Group Meeting

  Hey blog, today I participated in my first group meeting based on this project!

  My group was Keira, Sabrina, Nethumi, John, and myself. Keira, John, and I are doing a short film. Nethumi is doing a documentary. Sabrina is doing the trailer component.

Lovelies

  Keira shared a funny story with us that she named her characters by asking her cast what they were almost named. I would love to do this in the future. She also shared that she gets her music from Uppbeat. I will for sure be looking into this as I may need to find an alternative music source for my blooper reel. 

  I went next and had people critique my story and key art ideas. John recommended that I add a shot of the windows being open with it being dark out after Sofia wakes up from falling asleep. I think this is a good idea and will be trying this out. He also recommended that the key art I use for the postcard is the one I planned to use which is shot when Sofia opens the door and realizes it is a night out.

  When Sabrina went she shared how she feared her trailers may feel too much like a film opener. I have had a similar feeling about my short film. I fear that when Sofia opens the door it feels like the climax of the film and that there is no falling action. However, I could interpret the alarm ringing after Sofia falls asleep as being the climax. This would make her study portions of the rising action and the preparing to go to school portion as the falling action. So maybe there are two climax portions? This is not exactly how a story should be portrayed, but hey I am being unique?

In My Editing Era

 Day One:

  Hey blog, I called Warner Music and was sent to voicemail. I left a voicemail and learned their hours are till six pm / nine pm eastern time. I will be calling after school today, so I have to call within their available time period! Hopefully, I call and get some good news, meaning I can use "Cold Cold Man" by Saint Motel. 

Editing:

  I have been editing since I filmed. I have mainly been working on getting my film within the time frame. I have made it within the recommended 5-5:45 time frame!

Speed:

  I found out how to speed up clips on iMovie over break! This saved my mental health as I was way over time before speeding up many clips. I still have to play around with this editing tool as I have made some clips too fast-paced. 

Storyline:

  I am having a bit of trouble with my storyline. The first scene up until where Sofia leaves the room is in my opinion great! Then she goes downstairs, into the kitchen, and then leaves it. This is where the chaos begins. 

Prior to Choas

I filmed a panning shot of her walking into the next room, and it is just a bad shot.

Where Did She Go

My photos will not upload. This is not a full post yet I hit upload... My brain is tired, goodnight blog :(

A few days later...

  Hey, blog it is now Thursday, I had a busy beginning of the week trying to get ahead in my other classes so that this weekend I can spend a lot of time on this project! I called Warner Music during their hours and the lady I talked to briefly directed me to email a different Warner email than the one I originally did. This call and email were done on Tuesday. I have not received an email back yet, so I may just have to find a royalty-free option for my blooper reel since I plan to create it this weekend.

  Today I participated in my first group meeting based on this project (I missed the first one or two) I will blog about this separately. 

I Have A Post

  Hey blog, today I posted on the Unaware Instagram page! Before I show you the post let me share some background information.

Social Media:

  In yesterday's blog I shared with you the posting information for two of the posts I have planned. Here is the information for the other two!

  Post One - Grace the Creator

I in a photo from years ago

 Q&A in the caption -

What is your favorite coming-of-age film?

   My Girl

Why did you decide to create this short film?

  My past creations include works mainly in the psychological thriller genre. I wanted to expand my horizons as I created this piece that relates to what I am currently dealing with near the end of Junior year.

What have you learned about the cinema by creating this?

  I have experienced more whilst editing such as when I have sped up clips or altered the lightning.

Post Four - Laura the Voice

Plays the role of the unnamed parent and is my lovely mother

  Q&A in the caption -

What is your favorite coming-of-age movie?

 The Breakfast Club

Did you have acting experience before this role?

  I played Patti in the film opener for "Can You Help Me" created by my daughter and her friend Julie. 

Why should people watch the film?

  People can relate to this comedic coming-of-age short film even if they are not currently in high school preparing for the SAT.

The First Post:

  As you can see in the screenshot I also chose a profile picture! The bio will likely change once I come up with something creative.

Editing:

  I edit a good amount today, but this deserves a post of its own so I will do this tomorrow. I discovered an incredible tool, stay tuned! 

 Moving Foward:

  I will continue to edit. I need to find a font for my title sequence.

  I will begin working on my postcard.

  I will continue to post on social media.

  I will call Warner music and hopefully report back that I have a blooper reel song!

Home Sweet Home

  Hey blog, I arrived home from Atlanta today! My flight was delayed over an hour and then once it arrived at my local airport we sat on the tarmac for over thirty minutes waiting for a gate to open. I arrived home later than expected so I lack updates.

Social Media:

  

  However, whilst on the plane, I was thinking about posts I could put on the Unaware social media account. I decided on four posts each highlighting a different person. Each post will have a photo of the person and in the caption, there will be text with questions relating to each person's role in the creation of my short film. These answers will be on the shorter side to promote that the text gets read by my teen target audience who often have short attention spans.

Post One - Grace the Creator 

  I will share information on this post tomorrow.

Post Two - Ale the Singer

The creator of "When Do I Stop"

 Q&A in the caption -

What is your favorite coming-of-age movie?

  10 Things I Hate About You

How long have you been writing music?

  I've been writing songs since I was little, but I didn't really get into it until around 8th grade. This is my first song in a while and I'm really proud of how it turned out!

What inspired you to write this song?

  The feeling of stressing out and working yourself to the bone just trying to meet everyone else's standards and expectations. Just basically what school tends to do to a lot of us.

Post Three - Paola the Lead

Plays the role of Sofia

 Q&A in the caption -

What is your favorite coming-of-age movie?

  Little Women

Did you have acting experience prior to this role?

  I have played short roles in other student-made films in the past and have been part of the ensemble for musicals in school when I was a child.

What have you learned about the film from partaking in this role? 

  It is a thorough and creative process. It is satisfying to see the end result.

Post Four - Laura the Voice

  I will share information on this post tomorrow.

Music:

Due to the day spent at the airport with a late arrival home, I did not contact Warner music about gaining licensing. I will hopefully do this on Monday. 

Moving Foward:

  I will create these social media posts and come up with more ideas.

  I will continue to edit my short film and find music for the gym scene

  I will work on my postcard.

Counting Stars

  Hi blog a March Madness basketball game is currently playing on my hotel room tv and the band at the game started playing "Counting Stars" by One Republic so that is tonight's blog title.

Music Update:

  My good friend Ale wrote a song for my short film Unaware. This song is titled "When Do I Stop" and I think it perfectly encapsulates how I imagine Sofia feels. I informed my friend about how bad my luck so far in finding music for my film and she decided to create a song for it. I am very thankful for Ale a fellow AICE Media Studies student. Since I am using the first option of ending a portion of the song will be heard as Sofia closes the door.

When Do I Stop by Ale Aldana

  I have not inserted the song into iMovie yet as I got home from my day in Atlanta and began feeling unwell. Today I hiked ten thousand steps down a mountain path that I thought would be shorter than it was so I was unprepared wearing jeans and the wrong shoes. I could feel every rock I stepped on. Also, I was not wearing sunscreen so I am burnt. Wear your sunscreen everyone!

  I did not yet call Warner music in regards to learning how I can gain the right to use the song "Cold Cold Man" by Saint Motel in my blooper reel. I will call the group tomorrow. My apologies for the lack of updates, I will be home tomorrow and will hopefully be able to provide more updates!

Moving Foward:

  I will insert the song into my short film as I continue the editing process.

  I need to work on my postcard and social media portions.

Wifi Please Work

  Hello blog, I am currently in Georgia with bad wifi. 

  As the title said I have been having some wifi issues with the wifi constantly going in and out as I try to edit so my progress has been slow.

Wifi Down

Editing:

  Currently, I have been focused on editing my short film "unaware" I for sure shot more footage than expected. I have decided to use the ending one which I mentioned in a few blog postings. This means my short film ends when Sofia goes outside and realizes it is the morning. This is not ideal, but everything will work out. The currently edited version is over five minutes and forty-five seconds which also is not ideal, but this is just an early version. 

Spotify Playlist:

  I am a frequent listener to music as are many of my fellow Gen Z members, As Gen Z we have access to a lot of music from both the past and present, I am a Spotify user so I created my playlist which focuses on present music. This music encapsulates the anxious feeling of being unaware and not set on your future. I might add a few more songs to the playlist, but I have it linked if you want to take a listen. You may notice that two of the songs I was interested in using, "Always Get This Way" by The Aces and "In My Mind" by Lyn Lapid are on this playlist. If only I received a response from either song's creators...

Link to Spotify

 

Blooper Reel:

  I will be creating a blooper reel for my short film which I will post on the social media accounts. I was hoping to use the song "Cold Cold Man" by Saint Motel, during the video. I emailed the company that owns the rights and received a response with a phone number I can call for more information. I will be calling this number tomorrow! Let's hope I have good news to share with you all tomorrow.

  If they allow me to use this song for my blooper reel I may also ask if I could use the beginning portion of it during my film as the phone alarm!

Moving Foward:

  I need to work on my postcard as I know which photos I will use as the image on it!

  I need to decide what fonts to use for my film

  I need to post on social media!!!

  I need to find music to use in my short film!

  I will continue editing my short film and blooper reel.

Filming Done

  Hey blog, I was able to film everything today! I picked up my lead Paola around 7. We were able to film at my house from 7-10:30ish and then brought her back to her house.

Film Name/Social Media:

  I have decided on the shortfilm title "unaware" since my character is unaware that it is not actually the morning of the SAT.

  Since I decided on the name I was able to create the Instagram account for the short film!

Vlog:

  I did vlog but only a minimal amount. I did however gain many bloopers. I am going to create a blooper reel. Since my film is a comedic coming of age I believe this would fit the genre well and I would post it on our Instagram social media platform.

Lighting Troubles:

  We decided to reshoot everything thinking that I could use my ring light, however; unknown to me my ring light was dead. So the lighting still does not look great, but I will alter this whilst editing. Luckily, the lightning for the downstairs scenes is much better as now the audience is able to tell it is night since the lightning from the few un closeable windows in my house no longer appears.

Moving Foward:

  I need to look for music as I never received a response from the people I contacted regarding two songs "Always Get This Way" by The Aces and "In My Mind" by Lyn Lapid. 

 I will begin to edit my blooper reel and short film.

 I will create a logo for my social media account.