Portfolio Project

WEEK EIGHT: SOCIAL RESEARCH

I am literally an influencer.

Okay, maybe that was more accurate. Regardless, I do run multiple different Instagram pages. Before I start posting on the Born, Blink, Gone page, I wanted to look into other films' pages so I can map out mine. 

Don't Worry Darling Their page isn't what I was expecting. There is not really a common theme or pattern, but rather more focused on stills, short clips, and reviews. The filters and lighting become more consistent in their more recent postings, which ties it all together. I really like their use of clips and videos of the films. I don't like how the earlier posts look very random and are more focused on their PR events than the film. I also like the information they included in their bio, and how they included where the movie is showing.

Mid90s I LOVE this page. It is really hard not to completely copy their brand because it is the exact vibe I am looking for. My favorite part is how they included the name of the movie centered at the bottom of the picture. They consistently included almost a logo of the movie in each of their pictures so that if anyone were to share it or see it without context, they would know where it is from. This leads to a bigger audience. A small, but also very cool, detail I noticed is the use of the same font but in different colors. It keeps the page consistent but also varies the content provided and makes it more entertaining to look at.

Marcel The Shell with Shoes On Okay, I know this movie had nothing to do with the genre of my movie, but I have been obsessing over it, and it's an A24 movie, so I looked into it. Again, the consistency is clean. Like Mid90s, and maybe since it's also A24, the name of the movie is at the bottom of most posts. That's definitely a technique I want to use. This page also has a countdown until the premiere of the movie. I think that is something I could really play around with. It is a great way to keep the audience engaged.

I think if I take my favorite parts from each of these pages, I could make a really fun, engaging Instagram page. The goal is to promote my movie and spread awareness so that more people will go watch it. It also matters how I present the movie, so the audience is the target audience and they feel that the movie matched the advertising.

TTYL,

ms spielberg

Portfolio Project

WEEK EIGHT: POST-FILMING UPDATE AND GAME PLAN

HI!

It has officially been 5 days since we finished filming. Here is what needs to get done before our deadline, which happens to be in about 2 weeks.

    1. Edit the film

    2. Add/fix audio

    3. Post on the Instagram

    4. Get the postcard approved

It really isn't that much, except for #1. Every time I think about starting it, I get extremely anxious. The result has been me putting it off, which I am fully aware is not the right method. But it will get done!

I did actually start #1 by trying to transfer the footage from my phone to my laptop. Let me tell you, it was possibly the most frustrating experience of the whole project. 

For those of you who do not personally, I have the world's most dysfunctional laptop. As a person who is constantly creating films, you can imagine how lovely it is whenever you try to download a project, your entire computer crashes. So, it is on brand that when I tried to airdrop videos to my laptop, I constantly received this:

Ironically, this image sent perfectly.

After two days of trying the same thing of sending videos through airdrop, I decided today to try a different method. WeTranfer is my most trusty website, so I tried out "Collect" by WeTransfer, and it was awesome. My videos transferred within 30 minutes, and are now available to start downloading and putting into Premiere. 

I am going to start editing the film tomorrow. I also have a game plan for music involving messaging my favorite band, The Moss, on Instagram and seeing if they will let me use their song (yes, they have responded to me before)!!

I keep looking at the stills, they're so pretty,

ms spielberg

Portfolio Project

WEEK SEVEN: POSTCARD

After filming, obviously, I went straight into replacing the scary close-up of Vane's face with the big glasses with Sofi the beautiful actress's scary close-up (Vane, I am not saying you are not beautiful, but the picture is not your best). So, here are the first drafts:

Front

Back

I know I am missing a few details, but I do love how this looks. I was debating whether doing Sofi with her eyes closed or opened, but I thought the idea of her not blinking would portray the theme of the short better. Also, it looked a little weird given the focus is on a woman with her eyes closed and the text is the main focus. Not sure if that makes sense so I will provide visual contexts.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

You see, eyes open just made more sense.

I did research for the film festivals themselves too. I wanted to choose two festivals that were 1. specifically for young filmmakers and 2. were around the same time frame. After looking at many websites and a few weird Facebook pages, I went with Reality Bytes and the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY).

Reality Bytes This film festival sponsored by Northern Illinois University is a film festival for independent films by high school, college, and graduate students to competitively screen their films. This year, it took place April 11-13, so I am predicting it will be on the same weekend the following year. I like that this is a smaller festival and less knowns than NFFTY and around the same time, therefore I can use the postcard for both festivals.

NFFTY NFFTY is the largest world's largest film festival for emerging filmmakers, ages 24 and under. This year, NFFTY took place April 27- May 7 in Seattle, Washington. This will definitely draw more attention than Reality Bytes but give a good range in audience given the different regional areas.

that's enough for today, see you soon,

ms spielberg

Portfolio Project

WEEK SEVEN: FILMING DAY!!!!!

HELLO HI WELCOME YAY, WE FILMED!

Filming went really well!! We had a LOT of fun and a LOT of ice cream, so I would call it a success. 

Our Massive Sundae

Let me give you a breakdown of how the night went:

8:15 p.m. Left dance and headed over to Sofi's apt.

8:30 p.m. Got to Sofi's apt. and shot the opening (not sure if i'm even using but thought it would be useful)

8:50 p.m. Alexis arrives to pick us up; Sofi and I head down

8:52 p.m. Begin to shoot the first scene

8:56 p.m. Realize the shot in my head is not possible due to the layout of the apt. (and the valet men were deeply confused why we were driving in circles)

9:00 p.m. Arrive at random parking lot to shoot scenes

9:20 p.m. Start drive to Jaxson's

9:40 p.m. Arrive at Jaxson's and get sat by the most lovely hostess

9:42 p.m. Ordered the most delicious sundae of our entire lives

9:47 p.m. Eat approximately half this massive Sunday.

9:50 p.m. Begin filming! Most was done at our one booth, so it was fairly simple to shoot.

11:00 p.m. Start to rush because they close at 11 but our very kind waiter told us not to rush :)

11:15 p.m. Leave the very kind waiter a big tip and leave Jaxson's happy and full!!

This was how my night went down! I was super nervous because I didn't loooove my script, but just like I said, Sofi and Alexis killed it. Also, the second we started rolling, the three of us could not. stop. laughing.

Blooper reel coming soon...

I realized that filmmaking is not about perfection. I do not need to impress the entire world or change the game of cinema to be proud of my work. I may not have an award-winning film, and this may not be Stok's favorite piece, but I am proud of myself and making it made me happy :)

here's to growth,

ms spielberg (new and improved)

Portfolio Project

WEEK SEVEN: SHOT LIST

Greetings earthlings.

Personally, I am a person that needs a general plan of attack before I do something. So, I created a general list of shots that I need to make sure I get while filming.

1. Long shot of Sofi at her house

2. Mid shot of her checking her phone

3. Close-up of light on her phone

4. Sofi exiting the house

5. The elevator shot in and out

6. Long shot of Alexis pulling in and Sofi getting into the car

7. Shot from the back seat of Sofi getting into the car

8. music playing scene

9. Some shots of them driving around the parking lot

10. Long shot at Jaxson's of them going in? Maybe in line?

11. Sitting at Jaxson 

12. Conversations different angles

1. Mid shots

2. Long shots

3. Close-ups

13. Close-up of sofi

1. “Open your eyes”

Some reference photos:

Sofi's Apartment

Jaxson's Exterior

Jaxson's Interior

I have it all pictured in my head, but I still have worries that I'll miss something. I think a lot of conveying my message is in the editing, so I am going to get as many extra shots as possible so I can get what I want out of it... like, an abundant amount of shots. I get a lot of perfectionism anxiety over things not being continuous so a reshoot day is NOT an option. It just has to be perfect... not biggie!

next time we talk, ms spielberg is going into action :)

ms spielberg

Portfolio Project

WEEK SEVEN: SCRIPT

Given we film in 2 days, I thought it was time to write a script. This is definitely the hardest part of being a filmmaker for me. For most of my previous projects, I have avoided dialogue, because no matter what I write, it doesn't feel natural to me. That's one of the main reasons I decided on this film. I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and create a short film that is so dialogue heavy, it will force me to write something good and true. Now, without further ado, my script:

I hope this script gives you a better understanding of what I was thinking for BBG. Instead of focusing on multiple events, I changed it to just one. I wanted a simpler story given no one understood it, to begin with. My goal is to edit it in a way that the audience understands the girl that Sofi is complaining about is actually Sofi herself. Alexis and Sofi were in a shooting but given the trauma and Sofi's need always do and be more, she doesn't even realize is, ultimately a metaphor for life.

Also, like I said before, dialogue writing is not my strongest suit, so I hope Sofi and Alexis will be able to fix the lines to be more comfortable for them. They're theatre actresses, it's basically their thing. I also am not giving them the script until the day of shooting. That way, they can't memorize their lines and it will come out more naturally. This can definitely backfire but I trust them enough that I am pretty sure it won't. 

my nerves are just as equal as my excitement,

ms spielberg

Portfolio Project

WEEK SIX: CAST QUICK CHANGE

Sorry for the minor break! I have my cousin's wedding on Saturday and a Colombian x Venezuelan x Jewish wedding means a LOT of events prior to the ceremony. But filming is officially set for 6:00 p.m. on the 24th, so we have lots of stuff to do and things to finalize.

Side note: I slightly changed my idea but after trying to explain it to various people, I have decided to not blog about it until I have written the script.

If you checked on my prior blog from March 8th, you could see that my final actresses were Sofi Edelberg, my best friend, and her friend Mia Biton. Thankfully, Sofi trusted me blindly and was excited to help me out. Mia and Sofi both do theatre together and are EXTREMELY talented so I was so excited when Sofi told me she was in also. Unfortunately, earlier today (a.k.a. three days before shooting) I received this text message. 

Yes, I too was a little confused.

After clearing a bit of confusion, Mia told me she was no longer able to participate in my film (lame). This is when my cousin Alexis, also a theatre actress, came to the rescue! Alexis is currently on a gap year in Israel for her Religious journey or whatnot, but thankfully, her sister was the one getting married; therefore, she was home for 2 weeks with absolutely nothing to do.  

Alexis and Sofi: queens. I am really excited, the three of us are going to have a lot of fun. The next things I need to do is create the script (whoops!) and the shot list (again, whoops!), and then were ready to film!!!!! 

see you soon with a script!!!!

ms spielberg

Portfolio Project

WEEK EIGHT: EDITING

Now that I have downloaded all 927071 videos of Sofi and Alexis onto my laptop, I started to piece them together. First, I took out all the bloopers, which was a good 30% of the footage taken (blooper reel coming soon). After that, I organized it into the general order of the storyline. I knew there was a ton of footage I knew I was using but with other parts, I was going to have to choose what to keep, and what to take out. So, as I do with any other project on Premiere, I color-coded it.

Pink = Keep entire scene or not

Blue = Pick which scenes you want to keep

Brown= Final scenes

I personally love the whole editing process. I feel like im playing a game or solving a puzzle, I basically click and drag until I create a story. I stuck to the "storyboard" and shot list pretty well, so it was easier to organize them.

The story itself... I honestly dont completely understand myself, if I am being completely honest. I love the shots, and everythings looks exactly how I wanted it to, but the plot doesn't really have a purpose like I wanted it to. I want to finish editing in the next two days to see if I possibly need to reshoot or add something else to get my end goal.

short and sweet today,

ms spielberg

Portfolio Project

WEEK SIX: #INSTA

YAS SOCIAL MEDIA TIME!!!

Now that born, blink, gone. is the official title of my film, I made a little Instagram account to promote it.

This is it for right now. I might change the tagline but for right now, I think it works really well. At its current stage, it might not represent the genre super clearly, but with the color scheme I am aiming for, when there are more posts, it will. My inspiration for the font and eventual theme of the page was mid-90s, the A24 film by Jonah Hill.

Exhibit A

On this page, I am going to post pictures from shooting, advertisements, promotional videos, and anything that will generally build my audience and draw attention to my film. I want to keep it consistent with the film, so all of my media will be edited with the same effects and font (my fav, times new roman) to keep it professional and clean. Like I said in my last blog, I hope you feel like you personally know me because these fonts and filters are a very accurate representation.

yay it's almost filming time!!!!

ms spielberg

Portfolio Project

WEEK SIX: NAME PICKING

Good morning interwebs!

To decide on the name, I basically took the name game to a visual platform: canva. And after looking at these names for hours (probably ten minutes but it felt longer) I have decided on...

born blink gone

I have now realized I am very indecisive. Should it be "Born, Blink, Gone"? What about "born blink gone"? But "Born, Blink, Gone." also looks good... HOW DO I CHOOSE???????

Again, we play the name game! But this time, two birds, one stone. I played with the name on the print component of the project, the film festival postcard. 

Hello, weird close-up of Vane!

I am so. sick. of. canva. But after staring at this page for a very unnecessarily long time, I have chosen...

born, blink, gone.

Hope you all enjoyed my manic episode! Now we can create a little social media page, you know, now that we have a name.

i hope you all feel like you know me,

ms spielberg

Portfolio Project

WEEK FIVE: NAME GAME

The moment you have all been waiting for, it is time to choose the name of my film.

Yes, the ending is not completely finalized, but I am set to keep the message the same. So today we are going to play the name game: a game I have just created where I am going to write different names in my favorite font on the site, chelsea market, and see which one speaks to me.

LONGING

TOO FAR GONE

TOO FAR, TOO GONE

LONG FOR LIFE

LIFE, BLINK, DEATH

BORN, BLINK, GONE

BLINK 182 

 

Okay, that last one was not real, but I thought it was funny.

I think I'm leaning towards Born, Blink, Gone because I can start it with Ashley opening her eyes and end it with her closing them (aka a blink). Next, I am going to start my social media... so deciding on this name will probably be necessary.

born, blog, gone,

ms spielberg

Portfolio Project

WEEK FIVE: PRINT RESEARCH

Film Festival Postcard for The Rain Collector

The Rain Collector is a short film created by Bella Wing-Davie in 2015. Inspired by true events, the film is about Vanessa Kentworth, the woman who confounded ideas of what was appropriate or expected, and got involved in science in Victorian England.

This postcard contains all the components of a film festival screening component: the film title, director, screening times, and a place to find more information. The key art or image was chosen extremely well. The text is easy to read since it is placed on a blank part of the image as well as the font is clean and dark, or light, enough to read. The genre of this film is a historical period piece, so the filter placed on the film help determine it by keeping it consistent with the film.

This specific promotional poster or card inspired me for certain aspects of my own postcard. I like how she places the title and screening times in the simplest part of the background image so it grabs the attention of the readers to look at the most important parts. I am not going to do awards since I don’t think it’s necessary for my film and the same with the credits. But I am definitely going to choose an engaging image of my main character, since the main point of the plot is about her and her internal feelings, so it will give my audience a good idea of the film without exposing any of the plots. I also love how there are multiple screening times for different film festivals, so I would be able to use the same card for different festivals and print easier.

Film Festival Postcard for Written Off

Written off is a feature documentary about Matt Edwards and his journey with addiction. The entire film follows his life through his multiple journals and ultimately how his life fall apart by being dependent on substances that controlled him.

Similar to The Rain Collector, the title and tagline are in the plainest part of the background image, a technique key to postcards. These cards are passed out to attendees of the film festival all day, so they will only briefly look at the card. Placing the important information in the easiest part to read will help to catch their attention and grow your audience. They included their website on the card, which is perfect because after visiting it I can see the very easy-to-use layout, and any information I needed with easily accessible. The tone of this documentary is very serious, so the dark colors work to portray genre and tone perfectly.

Although this is a documentary, there are many aspects of this promotional poster I would also include. All the same aspects as the last poster but also the website is a bigger image than most of the other text. When someone is interested in a film, they are going to want to watch a trailer or read the story behind the film. The website makes it extremely easy to do and will help attract people to my film.

Portfolio Project

WEEK FIVE: FILMING SCHEDULE

Getting right into it, I want to film during spring break. The problem is, I'm pretty sure both of my current actresses will be away.

March 21-23, 6 p.m.

So obviously running into new challenges, I will have to recruit backups. I've learned just to roll with the punches in this sense. An actress can't come? Replace them! Don't like your idea? Change it! Vane isn't listening to you as you pace around the room just rambling about your film and anything that comes to your head? Ignore her cause she's rude.

List of actresses (given my lame guy friends will never act for me):

- Sofi Edelberg

- Mia Biton

- Ashley Cohen*

- Ellie Esquenazi*

- Gaby Werble*

- Gianna Schultz*

*Waiting for their response

I will just update this list as I get definite answers. It's times like these when I wish I was still in middle school, taking advanced drama at Tequesta Trace Middle School and all my friends were theatre nerds.

This is set, so I will have enough time to write a script, have my actresses learn it, and create social media and my postcard before then. I know this date is very off-schedule, but that's why I gave myself so many free weeks toward the end! Artists don't like to be restricted! We don't color in the lines!

don't hate the player, hate the game,

ms spielberg

Portfolio Project

WEEK FIVE: WRITTEN STORYBOARD

HELLO WORLD!!! Didn't mean to type that in all caps but decided to just run with it.

Today I am going to storyboard. I've decided I do better with words and then I can make pictures. This will be a very basic, probably not English version.

SHOT #1: Ashley picking up Sophia.

SHOT #2: Conversation begins.

SHOT #3: Sophia sees someone get into college on Instagram.

SHOT #4: Ashley starts to rant about how she feels like she isn't getting in anywhere and that the college                    system sucks.

SHOT #5: Arrive at Jaxson's.

SHOT #6: Someone in the background faints; girls don't notice.

SHOT #7: Conversation becomes more heated and Ashley starts to talk about how she feels like she hasn't                done anything with her life and that she wants to do more.

SHOT #8: While they are waiting in line, someone gets proposed to.

SHOT #9: Superficial talk continues; the audience needs to see that Ashley is clearly not focusing on the                    good parts of life.

SHOT #10: Finally Sophia looks at Ashley and says "Ash, you have done so much, can't you see? Open                         your eyes" or something like that.

SHOT #11: The scene cuts to an old lady or dead woman or whatever I decide.

You might be wondering why I would be so chill about the fact that I don't have the ending? Well, realistically, I have to shoot the other parts first, and the ending is not in the same location as the other scenes, so it will all be okay!

I think this is a very good base for the film. I will develop it more through the different types of shots, lighting, and obviously drawings on my storyboard.

this project is creeping up on me,

ms. spielberg

Portfolio Project

WEEK FOUR: MY HESITATIONS

Like I said last blog, I have a few worries about this film idea. This of this blog as the "cons" section of a pros and cons list.

You know, minus the pros...

LARGE CAST The first on my list is about the cast. Currently, I have secured my two friends, Ashley and Sophia. With this new film, to make it like how I want it, it would require many other people. Acquiring bodies is not my main concern, given I could ask my dance team, classmates, or friends. But since the main characters are already not necessarily actresses, it worries me to include even more inexperienced people. Also, I could use people who are already at the ice cream parlour, but that would require me to ask them and Jaxson's has a very wide variety of people, some of who scare me.

CONVERSATION When I first thought of the idea, I really liked that it was simple. The entire film being based on a single conversation between two characters would allow me to focus deeper on the story and less on the aspects. But that does bring up my worry that it might become boring. How do I keep the audience engaged throughout a 3-4 minute conversation while they eat ice cream? 

Precisely my sister's thoughts as well

I feel like it will need to be in my writing. If I create a beautiful script, where the dialogue is the perfect mix of emotional, funny, and anxious (not sure this is the word I'm trying to use but I mean keeps the audience wanting more) then I think the story will get through.

ENDING The ending is not solid. Here are the current three ideas:

1. Hospital The original idea is that she wakes up on a hospital bed and its like beep, beep, beep. I feel like this super cliche though. The "waking up" concept is super overdone and if not done well, can ruin the entire film. 

2. School shooting I also thought of a school shooting ending where during the conversation, a small red dot shows up on her shirt and it spreads and spreads till it cuts to her on the floor of the hall way. Let alone my massive amounts of anxiety when thinking about that, I'm not sure my school will even allow me to film that. It also would not make sense with the "life is short" theme.

3. Dimentia I thin this is the one I am leaning towards now. It cuts to an old lady who has dementia talking to another person, maybe grandchild, and she's confused. Maybe this was her being lucid? I need to research dementia/alzimers but my problem with this is finding an old lady to act, given my grandma is a crazy Colombian woman who can barely speak english.

I don't think these are tooootally impossible. But if this process weren't hard, it wouldn't be so fulfilling!!

can't wait to try and defeat the almost impossible,

ms. spielberg

Portfolio Project

WEEK FOUR: STORY REVEAL!

GOOOOOOOOD MORNINGGGGGG!!!!!

It's currently 8:53 a.m. on Saturday morning. I work for a non-profit youth movement, so got to blog before I start my 10-8 day!

I had another conversation with TStok on Thursday and told her my idea. She liked it, which is pretty cool I would say, but she said it needed work. Unfortunately, I take her opinion to a very high value, so to hear she even had a positive opinion towards it was extremely reassuring.

Now time to explain the new concept. Two girls are going to eat ice cream. The main bulk of the film is their conversation. One girl would be talking about her life and how she's happy with it and how she wishes she had done more. Toward the end of the conversation, the other girl would make the unhappy one realize she has done a lot throughout her life, and she's just not realizing it. It would then cut to the first one either dying or old or something that is not determined yet. The big twist is that during the conversation, certain events would be occurring in the background, such as someone getting into college or getting engaged. The audience would realize at the end that those were moments in her life.

The theme of my story is that life will pass by if you don't live in the moment. Ultimately, if you take life for granted, you'll miss it. I really like this message because it's something I relate to quite a lot. I feel like sometimes I'm doing too much or striving for an unrealistic, perfect goal, I miss the little moments that would make me happy. I obviously have a few worries about this script, but I do think I like it better than the last. What I do know is that I NEED this story to be solidified, so that I can really dive deep into the rest of the project.

keep slaying bloggies,

ms. spielberg