Finalizing Filming and My Progress Editing

 I am happy to announce that I am pretty much done with filming!!!! I had a fun time filming with my friends, even if shoots were hard to schedule over break or had to be pushed back for some unforeseen circumstances. I got the majority of the shots that I wanted, with one or two exceptions. I'll go into that a little bit later in the blog. I want to talk about what it means for me to be all finished with the filming first, and then I'll go into editing. I have already started editing the first trailer, so I want to update you guys on how that's going. But before that, filming!

I don't know if you noticed on my Instagram page, but my production now has a mascot: Bones! He's pretty cool. Might be a little small, I wanted the dead and decayed body to be a full-grown adult (the woman in the picture). That would be her dead human form, and now she's just roaming about town as a demon. Getting back to the point, Bones is a little small for that, so I had to play around with the angles to make him appear larger or at least not be as small as he really is. But, he apparently looks somewhat realistic in some lighting, so I would say that it's a success. And I have a feeling it would be a little less worrisome if the skeleton still looked somewhat fake. Just for the sake of those watching and wondering where a media student got a realistic skeleton prop for filming. 

I also got the perfect lighting for my shots at the Graveyard of Souls (and Memories). The shots look pretty and ominous at the same time, which is what I was going for. I also had to park illegally to film there because that site was closed off for cars at the time, so that was thrilling. I may have to adjust the lighting for a few shots, just to make them appear darker and more foreboding, but I really don't think I need to do that much to improve them. Just a few tweaks. 

Moreover, I finished my actual thriller/horror shot sequence. I wouldn't say they are absolutely mortifying, but there are some that are genuinely a scary good time. And that's what my target audience wants, so I think I'm on the right path. And I got to play a lot with the lighting for all of them, and I'm happy how they turned out. Set with some spooky background audio, I think they would really get hit that tense and frightening tone right on the head. Once I put the demon makeup on my lead actress and gave her a knife, I couldn't stand within five feet of her. I was anguished while filming her do her specific staircase scene. Again, that bodes well for the project.

I'd show a few clips, but I want to talk about editing. Before I do, I have a fee qualms that I'd like to share, just about shots that I couldn't get over the break. I still want that shot of the townspeople (aka demons) staring at my lead as she walks by. And I tried to recruit people while filming the Graveyard of Souls shots, but they were looking at me quizzically and I decided to drop it for the sake of not bothering them any further. I may just have to walk around in my neighborhood with my lead Cathy and ask random people to stare at her. It sounds weird typing it out, but that's probably what I'll do. Hopefully it looks good, because I'm vehement about including that shot in the second trailer. The shot that I want to get is a demon running at Cathy, but that's much easier to get (I only need to recruit one person for the role).

Now, let's talk about editing!

This is my least favorite part about this project by far. Staring at a computer screen for hours at a time hurts my eyes, and I can barely sit still for over an hour. I get antsy and excited, plus I need to stretch occasionally. Me being a slow editor tends to exacerbate that problem. I have OCD, so I might just review something ten times over, change it, then review that change ten times over. It gets exhausting, and it just makes me lose just a little faith in my project, if I'm being honest. Watching the clips over and over makes me realize more imperfections in said clips and it blunts some of the impact, especially in my horror clips. This has been my little rant, I need a little catharsis (venting my frustrations and all that jazz), especially because I'm going to edit right after this.

I'll be a little more curt in this post, just because I'll go more into depth about the editing process in my next posting. I've already arranged and formatted all the clips to my liking in the first trailer. I still have some revisions to make, but I have my core structure done. I've also gotten started on the audio editing, so I'll most likely finish that today (and by extension the trailer). I might have a finished product for you by next post. Maybe. Here's some photos as evidence of my progress (in case you don't believe me):

I'll remind y'all that I'm using Adobe Premier courtesy of my awesome teacher, and though I like DaVinci Resolve, Premier is still the more polished editing software. Especially for sound editing, which is something that is going to be important in this trailer. I've already started on my sound editing, but I still have a little bit to go. I've already found this on Chosic, so I've been pretty happy so far with what I've found:

This means I might not have to make my own demonic scream after all (I still might just for fun), and I don't have to worry about creating this supernatural effect with audio. This is plenty creepy and unnatural, just wait until I link my trailer to a post. 

I'm going to stay mum about the rest of the editing process for now, just so y'all don't have to read any more of my writing for the time being. Plus, I've got a trailer to edit, so wish me luck.

My Thoughts on the Near Future

 These are going to be my final thoughts for the week. This will be my shortest blog post by far because I have some other things I need to sort out and catch up on. This will be a good way for me to just collect my scattered thoughts a bit and really see what I need to work on next. 

Shot Thoughts:

So, to start, I want to clarify that I am almost done with filming! I have a lot of the things I need already, and the only things left are really the horror montage shots, which should be the most fun to film. The mirror shots are most likely going to give me the most trouble, but I can work with it and I should have more time to mess around since I don't need any specific lighting other than dark. I might also just mess around with the mirror angles before then just to see what works. Also, I have to figure out which mirror to use. That's going to be interesting, because I have a few options. I originally wanted to do it in a bathroom mirror, but that might be more challenging on account of my reflection with the camera being more visible. Again, I'll just have to mess around with angles and mirrors until I see what works best. 

Another shot that I still want to get is that of Val at the Memory Graveyard. I have a plan for what I want the setting to be (not an actual graveyard). I'm planning more around this area:

It's this bike path that runs along the Everglades, and there's a few spots where people park and fish along the side. There might be some risk to doing this (it's gator season), but I also know that it could make for a really great shot. And it would work well for a Memory Graveyard, juxtaposing the natural (and unnatural) with the comfortable and the urban. It also means that I'll have to drag my Halloween skeleton there, and that might get me some suspicious looks, but it could also serve me well. Who knows?

There's a bonus shot that I've been wanting to get for a while but I neither really need it nor is it really feasible. I talked about it some time ago in a blog post - it's the one where Val is getting stared at by random strangers (really demons). I think it would be really cool, but would require me to film complete strangers who would have to cooperate with me. So, yeah, not that feasible. I'll see if I can talk some friends into it, but this is a busy time of the year, and I still have to figure out a good setting for it. 

Social Media Thoughts:

I really have no clue what I want to post on my account in the coming days. I've thought of maybe having a post that says I've entered into a fake thriller film fest, but I still have to work that out a bit. I might also have a post where I introduce this guerrilla marketing tactic of setting up a sort of "treasure hunt", where I leave a clue on my social media telling of where the next clue is located, so on and so forth. This would ultimately lead to the locations where I was shooting. It could also be a good way to introduce my audience to more of the plot, without revealing too much. 

I'm also planning on making the teaser soon. The only problem is that I don't really know what I want to include in it. I have a lot filmed already, I just haven't figured out my teaser yet, I've been more focused on the trailers. I'll do some more research and watch other thriller teasers. I might just do small thriller montage, or just focus in on Val herself and her transformation. I'll get back to you when I've figured it out. Until then, this is it for the week. I have a lot of stuff to do and little time to do it, so peace.

Back to the Gram

 Alright, let's put our focus back on the Gram, shall we? I've done a little bit more since the last time we left off. For the most part, I've been sticking to my schedule of six posts per week, so I'm getting there in terms of completing the social media aspect of this project. And, I'm sticking to my dark humor for my brand. And I think it's working for my target demographic, since I am getting more followers. I'm a pico-influencer at this point. Even smaller than nano, but that's ok. I'll just say I have a really niche audience at the moment, and I'm growing my brand slowly but surely. This has been a fun and cool ride so far. Long intro aside, let's get into it.

And as you can tell, I'm gaining followers. I'm following more accounts, too, so that has helped me gain access to more of my target audience. Some more fans of film accounts are following me, so that might be a good sign. And I'm keeping the aesthetic, for the most part. Lighting is key here as well. 

I've added a lot more teaser shots and photos, just to keep people interested and I don't want them to figure out the plot, that's why I'm not really saying much beyond the genre. I want my shots to be interesting on their own.

I love showing this off. I don't know why this shot makes me happy, but it does. Also, you can see my brand's characteristic dark humor in the text there. I always had it in mind to share a post with my corpse, but I needed good context and a good description. I also made sure to include the date and the genre, but I think that this post makes the genre a little more obvious. Also, I make a good fake corpse. Just saying it outright. If anyone needs a corpse for their production, I'll do it! You hear me, Hollywood? That would actually be a pretty funny anecdote, saying my job is to be a corpse. Anyways, moving on.

Here's yet another behind-the-scenes post. I told you, I really like them. I thought it would be cool to see the sfx makeup application and the making of it, especially for this production. I also added bonus pictures here of my homemade sfx makeup. That would actually be a cool avocation, too, selling fake blood. Might  look into that. You know, to pay the student loans. 

I'm also glad to say that I got another small production to slide into my dms. And it was about my sfx makeup too, so clearly I know what I'm doing (just putting stuff out there and hoping for the best). I want to interact a bit more with my followers, and I'll comment on more of their posts soon. I've just been busy recently, which is why I'm a little less active on the Gram at the moment. I'll have more posts up soon, so don't fret. I'll take the time to spew some ideas for posts in the next post, because I am at a little bit of a loss in terms of the content that I want to share in the near future. 

See, I told you these posts would be shorter. Now I can get on with my day. As always, be on the lookout for my next post where I share all the things that have been bothering me and my indecisive state at the moment. 

Filming Session No. 2!!!

This was a little ways back, but I've been busy as of recently, so I'm a little behind schedule in terms of blog postings. I just thought it was important to include this because it was a very productive filming session. Plus, I have a lot to talk about, so let's just get into it. I want to keep these next few posts short and sweet, because this is supposed to be my break time. I just like writing these.

My main goal was to get most of my "tranquil shots" finished. Those are the happy sequences in the first half of my first trailer, where the happy couple first come into town and see their brand new house. I also managed to capture some other shots around the seemingly perfect town. I'm going to edit those more to seem even more saturated and bright. Again, I really need the sitcom-y and jubilant tone to shine through so I can heavily contrast it with the latter half of the trailer. Again, this trailer will be my introduction to the film before the second trailer really hits with the psychological thrills. And speaking of the second trailer, I also wanted to film bits of it during this shoot, though, unfortunately, I couldn't due to some timing issues (it got too dark too quickly).

 Here's the quick overview of how this filming sesh went:

-Due to some timing conflicts, we had to film a little later than we originally planned - this meant that we had to hurry a bit in order to get the shots with the quality of lighting that we wanted

-We quickly filmed the sequence of the couple driving into town (I'll show you a few clips from that a little later in this post)

-We quickly had to film the sequence of the couple in the driveway while the lighting was how we wanted it (we had to work with the dialogue a bit so it didn't sound as stiff - capturing that '50s sitcom dialogue is more difficult than it seems)

-I wanted to film the sequence from the second trailer of Val and Steve inside the house, but it got a little too dark, so a reshoot might be needed (I'll talk more about that a little later on)

-The last thing we did was film the sequence of Val returning home and finding Steve has turned into a demon (the dark lighting was perfect for this one and this was the most fun sequence to film)

Here's the cute couple riding around town:

Lighting is vital for my piece, so I'm really going to lean into it and emphasize it whenever I can. I also want to show off my own style as a psychological thriller director, so lighting is a perfect way for me to do this. Again, I might saturate these a little more just to get that really happy feel. The cheerful music will also help with the tone.

This is just a nice shot that I want to show off. Again, that lighting. Props to Ryan Lutwin and Cathy for the acting as well:

So, here's some problem shots that I had. Again, it got too dark for some shots. I tried to edit them a little, see if I could turn up the brightness. This is what I came away with, so I'll have to ponder it for a little bit and see if I salvaged them enough:

I mean, I still like them. The shot above is especially cute. And I still like the lighting, it's still joyful. My only problem with the first shot of them entering through the doorway is that Ryan has his hat on, and that might throw off the continuity. But, I guess it is the second trailer, so it might not even be noticeable. Ugh, hats. And continuity. 

Next post I'm talking about my Instagram page, again, but I've added a lot more so hopefully you'll enjoy it. And big news for Ukraine, we're starting to gain ground around Kyiv. Glory to Ukraine!

Social Media Check-In

I started my Instagram adventure with my film a little while ago, but I've done quite a bit since I've started trek into the influencer-dominated world of colorful photos. I'm glad to say that it's been going well so far. It's been interesting using this social media site in a more professional manner, and hopefully I'm getting the hang of it. I understand the dynamics of trying to reach a certain target audience a little more, and using some of the functions of Instagram to do so. I'll talk about my posts first, and show you what I have so far and the reasoning behind it. I. might also share some thoughts on what I'll post next, since I do have somewhat of a plan. It's really bare-bones, so maybe I can flesh it out in this post. 

Here's what I have so far in terms of posts:

As you can probably tell, I like my behind-the-scenes stuff. It's always been what interested me the most whenever I look at an account of any film or show. I think it's really cool to see it how a film was made, or even what goes into making a film. Costume and makeup design is a part of that, and it's something that I think my target audience will enjoy. 

My first post had to be the poster, I was just finished with it and I decided it would be a great first introduction to the movie. It really shows off the genre, tone, and symbolism of my film well, so it was a perfect way to launch my Instagram page. My next post was the behind-the-scenes of my poster shoot, and a good way for my target audience to interact more with my brand. I want to be more open with them since this is an independent film and I want there to be a closer bond. Same thing goes for the small clip of  me applying the character makeup to my lead actress. It's also a great way for my target audience to sympathize with the lead actress and hopefully bond more with the character to show her as more of a protagonist (before the trailer reveals some incriminating evidence to the contrary). I also showed a small clip that I'm going to use in one trailer, and maybe even the teaser. This is by all purposes a teaser post that reveals the villain of my film - Sigma. There's also a lot of symbolism behind this, plus it's a cool looking shot. Those typically attract any moviegoer, and this more suspenseful clip will hopefully work well on the psychological thriller crowd. 

I also want to share one of my accomplishments so far in terms of networking on the platform. I was really excited when I saw this on my list of followers (I hit 12 for my small independent film!):

It's a small film production company out in Los Angeles that specializes in horror and thriller films. It's awesome to have an actual film company following your school project, and I consider that a social media win (I'm pretty sure the reason that they followed my account is because of my following of thriller/horror film festivals and movies). Here's their Instagram page:

Again, I'm really having fun managing my film's social media account. I'm going to try to stick to 6 posts per week, they might be consecutive or there might be a gap day (I know there's at least one day where I'll be too busy to post anything). If anything, I might up it to a post every single day during the beginning of April. I like my progress so far, and I hope I can continue at this pace.

My next few posts will probably be a mix of stills and character introduction shots. I want to introduce more of the premise, and maybe throw in a few teaser clips. I'll make a post the day before I release my teaser that will hint at my teaser release. I might do the same thing for my first trailer. And after that, I might make a post that will say something along the lines of my film getting accepted by a made-up film festival. Then, I'll really go with the behind-the-scenes posts and really try to engage my target audience in that way. One thing that I have to make sure my brand follows is the dark humor and the sarcasm that I've already implemented in my posts. I might make a few posts that specifically show off that dark humor, and ask my target audience to give my their best fake corpse shots or their most convincing fake blood recipe. This wraps up this week's posts, and hopefully I'll have more clips to show y'all after my next shoot.

Delving Deep Into the Footage

 As I promised, I'm going to imbed some of the clips that I took, mostly the ones that I'm really proud of. I could talk about some of the problems in some shots, or I could just praise myself. Yeah... I have OCD, I'm gonna talk about the faults. I'm going to put up my best clips first, though, so don't you worry, I'll get to the good stuff. And I want to reiterate that filming was a good experience. It was a little awkward in the moment, and I was worried that some of my shots would turn out worse than they did, but overall, I was happy with what I was able to come up with. 

So, let's see what I have.

The Best Clips:

Remember the thing I said about my corpse? Yep, this is the clip - 

I'm glad that my fake blood turned out well. I'd say it looks pretty realistic considering I'm a gore makeup novice. I might actually try this for Halloween, this is pretty creepy? Is it weird that I'm enjoying this clip this much? I'll just chalk it up to excitement that the clip turned out as well as it did. I also like the movement in the background with the water splashing and the green leaves moving. Definitely thriller material.

Here's another one of my corpse - 

I'm not really gonna keep the sound for most of these clips, maybe have them on quietly, but it'll mostly be stings, the main music, and for this scene in particular, maybe some Sigma dialogue. It's going to go over one of these two clips, I'll just have to figure it out during post. And again, my corpse looks freaky. I really like how it turned out, I'm thinking this is looking a little too realistic, but I'm sticking with it. What can I say, it's good stuff.

Going away from the corpse shots, this is one that I'm also really proud of - 

This shot was a hard one to film. I think I had six takes before I was satisfied, and even then I worried that it wouldn't turn out as good. I was mostly worried about the lighting, since my subject (Sigma) was too far away for any close-up lighting with a flashlight. I figured the lamp might be good for that, so I made him walk a little more than he wanted (actors, so tough to work with, and they expect monetary compensation, too - chocolate just isn't good enough these days). Still, the lamp had its problems, and the lighting isn't as good as it is with a mid-shot or close-up, but I actually like the effect here. The darker lighting makes him appear more ominous and mysterious. And it was totally accidental, but I really like the effect with the lamp light. As he walks closer, the lamp dims. Again, I was just randomly playing around with the shot and noticed that when he walked closer, the lamp lights got dimmer. Total accident, but it's really cool.

I can't stick with the good stuff forever. Now, I have to move on to more of my problem shots. 

Questionable Footage:

I mentioned in the last post about a problem that I kept running into while filming in the dark. I would like to take the time to discuss it. And I will, because this is my blog. I'm not the most experienced filmmaker, so that means I don't exactly have the top-notch equipment. That includes lighting equipment. So, I try to use as much natural lighting as possible, because while flashlights do work, they're not exactly perfect at illuminating my subject, especially with a wider shot. But, the lampposts here are particularly bad when it comes to glare. I've noticed this problem before, but I've never really realized the extent of this problem. When I was filming at TC, I really began to notice it. Blue dots would appear from the glare and reflecting rays of light, and those would often ruin shots that I would take. I had to take one shot a total of 8 times because of the glare or some other issues with random people walking into frame. 

This is one shot that I had to trim a great deal in order to not see any of the glare and the blue dots following my lead around. This shot actually turned out great, because it is fast-paced now, and haunting when it reaches the end. I like the constant movement of both the subject and the camera. But, the glare means that I can't use the other segments of the clip of her running. The blue dots were too noticeable, it wouldn't have looked good. I guess I'll try to film away from lampposts next time or try to find the best angles to film at. I eventually learned to cope with this while filming, but it still sucked when I framed a shot nicely and the lights ruined it. 

This shot suffers the most from it. I'm planning on keeping it, because it was the best one I could take. I figure I can just do fade-outs to black or some other quick edits to hide it for the most part. That might be the best course of action, but again, I'll have to work something out when I get to post-production. 

As fun as analyzing my shots is, I do want to surprise y'all with a few in the trailer. I took a bunch more, and maybe I'll reveal them in a later post. Maybe. Bye for now.

My Experience Filming

Just like I promised you, I'm talking about the filming process! I had a blast, even though I did forget to eat before shooting. That was a bad idea. But besides that, filming went well. I had to take the time beforehand to collect all my equipment and all my materials, grab the stuff that I needed at the last minute, and stuff it in an old gym bag. I knew that I would be moving around location-wise, so I needed something to carry everything so I wouldn't have to go back and forth from the car. 

In terms of equipment, I brought an iPhone, a smaller hand-held tripod, a larger tripod, my microphone that I bought for last year's project, flashlights, scripts + storyboards, pieces of colored construction paper for lighting, and some fake blood. Which brings me to this video that I think you guys will enjoy:

Link to fake blood video:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k18c30aYQ_dT0AL1bUFtzKKDLYRPg-GQ/view?usp=sharing

In it, I make an absolute mess out of my kitchen and make fake blood in the process. My earlier blog post really did help me, as I used that exact recipe with pretty good results. I'll show you next blog post what I'm talking about, and what I meant by "my corpse". I mostly just used corn syrup as the key ingredient for the blood. I mixed in some cocoa powder, corn starch, and hand soap for that texture and to help it leak into crevices on the skin like blood usually does. And I used food coloring, which is no surprise there. I added a combination of red and green food coloring for the normal human blood (it actually looks really realistic, I did think I managed to scare my brother a little bit when he saw it on my hands. I also mixed red with a lot of blue food coloring to make that darker purple, almost black demon blood. I didn't use it for this particular shoot, but I'll definitely use it for the next one. That also looks creepy as hell, so I'm proud of that one, too. I honestly expected the blood-making to go worse, because I originally couldn't find a few ingredients, but I think it turned out well. 

Now, let's move on to the actual filming.

I had to head to my first location with my crew: TC. I knew that the location might be a little populated since it is popular for food and restaurants, and we wanted to film in the evening, so we went to a part that was more secluded. We still had a little bit of traffic coming through, so that was one problem filming. I had my shot exactly how I liked it and was about to record, until some little kid would waltz into the frame and frolic around for a good 30 seconds before moving. I understand why kids like to frolic (I want to frolic more often), but after the third time it got annoying. I'll try to film in less populated locations next time, but I may not have a choice. If that's the case, I. might try to set up a little "filming area", and try to tape off a section where I'm filming, or just try to give people more of a heads up if they want to come through the area where I'm filming. It might be better than forcing a smile and waving people through right when I hit record and get a good shot of some kid running through. It might actually come in handy later, because one of my shots that I want to get is of some townspeople (aka demons) staring menacingly and robotically as my protagonist Val walks past. In that case, I'll have to talk random strangers into helping me with my school film project. It'll be awkward and scary, but it might also be fun.

I also had to account for the time change, and thereby the change in when the sun sets. I needed my setting to be a little more dark, because I got there earlier than I intended plus it was the first day of daylight savings. So I stood around and just planned shots for longer than I wanted to. When it finally became dark enough, I did get some good shots. The lighting where I filmed was perfect and really had that feeling of perfect town mixed with some frightening and dark elements. I'll talk about it more next blog post, but just know that I did finally get good lighting. Here's the proof:

Yes, I did edit the video some (including the brightness and contrast), but it looks good regardless. The lighting in that location was just fantastic, so I got lucky there. There are dark trims to give it that more suspenseful feel, and there's good symmetry, so it is more aesthetically pleasing. I also like the color combination, especially after editing the video and getting it to look more eerie. Here's another video without the edits to show off my location:

It just has a certain look that I really like. Plus, I was able to get some shots that highlighted composition (such as this one) because of this ideal setting. I can really contrast the seemingly perfect town with the pockets of darkness its hiding behind the light. 

Since I'm going in depth with the shots that I took next post, I want to dedicate this little section to my actors/actresses/actor people (especially Cathy) for putting up with me and this project. Filming can sometimes be a pain, especially later at night, but they made it more fun and they were the ones that made my shots better. They held the flashlights and lighting kit stuff while I filmed, they put up with my crazy self, and helped with equipment. I owe y'all more chocolate for sure. 

I'll leave my most persistent problem while filming for the next blog, since I will be going more into depth with that one. So, hope you stick around to read it, and I promise there'll be more fun stuff (and actual trailer footage) next blog post. Peace.

Is It Finally Time to Talk About Filming???

Well... not quite yet. Did I do some filming? Yes, but, unfortunately, you're gonna have to wait a little bit longer for me to talk about my filming experience. That'll be my next blog post, I promise. I'll probably make it a two-parter because there's a lot I want to discuss, so I'll probably just write about my experience filming and some problems that came up while filming in the next post. The one after that, I'll get more into the analysis of my shots, what I managed to get, and showing my corpse. You'll see what I mean by that later.

Now, what is it that I want to talk about today? I just got done with a productive group meeting (just a discussion amongst other media students about our projects), and I want to record this stuff before I forget it. Because I just got some really helpful information, and I know I'll forget it if I don't have it down somewhere. A blog post is as good a place as any.

First, I wanted to figure out where to get more sound effects for my production. Besides lighting, sound is probably the most important element for my trailer. I need to have good stuffs - if I don't, both will come off as cheesy, even if the shots are fine. Bad sound design can ruin trailers, so this was a problem that I really needed to address. Kim came to my rescue, however, and offered up the YouTube Audio Library. 

Here it is:

This has a bunch of free sound effects and music that I can download (free of any copyright). I'll have to use this for any horror stings that I need, which may be a lot. I have some background noise in a lot of the clips that I took that I want to drown out a little bit. I'll have to figure out which ones to fully mute, so that way the sound design isn't too chaotic, but that's something I'll figure out later. For now, I'll just focus on finding stuff on the YouTube Audio Library that could be good for my trailers. I'll also use Chosic for the background music, but I'm sure the vast majority of the stings that I use will be from the Audio Library. It has a lot of sound effects that are completely free, and there are new ones getting uploaded every day. It's more of a wider-reaching platform, so I'm expecting there to be a lot more to choose from in terms of sound effects and music.

Another thing I wanted to figure out was what type of sound effects I wanted to use. There's the conventional horror sound effects, but I want to use something a little more unique. I have a certain style to my trailers/pretend film, so I want the sound design to have that same feel. It might actually help bring some more attention to my film, along with the conventional horror stings that will draw in my target audience. Sabrina recommended that I use some more sound effects that are pitched up to have that supernatural quality. She recommended the parametric equalizer tool on Adobe Premier Pro in order to do that. That might mean watching a video for ten minutes trying to figure it out, but if it'll make my piece sound good, so be it. There are a lot of other tools on Premier that would help me manipulate sound effects and get them to how I want them, so I'll figure that part out later.

I also wanted to know what to do for the demon noises. Again, I want Sigma and the other demons to have that iconic sound. The aliens from A Quiet Place have a distinct sound effect, it automatically creates suspense and scares the living crap out of people watching, etc. etc. I don't know if I'll ever be as creative as the people who worked at sound design on that movie, but I'll try. I might actually create my own sound effects for the demons, so I'll have to get to work on that. I just wanted to see if I could do some foley sounds, but again, I don't have a taser to use on grapes (hopefully you get the reference). I might destroy some fruits and vegetables during this process, but it might be worth it.

I also was given the advice to layer the sound effects so that they sound more supernatural. And again, I could always use the tools on Premier (if I can figure them out) to manipulate the sound effects. I want to try that with the demon noises. I might just make a high pitched scream and go from there. Who knows? As always, hope you keep reading, and see you next blog post (where I finally talk about filming!).

Putting the Finishing Touches on My Poster and Starting Work on the Gram

 Alright, this post may be a little bit shorter than my other ones because this is more for just tying up the loose ends for the week. I'm really excited to share with you guys what I believe is pretty much my final product for the movie poster. I might do some more touch-ups here and there since I do have a little bit of OCD, but I'm really happy with how my poster turned out. I think I put enough detail to make it seem more professional, and I've really added some more dimension and texture to the poster. How about, instead of just talking about it, I show it to all of you?

And here it is. I decided to go with the Knewave font on account of some astute advice from Luis Rodriguez, so shout out to you for your help. I changed the font color to yellow, just to match more with the image, but in the end, I still wanted the reference to the white-picket fence. And even though the font doesn't immediately scream white-picket fence on its own, when I added the mirror to it to add more dimension, I got more of a fence feel always. That was some luck on my part, but I think the font turned out well. This is the first time where I'm really set with my font and I actually like it, so that's probably a good sign. I also like how it looks more centered with this font and not as crammed in. It looks more aesthetically pleasing, which is always nice on a poster (or anything). And it does add some more character to my poster while not being a generic horror font (even though it does allude to the thriller genre). Sorry if I'm talking about my font too much, especially after the last blog post, but I'm excited that I'm finally excited about a font. That might make me weird, but there's some people that dedicate their lives to making unique fonts, so props to all of you! I don't feel as though you get enough recognition.

I also added some touch ups here and there, like adding another layer of cracks on the mirror in Photoshop and adding the splashes of black blood using Canva. I also added the torn hole up at the top left corner just for some more detail and add more texture to it. I like how it forms this off-kilter triangle, which is often associated with the Ouija board (the game that calls spirits or demons, hint hint). Plus, it's a cool shape. And that reminds me, I also put in some time to get the mirror and the offset of the font just right. I made the offset direction to the left, which again, reminds of demons and the devil and such. 

I hope y'all like the poster and at least found parts of the process interesting. I know I had fun making it, and I'm excited to edit some more images to post on my movie's Instagram. Which is a great segue into the next topic for today's blog: the Gram.

I made the official account for my movie a few days ago, but I really started working on it the last couple of days. And this process has been fun, too. I'll give you a quick look at my page as of right now (just to warn you ahead of time, it's pretty plain right now):

Like I mentioned, it's pretty plain so far. I haven't gotten the chance to even post an image of my key art yet, but I'm looking to do that soon. Again, I just finished my poster, and am pretty busy as of recent, but I'll have it up soon, I promise. And yes, I did put a disclaimer in my bio. I don't need people assuming this is an actual movie, even though it would be hilarious. 

And yes, you are seeing it right, I do already have two followers. And I am following 28 others. These are some of the accounts I'm following so far:

I started out with following other psychological thriller movies, just to tap into my target audience a little bit and make my presence known. I'm also following directors such as Jordan Peele and Edgar Wright, who actually both have interesting accounts themselves. Maybe I should follow more directors, because some of their stuff is really good. I also followed some smaller distribution companies, theaters, and film festivals, because I do want to have a limited release for my film, and I need some film festivals to be able to garner more of an audience for my film; on top of that I'm going to need a distributor and places to screen my film. I'm following some theaters around the Miami area, which would be more likely to accept my film since I'm a local filmmaker. I followed some chain theaters as well, but those would be much less likely to screen my film. And, I do have two followers already, both of which are cinephiles and follow the same director and film accounts that I do, so I'm chalking it up to my strategy. I'm also going to follow some smaller film accounts and film enthusiast accounts just to attract my target audience more directly and alter them to the presence of this film. I figure that's easier to do with smaller accounts. I'm also doing a promotional where I follow them back and like some posts, just to interact more with them and get them to potentially interact more with my brand.

That's pretty much it for my social media so far, but just know that I'm planning to do either 5 or 6 posts a week (just depends on my schedule and what I'm able to get done that week). I'm also potentially making a website for my film, so be on the lookout for that soon.

I want to dedicate the rest of this post to an atrocity that has happened recently in my home country. And yes, atrocities are happening every day because of the invasion, but this one is particularly vile (and that's saying something all things considering). The shelling of a maternity hospital is evil and is a punishable war crime. Children and pregnant mothers should not have to die because of this stupid invasion, innocent civilians should not have to suffer through this. I applaud the bravery and resilience of everyone in my country - those defending it, those trying to survive, those fleeing, and those who have already fled. I can only hope for the best for everyone, I can only pray that everything turns out ok. I truly believe that certain other countries could be doing more to help, because the Russian army is only going to kill more civilians and become more reckless the more frustrated their army gets. The killing of the innocent needs to stop. Period. I appreciate everyone that takes the time to read this, and all those supporting Ukraine in whatever ways possible. I appreciate you too.

More Poster Stuffs

As you y'all can guess (and as I promised) I'm continuing my poster work. Again, I did want to make some changes to my poster, as the main photo that I edited in Photoshop did look good, but I thought that I could make it pop out just a little bit more. Plus, I need to find a good font for it. So that's another thing that I'll be working on while writing this blog. For font and text in general, I'm extremely picky and I'm never really happy with my results. This will be a good way for me to dissect the title and figure out what it needs and what suits it.

This is what I have at the moment. Again, I'm using Canva to format the poster. I think that it's much easier to format all the pictures and make changes to their sizes, crop parts out, etc. on Canva rather than Photoshop. So that's why I'm not doing it on there. I appreciate what Photoshop was able to do for me in terms of editing the image, but formatting is a whole different story. 

Now, on to the parts that I've added since you've last heard from me. I've made some pretty big changes, as you can see. I added the lights to the borders of the poster. I think it just gets rid of some empty space on the sides and makes it a little more three dimensional. Same with that glow that I added behind the mirror. I knew that the picture by itself was feeling static and needed some more texture. The bright glow really makes it pop while making my lighting scheme clear (which is a bonus and something that I picked up from Last Night in Soho). I was hesitant about the placement of the glow, but I feel like I centered it pretty well and that it just gives the poster more flavor. I also altered the image a little bit on Photoshop to include more cracks in the demonic side of the mirror. Now, it looks a little bit more broken and adds another layer of creepy. Same reason I added the black blood stains on the glow. I just thought that it could add a little more to the poster and give it more energy. 

The only things I'm not sure about are the font for the title card and the "October 2022" text in general. To address the October text first, I don't even think it's necessary for my poster. I'm going with the digital formatting because I think my movie would be best served going to a digital streaming service after a limited release. That means I don't need credits, and it might also mean that I won't need the release date at the bottom. I could still include it, but I don't like it down there. It takes away from the rest of the poster just a little bit, which I definitely don't need. I also tried the same font but with the color blue, but it didn't match well with the poster. At least the color red indicates the thriller genre and relates to the blood stains, but doesn't do much more than that. I'll probably just delete it. That might just be the safest course of action, since I can add it again at any time or figure out something better to include.

Now, on to the thing that vexes me the most: fonts. I hate them. Well, I like them, but not when I have to choose one. When I have to choose one, there's too many and none of them are absolutely perfect, so I have to scour the entire bank of fonts (wasting minutes of my time in the process) until I find one that's halfway decent. And it's never the first one that I choose either. I always want to change it because it looks weird, or the formatting is weird. I also have to change the font size because it's always ridiculously large or small. All I'm saying is, you only have the one life. Wasting my time looking for fonts is not how I want to spend it. Well, with the rant out of the way, let's get a closer look at my title card now, shall we?

It's the Architects Daughter font, which I actually like, I'm just not sure it goes with the genre nor with my original plan. It only somewhat remind me of a white-picket fence, and it doesn't really feel intimidating or thriller-esque. What it does have going for it is the uneven letter height, which I think does add an element of suspense. It makes it seem unstable, which is good for a psychological thriller. It's the one that I'm keeping right now because I like it best, but there are a couple more options:

This font (Jeepers) definitely has the genre convention going for it. It looks like a horror or a thriller, so it would automatically clue in my target audience on what my film is about. But, I don't really like it much besides that. It looks almost a touch cliche, and is too trite. It reminds me of Ghostbusters or a Halloween greeting card (if those even exist). It also doesn't look as sharp on the poster.

This is the last one that I'm actually considering - it's called Knewave. It looks the part of the thriller convention, but it also does give me the feeling of a white-picket fence. The only thing that I'm not sure about is that it looks too plain or not distinguishable enough. I don't want to have a font that's completely boring, so this is why I chose Architects Daughter over this. It does separate itself more from the background than Jeepers, which I like, but I can't tell if it's more aesthetically pleasing on the poster than Architects Daughter. 

So, this is pretty much my poster. I definitely have more work to do, but it's in its final stages. I knew that picking out the title font would be the hardest part, so I'll keep you posted on that. In other news, I have my official Instagram account for my movie, and I'll share that with all of you next blog post. This is where I sign off.

Starting on My Actual Poster!!!!

 I've been promising this for a few days now, and I recall setting up a whole photoshoot with my lead actress just so I could have a photo for the poster. And let me just tell you... today's your lucky day if posters are your thing. I have to say, it turned out a cool image without any Photoshop or editing done to it, so I'm really excited to get to work on the actual poster. Again, I have my rough draft as a framework and it shows a lot of what I'll include in my actual poster, or at least the vibe that I'm going for. If you need  to refresh your memories on that vibe, I highly suggest my earlier blog post on my rough rough draft of the poster. It was a fun one to do, and I stop by every once in a while to remind myself of what I want the poster to be. Now, enough procrastinating, I've got a lot of work to do. 

This was my starting photo for the poster:

Yeah, it does look creepy on its own. I want to give a self-compliment on my makeup work, mostly because I thought I wouldn't be able to do it, but I did. So score one for me, and zip for the pessimistic voice in my head. I could just leave it like this, but I really wanted to cut out the mirror and use black for the background (I wanted something that didn't also have a chunk of my storyboard poking through). I also wanted to edit the picture more, and you'll find out what that means later. In order to do that, I needed a program that would allow me to alter the photo to the fullest extent possible. And it's a great thing that I have Adobe Photoshop for free courtesy of my school and teacher. Adobe takes a little more patience and a little more perseverance (plus some time on YouTube getting a refresher on how to use all the tools again) than other programs, but I think it produces the best results and I alter my picture a little more to my liking than the other programs.

I first needed to cut out the mirror and Cathy's face. Using the magnetic lasso tool was a pain, but it is usable more efficient and better at cutting out what I want than the other lasso tools. It's able to differentiate between the subject I want to cut out and the background (as long as they aren't too similar in color). So after a few minutes of trying to get the edges just right, including messing up and starting over on one side of the mirror, I was finally able to get this pretty good outline. I also added the masking layer to separate it fully from the background so I could add this to another background. I also keep forgetting to make copies of my layers, but I got it down after about my fifth time forgetting and getting the message that a tool is not useable until I create a copy of the layer. 

Next, I wanted to give Cathy (aka Val) a creepy red eye on the demonic half of her face. Photoshop has a special feature for it, usually to correct eye color but I used it for this instead. At first, I went with too saturated of a red and the photo just looked off. I toned it down a bit, blended it more with her pupil and softened the red on the whites of her eyes. Overall, I think it looks really good. It's not a drastic change, but it makes that one eye appear more dead and evil, if that makes sense. It adds just a little bit more of a creepy factor, and that's really what I was shooting for.

I decided I wanted to adjust the look of the photo a little bit, so I adjusted the hue, vibrance, saturation, and some other stuff. I wish I could tell you what I did, but I couldn't retrace my steps if I tried. But, it looks cool. Looks a little more present and full, if those are adjectives that can describe a picture. I also think it highlights that dead eye a little more, so that's a plus.

And this is my most up-to-date poster. I added a png of the crack and put it on the demonic side of the mirror. I also edited in a demonic face outline to accent Val's transformation (and to make it clearer what type of monster she is because I know that can be confusing sometimes). I also added in the lights, but I'm not sure if I want to keep them. They looked good in the rough rough draft, but they look a bit added on here. 

I also want to add that I used Canva to format the poster. It's just easier to format the pictures and the title card (and whatever else I want to have on there). There is also already a poster template, so the dimensions are pre-set and I wouldn't have to mess with anything on the Photoshop export tab. Plus, Canva also has a black background that is easier to adjust. 

So, hope you enjoyed looking at my work so far. I still have a ton to do, so look forward to a part two for this, where I can show you just how indecisive I am when it comes to picking out fonts for text. In any case, I like how it looks already, and I'll talk about what else I'm planning on adding soon. Have a great rest of your day, I'm planning on taking a well-earned nap. Peace.

Finally in the Actual Production Process (Pt. 2)

So..... I've axed the long introduction for this one just because it's redundant. I know why y'all came back: you're excited to hear about what I did for my project!!! I am, too. So let's get to it.

The very first thing I did was pick up my actors. Which is a problem I want to get into in this paragraph. Two of my actors (Cathy and Ryan, because I want to give them a shout out) live farther away than is favorable. That makes the logistics a little harder because of the time spent on transportation and the fact that they may not be available for certain times because it takes more time for them to get back to their respective houses. I'll probably serve as the main form of transportation because they should not have to spend money on gas for helping me with my project. Having a set schedule would probably curtail this problem to a degree - I can hash out when each of them would have the most time to film to account for the time it takes to get to my locations. 

I don't just want to talk about the potential problems. I had a lot of fun just figuring out the shots and explaining my project to my actors. I mapped out some potential spots to film while I'm driving. I want to capture that feel of suburbia, and the roads in Weston are prefect for it. I can't really explain it, so I'll just say there is a lot of symmetry and it feels artificial. The colors almost seem supersaturated, so this could be the perfect way to throw off my audience during the first sequence. 

This is just a small sampling of suburbia. And like I said, it's perfect for composition and symmetry. I want to show that perfection in most of the shots I take at the beginning sequence of the first trailer, to make it a pretty convincing utopia. This is TC, which will serve as another great setting later on. But, in that sequence, it'll be revealed that the town houses demons and that is when Val will be chased in the dark. I'll try to throw off the symmetry there, right after it gets dark.

I also had time to do the photoshoot, as I mentioned in the previous blog post. I had a blast during the entire process, and it actually took less time than I thought. The hardest part was just positioning myself (and the camera) to where it couldn't show in the picture. Getting the mirror and Cathy at the right angle was also tedious, but worth it in the end. I also really like my make-up design look for Cathy's half-demon face. I have a great video to share that will explain more about my process and that will also show my lead actress in all her glory. 

The link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BLYdthry3CTRR7IGQFkOUqHo93iL5zus/view?usp=sharing

I had just the smallest inkling of a plan going into it, so I'm really happy with my results. And I promise you, that was all just improvising. I knew that I wanted to use eyeliner, mascara, eyeshadow, and that's about it. This will serve as great documentation for the critical reflection, and it will also help me remember what I did for the makeup because I pretty much had no plan and I would probably just improvise again if I didn't have this video.

Now, I also did some planning of shots around the location. I only actually recorded what I was planning for the outside, so that's the only video that you'll get unfortunately, but it's still a good insight into what's happening in the more sane recesses of my mind. 

Heres' the link to that video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RNOAN4tSOTDjuzzFokxeaJetFzc_fOtA/view?usp=sharing

Again, I was just reviewing the shots that are already on my storyboard. This is just so that it's more clear, because I know my doodles can be confusing sometimes. I might not keep every single one of the shots listed because I don't want that sequence to last for too long, but I like how it is now. Plus, I think the blue dress does a good job of clashing with the green, as well as with the red car, as though Val (Cathy's character) really does not belong in the town from the get-go. It's a nice touch, and adds more to the rise-en-scene. I'll try to get more videos explaining what I want to do in the near future, or it might be the actual shots that I'll use in the trailer. I'm planning on doing actual filming this weekend, so that's a strong possibility. 

This is just a test of one of the shots, almost like a run-through. This is the one where the neighbor slams on the window of the car, which I want to be almost like a classical jump-scare. I'll put a little horror sting to go on top of it to give it that extra punch. I also want to see if I can just try to zoom in a little more on just the hand, and have it appear almost out of nowhere. I might try to film that while it's a little darker as well. Not completely dark, but with the sun setting to make it a creepier atmosphere. 

Welp, so that was my experience actually in production mode for the first time for the A Level Project. It felt nice, and I think this is going to be fun to do. I'm especially looking forward to doing my poster, which is coming really soon. I might show you some stuff next blog post, who knows? That's all for now, folks.

Finally in the Actual Production Process!!!

 So, I'm excited to say that I finally started my production!!!! And not just storyboarding, scriptwriting, etc. (I love that stuff and I know it's important, but actually making a production just hits different). I want to dedicate this blog post to just talking about starting that process, and just scrutinize over every meticulous detail... I'm kidding. Maybe. Since I've often been told that my best writing is story writing, I'll share a little tale for all of you. Am I in a weird mental state? Maybe. But I'm excited, so let's keep this train of thought on the right track, why don't we?

So, I finally got my actors/actresses up to speed on the entire project. I also have a schedule for filming and figured out a good plan for when I can meet up with them and shoot some actual trailer footage. Which is something else I'll get to in this post: I didn't actually shoot anything useable for the trailer. This was mostly blocking, getting feedback from the stars of my film, and just planning when I want to film certain sequences and which of my actors that I need for those sequences. I did record some of my ideas for shots for one sequence from the first trailer, so I'll share that with you in this post a little later. 

My shooting schedule will look somewhat like this:

Next Weekend: Film with all; film most sequences for first trailer (start shooting the bright and cheerful sequence first when the couple is first arriving and driving around the town); shoot the house sequence for the second trailer (the first sequence and maybe the scene of Val finding out that Steve has already been "turned"

 - Note: a specific date has not been set yet. I'm still waiting on confirmation whether the best date to shoot is Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. I would say that either Friday or Saturday would work best for me. However, I have to be flexible.

Week Before Spring Break: I'll definitely be filming less during the actual week, but I want to see whether I can film the sequences at TC when Val runs into the actual townspeople more in their demon state; I also want to film the shots of Val at the park (either Markham or the one nearby) with Sigma - these shots could be for either the first or second trailer, I would rather just film both for continuity's sake; I also want to see if I can get a shot of the "robotic townspeople", but that is going to involve some more extra and potentially me asking complete strangers in a plaza if they could creepily walk towards my friend who's the lead actress for this school project thing I'm doing. Yeah, that might be a bad idea. But, I really want that shot, so I'll gladly embarrass myself for it. I feel like this was too longwinded. Moving on!

Spring Break: Shoot everything else that I need. This is going to be the point where I'll annoy the kind people who agreed to act in my trailer into blocking my number from their phones just because of how much I'm asking them the same damn question of when they would be available to film. This week is going to be really important in regards to the project, so I'm planning on being really productive. I'm planning on it. Planning stuff usually manifests that stuff in real life, right? Knock on wood. I'll also be doing most of my social media posts during this period, and planning when I'll post that content. I might post a good amount before that point, but this is just if I fall behind.

I decided this was getting to be a little long and I still have so much stuff to share. So, I'll leave the description of my process for the next blog and share those videos in the next one as well. I've gotta say, one of them is pretty funny, so I'd be looking forward to that if I were you. Or not, completely respect your decision. Anyways, I want to share some of the photos that I took from the poster photoshoot here. And yes, that was my biggest goal for today. I accomplished that, so I'm feeling good. I have my photo that I'm going to use picked out already, and you can try to guess which one it is:

I used the smaller mirror first. I thought that it would be good for highlighting just my lead's face, and would be easier to capture the entirety of it without also getting my own reflection. It took a little bit of positioning for me to get it just right, but I did find success with it. The last picture (the one right above this text) is the one that I'm going to use for the poster. I like the one above it (maybe not that hue of blue for the mirror, but mostly just about the makeup). I'll get into my actual idea later (because I am going to work on the poster this week!), but for right now all you need to know is that the half-makeup is purposeful. I'm going to do the cracked mirror effect splitting the face in two, so that's why only one part has the demon makeup. I'll also go into the process of applying that makeup and what I used in the next blog (I also have a video). 

I also used the larger mirror, but I just don't like it as much. I couldn't get it from a good angle without revealing my own reflection, and it just looks a little more distant. I want that psychological thriller genre to be in-your-face, so I want my poster to be more intimate in its insanity. I also think that the close-up of the face (without any of the body) is also just a better shot. It's easier to do that split mirror human/demon effect. 

In any case, before I leave off, I just want to share how excited I am to make that poster. It might actually be the part that I'm looking forward to the most. I just really want to make a creepy and cool poster, so I'm trying to get a head start. Plus, I just don't think I can wait. So you might see some stuff this week. Like an actual rough draft. I just want to remind that next blog post is a continuation of my discussion here about what I did my first day of actual production, so please be prepared to watch some cool stuffs. Hope you have a good day (or tomorrow is a good day for you). See you next blog post.