Short: Why we haven’t started filming

 Hello! So, so far my media group and I have done tons and tons of planning for our upcoming short film Possessed. We’ve spent several weeks picking out and planning how we want to make this short, and now the next step would to be to execute those plans and actually film. Over the last 9 days we had off from school for Thanksgiving break. This would’ve been a great opportunity to get in some filming days but unfortunately we were unable to do so. This was because I went out of town to go see my family for Thanksgiving. In order to film this piece like we want all 4 group members need to be present so we did not film during this time. However we did not let this free time go to waste. Over video calls and text message we continued to discuss ideas for filming. We will be filming everything on our IPhone X’s since we do not have access to other cameras. Although I do think using our phones to film would be our best option so that we can easily alwuas have it with us to look back at. Also good for fast importation for editing later on. I definitely wish we could have started filming over break as do my other group mates. But we still have plenty of time to do so. We will be filming on 2 or 3 separate days to get in all of our shots and do each of them multiple times to ensure we get it just as we’d like. I’m super excited to begin this part of our journey. Filming days in our past projects have always been my favorite part. Getting into character and directing becomes so fun it doesn’t even feel like work. My group and I will be filming in the near future at our designated picked out locations and are very very excited! I just know it’s going to turn out amazing! 

Short: Picking our music

 Hello! As my media group and I progress through our short making journey there are some other elements we need to begin thinking about. One of these being, the music. The music included in a piece of film can drastically change up the feeling or mood that comes across to the viewer. The music can create a build up of suspense or lighten the mood or even create a sense of uneasiness. It can help formulate anything you want when used correctly. Since the short movie that we are making falls under the genre of horror we wanted to make sure when selecting the music we were to put in that it matched with the mood we wanted to make. My group and I via video call began to brainstorm some ideas. We collectively came to the decision to incorporate the song Rob Zombie in the beginning of our short in our intro. We feel as though this has the right vibe we are going for and would really set the tone for the next several minutes. The next thing that came to our minds was that we needed to ensure it was okay that we use this song for copyright reasons. The most simplest way to do so would to contact the artists/their people via email. We haven’t done so yet but we will be in the near future. It is important that we get the okay first that way we aren’t illegally using material that doesn’t belong to us. We haven’t selected all other background music that will be used, but we have some pretty good ideas of options. I think we will be looking for noncopyrighted creepy or spooky music found on YouTube that we can use. These can be used to build up to an important or striking scene in our short or create emphasis on an event. I believe that with the addition of this music is really going to make our movie great. When our editing days come along, having the perfect music is going to make it go from good to great. I cant wait to see how it all comes to together and my whole group and I are very excited to continue on this film making journey.

Short: Marketing Campagin

 

Hello! My group and I were very excited to begin the next part of our short making journey. This step would be learning about and building our marketing campaign to advertise our movie. During class we were walked through the key points of marketing that creators use and what we were going to for our own film. We were to build our very own website via the website builder Wix. We were all very excited for this template where we got to be creative in a whole new way and to make something that really made us feel like professional film makers. We were told in class the different elements we needed which included linking in our social media accounts that represented our movie. So afterwards I hopped on a video chat call with my fellow group mates to discuss creating these accounts. I made our movies email to then make our Twitter and YouTube Channel and the girls and Jake made the Facebook and Instagram account. We put in matching profile pictures that represented our movie, we also added in a short brief bio in each of the accounts. Then it was time to actually make the website. I made an account with the website Wix to begin. Then via over the phone as a group we collectively picked out the templates, colors, designs, and inputs we wanted for our website. We answered some specific questions into a system that helped to generate a set up website for us to edit in what we wanted. We added information about our movie as much as we could for the moment. We added in pictures we felt fit the vibe as well. Then at the bottom we attached social media icons connected to the link of our Possessed the Movie accounts. After looking over, we published it and went back to check that everything was looking and working correctly. I think our website is looking very nice and is only going to get better. As we further learn to navigate it and added in more interesting pieces it’s going to be a great marketing campaign! 

Storyboards Short Film

 

Hello! Today my group and I wrote up and put together our storyboards for our short film. The first three pages are the beginning segments of our short. There’s our four main characters Alex, Jake, Morgan, and Ava walking down the street on Halloween looking for something when they find this creepy cool looking Haunted House that they want to check out. They go in, Ava very hesitantly, and look around. Ava walks off a bit from the group into another room where she finds this funky mirror and when she picks it up something scary appears and she screams. The next few pages are of when her friends hear her scream so they rush into the room to find Ava acting very weird and suspicious towards them. Theyre very confused and wondering what is going on with her. Ava walks out and her friends

 within the next few pages take steps in trying to figure out what’s been going on and what the mirror she had in her hand had to do with it. One by one Ava’s new found secret is discovered but is never told because Ava kills them and then in the last few pages, Morgan uncovers whats been happening and is the hero when she finally defeats the evil spirit in Ava’s body and Ava’s body collapses and is left unaware of the horrific ness that has just happened. 

Planning blog

Schedule:

09/18 - Picking our group

09/24 - Creating the pitch

10/05 + 10/06 - Researching genres

10/19 - Researching short films

10/30 - Writing the screenplay for our film

11/27 - Filming day 1

11/28 - Filming day 2

12/03 - Editing day 1

12/04 - Editing day 2

12/12 - Figuring out what we need to re-shoot or re-edit

12/20 - re-shoots

12/20 - re-edit

Participants:

Alexandra Medrano

Jake Lyons

Avalon Clem

Morgan Clem

Others outside of group to help film: Savana Nemmers and Katelyn Pustam

Health and Safety:

During this difficult time, the group has put in extra precautions to ensure the safety of all who are going to be involved. When traveling from locations, the cast and crew of the movie will always be safely in seatbelts. We will also be sure to not use actual weapons and replace then with  fake knifes from Party City. Not to mention, in light of this global pandemic, each cast member and crew mate will have masks on and will be quarantined in advanced, to ensure that no one has the deadly virus. Lastly, the we will always have a first aid kit and a phone ready in case of any emergencies.

Props:

-Mirror

-Haunted House sign

-Halloween decorations

-Fake blood

- Costume Accessories

Costumes: 

Jake Lyons - Pirate Costume 

Alex Medrano- Tin Man costume 

Avalon Clem- Harry Potter  costume

Morgan Clem- Cat costume

Locations: 

Avalon and Morgan's house

Jake's house