Finishing the Filming Process

     We completed the filming of our opening sequence with scene 9. To prepare, I cleaned the house and changed into the designated outfit for my character. When the filming commenced, it went smoothly. We had to stop a few times to make sure that the cameraman was in the right position and, of course, I made a few hiccups with acting as well. However, when we got to the part where I was going to fetch the food from the refrigerator, I realized that we ran out of carrots. We looked for a food that could substitute the carrots that I was supposed to grab and tested out apples. The filming crew as well as me both tried throwing the apple to see if it would land near the fridge. After a few tries, we were left with a bruised apple, a dirty floor, and no success. We then looked for more foods that could be used and decided on oyster crackers. Again, we practiced throwing the crackers near the fridge and decided to use them within our film after a few tries. When we began filming, I found that the crackers were a good substitute and also found that the note that my mother had written, while filming the first few scenes, was gone and thrown out by my brother. Luckily, my mother was not too busy with her work when I asked her to rewrite the note. While looking for the notepad she had used, I was scared that we had ran out of pages, but after a bit of searching I found the pad. I then pulled up a video, that was used within our opening sequence, showing my mother writing on the notepad. I asked her to copy her handwriting, since it is very distinct, and make it more legible than was in the video I showed her. The final product ended up looking quite different from the writing that was in the video. My mother couldn't try writing another version either since we had run out of pages on the notepad from her previous attempts. My group then decided that we would use the sheet my mother had written and try not to show too much of the notepad in the first couple of scenes. After this was all done, we filmed the last few shots, and tried incorporating different camera movements, such as the zoom. However, it was a bit too difficult and we ended up using a still shot. Once we finished, I cleaned up my house and carried on with my day.

    While filming we also decided to change a few things. To begin, the first and second shots were condensed into one and were filmed from a cowboy shot instead of a medium shot. We also added a pan to this shot as well. The next thing changed was the fourth and fifth shots, as reported in the storyboard. The next few shots will be dictated in this way as well. The fourth and fifth shots were altered as we decided to put food, such as eggs and mayonnaise, in front of the camera. This way, it would seem more as though the camera was in the fridge. We also decided to film from a closeup, high angle as well for these shots. Within shot seven, and the following shots, I am preparing the food from a different counter. Within these shots I decided to use a bowl instead of a plate and it was also filmed as a cowboy shot. Scenes eight, nine, and ten are also shot from the same shot/perspective as the seventh shot. Lastly, shot eleven was deleted, which concluded our changes to the filming process.

Refilming Scene 8 and Part of Scene 9

    Unfortunately, we had to refilm scene 8 and parts of scene 9. When we had first filmed these scenes, my hair was very long and was in a ponytail.  If I were to cut my hair to the length I planned on cutting it, shoulder length, it would be very noticeable. We still had to film the last scene as well, meaning that I could not just cut my hair to shoulder length and act as though it was the same day, since scenes 8 and 9 are supposed to follow right after each other. So, after I cut my hair to shoulder length, we decided to refilm the scenes we had first shot. To begin the refilming process, I cleaned up my house, as per usual. Once it was clean, I waited for my friend Jessica to arrive and then we began filming. The process went smoothly and we ended up finishing faster than we did when filming the first time. Jessica had also used a selfie stick, again, to film and we learned how beneficial it is to film with, since it stabilizes the camera very well. 

    While filming, we also changed a few things to these scenes. Even though the main reason we decided to refilm the scenes was because I had cut my hair, we also had forgot to add a few shots or movements, which worked out perfectly. One of those movements was the tilt, which was supposed to be within scene seven. When refilming, we added that in. We also added a shot to the seventh scene between the first and second shots. This shot was of me going up the stairs from a high angle. We decided to film this shot so that it would mirror the same shot of my mother going up the stairs. We aren't sure if we will end up using the shot, but just decided to film it anyway, just in case we might want to use it. We also may not have enough time in our opening sequence to add it in, but, again, it was filmed just in case. The last thing we changed while refilming was the third shot, as written in the storyboard. This shot was changed from a cowboy shot to a wide shot.

Filming Scenes 6 & 7

     This past weekend, my group decided to film scenes six and seven. Although the process was a positive experience, it started off on a rough note. I had set my alarm to wake up an hour before my groupmates were scheduled to arrive at my house, since we decided to film in the morning, and ended up waking up 20 minutes before they were to arrive at my house. Luckily, one of my groupmates was late, so I was not too behind, but it would have been better if I woke up on time so that I felt more prepared. While my groupmate, Juanita. was still driving over to my house, I decided to ask my mother for a part of the costume, gardening tools, for her role. We were not able to find anything, but it was fine since we ended up finding items later. When Juanita finally arrived at my house, we began by filming the first shot, which was an establishing shot of my house. Before this was done, however, I saw Juanita's outfit and decided to spruce it up and look more like she was older by lending her sandals. I also gave her an apron and scissors later in the day so that she would look more like she was gardening. When we began, we filmed with a selfie-stick that I had brought just in case we needed it. We used this contraption for the rest of the filming process for these two scenes and it ended up working very well, better than if we were using our hands. The second shot was done with a lot of discussion, since we were not sure how to film this shot and the following two shots. It took about an hour to figure this out, and was only done after we refilmed the first shot, since I had given Juanita the apron after we had filmed the first shot. After we had figured out how to film those first few shots, the process went pretty quickly, with a few slip ups, but did not take much time after those shots were filmed. Once we had finished, I gave my groupmates water, since it was pretty hot out in jeans, and cleaned up once they left.

    We also decided to change several shots. The first shot, which was supposed to be of me, is now of Juanita and only shows my house, not three houses. Within the second shot I was supposed to have my head down and arms crossed, but in the new version I am walking regularly and then stumble. The stumble is also a new addition to the opening sequence. The third shot was deleted as well. The neighbor is not within the fourth shot and there is a cowboy shot of the girl hiding from the neighbor instead. The fifth shot was changed from a mid-shot to an over the shoulder shot of the neighbor. However, it is hard to describe what kind of shot it is exactly since the cameraman steps out to reveal the neighbor with an over-the-shoulder shot and almost uses a tracking movement to do so. The tenth shot was changed from a cowboy shot to to a mid-shot. To be clear, this shot occurs when the girl is walking to her house, about to enter it and saying bye to her neighbor. Lastly, the eleventh shot, where the neighbor is waving to the girl, was changed from a mid-shot to a cowboy shot.

Beginning the Editing Process (Scenes 2-4)

     To begin the editing process, I had to export the videos that I recorded from my mother's phone to my computer. For context, my mother's phone was used because it has better video quality than mine. This took much longer than expected. My first idea was that I should export the videos via google photos. That way, it would be easy for me, and my group mates, to access the photos from a variety of devices. However, my mother's phone is used for work so she didn't want me downloading the app unless I had to. This led to me exporting the videos by email, where I would then share them with my groupmates. I thought that doing it this way would decrease the quality of the videos, however, I found that they still looked good when downloading and viewing the videos. Some videos were a bit too large, so if this were the case I found that I could export the photos to my computer, which would then automatically export to my google drive since I use a Chromebook. However, after a bit of time my mother told me that I could not use the email method as done before. This led to me then using the method that I would use if I were exporting larger files. Even though I had thought that this method would be slower, I found that it actually was faster. It also worked out better, because I was then able to put each of the videos in a folder on my google drive. Although this might seem like a small menial task, exporting the videos took a large portion of my day and took much longer than expected.

    After many hours of exporting, I was finally able to begin editing the first few scenes of our opening sequence. My group decided to meet on google meets so that we could all discuss how to edit each portion and more. Unfortunately, Jessica was unable to meet at the time we started the meeting so just Juanita and I decided to edit it together while Jessica came in to edit with us at the end. To start off the meeting I organized each of the shots by scene so that it would be easier when we started editing. While I was doing this, Juanita reviewed each scene. Then, once this was done, we began editing. Juanita would edit the videos, physically, while I would collaborate and help decide where to trim the videos and which clips to add, since I recorded several options. Overall, it was a pretty fun process and was humorous to see the outtakes of my mother acting and me directing. The main thing we did for this part of the editing process was  trim the video clips and decide which ones to add.

Filming Scenes 2-5 for the Final Task

    Over the weekend, I filmed the scenes of the mother running away from the killer. I did not have anyone aid me in this process, since we thought that it would be better, for health reasons, to let me film these scenes alone. I began by cleaning the house. I organized it so that it was a bit messy, to look as though it is lived in, but also cleanly as well. I do not want my house to seem like I am a slob in the opening sequence, although some areas were questionable. I then got my mother and told her to put on dark clothing, such as dark wash jeans. She ended up wearing leggings which fit with the conventions of the genre as well. After this was done, we went outside to begin filming. I began by directing her where to start running. This part went smoothly, but we had to pause a few times to let cars or people pass by. When we went inside to film the third scene, however, the trouble began. During this scene I found out that I am not a good director. I would try to explain what to do to my mother, but she did not do what I told her to do, since I did not explain it fully. I also got into a conflict with my brother, as I asked him to bang on the door. He tried to suggest alternate options which I said would not work, delaying the filming process for about 10 minutes. Overall, the filming process was pretty stressful because the family members who were helping me film, my brother and mother, really wanted to get the process over with. This descended into much yelling, since we were all tired of each other. 

    Throughout the filming of the scenes, I ended up changing the types of shots that we had planned on using. Within the first scene, where the mother is running, we decided to include a closeup shot instead of a long shot. However, the type of shot varied as the scene carried on because I was running while the mother was running. This was done in order to exemplify that the handheld movement being used. The last portion of this scene was used with the tracking movement as well. We may also have to refilm the third scene because I said, "go" while performing the tilt motion. We will try to edit out the sound, but if that sounds too odd, we will most likely refilm this scene. This scene also was changed to a cowboy shot as well, and the first shot of this scene was changed to be in the same position as the shot right after it. The first shot of the fourth scene was changed to a cowboy shot because I was not far enough away from my mother. Lastly, the last shot of the fourth scene was changed to a mid-shot because I filmed it in one take and the first shot of the fifth scene was changed to a long shot.

Rehearsing & Beginning the Music Selection Process for our Final Task

    When we first decided what we were going to film for our final task and began planning out the process,  I already had a good idea of what one of the pieces, the sting, would sound like. I recalled the horror genre PowerPoint we made and thought of the clip of the movie Anabelle, that had a nice sting accompanying the zoom of the doll's face. I thought that a similar song would go well in the last scene, where the girl finds the note her mother hid. So, I kept this in mind while searching for songs to include in the final task. I began by going on YouTube and searching for no copyright and royalty free horror songs. Many songs that were found were a bit too intense or sounded as if they were from a sci-fi film, which is not what we were going for in our film. After a bit of searching, however, I found some songs that I thought were suitable. One was similar to the clip from the movie Annabelle and the other was different, with voices that sounded as if they were from a choir. These two songs are both about two minutes or longer in length so we will end up cutting much of the song out to create a sting. This way, the song will fit with the last part of scene 9. We also looked for songs that would go within the first few scenes, where the mother is running away from someone. We found a few songs that sounded nice but are not sure if we will use them, so we are keeping them as options for now. Later, when we have filmed the scenes where the mother is running away, we will solidify the song that will be used.

    We also decided to meet in person in order to prepare for the scene where the neighbor and the girl talk to each other. Although this could have been done online, we thought that we might be more prepared when meeting in person, since it would be as if we were actually filming. In addition, in person rehearsing allows us to get a better idea of how the other actor will react, so we thought that we also might perform better when rehearsing in person. We began by looking at our scripts and using them to talk to each other. We both tried different accents and ways of speaking in order to find which voice would suit our characters best. I decided to use my normal voice, since I thought that it would be the most natural. The other voices I tried also sounded a bit odd, so I just decided to use my normal voice. Throughout this process of practicing I also found that I had memorized my lines, even though I only had two. After we had practiced our lines together, we practiced the seventh scene, where I would be walking towards the house. This allowed us to get a feel for how the scene will go. Overall, this planning session was very helpful and, I think, will allow us to perform better when we actually film the seventh scene.

Beginning to Film the Final Task

     Over the weekend, we were able to start filming the final task. To prepare, I cleaned my house and got dressed in my outfit. Our house has been a tad bit ready, but I just moved a few things around and made sure that my house, our filming location, was decently clean. I then went outside to see if my groupmates had arrived yet. When they did so, we decided which scenes to film since there were a few complications that occurred that day. One of my groupmates, Juanita, who is an actor, forgot their clothes and it was also pretty bright outside. Because Juanita forgot her clothes, we could not film the outside scenes where the girl is walking outside meeting her neighbor. The brightness outside also led to us deciding that we could not film the scenes my mother acts in, since we thought that darkness would fit what was occurring within those scenes. These two factors caused us to film scene 8 and part of scene 9. 

    When acting within our film, I ran into a bit of trouble. We began the filming process at the scene where the girl goes inside her house after talking to her neighbor. However, we started filming at the point where the girl is inside her house and closing the door to her home (page 8, box 4 on the storyboard). Our entire opening film is also supposed to be serious, but whenever I opened the door, I found myself laughing. Overall, that scene took a bit longer than expected, as a result of my laughing, but we still finished it when I got my act together. The rest of the filming process was smooth and we would make sure that we were all six feet apart. We did a few different takes when we got to the part where the girl enters the kitchen. We wanted to have options just in case we didn't like how our original idea for that scene turned out. My acting in these scenes was normal, and these last few takes flew by (timewise). However, we decided not to finish scene 9 because we had not filmed scenes 1-4 yet, where the mother would write the letter. Within scene 9 the girl is supposed to find the letter her mother wrote, but since we did not have my mother write it yet, we could not film the last part of that scene. This led to us stopping at the point where the girl gets carrots from the fridge. Overall, the filming process went pretty smooth and was faster than expected.

Setbacks In Filming the Final Task

     Although we were supposed to start filming on the days of 3/3/2021 and 3/4/2021, we were unable to begin this process. There were a few complications in scheduling that occurred and, as a result, we were unable to film. The first would be that these two days are school days. Ordinarily, this would not be a problem, as my group would have been able to work something out and schedule our time so that we could all meet. However, school takes up a large portion of the day on school days, leaving about 6 hours of free time after school (not including the time it takes to shower, eat dinner, etc.). On 3/3/2021, I also had to study for a chemistry quiz which was a large reason why we couldn't film. In addition, Jessica, my other groupmate, had volleyball practice at 5:30 both days so we wouldn't have had much time to film even if I did not have to study for chemistry. 

    However, throughout this time I have begun preparing for the filming of our final task. Since I will be acting as the girl within the opening sequence, I will have a few lines of dialogue. I have already started preparing the lines and am feeling more confident by the second. I also have picked out the outfit for her. I already had an idea of what she would wear, but wasn't confident on what it would be. Now, I have picked out the exact outfit which will be a burgundy t-shirt, low rise converse, and dark wash jeans. We didn't want the outfit to be very extravagant and take away from the scenes being shown, so I decided on a simple and plain outfit, as shown below. This outfit is also pretty dark in colors, so I thought that it might apply to the dark coloring of the thriller genre.

This character is also going to be coming home from school so that her walking outside will make more sense and be more realistic. In order to convey this to the audience, she will be wearing a backpack. I have settled on the backpack that she will be wearing: a black backpack with a plaid pattern. I am not sure if we still have this backpack, as I have tried looking for it but am not sure exactly where it is, but if we don't have it, I will be wearing a dark purple backpack with grey detailing. This backpack, like the previous backpack and the clothes I will wear, will fit with the dark conventions of the thriller genre.

Planning Blog for Final Task: Storyboard

The storyboard process is important to the planning process, because it allows us to get an idea

of what the film will look like in a visual format. As a result we will be able to plan better, and

by storyboarding the process, we won’t have to research and try to picture each scene or how

it will look. We will have our entire opening sequence layed out in front of us. This will allow

us to save time as well, letting us use our time for editing or revisions instead. Additionally,

if there are any last minute cancellations or if we are in a time crunch, we will have our

opening sequence laid out and ready to go so that we can immediately start filming once

everything is set up.

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Planning for Final Task: Title Design

     For our opening sequence, we planned on using a handwriting style font like this: “Music by” This font would play into the notepad that is seen throughout the film. We also decided that this handwriting font would be used for all of the titles except the film title. For the film title, we decided on using a more serious font, fitting in with the conventions of the thriller genre. The font for the film title would look something like this: “ENIGMA.” While doing our genre research, we found that we liked the title for the movie, “Premonition,” and decided to draw inspiration from the film title for the movie. 

The handwritten titles will also be written with proper grammar, with the first letter of each title capitalized and the appropriate letters within the names of the people capitalized. The film title, on the other hand, will be all capitalized.

The color of the “handwritten” titles that will mainly be used in the film will be gray, as if it were written with a pencil. It will look  like this: “Music by.” The color of the film title will be gray as well, but a darker gray than the “handwritten” titles. It will look like this: “ENIGMA”

For our film title, we will have loose tracking meanwhile the rest of the titles will have a relatively normal tracking. The handwritten titles will look like this: “Music by.” The film title will most likely look like this: “E N I G M A”. The looser tracking makes the title seem “colder” which adds to the thriller genre. As for the kerning, we have decided to keep this relatively normal as well.

We decided that, for now, our working title would be, “Enigma.” We decided on this title because it means, “a person or thing that is mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand.” The girl’s mother’s death is an enigma, and is what the entire film is based around, which is why we decided on this title as of right now.

The first two titles, the production and studio titles, will be incorporated in the very first scene. The studio title will be displayed in the top left corner and will be immediately followed by the production company title, which will be displayed in the bottom right corner and will not be embedded on the screen. The rest of the titles will be displayed throughout the film, at the bottom sections of the screens and, again, will not be embedded on the screen. Each title will be displayed for approximately 5 seconds with the exception of the film title, which will be displayed for approximately 7 seconds, in the middle of the screen.

All the transitions will fade in and fade back out. The entire title will be faded in, and this will be done as if it is appearing and then disappearing, as opposed to a side to side fade in and out. This will be done slowly after about 3 seconds have passed, allowing for 1 second each of the transitions. The actual film title, however, will have longer transitions with about 1.5 seconds each of transitions.

Planning for Final Task: Scripts

Shooting script

Scene 1

• Screen is completely black.

• Titles of the studio and production company will be shown.

• Diegetic Sound: Woman is breathing heavily in the background.

• Non-Diegetic Sound: Suspenseful music starts after the woman’s breathing. 

Scene 2

• Cuts to a woman running down the street. She looks behind her and

                    keeps running until she reaches her house (long, medium, and cowboy shots w/ handheld                                camera movement).

• Non-Diegetic Sound: Suspenseful music .

• Diegetic Sound: Woman heavily breathing.

• Lighting: Low-key lighting (a little bit lighter than this, but to this effect).

• 

Scene 3

• She opens the door, locks it and leans against it catching her breath

                        (Shot with a tilt as well as a long shot, mid-shot, and wide shot).

• Woman then will run up the stairs at the sound of the intruder thumping at the

                    door (using the tracking movement as she does so and a high angle as well as a long shot).

• Will use action match editing.

• Non-Diegetic Sound: Suspenseful music. 

• Diegetic Sound: Woman catching her breath, the sound of the door locking

                / her fumbling to lock it, and thumping at the door.

• Lighting: Low-key lighting.

Scene 4

• Woman runs into the kitchen and looks behind her again. 

• Grabs a notepad and pen from a drawer and writes something down very quickly.

• Looks around for a place to hide the notepad and decides to kick the notepad

                        under the fridge.

• There will be continuous thumping at the door, as someone is trying to get in,

                        and then a loud bang as the assailant enters the house.

• Scene will use mid-shots, wide shots, medium shots, over-the-shoulder,

                        closeups, high angles, cowboy shots, and maybe the tracking movement as well.

• Eyeline match editing will be used.

• Diegetic Sound: Breath of woman (low in volume, but still heard), the

                        drawer opening/closing, loud thumping at the door and the scribbling of

                        a pen in the notebook.

• Non-Diegetic Sound: Suspenseful music.

• Lighting: Low-key lighting. 

Scene 5

• Woman starts running out of the kitchen to find somewhere to hide

                        (tracking movement and long shot).

• Woman makes it to the stairs (medium shot).

• Closeup of the woman when she screams as the assailant catches up to her. 

• Diegetic Sound: Footsteps as the assailant comes closer and the scream of the

                        woman.

• Non-Diegetic Sound: Suspenseful music.

• Lighting: Low-key lighting.

Scene 6

• Transition from the flashback, into the present. 

• Establishing shot of the daughter walking down the street heading to her house

                       (wide shot, high angle).

• Girl continues walking to her house, looking withdrawn with her head downwards.

• Girl looks up as she arrives at the entryway to her house.

• Wide and long shots used for these parts.

• Lighting: Bright and sunny to contrast the dark lighting of the past.

• Diegetic Sound: The chirping of birds starts (will decide  if we should include it in the

                         editing stage).

Scene 7

• The girl sees her neighbor and starts walking a little faster.

• Neighbor greets the girl, causing the girl to turn back around and respond with a greeting.

• Neighbor references her mother’s sudden death and after the neighbor rambles on some

           more, the girl makes an excuse to leave.

• The girl unlocks her door.

• Will use shot reverse shot editing to show the reactions of the characters to the

            conversation.

• Cowboy, over-the-shoulder, two-shots, mid-shots, and wide shots will be used throughout

            the interaction.

• Diegetic Sound: Sounds of nature (Leaves rustling,etc.) and dialogue of the two characters.

• Lighting: Bright and sunny.

Scene 8 

• The girl enters her house and shrugs her backpack off as soon as she steps foot inside

            (cowboy shot).

• She then pauses at the door, taking a breather the same way her mom did in the flashback.

            (cowboy shot and tilt).

• The girl, after about 5-8 seconds, goes upstairs (long shot).

• Diegetic Sound: Sounds of the girl sighing, backpack falling on the floor and the door

            locking.

• Lighting: It will be much darker in this room, but not as dark as the first few scenes.

            There will still be plenty of light to see the actor’s face.

Scene 9

• The girl enters the kitchen and goes to open the fridge.

• She grabs a bag of carrots, closes the fridge, and then sets them on the counter.

• She then goes and grabs a bowl from the cabinet and sets it on the counter next to the

            carrots (pan while she does so).

• She pours the carrots into the bowl and then goes to put the carrots away in the fridge,

            but drops them, and they roll under the fridge instead. 

• Low angle from the carrots POV after they are dropped and while she is trying to get the

              carrots out from under the fridge.

• Confusion forms on her face as she feels something unusual.

• High angle over the girl (while she is crouching to get the notepad), letting the audience see

            the same notepad from earlier (earlier= the flashback with the mom).

• Long shots, over-the-shoulder, mid-shots, medium shots, cowboy shots, and closeups will be used.

• Diegetic sound: Sounds of fridge closing, cabinet opening/closing, and carrots clinging in

            the bowl, as well as dialogue of the girl after she drops the carrots all over the floor.

• Non-diegetic sound: Sting after she feels something unusual (the notepad).

• Lighting: Light will shine through the window, but it won’t be as bright as the

            previous scenes where the girl was outside.

Sound and Dialogue Script

Scene 1

• No dialogue.

Scene 2

• No dialogue.

Scene 3

• No dialogue.

Scene 4

• No dialogue.

Scene 5

• No dialogue.

Scene 6

• No dialogue.

Scene 7

• Mrs. Maye (Neighbor): “Why, hello darlin’, how are you doin’?”

• Girl: “Hey Mrs. Maye.”

• Mrs. Maye (Neighbor): “I am so sorry about what happened to your mother.

                        The car crash... It was so... sudden!” (pause) “She was such a lovin’ soul.
                        And so young too!” 

• Girl: “Yeah, thanks Mrs. Maye. I’ve got to go...”  

• Mrs. Maye (Neighbor): “Why, of course, of course sweetie. Have a good day now

                        dear.”

Scene 8

• No dialogue.

Scene 9

• Girl: (sigh) “Shoot.”