Production Blog: Or A Lack Thereof

    Good day faithful reader o’ mine blog, I come bearing unfortunate news (I’m practicing for the upcoming Renaissance Festival!). My team and I were unable to convene this past weekend to begin the filming process due to scheduling conflicts, we are on track to commence this upcoming Thursday however. Regarding the issues with coming together to begin shooting our short film over the weekend, they arose because I, like my teammates, need to focus my academic attention elsewhere, namely towards the SAT exam which takes place later this week. Seeing as all three members of my group, including myself, are all rising seniors, it is imperative now more than ever that we begin to focus on college and strengthening our applications. I'm one year closer to being a fully-fledged adult and I won't say that I'm not apprehensive about it, but it's been a long time coming. That is not to say that in our downtime, we did not work towards our final task. I took care of the gathering of necessary props for our short film. Although our film will have a number of props that are overlooked, solely being used to set the general atmosphere of a particular scene, I needed to locate and acquire props that are more central to the plot itself. As one does when searching for any relatively outdated piece of technology, my first stop was the thrift store and my intended targets were a voice recorder and a desk phone. The voice recorder was a bit more challenging to come across, but I managed to find one after my second thrift store stop, it definitely gave my team and I a run for our money, being a bit pricier than expected (it was in pretty much pristine condition though). Of course, as with any other items my team and I will purchase going forwards, we each pitched in to offset the cost and equally distribute our budget to make our purchases more reasonably priced for each of us. Having said that, I would note that any and all purchases made or to be made, are all agreed upon by the team and this time around I did send pictures of what I intended to purchase; of course, any member of the team who makes a purchase will be asked to undertake this duty as well. Now, as you may recall, the voice recorder will be used in a multitude of different scenes, acting as a memory “device” (pun intended) for the primary subject who suffers from self-induced Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. When it comes to the desk phone, I guess quitting an office job and taking a box of your things home isn’t all the common (yes I am aware of the fact that work phones are owned by the company, but for the sake of painting a funny image, I figured I’d include the joke as bad as it is), so I actually was unable to get one. All hope is not lost however, being the teacher’s pet certainly has its perks and my team and I will be able to borrow an extra phone that our school has in storage. In any case, one of my groupmates conferred with her father and, if all goes well, we will not only have a desk phone to work with, but an actual office to shoot our corresponding scene in!

    After doing a bit of rummaging around in my family’s condominium storage unit, I came across a box of old office supplies, where, lo and behold, I found a brand new stress ball (simpler times, I guess) and a digital clock. After doing a quick change of the batteries, the clock was brought back to life and I knew it was an absolute win for us! I had initially suggested that my team and I use a flip clock to make for a more interesting transition from when our short film title (24) is displayed to the next shot, but when thrifting produced no results and none of the options on Amazon matched the feeling we were shooting for, and were too expensive to even be taken into consideration most of the time, I needed to look elsewhere. Who would have thought I’d find a fitting alternative so quickly? The last item I needed to check off from my list was a pad of sticky notes, and wouldn’t you know it, a teenage girl like myself needn’t search farther than her desk drawer to uncover an abundance of them. Despite my numerous color options, ranging from blue to pink, and even green, I figured the classic, trademark yellow was the way to go, and after a group consensus, that’s what was decided.

    While this weekend was productive in the sense that I was able to contribute new items for our filming session, I can assure you that come this Thursday, there will be “No ifs, ands, or buts about it(!)” (Debbie Taylor 1972).

Production Blog: A Musical Miracle

    "Cello" there! I have finally returned after a four-week hiatus and my group and I are happy to "chime" in and announce that we are back on "track!"  I have some very exciting news to share, I honestly couldn't believe it when I received the message. Back in January, I was listening to a recommended Spotify-produced playlist, when an absolute melodic masterpiece graced my ears. Immediately, I reached out to my teammates and shared my discovery with them. It was a lesser-known remastering of an earlier version of the same song, except this time fitted with slower pacing. Said single dropped under the name "metamorphosis" and was created by Jayomi, a talented duo that first started releasing music back in 2019. Using a bit of forethought and referencing earlier ideas we had for scenes, I realized that the song would be perfect for the conclusion of our short film since its beat coincided with the diegetic sounds that would be playing at the time, such as knocking and that of police activity. I must "note" that prior to even considering searching through copyrighted music, my partners and I had come to the consensus that we should rely on royalty-free music and sound effects. This had come from past experiences that I had when reaching out to music artists last year and receiving no response. Part of me did not want to narrow down our options, especially because, more often than not, royalty-free music does not meet our specific criteria for the film due to its genericness, but maintaining a pragmatic mindset, I decided that would be the best option to ensure the success of producing a short film in a timely manner. However, when I came across that song, I was immediately drawn to it and figured asking for the rights to use it in our featurette was worth a shot. Not wasting a "beat," I then reached out to my fellow group members and they loved the song! Images taken to document the process of contacting the duo can be found below.

The image above is that of the website, bandcamp, along with the information I needed to provide.

The image above is a record of the complete message I sent to Jayomi, as well as the response I received.

    What followed next can only be described as having occurred because of luck, chance, or simply the fact that the duo was not mainstream, because I actually received a reply, and a near-instantaneous one at that (fifteen minutes)! Perhaps if we enter our film into any competitions, we will be able to help publicize the talented group and have them reach success alongside ourselves. 

    Now, while acquiring that song did take care of one of my team's non-diegetic sound needs for the end of the film, the necessity for background music throughout the rest of the short still remained. I am quite lucky to be working with the other candidates that are currently in my group, especially since one of them is musically talented. Said teammate's skill with a variety of instruments has given my group and I the possibility of having our own score composed for the short film. She was considering working with a guitar and piano (two of the instruments she is the most familiar with), as well as splicing in the sounds of a clock ticking to really sell the main concept of the limited time the primary subject has in our film before they are forced to essentially start from scratch every day. For the rest of our sound needs, my group and I will always have the option of deferring to royalty-free choices. When it comes to sound effects, it is quite likely that most of them will be produced by the team depending on our access to objects that are capable of producing the noises we require. With this comes my recommendation of creating Foley sound in the post-production phase, specifically for the scene in which the subject's partner sustains a deadly injury. As mentioned in a previous blog, my fellow candidates and I are primarily concerned with the safety of the team and any additional individuals involved when we film. Hence, since no one will actually be receiving such a severe injury for the sake of creating the corresponding sound effect, I find that resorting to the usage of Foley sounds is the best option. The particular sound we are aiming for could possibly be achieved through the hitting of a wet leather towel or perhaps the smashing of a gourd, taking somewhat familiar noises and putting them into a different context to achieve an entirely new purpose, but, of course, each option will need to be explored when it comes time to do so.

 

    It's been a "minuet" since I've had to put my music puns into practice, so I hope the ones I've scattered through my blog didn't fall "flat!" Now that I've gotten you back into the "rhythm" of things, I think it's time to give my puns a "rest." To close things off I'd like to say that when I received that reply from Jayomi, it sure was my "luck day(!)" (Judy Garland 1956).

Storyboard Blog: Something's Sketchy

    Hello again! Today my teammates and I completed our short film storyboard. As you will soon see, it was a collaborative effort with a range of art styles and drawing techniques (although stick figures do seem to be a commonality)! By working with our storyboard, we can now visualize each of our scenes as they will occur in our featurette. I have also explained each scene below, as to ensure all of the presented information is as clear as possible.

Scene 1:

    In Scene 1, we will begin with an establishing, overhead wide shot, as to capture the interior of the subject's bedroom. Their room will be neatly organized to portray the fact that they are a functioning alcoholic, In this scene, three of our opening titles will be shown for roughly two seconds each. Said titles, like the rest in the short film will both fade in and fade out. In this case, the studio name will appear over the subject, disappearing when their alarm goes off. The production company name will appear as the subject rolls over, and disappear once they turn back around in their bed. The actors' names will then appear on screen as the subject makes a move to sit up, fading out once they reach out towards their nightstand. In the same scene, as the subject reaches over to grab their glasses, the film's title will be shown on the clock itself, which will read "7:24." After about two seconds, the clock will change to read "7:25," indicating the need for a cut to occur back to the primary subject once more. At that point in time, another title card will appear above the subject's head, this time regarding who the music is by. Once the subject picks up and plays their voice recorder, said title card will fade out. A close-up shot is then to be used to show as the subject grabs a laminated sheet of paper, which will contain additional details regarding their life, such as their birthday, the fact that they lack immediate family (whether due to personal issues and estrangement or perhaps their passing, which is for the viewers to decide), and the contact information for a trusted coworker in the case that the subject missed work (perhaps due to not having listened to the recording). Once an over-the-shoulder shot of the subject reading said note is adopted, the "edited by" title card will appear, exiting the screen once a quick pan will be used to show a poster in their room that reads the same as what they hear in the recording, telling them to "Live in the moment," an ironic jab since that's all they can do after consistently forgetting the past (twenty-four hours). At the same time, the "directed by" title card will appear next to the poster to ensure that it is visible to the viewers. The scene will conclude with the subject being shown in medium close-up shot framing before performing a cut to their subject in their background, marking the beginning of the second scene.

Scene 2:

    In Scene 2, the subject will be shown in their bathroom, where the camera will act as the mirror, reflecting their actions, and facing them. The sink top will contain basic essentials, but nothing overly expensive, telling of the subject's decent, but not exceptional socio-economic status, as well as the fact that they do the bare minimum to take care of themselves and are relatively apathetic towards life in general. This could serve to provide a basis, amongst other things, as to why they are an alcoholic in the first place. In this scene, the subject drinks "alcohol" from a flask, further indicating the extent of their addiction to the audience. As the subject splashed water onto their face, the camera will then cut to the next scene.

Scene 3:

    Although the transition from the previous scene does not exactly match the type of action that is used in the beginning of this scene to classify as an action match cut, the similarities between the two shots will be evident with hand placement and a similar close-up framing to make it more seamless. In this scene, the viewers will learn a bit more about the subject, particularly in terms of the type of work they do (customer service), as well as their attitude towards their profession, which is comprised of feelings of annoyance and frustration. Upon answering the phone and smiling as they hear their partner's voice, the audience will come to understand that the only source of joy within the subject's life is derived from the few relationships they are able to maintain with others, even if they may be newly formed (as is the case with their partner) and quickly forgotten by the start of the next day, requiring a daily reminder lest they be (literally) unmemorable. This scene will conclude with another cut, although similar to the transition into this scene, the next scene will begin with some parallels.

Scene 4:

    The start of this scene is marked by a medium shot in which the slight smile shown on the subject's face in the previous scene is matched by a larger smile as they are on their bed, listening to the message on their voice recorder the next day. Now, my group mates and I came to the decision, that for time's sake, and to prevent the inclusion of redundant information, it would be best to start the recording's audio at a later point. That way the audience can come to the logical conclusion that the same information is repeated every day and in the case that new details need to be presented, my team and I will make sure to draw notice to them. This scene will end in a cut, and the next scene will begin in the same way with a matched smile.

Scene 5:

    As this scene begins, the subject will be seated in an Italian restaurant, clasping the hands of their yet-unseen partner in a medium shot framing. The reason why the appearance of their partner is obscured here is to maintain an air of mystery regarding their identity and allow it to make a greater impact later on. Once the subject takes a sip of the "alcoholic" drink in front of them (playing into their alcoholism), the scene will conclude with a cut.

Scene 6:

    Once the scene starts playing, the audience will find yet another visual parallel, seeing as the same medium shot framing as the previous scene will be used. This time, however, instead of continuing to smile, the subject will be shown visibly upset and frowning, immediately keying the audience into a change in tone and setting the mood for the rest of the film. During this scene, a heated argument between the subject and their partner will transpire, where their partner will make repeated comments regarding the subject's drinking habits, making them angry (especially with "alcohol" already in their system). Their verbal disagreement will lead to a physical altercation in which the subject will come to shove their partner and make a hasty exit. Now, my group intends to have the sound of the front door slamming as the subject exits match up with the exact moment that the subject's partner has presumably fallen off of their balcony to an untimely death, entirely unbeknownst to the subject. It is at this point in time that tensions will begin to run high and a sense of dread will befall the audience. To keep the audience on the edge of their seats, we plan to masterfully incorporate an action match cut with the slamming of the subject's partner's front door to the opening of the subject's front door to their own home, which is exactly how the following scene will begin.

Scene 7:

    Once the subject has opened their front door and entered their house, the use of a tracking shot will serve the purpose of keeping the viewers immersed in the progression of the film, having no choice but to follow the subject's path to self-destruction as they seat themselves upon their couch. During this period of camera motion, a medium-long shot will be used, allowing the audience to discover for themselves how sparse the decoration within the subject's home is (another sign of their passive outlook toward life), along with the fact that the subject regularly drinks alcohol. The latter will be indicated by the fact their coffee table, which is located in front of their television, contains a fancy glass and a bottle of "alcohol," waiting neatly there to be drunk. As a zoom-in to a medium shot framing occurs, and the subject begins to utilize their voice recorder, the viewers will come to find how distraught the subject is. As the subject re-records another message, the camera will blur and their speech will become muffled, with the sound of their throbbing head becoming heard at the forefront. This sound will serve as an indication of the subject's cognitive impairment, enabled by their serious addiction to alcohol. The camera will then unblur and the scene will come to a close with a cut to the next morning.

Scene 8:

    The final scene will begin with an overhead medium shot, meant to mimic the establishing shot of the film, but maintain a sense of continuity following the use of medium shot framing in the previous scene, particularly because the location remained consistent between transitions (only time had changed, having gone from night until the next morning). Since the subject fell asleep on the couch, aside from recording a message for themselves, they have not gone through the proper procedure of leaving themself a note to tell them to listen to said recording, rendering them memoryless of the previous day. Seeing as they have fallen asleep on the couch in front of their television, it is only natural that they would turn it on and watch something on the news before officially starting their day. Once their partner (who the audience had seen earlier during the argument that had escalated into a fight within said partner's home), appears on the television screen as being deceased, there will be no sense of recognition from the subject, they will simply make a comment regarding how shameful it is for them to have died. Hence, when the short film ends and the police knock on the subject's door, the ending will be far more impactful for the audience since they already know what is in store for the subject, whilst the subject themselves will be oblivious to what has (their partner's accidental murder) and is (their arrest) going to occur. 

Short Film:

    In total, we estimate that our short film will last for the entirety of our given five minutes. In terms of how long each scene will be in order to meet our time restraints, they will likely need to be around one minute and a half give or take, depending on how we reallocate the time for scenes that require fewer shots. In any case, if we do run a bit over time, we can always resolve the issue in the post-production editing stage or during production by refilming a scene in a different manner to make it shorter. 

Storyboard:

Our actual storyboard has been attached below:

Clarifications:

• As things currently stand, our titles will enter and exit the screen with the use of dynamic fading that blends them into the motion occurring throughout the rest of the scene. With that being said, we still have yet to decide on the font type, color, or size we will be using for our film, so it is likely that this will be decided as we progress through filming and see the tone we are able to achieve with each of our scenes.
• Cutting is our primary transition given that with the thriller genre, it is essential to preserve tension, as such lingering for too long on a transition can cause feelings of suspense to dissipate and counteract the tone we intend to set.
• Since our storyboard was so lengthy, we were not able to add as much detail as we may have liked, so it is relatively devoid of color. However, as mentioned prior, color is included when necessary to denote camera or subject movement, title placement, as well as important audio effects. 
• Seeing as our short film will be shot entirely indoors, any lighting will include will be artificial.
• Make-up and jewelry will only be used in certain scenes, particularly those involving the primary subject going to work, going out on a date, and returning home following said night out.
• Any mentions of alcohol above only serve to indicate the way in which certain substances will be appearing to the audience, as opposed to what the actors themself will be drinking, which is solely restricted to non-alcoholic beverages.
• In our storyboard, there are a number of different colored arrows, dashes, and boxes. To make the purpose of said symbols easier to understand, I've condensed them into a visual chart below to be used as a reference:

Closing Remarks:

    My teammates and I strongly believe that the fact that our viewers will be given the opportunity to piece the story together as it progresses and come to the conclusion before the primary subject themselves does will be an interesting aspect of the thriller genre to explore. With the current layout for our short film, we have high hopes that we will be able to execute that endeavor successfully, especially now that we've completed the final step in our pre-production process, and are finally able to start filming. To that, I quote the Imagine Dragons band and say, "It's time to begin, isn't it(?)" (2011).