Last Minute Changes

There has been last minute changes regarding the final project. It is based on the same story line, but I have changed some of the scenes and the order. It is the same essence and topic as my first idea, but I had to change it since it would've been to long and it cannot exceed the 2 minutes. I created a more concise story, still using parts and ideas of the previous storyboard. Unfortunately, I was not able to create a storyboard for this. I am am short on time and the deadline is almost here. However, I did make a list with all the shots I needed, and the way the story was going to go. This will come in handy during the filming process. It will help me stay organized and keep track of the shots I've made and the ones that I still need to work on. 

The first 30 seconds will be kind of the introduction. It will consist of shots taken from parts of the characters room that describe her. This will be able to show the viewers more about the characters daily life, her likes, dislikes, her personality, and it will also help develop the theme of the movie. It will portray ideas that were not able to be shown in the video and are relevant to the story line. For instance, the eviction notice will be a part of the intro, since it is critical to the story.

The next scene is one of the most important ones. It starts with the main character walking down the street, sad, anxious, and stressed. She is about to be kicked out of her house because she has no money to pay her rent. She is walking, looking for jobs, and she finds the baking competition flyer. This is what motivates her to start baking. The process of her journey is what the movie is about.

Next, day 1 of her training starts. She starts practicing to win the competition, so she starts with the basic steps to making a cake: measuring flour, whisking the eggs, etc. The number of days passed will be shown through a calendar, which is the same idea from my last storyboard. This will show the viewers when the day is over. After day 1 is done, she starts day 2. This day she is still practicing and she will be shown doing the next steps to make a cake after the ones she did the day before, which will be measuring milk, the vanilla extract, and mixing.

Day 3 is the day when it starts getting serious, she is close to the deadline, but she still is not able to complete the cake within the 2 hour time mark. This scenes starts with a timer starting at 0. She then proceeds to get the cakes out of the oven and stacks them. She is not ale to finish the cake within the time frame so she starts getting frustrated. She goes to the calendar and crosses out another day, to simulate that the days are passing. Day 4 is here, it is the day before competition day. During these scene, she will be decorating the cake and finishing it, and this time, she will be able to finish it on time.

All of this scenes are shown and organized this way in order to share with the viewers the progress she has made throughout her journey, and how she reached success. It is the start of her new life.
I will attach the paper I used as a guide to make sure I wasn't missing anything. The story line is still the same, but in a more concise way.

 

Production Design

As I have mentioned before, mise-en-scene is CRITICAL in a film opening. Mise-en-scene is everything that is in front of the camera. Includes production design, composition, staging, lighting, and makeup. It is the way you project and tell a story to the viewers. It is key to develop a character, create context and symbolism. In this blog post I will focus mainly on the costume design and makeup aspects of my film. 

Costume Design

First of all, I need to provide some of the main character's background. My character, Ellie, is full-time college student, with no money, no family, and no job. She rents a room in a house where multiple families live. So she basically lives in that room. She doesn't have money to pay her rent, so she obviously doesn't have money to buy any luxuries or in-style items. She has been using the same clothes and shoes over the years. Besides living in poverty, she is also a really simple teenager. She doesn't own or wear any jewelry and is satisfied with whatever she has. Her main focus is on school and surviving. 

So for Ellie, I decided to create very simple and basic outfits to represent her personality as well as her lifestyle. I also want to incorporate some 2008 fashion vibes. I got some of my inspiration from one of my favorite series, Shameless, and Pinterest. 

 

 

                   

                          

Makeup

Since Ellie is a very simple girl, she barely wears makeup. So I decided to give her a very natural looking makeup. Little makeup will be used to cover imperfections, enhance her face structure, and to avoid light reflection (Concealer, powder, little bronzer, mascara).

 

Another Prop: The Calendar!

I finished the calendar!! This is a very important prop to my film opening. Even though simple, it is CRITICAL. This is because it's the way the audience will be able to have track of time. Every day that passes, a line will be crossed. Additionally, every important date will also be visible, for instance, competition day, the day her eviction notice was given, as well as the day her property will be taken away (that is if she is not able to pay... but she will. OOPS spoiler). This way, the viewers will be able to see how much time is left until the competition, and will be able to feel the pressure and stress that the main character is going through.

I tried making it pretty, but I'm not very creative... so it turned out pretty basic. I took a long time making it because I was trying to get the measurements right. And it is very straight if I do say so myself. I attached a picture of the calendar before and other after it was done. Here you go. :)

I measured the border and traced it, then I measured 

from corner to corner, and the number I got, I divided it 

bythe amount of squares I needed to do... 

EVERYTHING is precisely measured, so please 

appreciate the effort put into it.   :)

In the top left corner you are able to see some of
 the drafts I did in order to make "March" fit exactly
 in the middle.

Oops! 

I might have forgotten something...  I forgot to add a little detail to the baking competition poster. During the competition, Ellie will have only 2 hours to finish her cake. And this is critical to the film opening!!! I did my best to fit it where it was visible. I will post another picture with the updated version. Enjoy :)

Poster Done!

I finished the baking competition poster! I had a lot of fun doing it, even though it took a long time. I made ir very eye-catching and colorful. It turned out pretty good, I think? I dont really know, but I tried my best. I made a yellow vanilla cake with blueberry and raspberry jam filling. Topped with those on top.  I made sure to mention the most important details: 

- The title

- The price (money)

- The date of the competition

- A phone number

- And of course, a cake. 

Process of Making the Competition Flyer

I started making the competition flyer!!! I am still not finished, but I have a feeling that it will turn out good. I got out my markers and started drawing. I am trying to make it as eye-catching as possible, since the character in my movie is supposed to see it from far away. My idea is to make the "baking" part in cursive, and the "competition" part all caps. I will make sure to incorporate a cake (obviously), as well as the most important details.  I will make another posting including the final result, so stick around! But here I will post some pictures of part of the process! 

Eviction Notice Flyer

I finally finished the Eviction flyer!! This will be on Ellie's door when she gets back to school. This is the way she finds out that she hasn't payed her rent. She was 30 days to get the money, otherwise, her room will be taken away, and she might have to live on the streets. This is the main problem the character will be facing. She is a college student and is drowned in debt, so she hasn't been able to pay her rent. The story will develop based on this. 

STORYBOARD!

I have finally finished the storyboard!!! It took toooo long. And I must admit... it is not my best work. I tried to do it fast, since I do not have that much time. I am officially scared. We are very closed to the due date and I am about to start filming!! This is not what I had planned. Additionally, how I mentioned in my last blog, I have way too much content, and I will need to cut off some scenes. The problem is that I did a very developed story where every scene is relevant. And I don't know where to cuff of shots. Another thing is that I had 86 SHOTS total!!! That is a lot... I will have to redo some scenes and change the story line.. We'll see how this goes. But here I will attach my story board! hope it is not to overwhelming, since there are maanyy pictures. Sorry.

Scenes Pt. 3

Here is the rest of the scenes. This is just a draft to stay organized, so please do not judge my handwriting. While I was doing it, I realized that it is pretty long... I had to cut some scenes and it is still super long. I don't know what to do. It is probably going to exceed the 2 minute mark. And it is really sad because it would be an amazing project if I would have the time to film all the shots I had planned... but it is what it is. I am having trouble cutting some scenes. I know it will be too long, but I do not know where to cut scenes, since everything is relevant to the story line. Aaaaaaa I don't know what to do!! But I will figure it out.. I do not have other option. Here is the rest of the scenes (remember, a draft).

Scenes Pt. 2 

Well... Here is the second part of the scenes. I will keep posting pictures of it until I am done with the storyboard. I still have my concern of it being too long. I do not know if it will be short enough to fit everything in within the 2:00 minute time frame. I might change the first part of the scenes and cut the whole part of the conversation. I will make sure to film both scenarios just in case. 

Scenes

I made a list of some of the scenes that will go into the first part of the film opening. I will later turn each into the storyboard. It is just to keep myself organized. This might be changing later. I have one concern, though. I think it might be more than 2:00 minutes. I am scared that I will not be able to finish all of the scenes, like it happened to me with the music video. We filmed way too much, and there was so much material that we couldn't use. And I am scared that that might happen here too.

This is just a draft, something I made quickly so that I do not forget my ideas. I will continue with the rest and keep you updated. Please disregard my handwriting, I must admit it is not my best work. 

Another update (week eight)

I have postponed the filming process of the project and I haven't been able to stick to the plan I had in mind. I have been thinking and thinking and I do not know what my film opening is going to be about. Due to the Covid-19 situation, we have all tried to adapt to it and change out projects, and I have multiple ideas. However, none of them seem to be successful. I have already tried two different ideas. I have started the storyboards for each of my ideas; yet, there is still something that is not letting me finish. With all of this time that I have had my house, I  have been overthinking my ideas and realizing that they might not be successful. I am lost. I keep trying to come up with an idea and it does not seem to be good enough. 

The deadline is almost here, and I'm already supposed to be done editing (according to the first planning calendar I made). Nevertheless, I haven't been able to start filming yet. I am extremely stressed, but at the same time, lost. I do not know what to do, or what direction to follow. I am trying to come up with a solution, hoping that I will still have enough time to create a good piece. I abandoned my first idea, since there were too many obstacles once I started filming. I did the storyboard and proceeded to film, knowing that I did not have that much time left. And the second day of filming, my main character (who was going to be my sister) was not able to participate anymore. There were many things happening and I decided that the best idea was to create another idea and start all over again.

I repeated that process twice, yesterday I was about to finish the thirst storyboard. I was too frustrated and I didn't realize that it was not a good piece. The story line was horrific! It was the typical idea that everyone has thought of... And I though to myself "All of these months of dedication and hard work, to end up doing this? No, that is not right". I am clueless as to what to do. I really want to be successful and create something different. A movie that someone might actually consider investing in. But I have no time anymore. 

Day 2

It is the next day after writing what you read earlier. I am considering all my possibilities and I have come with the conclusion that I will continue with my original idea. There are many things that will have to be changed, but I think it is the closest one to being something different, original. That is the main reason why I am choosing to finish it. I still do not know how to film myself and do everything I had thought of, but I will figure it out as we go. 

I will recreate my storyboard with all of the changes made and then I will continue with the filming process. I need to start right away since I do not have much time from the due date. Honestly, I am scared that I might not have enough time to get this done, film, edit, complete the CCR, etc..., but I will work day and night if necessary, whatever I have to do in order to get this done. I will keep you updated on my progress. 

Representation

I wanted to include in my film as much representation as possible. I wanted to represent a sense of unity among people; a very united community, where everyone works together despite their differences and works around kindness. I wanted to represent how the world truly is, our diversity, and the beauty of our difference. The vision that I have for my film (if I were to finish it completely) is to represent multiple locations and characters throughout the movie, that each will represent and  expand the concept of representation in multiple aspects. 

Firstly, representation of different locations and social classes: from poverty (which is where the main character of my film comes from), to wealthy (will be shown when the main character goes to the actual place of the competition to compete, and when she creates her own business). And secondly, representation of age, gender, and ethnicity, which will be shown through the characters.

Age, Gender, and Ethnicity 

I will create representation of age, gender, and ethnicity through the characters participating throughout the film. The main character lives in a home shared by multiple people, some are nuclear families, some are couples, and some live by themselves. Each of these families, has a different ethnicity and background. I was planning on incorporating characters with an African American descendant, Caucasians (main character), as well as Hispanic. Additionally, some characters will also be part of the LGBTQ community.

Distribution!

I have done research on media distribution as well as distribution methods that I will be using for my film. From advertising to where my film product will be streaming and available to watch. This is such an important step to consider when creating a film and taking it to the audience. Media distribution are the methods through which media products are delivered to the public (audience). The methods used will correspond and depend upon the product. So in my case, the film industry works on the release of films. The distribution concept also includes the marketing campaign made for the product/company. 

Film Distribution

There are multiple methods or ways to distribute films. Each of them vary completely and is different from the other. Companies choose their respective distribution strategies based on their target audience, and film genre. Some of the most popular are:

- Digital distribution

- Streaming platforms 

- Blu-ray Disc

- DVD-Video

- Theaters

- TV ( regular cable for free)

- On-demand (pay per view)

Update (week seven) 

Helloo... I wanted to make you guys a little update on my current progress of the project. Recently, with everything that has been happening lately, it has been very hard to continue with the filming process and sticking to the calendar. My previous story idea was basically going to take place outside, so I obviously have to make certain changes to my plan. However, since I already had everything planned through, and I really liked my idea, I am trying to change the least possible. I am trying to use the same story, and just accommodate it to the options I have available. 

I NEED someone from my family to participate in my film, since now we need to practice social distancing and I can't have any contact with the actors I had already assigned. However, I have been having certain family issues at the moment that have been keeping me from filming. I am hoping that this will be fixed soon, otherwise, my whole idea could be ruined. I do not have a back-up plan in case I do not have any family member to participate on my film, and that is stressing me out! But I really want to do what I had planned to do. 

I haven been able to follow through the calendar I had previously made, so I will be making an updated version soon. Its has been a really tough week, not what I had in mind for spring break. I really wish this whole situation wouldn't have happened. And that we would've been able to follow our original plan and ideas. But this is happening, and there is nothing I can do about it, so I will stop complaining... sorry. This update was just to tell you that this month has been mentally and emotionally draining, and to get some things off my chest. And well, to update you guys on everything that is happening. Thank you for sticking around. 

Ellie

Ellie is the main character in my film opening and the whole movie will be based on her story, how she managed to win a national baking competition and succeed, from poverty, to one of the most successful bakers and women of her town. In this blog post I will describe Ellie, everything about her that you need to know. Her past and history, her personality, her morals, her appearance, likes and dislikes, and every relevant detail about her.

Family History

As we all know so far, Ellie is a college student who lives in a community house with multiple different families. She cannot afford an apartment by herself, so she rents a small room there. Enough where she can sleep and study, which is all she needs to do. She doesn't have a family. Her mom abandoned her when she was just a child, and left her to live with her aunt, who was an alcoholic. She has never had a family that takes care of her, instead, she has been the one to take her of the others. She also had a younger brother, which she had always taken care of. Due to all of her early family problems, she has become a very independent teenager. Since she was just a kid, she has prepared her own food and her brother's, washed her own dishes, did the laundry, cleaned the house, etc... She has never gotten the attention she needed from any family member, so she had to learn to take care of herself in order to be able to move on. 

Ellie wasn't able to move out of her aunt's until she was 18, because she would then be taken to a foster home. So when she turned 14, she started working at the local supermarket, and started saving up in order to buy her new apartment when she turned 18. She was decided to move out of her aunt's. Unfortunately, she was not able to take her brother along. Moreover, the day of her 18th birthday, she rented a room in a house where more than 8 people/families lived. She was ready to live by herself, without having to be abused and finally under her own rules. She is trying to adapt to this environment, and over the course of time, the ones living at that house become her only family, besides her brother, of course. They would spend evenings watching TV all together in the living room, making food, they would go out from time to time, and they were all there for each other.

High School/College - Current Situation 

Ellie was a very busy teenager. After she graduated from high school, she immediately started college. She had a scholarship, which she used to her advantage during freshmen year, and with the money she had saved up over the years, she was able to pay her rent.  However, since she was living on her own, and did not fit some criteria required in order to obtain the scholarship, the government decided to take it away from her. She was a very determined and hard working teenager, and wanted to become everything her mother wasn't. This was her only opportunity.

When she finds out about her scholarship being taken away, she starts freaking out, since she barely has enough money to pay her last month's rent payment. The people in the house know her situation and have always been really kind to her regarding this situation, and let her pay late. However, this is the third time in a row where she hasn't paid on time. So she receives the warning poster I have mentioned in multiple blogs. After becoming anxious with all of her debts, she immediately starts looking for work. She needs to pay rent by the end of the month, or she will be kicked out. Ellie also needs to find money in order to afford her next semester of college.  And this is when she first listens to the commercial promoting the baking competition.

Personality

Due to all of her past struggle with her family, she has developed a very distinct personality from the rest. Ellie has worked hard all her life, basically without any parent figure or someone to talk to. She is very independent, and hardworking. She is determined and works hard towards her goals. She is able to achieve and accomplish everything she puts her mind to.

Things to be done ✔

Since there has been several changes made to the storyline of my film, which I explained why in my previous blog, there are some new things that I will need to do, as well as some that I am still trying to figure out. Here is a list of the things that I will need to work on over the next few weeks. :)

- TITlE!!

The title is one of the most important parts of this project. I have been trying to brainstorm possible ideas for titles, but none have come to my head... I need to find the perfect title, but I think it will come to my head once I start filming. The tittle is like the first impression the public has of the movie. They decide whether to watch it or not, based on the title. For this reason, I have to come up with an amazing title that will attract the audience's attention so they gravitate towards the movie.

- Music

Music has to be integrated into the film opening, whether it is diegetic, or non diegetic. It is one of those aspects that enhance the content and transmit a totally different message. There was this specific scene that I was going to film, where the main character was walking listening to music, and then finds the flyer of the competition. But since I will be changing that scene, I will not longer be able to insert the music that way. For this reason, I need to find a way to incorporate music that will express her personality. 

- Commercial (TV or Radio)

My original plan was to hand make a poster about the baking competition, which Ellie (the main character), was going to see while walking down the street. Since we are not allowed to go out anymore, I wont be able to make create that scene. :( For this reason, I have decided that the poster should be either a TV commercial, a radio announcement, or even something she finds on her phone or in the newspaper. Since Ellie has an extremely low income, I think a good option would be the radio, since almost every house has a radio. She is a college student, so the scene will start on her sitting in a table surrounded by books, while trying to concentrate. She has been so stressed lately because she needs to find a job and is not being able to find one. And then, unexpectedly, she hears this announcement. It will be a pan moving from her, to the radio. This can also be an opportunity to show the viewers the setting and the place she lives in, and under what conditions she live, so they can understand what a day in her life is like. 

- Poster

Even though I am changing the competition poster into a radio announcement, I still need to make another poster. This poster will be used to represent the warning that Ellie is given after she has forgotten to pay her rent. This is how the viewers are going to know she does not have enough money; it is a really important element of the project. I am still not sure how the poster is going to be like. It is going to have the word "LAST WARNING" and perhaps in red, or something that will catch the audiences attention. I will dedicate an entire blog post to research on warning posters and the process of making my own. In the calendar shown in my 'Planning", I had written that I would finish the poster by the end of the month, and that it would be one of the first elements that would be done. However, I have decided that I will postpone this task to before I start filming, since For now I have things more important to figure out, such as the storyboard. Once I am done with the storyboard and deciding other elements pertaining the film opening, such as who will be my characters, setup, etc., I will start choosing with the creation of the poster.

- Credits

I am still not sure if I will have enough time to complete the intro and credits I wanted to make. At the beginning of the project, my idea was to create an introduction as if it were a baking show. I would include multiple shots of food, and the making of it. Many close ups, and different shots of all types of sweets. However, since I have changed my idea, I don't know if i will still have time to include this section with the credits. it will be for example rolling a dough, and when getting a bit of flour, you would see the credits. I would be using continuity shots. For instance, after grabbing the dough from the table, the letters of the credits will appear. I will make this decision after I am done filming the main parts of the story, and if I still have time, I will include at least 30 seconds of this.