The challenges of editing

Good Afternoon!
     I am currently in the Pittsburgh International Airport at the gate waiting for my flight to arrive. The weather took a bit of a turn as it began to snow so I hope my flight doesn't get delayed. But, either way, since I had a bit of free time I decided to begin editing my film and write a bit on my blog.
    I was able to get all of my film clips which I recorded transferred to my computer with ease due to airdrop. Then I put all of my clips in their necessary order on iMovie and saved the project. That's all I was able to do in my free time earlier, however, now I think it is time for me to actually begin editing and deconstructing the parts of my film opening.
    I am a bit worried as without any in-depth editing my film opening is longer than 3 minutes. That means I need to cut a good minute or more for it to fit the requirements. This makes me quite nervous as I feel every clip is necessary, I am just hoping that I am able to cut down on each clip enough to reach the time restraints.
     Another concern of mine is that I have no audio. My audio I planned to record all after as I wanted it to be voiceovers of only my male actor speaking. However, as the deadline approaches this makes me extremely nervous that I will not be able to get it all put together in time. However, my entire flight I am going to be editing my film along as writing up the lines I want my male role to record saying so that way I am as ready as possible.
Wish me luck,
Larissa Sallowicz

Filming Day

Good Afternoon,
   It's about an hour after I finished filming all of the shots I needed for my film opening. We ended up filming a day behind schedule due to the fact Ana my actress playing the female role could not make it on Wednesday. Due to this little set back I felt extremely nervous that I would not be able to finish it all. However, all of the filming is done for the most part. I believe that I just need to add a few establishing shots that I can go back later sometime this week to film.
   I leave for a flight to Pittsburgh tomorrow at 3am so this will give me plenty of time to do most of my editing on the flight there and flight back as I will have that time left over. Hopefully, the editing will not be too cumbersome or take too long but I have a feeling that it will.
   Overall though, I believe the filming went extremely well and I am feeling good about my project thus far. I am not sure, however, if it is exactly7 what I had in mind or if it will turn out up to my standards. I believe I will only find this out once I fully edit everything and get it ready to be turned into my teacher next week.
I hope it turns out well,
Larissa Sallowicz

The Plot Thickens

Hi, yeah I know it's midnight...

      But somehow binge watching my favorite shows has paid off again. Now, I don't know if you guys remember but back in my old blog posting's I mentioned how I was inspired by the Netflix series "YOU." Well, I got HULU and once more found myself binge-watching some other tantalizing television series. This recent show led to a complete change in my plot, let me explain.

       I was watching the show "9-1-1" which is an American drama series which captures the lives of the first responders. As I began to watch more and more of the episodes leading to me finishing the series an hour ago, I realized that there was a reoccurrence in almost every episode. Whenever there was some sort of traumatic incident occurring the camera shot would focus on one thing, such as the victim or perpetrator. Even though the camera would be on the incident the audio would be muted or have music behind it. In addition to the speech of the actors involved in that given scene. 

       This made me think of how well that concept would work for my opening, especially considering the level of spine-chilling I want to achieve.  I thought to myself instead of the male and female both having dialogue it would be mostly the male. I say this because when Ana is speaking she will be muted and instead the audio will just be Blaise's current thoughts about her character.  This mute to her audio along with the alarming ideas running through Charles (Blaise) head. I believe this will give me the best shot at pulling off the unhinged stalker role I am aiming to achieve.
Let's see where this leads!
Larissa Sallowicz

Film Crew... CHECK! Equipment... CHECK! Script...CHECK! - Time to begin

HELLO!
   Sorry for the loud welcome but I'm just exuberant considering I have finally found everyone who I want to be in my film. Now I know you might be thinking... "It took you long enough!" But I think it was just in time.
    Wednesday morning bright and early around 9am, I will be meeting with Ana and Blaise from my AICE media class to film all of the scenes I need. We are planning to meet there around 9:30am and be done before 12pm as Blaise has somewhere to be so he can film his opening. Taking this into consideration, I am quite nervous to see how that plays out. In order to save time, I have prepared everything we need on film day as well as printed out copies of the tentative script. I feel confident that I will be able to get most of my filming done focusing on the important shots and angles that require both of my actors. I will leave the shots which do not have the actors in them in my opening, such as establishing shots, for the end just in case we are running short on time.
    I'm excited to finally get this project started and get to my favorite part of production... Editing. Now you may be thinking I'm crazy as editing can be extremely cumbersome, I really enjoy it. I'll get to that later in my future blog posts, hopefully, this weekend while I'm traveling. The next step for me now is just to do a great shoot acquiring all of the shots I need and to get this wrapped up as soon as possible.
Stay Tuned!
Larissa Sallowicz
 

Filming Equipment

Hello!!
   So now that I know when I will start filming I need to think about what equipment I will be using. I    have been given the opportunity to be able to rent out professional filming equipment however, I    don't think that is the move I will take when it comes to filming this opening.
    I am going to film using my iPhone XS MAX due to its resiliant film quality as well as my exiting familiarity with the product itself. I felt that if I choose to use the professional cameras I would have struggled with learning how to use the camera itself rather than focusing on the outcome of the film clips. Furthermore, by using my phone I will have great ease not only because I am used to working the iPhone camera but because I also can airdrop the film clips from my phone to my computer quickly. This allows me to edit as fast as possible because I don't need to use any external sources to transfer the information.
   To edit my opening I will be using iMovie once I am able to get it updated on my new laptop. I     am having technical difficulties when it comes to this, however, it wouldn't be a normal film process if there wasn't a few bumps in the road. Therefore, I will get it figured out as soon as possible and be able to start my filming as well.
Let's get this show on the road!
Larissa Sallowicz

Starting.... NOW

Good Afternoon!
     So spring break begins for me tomorrow! Meaning that it is time for me to actually begin my filming. Now, I know that this is far different than the original filming schedule I had planned, but I    know I'll still be able to get it done with time to spare.
     My plan is to begin filming as soon as possible, meaning that I will send a message to my prospective actors to ask when they will be able to film this week. I plan to finish filming by Thursday as I leave to Pittsburgh Friday.
     So considering the plan I  outlined above I will send a text to those who I hope will be able to act in my film by the end of today. Furthermore, I will do the editing while I am on my way to Pittsburgh and on my way back on the flight as I will have some spare time.
Let's get this going!
Larissa Sallowicz

The Change I had Been Anticipating

Good Morning fellow bloggers!
     It is the start of a lovely Sunday afternoon, as well as the official start of my senior year spring break. Where has the time even gone? It seems like just yesterday I was in my teachers class discussing what the AICE Media Studies course syllabus. Now, I am about to begin filming my entire portfolio piece. It's crazy to think about. As a result of me going to college soon my parents gifted me a new MacBook Pro, meaning that I now have access to more editing and filming software than before.
     In addition, to me having new software to play with I now also have the ease of airdrop and other apple tools. Instead of me needing to email myself each video clip I take I can now just airdrop it to my computer and begin editing right away. I am beyond excited to be able to use my new computer and play around with iMovie in a way I  was never able to before.
I will let you know how it goes!
Larissa Sallowicz

Film Opening Script

Good Morning fellow bloggers!
     So I stopped by at a coffee shop this morning to get myself a sweet drink before school and I had the sudden burst of inspiration to begin writing my script. Yes, the dreaded script. Last blog post I talked about how I was just missing three things until I was able to begin: a script, actors, and to begin filming. I am happy to say I have gotten one of those 3 things down. I was also able to find my female starring role, Ana Rubin in my AICE Media class. Below I attached an image of my informal script which provides a sneak peek of some of the lines said.
     Things finally seem to be falling into place however, I still need to find my male staring role. This is what is posing the largest challenge to me as I wanted my male role to appear more grown rather than just another high school student. I will continue to look for someone who suits the role and if I am unable to find them then I guess another kid from my class it is. However, I am excited about having Ana star in my film opening. Not only because she has the beautiful innocent look I was going for the female role but her dad also owns a local coffee shop. This enables me to be able to record at a real-life coffee shop without any worries due to corporate policies that are imposed at establishments such as Starbucks.
Hopefully, I can find this male role soon! We'll be in touch.
Larissa Sallowicz

Uh Oh

Good Afternoon my fellow bloggers,
    Okay so basically, I'm a bit off schedule. I'm not necessarily behind, just definitely not keeping up with the filming schedule I had set out for myself a few weeks ago. I think this could be because I underestimated how difficult it is to find the proper players for certain roles as well as getting the filming actually started. When I had originally written the schedule I had assumed this would be a walk in the park. Boy was I wrong.
    However, I'm trying not to get discouraged. I am attempting to start filming soon and maybe even sometime this week. I aim to be done with filming in the next week or two and I am hopeful that during spring break will be the best time for me to get all my work done as school and work take up most of my time.
    The next steps I need to take are to find staring roles for those in my film, write a script, and then begin filming. Once I get these three steps down I will finally be able to breeze through the production process. The issue is just getting those three done and started. My issue is that the vision I have I don't see any individuals who would be willing to take part in my film that look like what I want them to look like. Also, for the script, I know what I want to be said I'm just having issues converting the lines to paper.
See you next blog post, hopefully with one of these 3-steps completed.
Larissa Sallowicz

Production props- Mise en Scene

Hey!
   So when it comes to props I need for my film they are actually quite minimal. To begin with the coffee shop scene, I need 2 drinks for my actors to be drinking. I also need a computer and a cellphone for the female role. The male role can have a cellphone as well. Besides that, the coffee shop itself will have the rest such as a place to sit and the proper scenery.
   Once the actors leave the coffee shop they will need vehicles to get to the final filming location. That is all that is needed for my film. It is relatively minimal as the film itself is more based on a realistic occurrence and doesn't require any out of the ordinary props.
    I want to ensure that the movie reflects the current time period so new popular cellphones such as the iPhone XS Max will be used. In addition, the computer that the female role will be using will be a modern laptop. I want to ensure this movie has a as realistic feel as possible so it resonates with those who watch.
Catch you later!
Larissa Sallowicz

Costume Design- Mise En Scene

Hello, my fellow bloggers!

    So I'm here laying in bed just thinking about how I'm going to actually pull of this film introduction. I don't know exactly who I even want to be my actors or what exactly I want them to say, a mess I know. But! the one thing I do know for certain is what I want them to wear.

    For my actors to be able to blend in and play a natural role of being average individuals getting coffee they must dress that way as well. I want my actors to be wearing jeans and a casual top. The female may have on light natural makeup and her hair would be done in a downward manner. Basically, my actors are going to be wearing what is considered a generic outfit for young adults in 2019. I will be attaching some images below of what they would be wearing.

Happy blogging!

Larissa Sallowicz

Titles... Harder Than I Thought

Now,
   What to call this film opening. Something I would think would be relatively easy to come up with, boy was I wrong. I needed something which would represent the intensity and concept of the film. In order to get a better idea of what a film which involves stalking I looked into other films which did as well. Some names of popular stalking films were Unsane, Obsessed, The boy next door, Fear, and The perfect guy. I noticed that most of the titles were based on either adjectives or a description of who the guy was or where he was from. Focusing on this concept I began to juggle around ideas in my mind.
    I started googling synonyms for words such as stalker and began looking into other ways to say words which I felt were too generic to capture anyone's attention. During this, I looked up the word synonym for robber due to the fact the man enters the girls home without an invitation. Then I  thought to myself, he is not necessary a robber since he isn't stealing anything but he is indeed uninvited. AND BOOM! The title clicked. Uninvited.
     I thought that Uninvited would make a great title because it embodies everything that the film is going to be based on, a man who from the start partook in discussion with the female which she did not want to be a part of. I also thought it was a good title because like other stalking films it has a one-word title that makes a large impact. The one word uninvited already gives the idea that there is going to be a conflict and as soon as the viewer hits play he able to tell that the man is the one who is not invited to partake in the women's coffee break or be invited to her home later on. The word also makes it clear that he is intruding whether it be in her personal life with his persistent questioning or it is physically when he enters her home UNINVITED.

SEE you soon,
Larissa Sallowicz

Time to find some helping hands!

Hey there again!
     Now don't get the wrong idea from the title now... I am all up for the challenge of creating this alone. However, some teamwork may help me. I want to gather together a group of trustworthy friends who have prior film knowledge that will be able to help me when it comes to when I blank on what I want to happen on screen and how I want it shown. Just like last class when a student gave me the suggestion to make the film in the perspective of the male I want to be able to have a few numbers a call away to inspire me and make sure my project turns out the best it can.
    I also want to talk to one of my close friends who is highly skilled in editing. I will, of course, be doing the film editing myself as I already have prior knowledge on how to, I would just like to her see take on it. I want to see what she would want to add and where. I would also want to see what type of new fun edits we could incorporate which would make the film that much better.
   Lastly, I plan to talk to my cousin about this film. My cousin and uncle are both renowned photographers who travel the world taking images and creating 3-D art and edits. I feel safe knowing that I have someone a phone call away which could help me figure out how to focus a camera perfectly and play with lighting in order to create the best shot. I also am happy to know that I have a cousin who knows how to mess with those challenging software and he would be able to teach me in order for me to excel with this film opening.
Very excited!
Larissa Sallowicz

Location, Location, Location

Good Morning!
    The fresh smell of coffee beans and the sound of keyboards typing away as individuals work like the gills of a fish. A coffee shop, you guessed it. I had made some mentions in my outline and storyboard regarding my desire to film in a coffee shop. I would like to confirm that is not a false alarm, coffee shop it is.
     I plan to film in a more empty coffee shop or at least a coffee shop during the off hours... if that even exists as everyone is always trying to get their daily dosage of caffeine. According to the Starbucks film policy, they do not condone the filming inside their coffee shops without permission. I attempt to get permission to film, however, if I cannot I will film in a location which offers an outdoor setting in order to avoid any problematic confrontations.
     However, if I am unable to film at Starbucks at all, I plan to choose another local coffee shop. I am stern on the coffee shop idea as that is where I feel confrontations like these often happen. It's just an ordinary day drinking coffee for my female role even though her day will change forever later on.       Who's excited? I am, talk to you soon!
Larissa Sallowicz

Deciphering Characters

Welcome back!
      So on today's blog post, I wanted to focus on my main character of the story and who I plan them to be. In my last post, I told you about my revelation about how I wanted the scenes to play out in the perspective of the male. Sticking to this concept requires a strong male role who can handle such a deed. I want to ensure whoever plays my male character is able to convey the delusion and obsession properly.
      Now just to fantasize for a second, if I were to choose ANY male to play this role one comes to mind immediately.  Micheal C. Hall. You may know him from "Dexter" the American Television Series which first aired in 2006. The reason I believe he is so perfect for the role is because of his charisma, whits, and downright creepiness. He would be the perfect actor if of course, I had an unlimited budget with some impressive Hollywood connections. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Therefore, my actor will just be the embodiment of him... the best he can as it is hard to compare. I plan to find a lead male role who will be able to convey his emotions through a subtle voice that will be showing what he is thinking throughout. I plan for my main male role to be a teen to young adult as the female in the coffee shop will be around that age range as well.
      Let's fantasize once more, shall we? If I could choose ANY female to play the damsel in distress at the coffee shop in my opening film it would have to be Chloe Grace Moretz. I would want her to play the female as she has an innocent look to her as if she is angelic and of course she is beautiful. This beauty in conjunction with the innocence would be the perfect combination to portray the image in my head. But, of course, we must be realistic. I am to find a female actress who is beautiful as well as sweet. I want a female that those who watch the film opening would want to help and immediately dislike the male role for his stalking behavior.
Happy blogging!
Larissa Sallowicz

 

Post Peer Feedback

Good Afternoon,
        Today in class today I walked in ready to work on my project and to further it even more. However, instead of today being a work day, today was a day for peer review with our fellow classmates. At first, I was a little weary to this as I prefer to get my work done independently, however, I'm glad I was given the opportunity to run through my film introduction with my fellow classmates.
          I say this because I feel now more than ever I know exactly what I want to do for my introduction and how I want to approach it. I finally have an image in my head that I believe in my heart I can reproduce exactly how I desire. Thanks to Vanessa one of the girls who were in my peer review group, I am able to create a more enticing and mind-boggling version of my original concept.
Instead of the story being told through the girl's side, I want the story to be told through the lens of the stalker. This way the mind of the deranged man can be conveyed through what he is thinking and saying.
          This new revelation of a simple change in perspective may seem minor to most, but to me... it got me excited to begin the film production process. I believe my excitement stems from my taking of Ap and A level AICE psychology courses which focus on the mental health of humans. I have always been a fanatic for all things psychology and am even considering double-majoring in college with Biology and Psychology on a pre-medical track to set me apart later on for Medical School. So to say I am psychology geek is an understatement. I am now to create the mind of a deranged man as he tracks his soon to be prey, the female from Starbucks.
Buckle Up and get ready for the ride!
Larissa Sallowicz