Posts!

 Ok yes. I know I've been lacking with social media posts; however, I can explain.

Before filming, we didn't have much content to go off of. All I could post was literally the title and... nope that's it.  Now that we had at least one day of filming and we have our cast selected, I can post so much more. I haven't posted in the last week because I was in Chicago, and I honestly didn't have time to do much. However, I have already posted the meet the cast posts and I will be posting a BTS post and Insta story later today. It is important to show the process of our short film because considering that we aren't actually making a film, it all stops once the trailers and poster are out. That's because well, the next step would be the film. 

 

Once I post the BTS stuff, I plan on posting things that the audience can interact with, like facts about the characters and little teaser pictures with the caption "coming soon" and the little eye emojis. I want the essence to be dramatic yet, not too dramatic that people know what is going on until the trailers. I also added a bio that states what the account is and the release dates. I've seen many movie accounts do this, so I just wanted to make it as professional as possible. 

Editing Pt. 1

 So, editing time!

I'm writing this at like one am here in Chicago. It's spring break and I can't do much because we sight see all day. However, I am trying. I started editing the first scene of my trailer together! I talked about my structure before, so you guys probably know what I'm talking about. I am using Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2023 (It's better than 2024 for me idk why) which I'm certified in, so I know my way around it. So far, I've used a piece of music I found titles "coming of age intro" and I'm going to cut it later on to make it sound more dramatic after the crash. The shots are framed right, but like two of the intro shots are out of focus so I need to sharpen them. I also need to color grade and fix the exposure, but I'm going to do that after I finish adding everything to the timeline because if not it's going to drive me crazy.  Finally, the two actors really do have great chemistry and I'm really excited on how this will turn out. 

Here's a picture of what my Premiere tab looks like. As you can see in the effects panel I had to add denoise on the audio because the background noise was too loud when dialogue was being said. I imported all my clips that we've filmed so far and added the copyright free music onto the timeline as well. It's going pretty well, and I can't wait for all of you to see the finished product!

Equipment

 To add on to my last post. 

We needed equipment to film our project so here's what we got:

-A DSLR camera

-DSLR camera battery

-A mini zoom lens

-50 mil lens

-28 mil lens

-A tripod

-Shure rode mic

-boom pole

-RGB three-point light kit.

The first three bullet points were equipment I had prior. We were good with that. However, how were we supposed to get the shots stable? How were we supposed to light it? How were we supposed to get audio? This is when we decided to contact our county news station that Tai and I actually interned at last summer. They actually give out equipment rentals for free to all TV/film kids in our school county.  That's where we got all the other equipment on the list, and it was actually a huge help. It made the prosses of filming run smoother, and it will make filming day 2 run smoother as well. 

Here's the name of where we got the equipment.

Filming Day 1

 So today was day one of filming for the movie trailer. We filmed basically every shot we needed minus the school scenes because we're currently on spring break. (That will get done the week we get back). I think we did pretty well, and we honestly had a lot of fun filming so :). 

We started off the shoot, by going to a semi secluded area of a local park. The purpose of going here was mainly to get shots of our two actors in character, not only to make them comfortable with their character, but to film their relationship, that way audience members will be able to understand what they mean to each other. We got long shots, medium shots, close ups, and a couple lines of dialogue of their interactions. We later got a tracking shot of them heading to a secluded parking lot where they will eventually get into the car and you know...

We then got all the car scenes. We got what happens inside the vehicle as well as on the outside, not only to have a variety of shots, but also just to give context to what is happening and what is about to happen. We even got Lynda to scream so that was cool. As you can see in the picture Tai and I are holding a Canon camera and a boom mic/pole to capture everything. 

I don't have photos, but we later went to my house to get all the shots of Liz being depressed in her bedroom and writing the "letter to her mom." These shots took some time because we had to get the perfect lighting without having the shot be too grainy. We also had a hard time figuring out what to write on the note considering it is a heavy topic to discuss and we didn't want to get it wrong. We didn't want to make it in any way comical or make it in a way that it isn't taken seriously. 

Finally, as a group, on a well-deserved break, went to go watch the sunset. However, when we got there we thought, "Why not get shots here?" So, I filmed Liz and Jackson (Lynda and Pombo) having more moments together to establish their relationship. I don't know if we'll use these as actual scenes or flashbacks, but we'll see. 

As far as social media goes, I did get behind the scenes content, but I'll need to edit it before it can go out. 

ACTORS :)))))

Photo credits: me :)

Our Liz 

 Lynda is the Liz of this movie. She used to be an actor at her local theater program, and I’ve seen her act. Trust me…she’s good. She also is in Tai and I’s TV program, so she know all about working with cameras, how long shoots can take, and how to follow critiques from the director. That’s what made her the perfect choice for our lead. Lynda is such a sweet and energetic person and hopefully that portrays on screen as her initial personality. 

Change 

So, we decided to change up the characters. The movie is going to be called a Letter to my Mom because the note is going to be actually meant for her mom. Like her mom is alive. We realized that the notes are usually meant for their parents anyways, and it proved difficult to get an adult willing to act into our film. So now the person that does in the car crash will be Liz’s best friend, Jackson. He will be a childhood best friend and someone Liz thought she could never live without. Having it be someone Liz’s age, makes the survivor’s guilt more real in a sense but it shows the frailty of human life no matter the age. The twin flames in the title will be meant for the two friends. Same meaning, different people. 

 Our Jackson 

Pombo, as we call him, is a great Jackson. He is very charismatic and has amazing on camera chemistry with Lynda. They complement each other well. He also is in our TV program, so he knows all the ins and outs of filming. He is willing to do anything for the shoot including pretending to crash a car.

IDEAS

 Ok so...final planning time.

Since we have to create two trailers for our film, Tai and I decided we were each going to come up with the concept of one of them that way we have different approaches to our promotion. 

Structure

So here's my concept/structure:

Boom

-Start off with an establishing shot

-Go into the car crash scene

-Title sequence

-"I was a normal girl" (school montage)

-Text

-Final Montage

-Ending credits

Each "scene" (both montages and the car crash) lasting 30 seconds. 

I think that starting off with the car crash will hook people's attention the most and it will engage viewers to watch to the end. It would end with the montage cause c'mon, what trailer doesn't end with a really cool/fast-paced montage? The text parts will quicken the pace and make it seem almost, more high stakes in a way. It will also give more context to what's going on along with the VO that will be included. 

Shot List

I know I said I was going to make a story board, but I forgot how bad I was at drawing. I also am better at thinking for montage shots on the spot, so here's my shot list mostly complete, it's just the montage shots that are iffy. During shootings I like making them up (for movie trailers, in an actual short film I'd have it planned down to the bone) because I like to see what the actors are good at portraying (just for montages): 

I WON

 So as you guys know I went to the STN National, well now international cause there was a school from Wales there, Convention. My two competitions were News Magazine where we placed 3rd in the nation and guess what….

I competed in the Movie trailer category and I won 4th place in the nation. THAT’S CRAZY! For the competition we had 6 hours to write, film, and edit a movie trailer to the prompt “Fine Line.”

I learned so much about making a movie trailer, by making it this this weekend and that was crazy. Let me explain. So, I’m not usually a big film gal, I usually do more news stuff and before this competition we only practiced once. My team and I asked for critiques with our practice trailer and our main issue was not including the studio credits or saying when it was coming out. We also did too much of a story per say and it lowkey told the story before watching the movie. It gave too much away. We took these critiques to mind and during our competition day we made sure to correct them. And let me just say it came out amazing. Instead of making it a cohesive story, we made the first few shots be from a scene in the climax of the movie, then we cut it to a scene towards the beginning, and then we made a 30 second montage of the best scenes. The montage included running, hugging (for that emotion you know), and VO. I will definitely use these tips with tai in making this segment especially since again, WE WON 4TH PLACE IN THE COUNTRY! (I would share it but I don't know because of copyright so far)

Another thing I learned was working as a team. Like yeah, I work well with other people, but sometimes I let other people walk over me because I think they know better. That happened at the practice. However, for this competition I took initiative and it felt...good. I think I'm liking having my ideas heard. 

Anyways

I’m also almost done with the shot list/storyboard so stay tuned 👀

Print Components

 

-summary of content

Poor Things was released in 2023, a recent movie, and has had many Oscar nominations in the most recent award ceremony. However, it started off as a limited release, which is why I chose to research this poster in full. It helps me get an idea of what poster would be appropriate for our type of release.

-analysis of techniques

This poster includes the protagonist being the key art and the main focus. Emma Stone’s character is in a pose, where half her face is still visible to give a semi-mysterious look. The costume she wears is yellow, represents hazard and might explain a bit about the character. The background color is white to match the font. It makes it more visually appealing and gives it a sense of not too much text on the poster. They have production credits on top of the top of the title. The brain at the top ofher head is artwork that might symbolize something later on in the film. 

 

 

-summary of content

The Perks of Being a Wallflower was released in 2012 and it is a coming of age/teenage angst piece. The poster was chosen due it being so similar to the genre of what we want to do.

-analysis of techniques

I like how they are in a friend group, instead of an individual. I might not do that just because the main protagonist is, well, main protagonist. It's not a group thing. You don’t have to use everyone, don’t worry. The background is green, showcasing the how the protagonist's friends are nurturing for him and want him to grow. The characters are all in non-teeth smiling poses to talk about the seriousness of their purposes. The font of the title is kind of like an old typewriter that shows a whole other dynamic to the poster. It makes the audience feel simple, like the title is a fact. The "slogan" in a way is "We are infinite." Not much attention is wanted on it so to not take away from the general poster it is big enough to see, but small enough to be well...small. 

 

-how these examples have inspired you

Both posters have inspired me to follow their little aspects and make a poster that follows the aspects and makes sense for our film. I realized color and font choice especially advertise and tell a story as much as the film itself. We have to be careful with that. 

Filming Schedule

So, due to us being at STN this upcoming week, Tai and I decided to postpone our filming until the week after: the week of the 18-25th. That would give us sufficient time to pre-plan everything and have a week where we aren't busy preparing and competing in this competition. The main issue would be the make-up work considering it's the end of the quarter, but we also have the start of spring break during this week so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. 

Here's how the next two weeks looks like in my mind:

Week of 3/11-3/17

• Post on the social media
• Possibly create an unofficial poster
• Research how to make said poster
• Storyboard
• Create lines of dialogue we want the characters to say (for characterization)
• Pick the music (or around what type we want so we can create the shot list)
• Finalize our actors
• Possibly research the genre more

Week of 3/18-3/25

• 3/18-3/20 make up workdays probably
• 3/21- on filming being done (It shouldn't take more than two full days)
• I'm thinking most likely the Friday and Saturday of that week. 
• So, 3/22 film all the house scenes (Like the scenes in the protagonist's room, etc.) and the car crash.
• 3/23 all the rest. 
• And begin editing :)

Social Media Time :)

 So we decided to open an Instagram account!

Reasoning

Due to our target audience being in their late teens, the easy accessibility of it, the different formats we could incorporate (pictures, videos, and stories), and the effectivity it had to similar projects like on my social media research post, it is safe it say it is our best option. I know most of these films also had Facebook, but I'm a late teen and I've never even had a Facebook account and that says a lot in this generation. Instagram is the perfect mix of the older gen Z and the newer gen Z, and I love it. Plus, the newest of these films was 8th Grade which came out in 2018 which was 6 years ago. Times change. Social Medias change. We were also thinking of creating a Tik Tok account, due to the popularity of the app, but that only works with video components, so it would be rather tricky. Maybe once we get our trailer done?  

 Link

https://www.instagram.com/alettertomymomfilm/?next=%2F

Posts

       So far, I've created the profile picture and the first post. I used the font of a typewriter not just for the aesthetic, but because whenever I think letter I see typewriter. Plus, it mimics the font of The Perks of Being a Wallflower poster title. I used the color blue to give it a more teenager feel instead of black and white almost "antique" feel to it. I wanted it to resonate with our target audience.

       For the profile picture I decided to incorporate two candles. To me candles represent instability. They can either go out, flicker, create a small fire, create a city-wide fire; you never know until it happens. I feel like Liz's life is like that, and that event was the car crash. The reason I chose two flames was because, even though the story is about Liz, her actions were because of her mother. To her they were inseparable. They kept each other's flames lit in a way. I don't know, I found it a little cutesy reference.

Following

I saw with most other social media accounts regarding similar films that they follow similar films, studios, and their actors/directors. As we have not finalized our actor list we haven't followed anyone of that nature yet. However, we followed Netflix, A24, HBOMax as well as Tai and I's Instagram accounts. It makes our page that much more professional. If we were just following our friends, it would look like a random, maybe even hacked account. Plus, with this following list, we can show people we are promoting a film. It would attract the attention from just the right people (other filmmakers and studios).

Characterization

I love that word hehehe

 So, our main character is called Liz and she's very complex. Before the said accident, she was a very outgoing in a way "normal" girl. She had a friend group, she hung out with her family, and whatnot. After the accident, her mind took a different turn. However, on the outside though at times you could tell she was a bit down in the dumps, she seemed the same. Alone however, she most definitely was not. I'm a visual person and in order to actually imagine the trailer and what I could storyboard, I needed to put it in pictures. So here are the mood boards for the character I created:

I mean just look at the difference! Now we're talking! Now I'm thinking of some cinematic shots we could do of her crying (With a GVM RGB light kit and with different make up I have lying out in my house) and maybe I could have her do yoga or something like that (Isn't the yoga so her?) But yeah, these mood boards really helped me visualize who I wanted the character to be. Plus, it'll help me scramble less when it comes to production.

It also helps with communication. Instead of having to be at a loss of words when I tell Tai about the character, which has been happening a lot recently, BOOM. I can just show her!

Group Reviewsss

 

So today in class we had group review/critiques, and they were actually really helpful! You have probably seen with a lot of my posts, we have an idea, but like we are still a bit lost in certain aspects. Like what do we name the film? What specifically does the protagonist do? What is the character like? Where are we supposed to be at with the whole project?

Plot Details

I was fourth in this group to present my film promo idea and got a lot of feedback. They all saw how dark the idea was, but they understood the necessity of what we are trying to accomplish with this piece. Nati, one of the people in this group, suggested that the main character should do boxing as a sport, as a way of getting frustration out. I honestly thought this was a good idea at first, but I currently don't have the budget for that. Like just look at these prices...

     Maybe I can buy those 20-dollar ones and have them hit a wall, or go to an arcade and film that little punch bag game? However, I do believe it will look tacky. Plus, even though it would have made for cool shots and a cool subplot of sorts, I continued thinking on it and decided otherwise. The whole point of the main character is that she can't get her frustration and thoughts out. So maybe boxing isn't the best. Either way, Nati's suggestion made me really think of the importance of the character's portrayal. 

  

Title

Also, thanks to the help of the group and talking to Tai, we finally decided on a name!

A Letter To My Mom  

   The mother will be the family member in the car crash, and in the end the letter will be dedicated to her and the justification. It's a subtle hint at the ending. At first as up we decided something to do with the character's name, (not that we had one picked out officially but we like Liz so far) like how Male's film is going to be called "The Ballad of Bobby the Blob" put it just didn't sound right. It was too goofy in a way for our film. 

Social Media

 And lastly, I realized that we need to get started on the social media. The other person in our group also working on the film promo, Riley, already started on her social media so we need to get started ASAP. But now that we know our title and we have a solidified story and essence, we can actually start so yay. 

    

Overall, I loved this activity. It really got my brain gears turning while helping others and others helping me.