(#29) - Editing Day #3

It's crazy to think that I've already posted 28 blogs for this year. It hadn't hit me until I saw #29... how funny. Anywho, Luis and I hopped back onto WeVideo today to revise scene 2. After micro editing, Luis had a few things he wanted to talk about.

Again, song choice

Upon making microcredits to the running montage of the characters, Luis asked if I could search for another song for this scene. I agreed with this observation; the original choice was on the right path, but not the exact vibe we desired. Therefore, I searched YouTube Audio Library again for another potential song.

Using the "rock, dark" filter like last time, I decided to change the instrument that I was looking for. Last time I searched for "piano" which I thought would elicit a cool, fast-tempo song, but it did not fit the scene like we thought.  So, I searched for a "synth" instead. Synth's provide a very high tone that would bring the technological elements that we craved for the film, as it takes place in a virtual environment. This song is called Sports Action and I don't think it can be any more perfect:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17gVTzorqYcc5CYgzVaKRuYLRRGwlF0j1/view?usp=sharing

It just has that intense, fast-paced nature that we were looking for!! It definitely fits with the running scene.

Next time, I'll progress onto scene 3! 

Till next time, Have a great day!! 

(#28) - walking music (soundtrack!)

Luis got back to me after micro editing. I warned him how difficult this edit would be; now he fully understood my concern. We don't have a lot of variety in our shots so it is difficult to choose "the perfect take" to be inserted into the film. The two of us agreed on the place that needed work: the running montage. There weren't enough cuts, the audio was awkward, and there was an overall lack of intensity, which we desired. To remedy this, we both saw one possible solution...

MUSIC!

Having music to increase the intensity of this scene is imperative to put the "icing on the cake" of this scene. So, Luis searched for Pirates of the Caribbean, adventure-esc tracks while I looked for something fast and sinister.

A few hours later, Luis returned with this audio bite from Killer Tracks:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1jZI7Hw6snp-C9mJjOIl4kVhZIMSE6sCw

It's cool, don't get me wrong, but it screams Hollywood Grand Adventure rather than students in competition. After scouring the YouTube Audio Library for some uncopyrighted tunes, I stumbled across these beauties:

"Don't Change A Thing"

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rxWBt2nVd9HzistITUEmGrP5oowRPuFZ/view?usp=sharing

To find both tracks, I searched "Rock, Dark" for the meaner, more sinister mood we intended for the film. The rock element would supply the fast-paced, high energy beat in order to bring the intensity to this scene. While searching for this audiotrack, I also stumbled upon...

"The Coldest Shoulder"

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pK4Emu-hdDr333H3erRkl1uNzc71m0CK/view?usp=sharing

This track has a cool element to it that is both endearing yet sinister. I love this tone in that it encourages the listener to ponder about thoughts in their head in addition to wrapping the overall piece together in an appealing manner. That's why I thought this song would be perfect to add to the conclusion of the film, during either the last scene with Isa and Garrett or even during the Announcer's voiceovers.

In our next editing session, Luis and I plan on attacking scene #2 together on a facetime call to work through the knicks and crannies of this minute of Valedictorian. Then, we will see how these songs fit into the scene.

Till next time, Have a Great Day, and Wash Your Hands!

(#27) - Editing Day 2

Lets not dilly dally!

Back into the routine

After inspecting the first few shots, I was a bit nervous to begin editing this scene. Most of the takes were identical in that there was little to no diversity in the delivery of dialogue or angle taken. I had to be extremely cautious about which shots I'd select to be in this draft of the film. 

Obstacles

As exciting as it can be to be on set, it is IMPERATIVE to have a clear shot list (or at least a crap ton of shot ideas) in order to have copious amounts of footage during post-production. The turn around time for our actual production days was really short, so our storyboard was very vague if existent at all (amateur mistake).  Karma was hitting big time here. It was incredibly challenging to find shots to splice together to show the characters running, but I was able to use some moments of Charlie falling to the ground to add to that "montage".  

Yeah...... this needs work

This was the exact text I sent to Luis after my hour editing session:

"Only scenes that look somewhat okay (like 70% or better) is kailey and sebas, char and Z, and the elimination (which i tried to be sneaky, bc continuity was extremely difficult)

What I observed:

- Timing for Load in needs work

- Record your VoiceOvers ASAP so we can work with them

- "See you later Charile!" (The elim) Miranda's hand is not in the same position when the characters leave, so i used miranda turning around and noticing charlie as her seeing he was just eliminated

I think as long as the running distance looks longer (inserting more into the montage of the characters running) then the pacing wont look as speedy as it does"

To summarize... Luis is going to go in and micro as much as he can, but this scene definitely needs at least one more day of meticulous micro editing until it reaches perfection!

I'm exhausted from editing (if you can't tell). My blog posts for this week are shorter than usual — there is a lot of chaos and confusion going on in the world resulting in a crazy week for me. 

Till Next Time, Have a Great Day and Wash your hands!

(#26) - Editing Day 1

Finally,

WELCOME TO POST PRODUCTION!!!



Before I dive into how I began my portion of the editing process, I need to say that I am looking forward to editing this video WAYYYY more than my film from last year. Something about these 9 students versus the unconfident guy in SuperHuman makes me more enthusiastic about working towards telling this story rather than my other one. I also have a lot more experience in editing now than last year, which definitely brings about confidence in me. I'm ready to attack this beast of a film head-on, with everything I got!

Here's how we broke it up:

Luis and I have pre-established the roles we would play in this process. As he is the meticulous perfectionist, ensuring all jumpcuts and other transitions would be his job. On the contrary, my knack of storytelling ensures that all the scenes are in order and that all characters in a scene have the appropriate amount of screentime during an exchange. This was the plan: Luis would be the micro and I would be the Macro.

As the premier person to begin adding clips to the first draft of the film, I opened our shared WeVideo document and started my expedition.

Trial and Error

Full disclosure, I had a lot of fun editing. Because there were so many takes of a line, I had to skim through numerous clips until I found the most appropriate insert for the scene. This was incredibly time-consuming as I had to do some frame-by-frame edits to make sure that dialogue sounded as clean and crisp during any given exchange between characters. I was extremely proud of my ability to precisely get Isa saying "Seriously", although it was two videos back to back. 

Additionally, I was the first person to touch the brief montage of Garrett getting eliminated in the bathroom!! It was a lot of fun to choose what angles would be at this part and I'm stoked to see how Luis plans on sprinkling Disney Magic at this moment (as I am not strong in fast-paced editing at all). 

To conclude, 

After an hour of editing this scene, I went back into what I had created. Some moments were paced faster than others because of the delivery of the actor's lines, but otherwise, I was ecstatic with what I had produced!! Do I think Luis and I need to go back and make corrections?.... yes, because it's always beneficial to have another pair of eyes observing something you're working on. Luis is going to go onto the shared file and do some micro edits now that I have compiled this first scene together.




Tomorrow I'm going to start on scene 2!! I'm pumped!!


Till next time, Have a Great Day, and Wash Your Hands!

(#23) - "Hold that door!" (Production Day #6)

Last day of filming. Let's do this.

After writing the scene yesterday, Luis and I had the blocking fresh in our minds as we approached filming.

12:30 PM: I left my house to pick up Luis, Jakob (Bryce) and Dani (Isa). I feel like I've been the uber driver for the past two days, for Zachk's picture I'll get Luis to drive. After I picked up Dani, we made our way to her neighborhood park.

1:00 PM: We chose to film at her park because of 1. It was closest to her house and her parents were heavily encouraging quarantine on her and 2. this neighborhood has a small office place with doors! This is perfect for when Bryce storms out of the darkroom where he was inside the simulation; he will collapse to the floor and then run away in embarrassment when Isa sees him. She will begin walking after him only to be stopped by Garrett, adjacent to the little building. This was perfect!! As one of the workers was leaving, we asked if we could film one of our characters leaving the building. He kindly held the door for us as he left!

1:45 PM: (Although you might be misled by the 45 minute time skip) Things were going swimmingly!! Us four shared a lot of laughs with one another while we filmed. I personally had fun being on camera. I've found that I love how I physically portray a character, focusing on every movement and change in the posture I make. However, I was disabled by the sun because it was really bright out (lol my precious blue eyes oh no!), therefore pulling me out of the character frequently. Fortunately, Dani's professionalism and strength in memorizing her lines kept me composed as well, leading us to make an awesome scene for the (kind of) finale of the film!

2:45 PM: Luis said it. He was loud and proud to shout:

"That's a wrap!"

Well, technically yes a wrap on filming!! We have just one more picture to get. But indeed!! LUIS AND I HAVE CAPTURED ALL THE FOOTAGE WE NEED!! This is splendid :)

We also made sure to get Dani's yearbook photo to use for the website.

Zachk's picture will come later in the week!! Stay tuned for that!!

Till next time, Have a great day!

(#22) - Re-doing the ending. Yay. (Script revisions)

Today is an exciting day.... this script will be perfect by the end of the day so that filming for the final scene can go swimmingly. I opened Luis's and my celtx file and got to work.

Writing actions for Bryce leaving the simulation was easy. The goal of this scene is to show the cool technology of the school (indicated by lighting and by the VR glasses), reveal that the story has taken place inside a video simulation, and show how frustrated Bryce is. This is what I wrote up:

"SCENE 4

A dark room. The walls are black, isolating the subject in their chair. Ominous light glimmers in the visor on the subject’s face; the white, high tech material glows in the blacklight.

BRYCE JOLTS BACK IN THE CHAIR. WHEN HE COMES TO, RETURNING TO AN UPRIGHT POSITION, FRUSTRATION PAINTS HIS FACE. HE SEIZES THE VISOR AND CHUCKS IT AT THE FLOOR.

BRYCE

Dammit!

HE GETS UP FROM THE CHAIR AND STORMS OUT OF THE ROOM."

Nothing overly complex. I attempted to be clear about the visuals of the room in order to showcase a "show not tell" mindset during this scene. It had to be obvious that this was a high tech environment, and that the character is emerging from a video world. This will ultimately come across due to some good set design, lighting, and acting from Jakob, who plays Bryce. 

Now, scene #5. This was going to be a bit more difficult, as it aimed to drive home the main message of the film: the competitive nature of schools was toxic to students. This was to be capped at the end with a voiceover from the school announcer, giving prelude before finally announcing the winner. 

With this frame, I simply continued where the previous scene left off:

"SCENE 5

Now in reality. Vastly different than the simulated world with its overt perfection. This place is gritty and real, authentic and familiar to the characters and the audience. This is the real world.

BRYCE ERUPTS FROM A DOOR INTO THE OUTDOORS. HE PACES AROUND IN ANGER UNTIL HE COLLAPSES AGAINST THE SIDE OF THE BUILDING. BRYCE SNEAKS A GLANCE TO SEE IF ANYONE IS WATCHING HIM BREAKDOWN, TO SEE ISABELLA STARING, DISAPPOINTINGLY, AT HIM.

ISA STARES AT BRYCE, THE SELFISH TEEN WHO CARED ONLY FOR HIS VICTORY. ISA, THE TEAM PLAYER, WALKS AWAY."

Luis and I plan on showing this extreme contrast in environments not only through a different brightness and saturation but by using an entirely different camera to record (this is t o a t l l y on purpose and not because our rental period on our previous camera was up).

Garrett is the only character (besides Courtney and Riley) that has not had a lot of screentime. This was intentional though as he was eliminated at the beginning of the film. His only dialogue appearing a the end of the film is important as he elaborates to one of the other eliminated students about his perspective of the competition, which is anti-competing. After talking with Luis, we decided that Isa would be the best student to have this conversation as she has an established relationship w Bryce and the audience, so her inclusion would make the most sense.

This is the final draft of the script we wrote. There are two specific lines at the conclusion that Luis and I talked about for 30 minutes to change, and I will talk about them afterwards:

"CONTINUING THROUGH THE PARK, ISA IS CONSUMED BY SOME TASK. SHE IS INTERRUPTED BY A FRIENDLY VOICE.

GARRETT

Hey Isa!

ISA turns.

GARRETT

How are you?

ISA

(unsure, but vulnerable) I’ve been better.

GARRETT

How’d the competition go?

ISA

Were you not watching it? The school was live streaming it everywhere.

GARRETT

I wasn’t on my phone, so——

ISA connects the dots.

ISA

Yellow guy? Are you the kid that got booted first?

GARRETT

Yeah.

ISA

Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. The water glitch is so dumb, the school should’ve patched it by now.

GARRETT nods.

ISA

That was part of the rules though, to not touch liquids. But you knew that… did you eliminate yourself on purpose?

GARRETT

Why are you analyzing this so much?

ISA

(confused affirmation) So you did?

GARRETT

(beat.) I don’t like people competing with each other.

ISA

But that’s what makes wins so satisfying. You work harder than everyone else than get the “w”.

GARRETT

What is that “w” though? I’d bet you don’t have the same goal as Bryce or Riley.

ISA

Right…

FOLLOWING SCENE CUTS BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN ANDREW AND MIRANDA IN SIMULATION, BRYCE DISTRAUGHT, AND GARRETT AND ISA TALKING. WAVES CRASHING.

GARRETT

That’s what I don’t get. People break their backs taking these hard classes, getting As by staying up late and having panic attacks and stuff. That’s awful.

ISA

Sure, but that's just the cost of success. We need the best grades to get into a good college and then get a good job.

GARRETT

Well, what about you?

ISA

I mean, that’s all everybody thinks about. I don’t want to be left behind.

GARRETT

That’s twisted.

ISA

(sighs) There’s not a lot we can do about it."

Wow. I am incredibly proud of how I've wrapped this scene together. There is Gen Z vocabulary, Garrett showing off his personality, and the message is stated clearly and in a manner that isn't shoving it down the throats of the audience. That part was extremely difficult to get down; Luis and I wanted to make our point as clear as possible but using teenage-realistic vocabulary. phew.

Now that the challenging part was out of the way, I continued to write the rest of the film. The announcer's dialogue was primarily Luis's words, as he has a broader vocabulary for authoritative words than me. I actually wrote up directions for the credits as well, which I'll share as well:

 "ANNOUNCER (V.O.)

Thank you to all students who participated in this year’s competition! This prestigious honor is bestowed upon one dedicated student among the best and the brightest of their peers, whose hard work has now ensured their future success. With this title, they will be respected by all future associates. By student vote, the victor of Stok High School’s tournament is—

“VALEDICTORIAN”. THE VICTOR IS NOT SEEN. IT DOESN’T MATTER WHO WINS. THE WAVES CONTINUE TO CRASH AGAINST THE BEACH AS THE CREDITS ROLL.

CREDITS

A yearbook photo is shown. Their name appears above the description of all the titles they hold. The cast is shown in this order: COURTNEY and RILEY, Z and CHARLIE, ANDREW and MIRANDA, ISA and BRYCE, Jake, then Luis. Special thanks (Syd and Tariq (costumes), Zachk (casting), Tina (Breif thank you)). Production logos.

FIN"

I'm incredibly excited to film the final scene, call THAT'S A WRAP on production, and get started on editing!! This is happening so fast and I'm eager to see the finished product!!

Till Next Time, Have a Great Day,

P.S. I just thought about the website and postcard... Thank goodness Luis and I have been talking about them behind the scenes, Those posts will probably go up during spring break!

(#21) - Garbage Walls (Production Day #5)

Let's jump right into Production Day #5!

11:40 AM: I left my house to go pick up Sebastian. When I got to his house I asked if we could borrow his DSLR (as Luis had to return his rented out camera) for filming the next two days. He was already lending it to a friend, so I told Luis that we would be using my portable camera instead. I swung by Jakob's house as well to bring him to shoot.

12:15 PM: When I arrived at Luis' house, he was already putting up the black, garbage bag tarp on the walls of his garage. The black material was perfect for creating a dark room. I handed him my camera while he gave me a blacklight lightbulb that would illuminate the white VR masks of the students. After taping the tarps up, we were ready to begin filming.

12:30 PM: Filming began! We shot the Miranda and Andrew scenes first as they are just quick clips of them inside the simulation. Afterward, Bryce put on the glasses only for them to be taken off and thrown against the floor, disappointed by his untimely defeat.

12:57 PM: With that, we were done filming! We took some aesthetic photos with the glasses on in the blacklight, then called it a day.

All in all, today was a success! Only one more scene left to film. Luis and I have yet to write it yet though.....!! I will make a post about the writing process!



Till next time, Have a great day,

(#20) - MALMPFS (plan part 2)

MALMPFS:

(mal - m - pft - s), NOUN, Mine And Luis' Mega Plan For Success.

Thanks to a viral brand of alcohol (Corona), Luis and I have devised a new mega plan for success for this week. This week is our first week of "no school" (as our classes begin to transition to online), therefore we have Tuesday through Sunday at our disposal. After reaching out to our cast, Luis and I have our attack plan. 

Tuesday 3/17

Me, Luis, Jakob (Bryce), Sebastian (Andrew), and Kailey (Miranda) are going to film the short yet essential fourth scene, where Bryce exits the simulation. Without this moment, the audience won't fully understand the context of the competition. We plan on decking out Luis' garage with a black tarp to create a dark room where the characters can be playing in the VR competition. We also wanted to get some footage of Miranda and Andrew with their goggles on in the simulation to use during the voice-over at the end of the film.

Wednesday 3/18

On this day, we (fingers crossed) are going to show Jakob (Bryce) leaving the room he was in then collapsing to the floor. Isa sees him then walks away, only to bump into Garrett and having the final exchange in the piece. I cross my fingers here because I'm not positive if the location we plan on using is open for us to show Jakob walking out of the building. Regardless, that place has an awesome field and I get to be in the film again!

Some other day this week

We are going to get Z's yearbook photo. Our actor just has not been texting us back (understandable because of the current situation), so it is difficult to try to plan an exact date to take his photo. For this picture, we also need to pick up his costume from my friend, so I am waiting for a response from both parties before a date is set for these pictures.

The pandemic has been difficult for a lot of folks. Ironically, the worst of it affects the seniors. Not only the elderly who are at a health risk, but seniors in high school and college (like Luis and I) who will miss out on huge social moments of our lives. Its projects like this short film and other hobbies that keep me positive and optimistic about the future. Valedictorian aims to keep my head on straight as I spend the next four weeks at my house.

Till next time, Have a great day,

covid (#19) - conflicts con't

So, currently, we are in a debacle.

The afternoon of the second night of Rock of Ages, our director informed us that it would be our last performance (temporarily) as our principal feared the spread of the COVID - 19 virus that has taken the world by storm. Where I was totally understanding of this concern, my castmates were devastated. It is a shame to postpone my senior year performance, but I have to value the safety of my peers over a school show.

For this reason, my county's Super Intendent closed schools for next week. I was originally going to have classes from the 16th through the 20th, when I would have been in Tampa, FL, for my state thespian competition, but because it was a school-sponsored field trip, it was canceled.

As a senior in high school, it's extremely frustrating and depressing to lose these special moments of my youth. Ultimately, I have to push past these lost opportunities and look forward. I now have two weeks of no plans that I can take advantage of to work on my studies, my personal film projects, and Valedictorian.

Luis and I are extremely fortunate to have captured the majority of our footage before March 12th, when all public locations began to close down. Luis has already offered to redesign his garage to accommodate the scene of Bryce leaving the simulation, which will be perfect for the purposes of the film. There are a lot of uncertainties at the moment around the disease and social distancing, so Luis and I are trying to stay educated, hydrated, and clean to ensure the safety of us and our families during upcoming production processes. Luis and I plan to begin editing scenes 1-3 this week (as that is all the footage we have so far) on WeVideo, a software that has been extremely helpful in the past and something we are both familiar with. A lot of files and images have been uploaded to a shared OneDrive file (given to us by our school for free), so it will not be difficult to transfer that information to WeVideo.

For now, Luis and I are trying to find time either tomorrow or the day after to film the scene with Bryce, the scene with Garrett and Isa, and acquire the ID pictures of Isa and Z. Coronavirus was not on either of our schedules, but fortunately, we were ahead of our schedule so this virus will not be that much of an obstacle for us besides arranging a meeting with our cast.

This recent outbreak has been a lot for my family and me to absorb. By following the news, Luis and I aim to stay informed and safe as we conclude the production of our film and make out way into post-production.

Till next time, Have a great day & wash your hands,

(#18) - Production Day #4

11:48 AM: Zachk: "LMFAO MY SISTER JUST GAVE BIRTH SO IM DRIVING TO GAINESVILLE RN"

Crap. Luis and I already had to reschedule our filming day because of daylight savings, and now we couldn't film because one of our actors was driving 5 hours north to meet with his sister. Luis proclaimed that Murphy's Law had come to bite us in the butt. I chose not to worry about this until...

12:30 AM: One of my actresses told me she was unable to come to production because she had too much homework and not enough time to complete it. As students ourselves, Luis and I understood and wished her well in her studies. Now that one of our important characters were unable to film, Luis and I needed to brainstorm a possible solution, figure out what we could do during our scheduled production day.

12:50 AM: We figured it out. We would keep the voiceover element for the ending, but rather than have the announcer speak over close-ups of all the eliminated students, it would be of a conversation of Garrett and Isa. She would ask him about him losing to the water glitch, which he explains was intentional because he didn't care to continue the competition. This would reinforce the same message that the competitive nature of schools is overwhelmingly negative. 

3:30 PM: The available cast and I took yearbook/ID pictures for our school website! Here's how some of the quick edits came out:

 

For this upcoming week, Luis and I plan on getting the final scene of Isa and Garrett, footage of Bryce leaving the simulation and the pictures of Isa and Z for their IDs. This will be a matter of scheduling our time appropriately and finding the time with our actors. 

This week I have my Rock of Ages performance in addition to my States Thespians competition next week. It's imperative that Luis and I plan ahead for these conflicts.

Till next time, Have a great day!

(#17) - why it's bad to go to school on weekends (Production day #3)

Have you ever woken up at a different time than the one you've set on your alarm clock? I have.

And it sucks.

Imagine my surprise, waking up at 7:30 AM on a weekend (specifically this past Sunday) when my alarm clock read 6:30 AM. There were numerous texts in my cast group chat, theorizing how Luis and I were still asleep and not answering our phones. That's when I read two dreaded words that will become engraved in my head: Daylight Savings. I was dumbfounded and sprinted out of the house with my equipment towards other Jakob's house (our actor playing Bryce) to pick him up for our call time at 8 o'clock. Still, there was no response from Luis, who I gave numerous phone calls.

On my way to Jakob's house, I placed a phone call to all of our cast members about the possibility of rescheduling two days later. With a resounding yes from everyone, Tuesday seemed like the best idea at the moment. After picking up Jakob to receive the final "yes", I texted our Valedictorian group text and confirmed that we would be rain checking today's production to reconvene two days later. The stress from that morning lifted from my shoulders as the two Jacobs (me and Jakob) drove to Luis's house to tell him the news, as he still hadn't picked up a phone call.

Waking up Luis with a knock on his bedroom window, Jakob and I entered from his front door to greet a newly awoken Luis. He exclaimed that what woke him up that morning wasn't the seven alarms he'd set, not the phone calls he received, not the knocking on his window, but me shouting "Luis" through the window pane. I caught him up on the rescheduling, and he agreed to this change. To make up for a lost day of filming, the three of us got in the car to get breakfast.

We will reconvene in two days!! And I'm looking forward to it.

Till then, Have a great day!

(#16) - everyone, my house, 8:30 (Production Day #2)

Our previous production day was a huge success; we captured all the footage we needed, took some fun pictures, and most importantly, had lots of fun doing it. With one awesome day complete, Luis and I looked forward to production day #2....

12:08 AM: Jack texted me. Something had come up and he could not make it to our 8:30 call time. This was bad, as we were already accommodating for the actress playing Courtney, who was in scenes with Z. With recasting in the back of my mind, I trusted the plan I had for the morning: at 7:30 I was to pick up the orange and blue shirt for Riley's character, pick up Sebastian (our actor for Andrew), then drive home and take down all of our family photos in preparation for filming.

7:30 AM: I pulled up to my friend's house and after a few knocks on her door, she handed me her orange and blue striped t-shirt for Riley's costume. As Sebastian lives in the same neighborhood, I swung by his place to pick him up.

(The shirt I picked up for Riley)

8:16 AM: I arrived home with Sebastian. My sister was awake at this time, so she helped as the three of us removed family pictures from the countertops. At the same time, I was placing numerous phone calls to people from my neighborhood and my theatre class in a panic looking for a new actor for Z. Six phone calls later, the first person to pick up was my friend Zachk, who starred in my production of Newsies a year ago as Jack Kelly. He was the only person awake at the time and (much to my surprise) agreed to a 25-minute drive from his house to mine.

8:30 AM: Feeling relief now that I had a full cast once again, I greeted the first few actors that arrived by showing them their blocking. This was to increase the efficiency of the production day at my house (as Luis hadn't arrived yet). All I was waiting on to begin production was Luis with the camera, Zachk, and our actors for Charlie and Bryce (who was coming with Luis).

9:30 AM: With everyone now in attendance, Luis and I began filming the first scene beginning with Courtney and Z's entrance. 

Overall, this filming process was really easy and fun. Between scenes I filled in Luis on the blocking I had given to the actors, giving the actors time to memorize their lines before being on camera. Our actor for Bryce kept breaking character (just like he did on the beach), but it made for an entertaining experience for everyone. 

Funny enough, we needed someone to be our sound guy while I was on camera. Therefore, who better to take my place than someone with my same name!

11:21 AM: We finished filming Scene #1!! Now all of us (besides Taylor, as she had a prior commitment) made our way to my neighborhood park. We were not originally planning on using this location, but for time's sake, Luis and I made a last-minute change to use this spot rather than a park 15 minutes down the road. Besides, it was more fun to walk with the entire cast for 5 minutes while everyone held a piece of equipment. 

The only set piece that needed to be set up was the rag-tag "FINISH" line, indicating the goal for the second challenge. The previous night I had cut 6 letters out of different pieces copy paper to make the sign that would be hung from my frame (I knew I'd have a use for the frame!). 

The only assembly required was taping these letters onto the frame. It was a hassle because of the wind at the park, but not a problem due to the abundance of tape on our roll!

Shout out to my sister for taking (most of) the b-roll footage for Luis and I.

After securing the sign, the production process went extremely smooth. We ensured to get numerous angles and moments here, also capturing some footage of people's feet running. In no time, Luis and I were able to make the announcement.....

1:28 PM: ..."THAT'S A WRAP!" We had finished 2 hours before our schedule. This was awesome!!! Zackh was able to get home in a timely manner, and Luis and I were joined by the remaining cast to enjoy pizza in celebration of a successful day of filming.

I have my alarm clock set bright and early tomorrow morning, excited to film the final scene!!

Till next time, Have a great day,

(#15)- let's go to the beach, beach (Production Day 1)

I think this video shows my thought process for our first day of production:

We filmed the third challenge, where Bryce gets eliminated. This video shows when Andrew and Miranda take a stand against him. My reaction......not only is it priceless, but it shows how much fun we had on set!!

Here's how the day went:

1:05 PM: Luis drove to my house to pick up a table and a costume for Andrew. I texted Luis specifically where he could find each item. I said:

"purple hoodie: Center shelf in Closet

cargo shorts: bottom drawer of closet; there should be a few options for colors

geeky shoes: blue nike tennis shoes w/ white soles: underneath shirts on right-hand side of closet"

2:45 PM: As I was leaving my house with my actors for Miranda and Isabella, I saw frantic texts from Luis in a panic exclaiming that he could not find a table in my garage like I had thought. I told him to ditch the table so that we could meet at our filming location at an appropriate time.

3:30 PM: I had made to John Lloyd State Park with my actresses. Luis, as he was picking up our Andrew and Bryce, arrived shortly thereafter.

3:40 PM: The six of us set up base camp. Luis adjusted our camera to the appropriate settings, the actors went to a nearby restroom on the beach to change, and I arranged the set. As we didn't have our table like planned, I stumbled (literally) on a large piece of decayed palm tree that I placed on a beautiful piece of driftwood that protruded from the beach.

Now that this problem had been conquered, I didn't have to move a muscle until another one became apparent. I had already purchased different covers for my microphone (see post (#9)) predicting that there would be wind in outdoor scenes. I felt the wind in my hair, so there was no question that the dead cat microphone cover was what topped our mic. What I failed to realize was that I could not plug in my headphones or send power to the microphone while it was screwed onto the main tripod. Fortunately, Luis's supplies included tape and scissors, sparking an ingenious idea. 

 

Using my gimble for my personal vlogging camera (that we planned to use for b-roll), we unscrewed my green tripod off of my setup and attached it to the microphone. We had access to both the audio input, which became occupied by my headphones, and the power input which we plugged into Luis's phone using a converter. We taped this contraption to the legs of our spare tripod, creating our ratchet boom pole!!

4:30 PM: Building the boom pole took a long time in addition to familiarizing our actors with their setting and their lines. This was the first time they were all together so we used this opportunity to share our vision of the scene.

5:00 PM: After more camera corrections and managing our actors, we were ready to begin filming.  As the actors had only read the script a handful of times, in between shots they were able to review their next lines. As Luis did not have a voice recording application on his phone, I had downloaded the first software I could find on the Google Play Store and installed it. I quickly figured out how the application functioned then began acquiring footage. The shots from this camera were beautiful and were even capable of capturing reflections from the sun as it descended behind the tree line. Luis and I hadn't 100% confirmed who would be our cinematographer and who would be our sound person, but it was only natural he held the camera because he was familiar with its hardware and I steadied the boom pole as it was my hardware. During the filming process, I was climbing up on the driftwood that scattered the shoreline and cut my ankles against the dry wood. After applying some salt water, we were rocking and rolling with production yet again.

6:21 PM: This was the climax of our filming day. All six of us on set anticipated the moment where Bryce would be pushed into the ocean. We rehearsed it, we brought towels. It was time. At 6:21 we captured the footage seen at the top of this blog post. Everyone was thrilled. 

6:30 PM: I was the one that called "THAT'S A RAP ON DAY ONE!" Luis definitely said it before be, but he shouted it and I screamed it, therefore I will claim that recognition. Ironically, this did not mean we were done for the day. Luis brought out VR goggles so we could take pictures of the cast in costume on set. 

6:50 PM: After a long day, Me, Luis, and our actors packed up our equipment in our cars and we left day one of production!

What an exciting day!! Valedictorian is coming together better than I ever could have imagined. We had so much fun today—I'm stoked for all of our actors to be together tomorrow morning!! Hopefully, me scraping my ankles was a one-time event over the course of our production days. Can't wait for tomorrow when we do our next day of filming!!

Till next time, Have a great day,

(#14) - revising the screenplay!

To be absolutely certain we had the best version of our script before filming, Luis and I sent our script to our actors for their opinions and we met with Tina, our mentor, for some extra insight. Primarily, we needed to cut obsolete lines from the script, as the first read-through clocked in at 9 minutes long (eek!).

the first line of defense: cast read through!

During our lunch, Luis and I got three of the cast members (Jack (Z), Dani (Isa), and Cristian (Charlie)) to meet so we can read through the script. We were able to get through the whole script in about 9 minutes (not good timing!). While each actor played their casted role, Luis and I alternated reading the lines of the absent characters (one of us would play the boys, the other would be the girls). This meeting ensured that, at least, these actors would be familiar with the narrative of the short film. 

the second line of defense: Tina!

After meeting with our mentor, Luis and I decided there were two key moments that needed some revisions.  The first was during the first scene where Courtney gets mad at Z. This scene is the audience's introduction to those two characters, where she explains that Z stepped on her designer shoes. As our character's costumes aim to represent the characters without them having to talk, it is okay to cut some of their conversation because the audience should be able to grasp the character's personalities based on their clothing. 

The second huge time eater is scene #4, where the characters have a conversation amongst each other to determine that the title of Valedictorian is hollow and does not provide any real benefits. Overall, Luis and I determined that a lot of the dialogue of this scene is stretched out and relatively cheezy. Fortunately, we came up with another ending that would be equally as effective!

The new ending would still consist of the voiceover technique over Andrew and Miranda on the beach, but with a monologue from the announcer, speaking directly to the audience. This would cut time as it would remove the dialogue between all the students talking to Bryce after his elimination all while emphasizing the same point that the competitive nature of schools is toxic. We think this an awesome, abstract idea (taking inspiration from The Twilight Zone) that would make for an exciting ending!!

Now all Luis and I need to do is to actually write this monologue. Luckily we don't need this monologue immediately as we can record it later, and we don't necessarily need all the actors!! We still aim to film both endings though so we have options for endings.

Till next time, Have a great day!

(#13)-storyboarding/planning blocking

Luis was insistent that we make a storyboard; I don't have a lot of experience in this area as I rather make decisions of shots while I have the actors on set. Still, it's important to pre-plan before filming, so Luis and I did begin to create a storyboard:

"B" is Bryce, "I" is Isa, "A" is for Andrew, and "M" for Miranda. Characters with triangle bottoms are females. If a character is drawn with one arm, the side the arm is what side they see.

Using a generic worksheet to format ourselves, we worked on this document for scene #3, which we are going to film first. To actually figure out how the shots were going to be composed, first we needed to figure out where the characters were. I called upon my theatre knowledge to block this scene using some items Luis and I had in our backpacks:

And with that, we had a plan for our first production day! Even if the storyboard was not 100% completed, understanding the blocking of all the characters will guide us in selecting how to compose all of our characters on film. Hopefully, filming on the beach will be smooth considering that that location is notorious for wind and tourists. Taking this extra time to plan will ultimately benefit us!!

All we need to do now before production is get feedback on our script!!

Have a great day!

(#12) - valedictorian screenplay (day 1 and 2)

day 1

As a wise man once said: "You can't make a short film if you don't have a screenplay, stupid!"

That's what Luis and I told ourselves this week. Our critical path map gave us only three days to finish our script—I was convinced that we could finish our first draft in two days. We created accounts on celtx, a website that formats a screenplay as you write it. I began by writing the description of the house that the first challenge takes place in:

"“Valedictorian”

Scene 1

The scene opens in a normal house. Nothing is particularly eye-catching about the decoration. It is evident that this house is lived in, but for what purpose is unclear. It is unusually bright in the room: light takes up most of the space. The walls are not a specific color, nor should they be a specific color.

Four teenagers, easily identified by their postures and clothing, consume the main/living room.

A dapper young man in nice, business casual attire is talking to a girl ready to go for a run."

Next, I wanted to establish the characters through their pairs for the challenges. I knew I wanted Isa and Bryce to be together, however the other characters I was unsure about. 

"ISA

Hey, what's the hint again?

BRYCE

(From his memory) "I silence in numerous ways, Using my red radio waves."

ISA

Whoa! How'd you memorize it that fast?

BRYCE

Why should I tell you?

ISA

Because, we are working together on this challenge whether we like it or not. C'mon, how'd you do it?

BRYCE

I really can't have anyone knowing skills that took me years to practice. I—

ISA

(Annoyed) Seriously? Forget it."

Exchanges like this between the other characters followed. 

Luis and I worked on the script simultaneously on the shared celtx file and on a phone call. I never would've thought I'd write for some characters and Luis for others, but innately I cannot write rants or pop culture related lines. I wrote for characters like Bryce and Andrew while Luis had fun thinking of one-liners for Courtney and Riley. I initially thought the opposite would be the case, but that's how the cookie crumbled.'

It was during this scriptwriting process when Luis and I realized there was one more character to cast. There were no questions who it should be; we had a one-second conversation just to make sure we were on the same page. Without further ado:

The Announcer: Luis Andres Lageyre Rivas

The man himself, the second half of Valedictorian, Luis would be voicing the ominous voice of the announcer. His numerous years of voice acting will certainly come in handy. Additionally, he makes a good impression of the monorail conductor telling passengers to "avoid the closing doors" and "next stop, Hollywood Studios." There is no one we'd want more to be this part (also Luis AND I get to feature in our media project! How fun!).

Back to the script. We completed the first scene in just four pages, starting with the above scene with Bryce and Isa, followed by Miranda and Charlie, then Andrew and Riley finding Garrett eliminating himself underwater, and Courtney and Z's entrance. To conclude the scene, we deduced that Riley and Courtney would be the best two candidates to eliminate as Z was to be used as comedic relief in the next scene and Charlie would be used to establish Miranda's kind nature towards her peers. 

All in all, Luis and I were confident in this first scene and how all of the characters were introduced. Bryce was a prick, Miranda was observational, Riley wanted to do the TikTok renegade, Courtney got mad at Z for stepping on her designer shoes, and Garrett turned green (this was the effect I had envisioned, but Luis nor I knew how we'd physically eliminate any of the characters besides a unique audio cue)!

day 2

Luis and I, the following evening, wrote the next three scenes. The second scene was simple; using a vivid description, we established the park environment of the second challenge:

"An obstacle course is seen nearby. Nothing fancy. It appears like an assortment of challenges a student would play on their "field day".

ISA

Now, this is my type of challenge.

Announcer (V.O.)

The physical challenge begins now.

"Race Starting" gaming sound effect plays over what sounds like a P.A. system. The characters begin to run on the last beep, leaving the starting line far behind quickly.
The characters are shown running and completing the obstacle course.
Z appears to be extremely clueless as to what was going on. He's just spacing off.

BRYCE

How are you doing this so fast?

ISA

I really can't have anyone knowing skills that took me years to practice.

BRYCE (Clearly annoyed keeps pushing forward)

Shot counter shot of the participants in the challenge and Z chilling out in the starting line (with reggae music accompanying his shots) is shown."

This may be subject to change due to time constraints. We wanted this scene to be fast and quick, so having only a few moments of dialogue was imperative to save time and get to the elimination of Z and Charlie quickly.

Scene 3 on the beach was easy for Luis and me because our outline (from posting #6) was clear in regards to what actions occurred in this scene. It was easy to guide the scene in the proper direction:

"ISA

We can't eliminate someone.

BRYCE

Is that not what it says?

ISA

Yeah but...we can't just kick someone out.

BRYCE

Seriously? This isn't a hard decision. We kick off Andrew.

Miranda

What?

Andrew

Excuse me?

BRYCE

I mean the Valedictorian is the kid with the highest GPA right? If we get rid of the guy who has the best grades then someone else can hold the title."

"ANDREW

Isabella! What happened?

MIRANDA

(Realizing) It was a morality test... She pressed the button. She pressed the button because of you...(looks over at Bryce)

BRYCE

She pressed the button, not me. That's why she's out.

Andrew

YOU!

ANDREW and MIRANDA begin to walk towards BRYCE who starts to back up. They all begin to speed up. Finally, BRYCE finds himself at the edge of the water."

Miranda during this scene acts as a silent mediator as she is the peaceful one, and Andrew, as the one that cares a lot about his academic standing, is the aggressor. Bryce is finally getting payback for his wrongdoings.

The next scene is the plot twist where we reveal where the eliminated students had been sent to. 

"A stok highschool logo is seen. as this text disappears from the screen, Bryce's eyes replace them.

Bryce removes the mask from his head, frustrated. ANDREW & MIRANDA cheated the virtual simulation, just like he had in his election. He slams the mask down on a nearby desk. As he exits the room, he turns down the school hallway and into another room.

CHARLIE

Bryce?!

Bryce stands at the front of a classroom filled with desks. Before him sits all of the eliminated students. ISA, CHARLIE, Z, RILEY, COURTNEY, and GARRETT are in shock."

The following scene has the characters question Bryce, only for the conversation to turn to Garrett, asking him about being eliminated by the water.

"GARRETT

(Trying to be casual) What's up?

ISA

The water. Bryce got eliminated cause of the water glitch too.

COURTNEY

Oh, poor thing. That's just sad.

GARRETT

What? No, I did that on purpose.

At the same time:

ISA

(Surprised) What?!

COURTNEY

Stupid.

RILEY

Whoa. You heard it here first.

Z

Dude what?

Charlie

Actually?

BRYCE

(After the others) Why?

GARRETT

I have more important things to worry about.

BRYCE

What's more important than being the Valedictorian?

GARRETT

Literary anything.

BRYCE

Did you hear me? Valedictorian.

RILEY

You're like a musician right?! Can I like make a TikTok to one of your songs?

GARRETT

I'm not answering that. (He puts his headphones back in)."

This is the only dialogue we have with Garrett; this is important to show how he doesn't dwell on the competition, instead, he looks forward to working towards his performance.
The rest of the script brings the film to a close as the eliminated students have a discussion about the significance (or lack thereof) of holding the title of Valedictorian.


Luis and I plan on meeting with a mentor to revise the script: our first read-through was NINE MINUTES LONG.... not good. We look forward to finishing the script so we can begin filming this weekend!!

Till next time, Have a great day,

(#11) - CASTING! & COSTUMES!

Luis and I both broke our bones! So we both got casts!

(Disclaimer: We didn't actually break our bones, but we actually got our cast!)

As theatre students, we are fortunate in that we have expansive contacts of various local actors. My theatre program at my school has about 160 students, of which I know a majority of them.

While Luis made arrangements to rent camera equipment from one of his resources, I brainstormed three names each of the people that would be perfect for each role. I searched through group chats of the various theatre classes (both in and out of school programs) for phone numbers to text these individuals.

This is a sample of one of the texts I sent:

"Hey Ameerah!!

Luis (from AMT 2) and I are making our short film about students in a competition to win their school's valedictorian (instead of the traditional GPA system). You'd be perfect for the part of RILEY:

If you did not see on her Instagram, YouTube, or Twitter account, Riley is a competitor in The Valedictorian Competition. However challenged she may be in face to face conversation, she is not only outgoing but LOUD on camera.  Riley's extreme differences in personality parallel to her classmate's perception of her: they either love her or they're annoyed by her.  She is always wearing the trendiest outfits, always ready for a photo. Riley aims to be the next big social media influencer; her current claim to fame is one viral TikTok.

Im also sending the first draft of the first scene. LMK if you are interested ASAP so that we can pick filming days!!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/14r3pTEqFOZqILOM5r_mowv2L7IWcVyd6rO97CPfgBWU"

Here is the unique story of casting each character!!

ISA: Daniela Gomez-Dugan
Dani is one of my really close friends who has been on Telemundo and in numerous professional theatre productions throughout South Florida. I met her four years ago when I was Simba in The Lion King Jr.  in my school production when she played my mother, Serafina. Ever since we have been good friends; it was an easy decision to bring her onto the cast (she was the first character cast!).

- Luis and I asked all of our actors what clothes they actually had in their closet so we knew what costumes would fit and look good together. For Isa, Dani had tennis shoes and exercise shorts just like the ones we had in mind on our character concept Google Doc. She also had a purple exercise shirt that we went with because it went with the school colors of our school, purple and gold. All Dani needed now was a ponytail holder and some of her everyday jewelry and she looked like Isa!

ANDREW: Sebastian Fishmatherin
At first, I had reached out to one of my friends who is an incredibly talented theatre student. He is one of the only male thespians I know that can do a split and a clean toe-touch, not to mention perform as the nerdy, submissive character in a performance. I sent him the text with the information for our short film and he said he would let Luis and I know what dates he was available. Turns out he had a production opening that weekend (how appropriate of a theatre student!).

Next, I reached out to one of my mentees, Sebastian. He had asked me earlier in the year about AICE Media and showed interest in it after I explained to him what the course entailed. After my explanation, he grew incredibly interested, as he is in the TV club on campus and is familiar with many of the technical aspects of the media field. We also have a connection in that we met through the theatre program at my school when he was the General in Seussical. I was incredibly happy to hear he would join the cast after he received my text and hearing me rave about this project for weeks.

- Luis and I knew that this character, without a doubt, had to wear a hoodie and cargo shorts. I had these items already, so all we had to do was grab those items from my house. Sebastian said he had a Penn State hoodie and some shorts that would work for the nerdy character so we encouraged him to bring those to our filming days. Luis and I would bring my purple hoodie and cargo shorts on that day to see what looked the best on out actor.

BRYCE: Jakob Binnings
I met this student this year, as he is a new student at my school. I met him through my school's theatre program as he is in this year's production of Monty Python's Spamalot.  Jakob has participated in my media projects before, so it was reassuring to know he wanted to come back on camera and play a role in another one of my films.

- As this character was loosely based on Payton Hobart from The Politician on Netflix, Luis and I asked Jakob what dress pant/polo shirt combos he had in his closet. He didn't have a white polo, which was the main item we envisioned for this part. Instead, Jakob sent a picture of a red pant/dark turquoise polo that looked awesome together. We chose this outfit because of the subtle allusion to democrats and republicans in addition to the blue shirt foreshadowing how the character gets eliminated.

MIRANDA: Kailey Fretwell
As the Valedictorian Competition is only for seniors, I knew I wanted to reach out to only seniors for my project (or so I thought). The original actress I had acquired for the role could not film the weekend we were planning to film, so I brainstormed for even more actors. Miranda/Miles was the most difficult character to cast as we needed someone who was optimistic and happy by nature. For this reason,  Luis and I decided to cast my sister, Kailey. She has been involved in theatre for at least twelve years so I knew she had the acting chops to be in a film. I also knew she had no plans at the weekend we were planning to film so it was simple to just bring her with me in my car wherever I went.

- On our character concept, Google Doc, Luis and I had envisioned this character with a vibrant tie-dye shirt (alluding to their well-roundedness and sociability) with a denim jacket sitting on top. Luckily my sister already had a tie-dye shirt and a denim jacket with some of her favorite pins on it. I told Kailey to wear black shorts and her red converse high tops to complete the outfit.

RILEY: Ameerah Adetoro
I met Ameerah four years ago through my school's Student Government Association. She is very smart and aware of social media trends, making her perfect for the tech-savvy Riley. Ameerah uses TikTok (it is to Gen Z what Facebook is to Gen X) as her primary social media platform and creates allot of videos to post there. As we've grown closer, I discovered her long history as a dancer and even encouraged her to join the theatre program at our school. I was ecstatic when she said yes to my text!

- During the character conceptualization, I envisioned Riley wearing the color orange, which symbolized new fashion trends and the "new wave" of social media through apps like TikTok. Orange is a common color used by "clout clothing lines" such as Supreme and Off-White, indicating that an orange shirt was to be the costume for Riley. Ameerah didn't own an orange shirt herself, so I asked my entire cast of my show if they had an orange shirt. Only one student had one—it was an orange and navy blue striped polo with a white collar that looked super trendy and would look perfect with ripped jeans and a white pair of shoes. She sent me a picture of the shirt that night and I LOVED IT!!

CHARLIE: Cristian Velasquez
This bundle of sunshine I met last year through my school's theatre program. He is now good friends with my sister and was very easy to get a hold of. Within seconds I was able to bring him aboard the short film team and cast our non-gender conforming character Charlie as none other than Cristian.

- Charlie's costume was easy. Cristian, our actor, is a thespian already so I asked what theatre shirts he owned. He responded saying he had a purple shirt that said "Theatre Camp" on the front which would be perfect for the character. Funny enough, I also asked him to wear the black pants and crocs that he wears frequently as they'd made a great outfit for a quirky theatre-goer.

Z: Jack Sussman
I had a difficult time trying to cast this character as I was looking for people who had deep voices and could perform as dumb characters. I texted one of my theatre buddies that I've known for 6 years if he was available to be in the film, to which I received no response. Next, I recalled when I saw my school perform Beauty and the Beast this February and texted Jack, who played the burly character, Gaston. He has been involved in theatre for 3 years and said yes to filming, although he had no prior experience with acting in films.

- The pants and shoes were easy for Z. Black jeans (ripped or unripped) and an old pair of vans would fit the grungy vibe we wanted this character to have. Jack didn't have a colorful jacket that looked like our character concepts though, so I had to ask around for an appropriate shirt. As I walked into my computer science class the day Jack was cast for the part, I saw one of my friends wearing a black hoodie with each sleeve a different color: one was cyan and the other pink. I asked him if I could borrow it for the weekend and he said yes!! This was a lifesaver. to complete the look of the character, I planned to give Jack one of my blue beanies as well.

COURTNEY: Taylor Stark
This character had her name written all over it. Sassy, bossy, authoritative and more, Taylor was the only name I had down for this character. She has been involved in theatre for the past 5 years and has been in numerous short films in the past. I was genuinely shocked when she agreed to come on board for this role and I'm excited to see where the film will take us.

- I had a very specific jacket in mind for this character. It was brown and fuzzy just like a teddy bear. When Taylor was sending me photographs of some possible clothing options that matched Luis and my character concept document, she sends the exact jacket I was envisioning which I eagerly told her to bring. She also owned a white shirt and pant that was perfect for the role in addition to some badass pink heels that completed Courtney's entitled look.

GARRETT: Jake Fretwell
Hey, that's me! As I was the original Garrett in my project last year, Luis and I had decided I would reprise my role. We just made the executive decision to limit my screentime as much as possible so that I could be behind the camera the majority of the time.

- As the original costume for Garrett was a turtle neck, I knew I'd have to "modernize" Garrett's outfit. I already had black shoes and blue shorts that matched the color of Garrett's previous blue pant black converse combo. Instead of the yellow turtle neck, I opted for a yellow hoodie, which would make the character appear younger to the audience (this was to offset the facial hair I am growing for an upcoming show of mine).

Otherwise, our cast has come together!! We are going to decide on specific production days within the next two days in our "Valedictorian"  group chat based on everyone's availability. Hopefully, all goes as planned!

Till next time, have a great day,