Difficultly Filming During the Holidays

Most of the actors met at Tekla's house to film a couple of days ago. The process was a little uneasy because it is difficult to keep everyone focused. However, we persevered and managed to complete the filming process for those scenes. The cast and actors that were present were Tekla, Dominic, Blake, Julia, Jake, and myself. Everyone later went home. 

However, since it is winter break and the holiday season, it was difficult to film. This is because actors have families in different cities, states, or even countries. In addition to this, some actors traveled for leisure purposes with their families. Because of this, it was difficult to schedule a time to film. For instance, Julia went out of town, so we won't be able to re-film until she comes back. 

Once we completed the scenes with everyone else, Tekla, Dominic, and I started to plan when we would film the other scenes. Factors like weather and time had to be considered. In the script, the description of the location is a neighborhood on a sunny day. Therefore, we cannot film when it is about to rain. In addition to this, the script displays times in which actions are taking place. In order to obtain the correct daylight patterns, we have to film around the same time. It wouldn't make sense if one scene was supposed to be at noon and we filmed it at 4:00. The sun would be in a completely different spot, therefore lowering the quality of our film. However, Tekla, Dominic, and I have selected a date to film. We will be using Tekla's dad Mats as well.

Filming Outside

 My group and I finished filming at Tekla’s around 2:30. After we finished filming the living room scenes we decided what we were going to do next. Our schedule was altered because of the actor situation, so we had to go with the flow. We decided that we would go to a little park near my house to film. It is in a neighborhood so it was a somewhat quiet area. We all got into two cars because there was six of us, and drove about a mile to the neighborhood park. We parked the car, and met up in the middle of a grassy area. I brought the storyboard and the script, and started to tell everyone where they should stand for the first scene. Tekla filmed because she wasn’t in any of these scenes, and Dominic helped her. I would read the lines to the actors before their take so they would know what to say. We also decided to take each shot twice. This can be helpful in case we lose some footage. However, when we were filming, there was a man blowing leaves. This sound was extremely loud and we couldn’t film there. Because of this, we decided to walk a few blocks south until we couldn’t hear the man anymore.The scenes were being shot effectively. With Tekla filming, and Dominic helping with the angles and movements, and my leadership skills, the scenes were filmed smoothly. The filming process took about an hour, and by that time we were all tired. When we finished, we drove back to Tekla’s to look over the footage. We liked the footage, and will refilm if we feel it is necessary.

Filming as a group

 Our group decided to meet at 10:30 at Tekla's house. However, we didn't start filming until after lunch because we had to replace an actor. Once the character Grayson was replaced and got to Tekla's house, we started filming. We started with the indoor scenes so we wouldn't be sweaty. Tekla was recording because she wasn't in any of the scenes. I was in a few scenes, but I was primarily reading the lines for everyone and telling everyone what to do. Dominic was looking at the storyboard to assist Tekla with camera angles and movements. Overall the process went smoothly but it was time-consuming. Some of the actors couldn't remember their lines which was inconvenient. To solve this problem, I just recited the line that the individual had to say. After that, Tekla would start recording, and the actors would say their line. In addition to this, we had to add some scenes to make the story flow more smoothly. We decided to film each clip at least twice to ensure that we have a decent take. Hopefully, we won't have to refilm many scenes because of this. We worked effectively as a group to film. We did get distracted from time to time. However, we expected this to happen because we are all friends. We had a strong willpower and decided to persevere and continue filming. These scenes took roughly 2 hours which isn't too much time. Luckily, we figured out the Grayson situation and continued filming. 

Rescheduling Filming

 My group and I tried to film on many various occasions. We tried to make plans and failed because people couldn’t show up, cars broke down, and family issues occurred. We initially tried to film the Monday that winter break started. Unfortunately, on Sunday night something came up and we wouldn’t be able to film. A family issue occurred with one of our group members, and another group member had to go to work in the afternoon. This left a very slim window to film, and we knew that we wouldn’t have enough time to do so. As a result, we decided to film the following day. We decided to meet up at Tekla’s house at 10:30 am. Some actors (including myself) carpooled to Tekla’s house because we live in the same area. However, one person didn’t carpool with us. Once we arrived to Tekla’s we decided to call the other group member. However, he didn’t pick up his phone. We waited until 11:30 to see if he would call us back, but he hadn’t. As a group, we decided to recast the role. We called our friends that live near us and asked if they could be in our film. Luckily our friend Jake volunteered to take the role of Grayson to replace the other person. This particular role had already been recasted from one person to another, and then to Jake. Luckily, we didn’t film anything before Jake became part of our group. If the other person played Grayson, we would have to refilm everything because he can’t be in the short film anymore. Rescheduling the times and people were somewhat stressful, but we got through it.

Filming Day 1

 Yesterday, my group and I began filming. Since it was a weekday, we decided to not film the entire movie. However, Tekla, Dominic, and I all met at my house. They came right after school. Once everyone was here, we adjusted the bathroom to our liking and started to set up the camera. We printed and annotated part of the script. This was helpful because we had notes as to what we have to do. We also decided to print the storyboard. This allows us to know what angles we have to film as well as the camera movements. This helped filming run smoothly. 

Once everything was set up and in place, Tekla and I put on the clothes that we wanted to film in. We quickly freshened up our hair and makeup and then started filming. We decided to start filming the scene where the character Bella wakes up. This scene took approximately 15 minutes. Next, we moved to the bathroom scenes. These were a bit more time consuming because there were more scenes. This took roughly 45 minutes, but the process was smooth. Lastly, we did the kitchen scenes when Bella was pouring cereal. This scene took about 5 minutes. We are happy that we printed the storyboard because it allowed us to film smoothly. In addition to this, we are excited to film the rest of the short film.

Changes to Filming Schedule

 This past week, my group and I didn't have school. This was because Thanksgiving was this past Thursday. Initially, my group and I intended to film over the course of the week. However, we didn't consider the fact that our groupmates could be going out of town. Our group consists of 9 people, so it is difficult to agree on a date with somewhat short notice. Because of this, my group and I decided to film on separate days. There are certain scenes where we don't need everyone. As a result, we can film over the course of a few days, so it is more convenient for everybody. For example, in the first third of the short film, the only actors that need to be present are me (Stephanie), Tekla, Olga (Stephanie's mom), and Mats (Tekla's Dad). Therefore, we are planning to film different sections of the film on different days.

 Over the break, various group members did travel for the holiday to visit their families. Because of this, we are cautious about COVID. My group and I are insisting that everyone (including the people who didn't travel) to get tested to ensure our safety. We understand that being in a group is a high risk, and we are taking precautions for everyone's safety.

 In addition to this, different people were out of town at different times. This made filming impossible. We couldn't film the majority of the film, so we just planned the new schedule. We decided to divide filming into 3 separate days. This allows the actors to focus on fewer scenes, and we will have to film for less time each day. In addition to this, Tekla, Olga, Dominic, and I will most likely film the beginning of the short film within the next week. 

Music Choice

 My group and I have yet to decide what music we want to include. However, we researched different music choices. To use music that is copyrighted, we would have to go through a complex process. First, we would have to select the soundtrack. Then, we would have to contact the producers and people who could legally allow us to use the songs. After this, we would have to wait for the producers to respond. At this point, the producers could either give us copyright rights or they could deny us rights. If they deny us the rights, then we would have to find additional music. This leads to doing the process all over again. As a group, we decided that we didn't want to take the risk of getting denied. Because of this, my group and I will use uncopyrighted music. However, we will have to ensure that the music is uncopyrighted. We will most likely find our music on YouTube. We then have to go through the descriptions to make sure it isn't copyrighted. Once we ensure that it isn't copyrighted and downloadable, we will download it and put it in our movie. We have yet started the process of selected our music. However, we know that we also want some sound effects. These include diegetic and nondiegetic sounds. Overall, we are excited to select our music as well as the sound effects. We have a broad idea of the music style, but we still have to discuss it in further detail.