Entry 13: (The Last Entry) Critical Reflection

https://soundcloud.com/qrzkim/critical-reflection

I would like to add that I had a great time throughout the entire process of this production and even though there were times I fell to pieces, I remembered this is the life I want. So even the bad times gave me a glimpse of (hopefully) is soon to come. Every moment was a lesson to be learned and experience closer to a bigger and brighter picture (as cheesy as that sounds).

I hope you like our finishing product.... Goodbye!

Entry 12: The Final Result

Entry 11: Complications....

Though this title does seem pretty negative, I wanted to talk about the obstacles we are going to have to face in the next step in the project as it is coming to an end.

Well the first problem of the week...music.

Finishing the filming process of our film opening we had hoped that the owners for the song Layla would have answered us by now. We did receive an answer but it wasn't from the owner of the song. Darren had an idea to email both the writer of the song and the production company for the song rights. The lyricist Bobby Whitlock, did answer our email but with bad news said that he didn't own the rights to the song. Upset we had to start preparing for the worst case scenario. We decided to turn to our other five options that we had in our final five list. We emailed all of them and we still have not gotten a response... maybe we should have done this earlier but we are really worried. For a week now I've been looking into possible songs that are not copyrighted. It's hard when you have an idea in your head but you can't duplicate it. As of now I'm still looking.

Next problem....editing.

This thankfully hasn't been a huge issue but an issue never the less. The day back to school ready to edit, we inputed the flash drive and uploaded the videos and to our shock....none of the videos would play. I was freaking out but we still had sometime. Trying to calm myself down before I was ready to go nuts, Darren with his great ideas gets the clips and converts them into a file that will be allowed to play in these computers. Unfortunately, it seems time is slipping as we are working.
Now that the clips are viewable, it seems that the website used to convert all the clips are cutting off the video. It seems we won't be doing any editing today at school. My panic mode is at an all time high now with the fear that I may have done a mistake. I remember seeing the big red button.
The answer will be coming soon. Looks like we'll be editing this at home. Time is ticking.

Hopefully we get this right......

Entry 10: Filming Day (Part 2)

After moments of panicking and the time just slipping away a miracle came and the manager arrived. 

This was great but it also had its down sides....Since we started filming later then we had planned, the sounds of the employees getting ready to work were caught in the camera's mic; and the spot we were filming was was really tight so it was hard to film when people were trying to squeeze themselves to the bathroom. But between the two, the biggest problem would have to be the sound. Because our actors were first timers (well at least Nick), they spoke really low and since the background noise was so loud you couldn't hear what the actors were saying. It became difficult since our solution was to wait for the loudest noise to at least settle down before we started filming. Stressing as it was (since we had limited time) we prevailed.

Unfortunately since the camera was huge and I had it over my shoulder, some of the shots looked shaky and others shots were just way to bright. The big window in the back came as an advantage and a disadvantage. Even with white balancing the background came out really light and the Iris either made it so dark that you couldn't see the people or so light that the background appeared as heaven.

Again we used what we could.

The acting was good considering the circumstances in their acting careers (as they have none) and Yana, our female lead, did amazing job in incorporating this character. I enjoyed that she asked many questions about the script, which told me that she was taking this seriously. She asked about why the character felt certain ways and how she would like certain actions to be portrayed. She did an amazing job. Nick did great too, regardless the fact that he never acted before. His personality and character makes him a perfect fit for the screen. I'm so happy that I convinced him to act. I think it was only one scene that we had to keep reshooting because it was a difficult line to portray. 

Overall we were able to finish the filming inside the restaurant part of the project right on time, as when we were exiting costumers were just coming in.

The last scene needed to be filmed was outside as we needed the car to look like it was banging. 

The solution was have three different people jump into Nick's trunk until we got the shot we needed....to be honest....this was the best part.

In the end and we got the scene done. Pleased with the day God has answered my prayers.

Next Step: Editing (Yay!)

Entry 9: Filming Day (Part 1)

So we have our filming day and as you are all aware, we have only one day to film our entire project. Something that I was sure of a disaster came out to be an overall success.
This is the first time that I've had an actual chance to breathe in this project. Since yesterday the final step is editing.

But first....Let's talk about the process of at least my day on Sunday morning and Bellini's Italian Bistro.

I woke up at the scheduled time in which we had all agreed to wake up...8:00
Then I would have left my house at 9:00
The actors or rather the actress we were waiting for would come at 9:30 where she would find us waiting 30 minutes early
The manager, Dario, would come at 10:00 to open the doors and so we can start filming
We have to finish filming by 11:30 because the restaurant would be officially open.

Seemed pretty simple and almost impossible but organized. We had planned for no distractions because we have no times for distractions. No slip ups, No distractions and ABSOLUTELY NO GOOFING AROUND (something we are rather famous for....well at least our group of friends). We were prepared for the worst, in the case of bring two of almost everything. Slowly the restaurant converted into Noah's Ark...two sets of utensils, two plates of food, two wings, two waffles and even two Daren's (the other member of our group)

Now you might be wondering "Why two Daren's?"...... you'll see....

So I wake up that morning just ready to get to Bellini's and start working....
First we had to go make the food (out of schedule but we have time), then we had to get our extra Daren and start heading to the restaurant and by this time it was 9:45 and we had to get the other side of Weston in 15 minutes.
Now you must be wondering... "What did you do that took up so much time?"
My answer to you is....when we were in Publix getting our plastic chicken, we got a text from good old Daren saying that he would not be able to film. We panicked in the car for a bit but we remembered that we had our extra Daren. So we got extra Daren but then realized that there were more variables in Daren's part than we previously had anticipated. Daren had to act and we had mad a dolly to get a smooth path from his location to the table. So we needed the extra Daren in order to push the dolly as I filmed and Daren acted. Now we have only two people in that equation and (not to be cheesy) it didn't add up

We had to get rid of the dolly, disappointing as it is....sacrifices must be made.

Back to the story..... Our actress gets to the location exactly on time (surprisingly) and we still had some time until we got to the location. We finally met up with our actress and we waited at the restaurant for the manager to arrive.

So we waited and waited and waited.....if you can't see by now, he was not here and it was past ten. Our film time is being cut the longer we wait. Me being the panicked person I am, I begin to internally freak out. Nick in the other hand (still mad that Daren dipped from working) looked at his phone and saw that his messages to his manager did not specify whether were to come at ten before the restaurant opens or ten after the restaurant has closed. This to me is the entrance to the Twilight Zone because my parents will not allow me anywhere past nine (they are really strict). I was losing my mind

And Nick's response was "This would be a very Dario thing to do."

Entry 8: Actors

Given this is Cypress Bay High School and not Hollywood, actors aren't something that's available in every street corner. Good acting is hard to find in a high school and when you do find an at least somewhat good actor, you need to make sure they have "the look". Now I'm not promoting judging a book by its cover but when there's a look in mind it great to keep with that image. And if I can't keep with that image, it at least helps if (since they're two actors involved) the actors have a visual connection. This is so that the audience will find this believable.
A connection with the character and as well as their co-star.
This all to make the world my group creates represents a our real world.
And as one lesson Stoklosa has taught me, media is a representation of all we do and all we experience.
In the end I convinced Nick to become our male lead and our good friend Yana (with the recommendation of Nick) being our female lead.

I hope everything goes well.....

Entry 7: Location

Back from New York and back to work. From the minute I landed the mass texts reeled in with no stops. It was time to get working on filming since we didn't have a physical day on when we're filming. 

If you smell disaster, well then you're right. But the story doesn't end there.

I started the week with a terrible fever and the only thing I held dear to me was a pillow. Like the idiot I am, I decided going to school and fighting it off with A LOT of medicine would help. Well it didn't, it was safe to say that the last thing I needed was school and my partner Nick breathing down my throat.

The first problem of the week....Location.

Our ideal location was in an Italian restaurant called Bellini's. From what I understood (in Nick's vague explanation), Nick was supposed to be able to have great availability to the restaurant since he had worked there last year. If that was to somehow fall short then we had another restaurant lined up. Not what we would visually want but if we were to be in a really tight spot, we would take whatever we have. 

Now for our lesson for this entry, location is very important to us. Location helps establish story and or character, for instance you might show a bedroom to reflect the characters "type". A clean and organized room would distinguish an organized person, contrasting to a messy room with death metal posters on the wall which would reflect to a person who is edgy. As for developing story, the location helps distinguish a place. In the case of my film opening the use of a diner tells the audience that the couple is "on the run".

Now you ask....How does a diner tell the audience that they're on the run?

It's actually quite simple (yet this might be a stretch, so bare with me). You have to young characters in a diner in the early morning, not rare, but a somewhat unusual sight. You have to ask, why are these teenagers (who are supposed to look young) eating at a diner, this early? 

They have homes....they can eat there.....why this early.....????

Not only this but you have the characters quiet and whispering within themselves. 

The car is supposed to be positioned right outside the window where they are eating.

All these elements to represent one thing.....they are on the run.

Here comes the problem.

FINALLY when Nick gets the phone to officially ask the manager of the store to allow us to film, it takes the manager (with no disrespect) almost two days to answer. Of course at this point we were stressed and tensions were building. But then again he FINALLY answers and guess what everybody??? 

He gives us a day to film the entire thing in one day.

Does this seem impossible??? 

It does, doesn't it???

We agreed on the day but it's safe to say that I'm in complete panic mode. I've been trying to keep myself together just so someone isn't going completely crazy. 

Pray that we get this right.....