warm and inviting than Purple. It's almost sinister and discomforting. Purple kinda feels like it could be an invitation to a karaoke night at a bar, and that's not quite the vibe I'm going for. Additionally, the Mono emphasizes the church, which is a key aspect of the film and tells the viewer everything that we need them to know. The dad is planning to move to a Christian retreat in a far away, remote area. Purple does not do this as effectively as Mono.

While I think the flyer should serve to provide context, I think it should also importantly provide some subtle foreshadowing and establish tone. Mono excels in this aspect as well, as the monochromatic look helps establish a bleak tone early on, and the small size of the church helps to foreshadow Belle's eventual separation from Christianity.

With this in mind, I think it's pretty clear which one to choose. While Purple looks nice and does it's job, I feel that Mono is just so much better and would fit in almost perfectly with the opening, providing much needed context and also establishing tone. Thank you Canva.