Vacant CCR

 

How do your products represent social groups or issues?

The two main social groups/issues being represented in our movie is mental illness awareness and discrimination due to social status. Our film does this by showing how out of control someone who has an untreated mental illness can become. The teenagers are unwilling to talk to the homeless man simply because of the fact that he is homeless. They take him as a joke and think he is disgusting.

How do the elements of your product work together to create a sense of branding?

We created a sense of unity between our separate films by using the studio name “Meyler sibling Studios” we found this name to be very catchy and memorable so, we decided to use it again. We also wanted to create an expanding universe in our film similar to Quentin Tarantino’s films. We did this by making the movie the friends were going to see a movie Meyler Sibling Studios made. For our post card, we used a picture from one of our original posters. This was one of the main characters, James, holding a lighter. We wanted to show consistency throughout the movie, so we attempted to stick to the general aesthetic shown in the poster. For editing, we want the Meyler Sibling Studios editing style to be easily identifiable and almost iconic. Because of this, we used many similar editing techniques to those we used last year. We wanted to use a reoccurring actor in the Meyler Sibling Studio films but, we had difficulties contacting him and trying to find a time to meet up with him so unfortunately, we were unable to use him. Instead, I had to be the only reappearing actor across all the Meyler Sibling Studios films. For the filming itself, we like to use the Pov shot, we used it extensively in our two-minute opening project but minimally in Vacant. Nevertheless, I feel as if our cinematographic style is something that represents our branding.

How do your products engage with the audience?

Our film tells the tale of what happens when someone messes with the wrong person. Albeit this topic is a little overdone especially in the horror genre, I think we have put a unique twist on the sub-genre. I have never watched a horror movie involving a murderous homeless man. I feel as if this scenario could quite possibly happen since many people who live on the street have some sort of mental illness or are addicted to drugs. Although it would likely require more than refusing to spare some change and scoffing to cause a man to go on a killing rampage, it is never out of the possibility. Unlike many horror movies, our villain isn’t too unrealistic and exaggerated to add fear. The fear comes in the fact that this could happen, even if not under these exact circumstances. Aside from the plot, the fact that much of our editing has been done in no more than two weeks is no small feat. My sister’s editing skills are impressive to say the least.

How did your research inform your products in the way they use or challenge conventions?

1)      How did research affect the film?

2)      What conventions we used (horror: choppy editing dark lighting)

While researching the conventions for the horror movie genre, we decided we didn’t want to follow the mainstream design of many horror movies. Because of this decision, we gave our characters more comedic, likeable personalities. This differs from many generic horror movie characters who you almost root for to die. One convention we did stick to however, was that or characters would make dumb decisions. This would be the easiest way to continue the plot as quickly as possible. Decisions such as Conner entering the crawlspace seem questionable at best, this seems almost comedic. It seems very implausible that a friend at a party would be so willing to enter a crawlspace all because he heard a noise. Lighting was a convention that we followed when it came to the crawlspace portion of the movie. The lighting almost appeared to be in a found footage style. The only difference being that the cameras weren’t being carried around from our characters.

 

Vacant Post card+ video

 

Refiming scene

 Today we refilmed our opening scene. We wanted to do this because we weren't satisfied with how it turned out. Something about the scene just didn't seem pleasing to the viewer. We switched the positioning of the camera and changed the shot where I was walking to an over the shoulder shot. Now, we could see the messages that James is receiving on his phone. We did however, keep the low angle showing James reaction to receiving the message. Something we are struggling with is the opening music. We want it to be cheerful but, not too exciting. Yet at the same time, we don't wan the audience to feel completely relaxed while viewing the opening. We are also debating on how the music should change when James gets jumped. Should it be an immediate change? For example, a high e piano key. Or, should it be something that builds up to the scare. A slow eerie build to the jump. As for me, I think a sudden change in toe would be more fitting. Another topic being debated is how the audio should be once Conner and Alex hear James get jumped. I think silence would make it feel suspenseful. Although, we don't want it to be an awkward silence. We might settle for a low pitch rumble or low pitch horn sound for this scene. This adds the suspense we are after but, it also doesn't feel forced

The Audio

 Eva has finished editing the clips together. She has found a soundtrack but was not satisfied with it. She has put me in charge of finding a new soundtrack. The par Eva was having a problem with is the cheerful music in the beginning. We are looking for something cheerful yet, calming and welcoming but not something that would get you excited. We also didn't want something that was too boring to listen to. Eva was really struggling to find the right music but I had the idea that we could use Christmassy piano music since there are Christmas decorations in the background. In theory, the friends in the movie could be having some sort of Christmas party. As I applied the audio, it seemed like it would fit nicely but, to get the full effect, we will have to alter the track for it to fit our needs. As for the horror aspect of the soundtrack, we had no problem trying to find something that fit. I wasn't needed for this part of the audio editing since there are so many royalty- free horror music options.

Editing

 My editing skills are only strong in Photoshop and Illustrator so, I am leaving the majority of the editing for Eva. I can however edit the audio so, that is what I will most likely be doing. Eva created a new project in Premiere. I then imported it. The first thing Eva did was line up the clips. This took much longer than I thought it would. Last year it was much quicker. This was because they were only two minutes for the film last year. The hardest part, according o Eva, was lining up the conversation shots. This is because they all look the same. So, she had to watch all of the clips multiple times just to get the order. Currently looking at the footage I fear that we don’t have enough to get to five minutes. I am currently at 2 and a half minutes. I already used a bit over half of the footage.

Update: I finished lining up all of the footage. With place holders for the main titles, it made it to exactly five minutes. This is exactly where it needs to be. This was a great start to the editing process. Now that everything is lined up I have to add transitions, effects, and finish the titles.

Filming process

 This blog is a continuation of yesterday's blog. Looking back at the filming process it went very well and smoothly. A few things we did differently from last year is the amount of planning we did and the quantity of dialogue. The planning helped make sure everything went smoothly. I think my favorite scene was when Eddie scared Sean. I think it was a nice funny scene that lightened the original mood of the movie. That offered a drastic contrast to the ending. One thing I was not a fan of was filming under the scenes under the house. It was fine when we checked when we were scouting where we filmed. I did not anticipate how uncomfortable crouching the entire time we were filming would be. Eva seemed to be slightly bothered by the amount of bugs under the house. I on the other hand was expecting this.

I haven’t thoroughly reviewed all of the footage yet. I will be doing that tomorrow.  But, from what I can see the lighting was good throughout. One thing I am now worried about is making sure it is not choppy. A lot of the scenes were filmed separately and we have not done a film with heavy dialogue. But, I am confident that it will turn out well. I can’t wait for editing because I feel like our acting had much to be desired.

Vacant filming part two

 Today we filmed. Before everyone started showing up Eva made the fake blood. Eva mixed cornstarch, water, and food dye. I instructed her to microwave it so it would be thicker. With no surprise, It turned out great and was quite thick. At first, I thought there was going to be a repeat of what happened on Friday. Two people canceled on us once again. It was already two o’clock and I thought we would have to postpone again. But, I already had extras scheduled to arrive. This meant Eva did not have to act and she could be solely the cinematographer and director. It also means we had another person to check for any issues in the background of the shot. We changed the name of Allie to Alex to fit the gender of the extra person. The cast ended up being:

• Sean as James
• Andrew as Connor
• Michael as Eddie
• Esteban as Alex
• Trent as a Homeless Person

Filming started at roughly three o’clock. We filmed slightly out of order. We started off filming the flashback scene because it was the only scene at a secondary location. So, we walked down to the park. This scene took roughly twenty minutes, including walking there and back. We filmed the rest

"Vacant" filming: Part one

 Today we began the production of our short film "Vacant." Our actors were scheduled to begin arriving around 1:30 although the majority of them arrived between 2:00- 2:30. We probably should have scheduled our filming to start earlier. While we wee waiting for the rest of our actors to arrive me and Trent drove to the store to grab some food dye. Once we returned, the rest of our actors began to arrive. We had an arsenal of prop weapons to choose from so, it was Trent's job to choose which weapon seemed the most realistic for a homeless man to be carrying around. The options were a kitchen knife, a hammer, a sickle, and the prop gun we used last year. In the end, Trent chose the hammer because it is likely something a homeless man would be carrying around. It is a versatile tool that could double as a lethal weapon in need of self defense. After this, we got all of the scripts and storyboards together and began filming. We started with the park flashback scene since we just wanted t get it out of the way and it would be a good warm up scene since we don't have to maintain straight faces.

Filming Rescheduled

 We have officially rescheduled filming for Monday, the 21st. Everyone has confirmed they will be available on that day. We chose this day for multiple reasons. One, it is close to the beginning o winter break so many people might not have plans yet (which no one had.) A second reason is because we wanted an ample amount of time to edit since we weren't confident in the componence of some of our actors. Although, it is ironic I say this since my acting skills aren't that strong in and of itself. One of my biggest fears are that we might have to do some refilming since we may have some unsuccessful takes. Unfortunately, we d not have this commodity since a handful of our extras are only in Florida for winter break and will leave state soon after the da filming. To compensate, we will try to get as many takes as possible on the day of filming. We can only try our best to ensure that we will have enough time to capture enough takes and that all of the audio will come out crisp. If not we might have to resort to having actors do complete voice- over over their own voices.

Filming cancelled

Today we had to cancel our filming plans. Not all of our actors were able to make it. There must have been a communication error because our actor stated that he was unable to make the time he previously agreed to. There is nothing we can do about it now, however. We will just schedule our filming for a future date. This may have been a blessing in disguise since I have recently come to discover we are lacking the majority of our props. Hopefully we will be more prepared. To mitigate the threat of having to reschedule for a second time, I made sure we would have extras in case someone doesn't show up. Two actors outside of the class have been contacted along with three extras who will be contacted. When we do schedule our filming, it will likely be some time next week, this will be when everyone is on winter break and everyone is available. We will now have to ask everyone which days they will be available. Then we will be able to schedule a day.

Planning filming date

 Today I have set up the plans to film. Everyone in our group will be able to come but, we need at least one more actor, preferably two. We have arranged filming to be set on Friday afternoon. Everyone should be available since mid-Terms will be finished and no one has scheduled any other plans. We intend on inviting two friends who have either worked with us before or have previously taken an AICE media class. Are props will be minimal: we will need tattered clothes (the homeless man character), prop weapons (a hammer), and fake blood. Making fake blood shouldn't be too hard for us since we made some in our last film. It is simply food dye, water, corn starch and xanthan powder. After that we heat it in the microwave to thicken it even more. Safety is our number one priority so, we have made sure all of the ingredients in our fake blood are non-toxic and easily digestible. We will be filming at three main locations: in our house, our crawlspace and a park down the street. We have already made sure all of these locations are cinematically pleasing.

Final prep: over- the- break

This blog is going to be about what we were able to accomplish over the break. Over the break, we weren't able to get much done. We planned on meeting up with the cast but, this never happened. Instead we simply did more planning for the film and social media. This included searching for music and trying o decide if and what we should post. The poster we seems like more of a concept design than anything else since it is lacking the majority of the cast. So, we will only be using it as a temporary as a temporary profile picture. Hopefully, we should be able to meet up with the cast next week. Then, we can take some pictures for our official profile pictures and posters. We will also be able to plan out some shots we can film. For the most part, Eva did the majority of our group's work over break. The only main things we needed to get done was tittle design. Eva was able to complete that.

Soundtrack

 

Today we searched for the music we are going to use for our film. We need at least two songs. One is going to sound spooky and the other is going to have a cheerful, upbeat vibe. Our best bet would be to find a small artist and ask for their permission to use their OST. An alternative however would be to simply find a royalty- free track so we don't have to ask for permission. This will most likely be what we do. Each track will have to be at least two and a half minutes. Preferably, the tracks will go over two and a half minutes so they can be altered if needed.

Eva has found a happy song which is royalty free. This could act as the song that is played in the exposition. Although the song is only two minutes long, our short film is five minutes. This song seems like it could work, given it is unlikely that is will be played through the whole first half of the movie. If this song doesn't work however, I'll attempt to find another song we can use ( but it most likely will.)

Final prep for our film: marketing

 Today our group developed our website and social media accounts. This is a crucial step in the marketing process of our film. Eva did the majority of the setup for the website and social medias account. We now have our own twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube account for our movie. I planned and modelled for our first movie poster. The design is crude and put together quickly, but this is our first poster and it is more of a concept design than anything else. Our original plan was to get the whole cast together to take the photo for the poster, but this proved to be more challenging than previously predicted. Instead, we settled for a more simple design. This poster design was added to our movie's social  medias and website. For the photoshoot for our poster, we went down into the crawlspace where the majority of the movie is going to be filmed and took some medium shots and close ups. In the end, we chose the medium shot. For the lighting of the picture I held a lighter. This worked well because it illuminated my whole body but kept the majority of the background details out of the shot. Eva tuned up the photo and took out any impurities in the background so the poster would give off more of an ominous effect. Overall, these last couple of days have been very productive and we have made a lot of progress for our movie's preparation.

Storyboards

  Attached below is my storyboard. The storyboard gives a shot by shot of everything that plans to be on the screen. My group and I tried to incorporate different as many unique angles, movements and shots as possible. One of these shots I am excited to try is the POV shots. We used this shot last year in our, two minute film opening project and we thought it added a unique and interesting touch. One of my favorite scenes in the storyboard is when the last character to show up, Eddie scares the others in the house. I think it's a nice light-hearted addition to the overall plot. 

In our movies last year, we did not do anything in the horror aspect. I'm excited to try something new. Most of our videos last year had a lot of editing. This one is more composition-based. It will be most similar to our end of year project last year. The genre to the two-minute beginning was crime.

There are a few things that we should take in to consideration for the production of this film that we previously did not have to. One being the lighting. While we want the scenes to be dim, we don't want them to be dark or lacking detail. To do this, we can either, use flashlights to light up the shot, or we can film when the sun is going down. I believe we should film with flashlights because filming while the sun is down limits the time we can film and will cause uneven lighting through the shots. We will start filming in a few weeks

Planning

 This blog is the planning blog. That means it will have the following information: schedule, location, participants, health and safety, props, and costumes. To start of is the schedule. By the 13th of this month we will have the storyboard done. For filming we will allot a two week period from filming for the 14th through the twenty-third. The next step is editing which Eva will be doing for our group. Editing will take place from the twenty-third to the seventh of December. we will then reflect on our video and re-film and re edit for the remainder of December. The location of all of our filming will be at my house. We have a crawlspace which will be perfect for our short film. The participants we have gathered so far are:

Homeless person: Robert

Ally:Eva

James: Me

Connor: Not Determined

Eddie: Trent

The actor for Conor has not yet to be determined but should be easy to find because it has the shortest amount of screen time. For filming we will all take turns because there is not one scene were all the characters are together. Health and Safety is very important to us as a group. There is no big safety issues. We have a scene were we use a knife. For precaution we will either use a fake knife or put tape on the edge so no one will get hurt. We also will be filming in a basement so we will bring flashlights so we don't hit our heads. Overall we will just be extremely careful. For props we will have a knife, random, food and fake blood. The fake blood will be very similar to what we used last year for our end of year video. It will just be water, food coloring, and cornstarch. The costume for Ally, James, Connor, and Eddie are all just clothes you would wear to a party. For example, jeans, a t-shirt, and converse. The homeless person will be wearing dirty clothes that are covered in dirt and ripped. 

fake blood which was used in our previous film

Full length versus short film comparison " Nine"

 

 

I have watched both the short film and movie of "9".One major difference was the use of dialogue between the two. One of my favorite things about the short film was its absence of words. In the full-length movie, they did continue this aspect. The movie did explain why they could not speak in the short film, which was a cool addition. Another difference was the explanation. In the short film, they quickly showed the necessity to understand the plot. , who is the good guy, who is the bad guy, and why, whereas the movie had a much more in-depth plot with side journeys and more explanation. For example, there were multiple robots they had to fight off instead of one. Another difference was the number of characters shown. In the short film, there were three characters. There were 9, 5, and the robot. In the movie, there were characters 1 through 9, the scientist, and a multitude of robots. The mis en scene for both films was very similar. In both, the characters were rag doll-like figures. While the short film used body language as its sole source of communication and the full-length movie did not, both films did a great job of communicating with it. The lighting/ coloring of both the short film and the movie was grungy/ dirty. I especially liked this look during the short film. It made it easy to identify that the movie was during a post-apocalyptic time. An editing technique they both used was using flashbacks throughout the movie. They also had many common camera angles, shots, and movements (C.A.M.S) between the two. A few were, over the shoulder, tracking, high angle, low angle, medium shot, and an establishing shot. They were both superb films that I thoroughly enjoyed. 

Full length film "Nine"

 Today I watched the full movie "9" and thoroughly enjoyed it. The ragdoll like characters reminded me of Little Big Planet. My least favorite scene is when 6 died. He was such a chill character and should not have died. Instead, they should have taken one of the twins. I liked was the development of the movie and the characters. They gradually introduced characters instead of having them altogether from the start. It helped differentiate the characters and allowed each of them to get their own time to get the audience to know them. Most of the characters also developed through the movie. 1 was the fearful, selfish leader who ended up sacrificing himself to save 9.At the beginning of the film, 7 was a lonewolf fighter. By the end of the 

 movie, 7 worked as a team and cared for 9. The movie optimized many camera angles, movements, and shots. A few that were used multiple times through the film are high angle, over the shoulder, zoom, point of view, and close up. One thing that I found a bit weird in order to release their friends' spirits from the B.R.A.I.N they had to skin the number of their friends back. I thought an excellent aspect of the movie was the attention to detail on the mis en scene. More specifically, the lighting and color. The film had a dark, grungy look. It helped me immediately realize it is during a post-apocalyptic time. I would watch it again.

Short film nine

 

Today I watched the short film "9". There were a couple of things that I liked about the short film. First off is the sound. The movie has no dialogue. Since the movie does not have any dialogue, it exaggerates the other diegetic sound, such as feet stomping, machine squeaking, or metal clanking. I think it gave this movie a cool aspect that separates it from other films. I am excited to see the full film and if they also don't use dialogue. Another component I liked is the attention to body movement. Since there were no words, the characters had to portray their feelings through body movement. I like the scene where 5 was communicating with 9. It shows the attention to detail. The movie has a strong start showing how the character 9 sets up for his trap. This is great foreshadowing because you are not quite sure what he is doing. You are left wonder what he is setting up for. The film also transitions very well into a flashback. In many films, the flashback is not shown clear leaving me wondering if I missed something. This did not happen here. An old-timey film filter was put making it clear that it was in the past. I aslo like how they faded from shot to shot. Overall, it was great as a short film and it had a good plot

The genre we chose

 As a reminder, our pitch is a group of teenagers who hear a strange noise coming from under the house when they investigate suddenly they start to go missing one by one. We debated upon the three genres for a bit. We ended up deciding on horror. I think it fits the best. Also, it is the one I would like the best. The pace fit the best for the pitch. Horror is fast-paced. This will allow for a very cool action sequence. The action sequences are my favorite to edit. Another thing that I liked about the horror genre is the angles and movements. There is a lot of room for creativity. One of my favorite shots is the over the shoulder shot. It is optimized a lot in horror films. Due to the location we are filming, the common lighting being dim is perfect.  I think this is a great fit for this pitch. There is a lot of wiggle room which, I like. Some of my favorite movies are in the horror genre. I look forward to making this project with my group.