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.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment