Editing

I have began editing my project. I am using Adobe Premier Pro and I am happy with how it is turning out. 

It took me a little while to learn how to use Premier, but I understand now and it is easier than I thought it would be. 

The way the shots line up, it is very easy to edit and combine the shots. For adding music, it took some research but I got it. Since I am using “Ave Maria” I could choose from many different versions. I decided on “Ave Maria, D. 839” by Franz Schubert and Renée Fleming. I had to use the Voice Memos app on my phone to copy the song, as I couldn’t download it. From there, I added the track to the editing sequence and voila! It worked perfectly.

I am almost done, as I realized Premier really was easy to use, and I should have my final product done by tomorrow.

I attached pictures of the software and how my clips are lined up throughout. 

Filming!!!

I HAVE FINALLY FILMED!!!!! It was a lot later than it should have been I have to admit. After several scheduling conflicts I had to change my actor too. Instead of using Adrian, I used my friend Mario instead. Mario was fantastic and filming went amazing. He was fantastic and did anything for the project that I needed. 

For the filming, I used my phone and a tripod. For the shot of the pool, I got on a ladder and filmed from above, as my brother pushed Mario in the pool. For the “lair” shot, I converted my guest room, as I explained before, and was happy with how the set looked on film.

Filming took around two hours and I got practically every shot I was hoping for. A lot went a lot better than I even imagined! 

Just because of how happy I am with the results, I attached 6 of my favorite shots throughout the opening,

Logan relaxing in the pool, Ferris Bueller style, if you will. 

Logan operating on his victim in his “lair.”

The blood of the victim on Logan’s glasses, as he drops them on the operating table. 

Logan, with his victims blood on his face, going to dispose of the body.

Logan looking around to make sure no one is watching him commit his crime. 

Logan’s satisfaction shown as his plans continue to work. 

Set Creation

I am SO happy to announce that I have created and completed my entire set. I have turned my guest room into Logan’s “lair” and created/purchased the rest of my props. 

Logan’s lair where he conducts his experiments took me a lot quicker than I expected. I took a trip to Michaels and Home Depot to browse for different tools and equipment I could use to decorate. I ended up purchasing a few sheets and a scalpel (for his cutting).  It was a lot simpler than I expected, as the room I imagined was more of dirty, messy and open floor plan, with a table in the center. I used a table I had and the rest fell into place. 

For the rest of the set, everything was already present in my house. I had to buy a few additional props, like the pool float and a tripod for filming. 

For Logan’s room, I kept everything the same from what I presented in an earlier image. I had to create the plaques and trophies to show how smart he is. I completed those relatively quickly and happy with the results. 

While I normally would attach pictures, I truly end it to be a surprise when I add it to the opening itself. I am very happy with how they all turned out and can’t wait to film. 

Production Troubles

As most productions have, I am currently facing production issues. I am currently working on solutions for the problems and I will keep the blog updated. 

My biggest problem is truly the schedule. I am working around the actors and the days themselves. Of course, I have to film this all in one day. I have to wait for a day that is nice outside, as if it isn’t, it doesn’t give the same message for the first shot. 

While I don’t need it, it would help a lot. 

I am also trying to work with my actors and their schedules. If worst comes to worst, I will replace them, but as of right now it seems to be getting easier. 

I currently have a little over a week to both film and edit the piece and I am working on a schedule to fit both in and successfully make both. 

MUSIC. FINALLY!

MY MUSIC TROUBLES ARE FINALLY OVER. After lack of responses (none) to my licensing requests, I have finally decided to give in and use non-copyrighted music. 

After browsing the public domain, I think I finally found the song that fits my project perfectly: “Ave Maria” by Franz Schubert. 

The song was originally composed by Schubert in 1825 and translates to “Hail Mary” from Latin. 

I have thought about it, and I think for the first few seconds, I will use instrumentals of the song. Once Logan goes inside, I will then transition to the lyrics. 

The song truly does fit, and gives off the macabre tone to match Logan and his activities. The song is usually played at funerals and, in my opinion, has a somewhat scary vibe. With this being said, I think it fits Logan and the film opening very nicely. 

MORE Music Troubles

 While I am away, I have also had time to listen to tons of music. One of my favorite genres and decades of music is 1960s. As I stated in previous blog posts, I wanted the soundtrack to influence the piece itself. 

I explained my troubles with Universal Music Group and acquiring the rights to “Escape (The Pina Colada Song).” I was very much set on including this song in my piece, but I also have to be realistic. 

As I was working in the groups during class a few days ago, I was viewing one students blog. In it, he also included a few posts about acquiring music. The thing that stuck out to me is that he did not use the same tactic as me. I went to the music licensing company and filled out tons of forms, while he DM’d artists on Instagram. Guess what: his worked. He got permission from using Instagram, while I went through a whole hassle to fill out even more forms. 

Though it seems like I am just complaining about filling out forms, that isn’t why I brought it up. I instead started to directly email and contact artists themselves to license it. I did not need the entire process, just written permission. I spent an hour or so finding a few other songs and emailing the group, or group members for permission. The list of songs/artists that were requested are as follows:

Escape (The Pina Colada Song) by Rupert Holmes

Kokomo by The Beach Boys

Be My Baby by The Ronettes

California Dreamin’ by The Mamas and the Papas

Maneater by Hall and Oates

Europe?

Hey everyone! I am currently on my spring break in Europe. I am having so much fun and I decided to use some of the scenery, new people I have met, and free time to influence my film opening. 

Europe is so different than America and I think this transition has helped me to realize that there are truly so many ways I can do my project. Before I was thinking of a set way of telling this story and directing this but I think after certain experiences I’ve learned a few things. 

First off, it’s so easy to become invisible. Anywhere you go, especially a brand new places, it is so easy to blend into your surroundings and just become a different person. I can use this for the opening, as it is Logan’s problem throughout the film. I can direct the actors in a way so that he gets the persona across. Logan is afraid of getting caught, but at the same time he’s super smart and knows how to blend into the community and stay away from cops and being a suspect. 

Another thing I learned is how different people truly are. I am so used to a certain group of people, as a lot of people in South Florida are very similar. Venturing to Europe has showed me how many different ways I can make this character act and deal with his disturbing hobbies. 

Group Meetings!!!

We had our group meetings in class today and it overall went amazing!

I got so much feedback for my piece and I am so happy and confident in my project. Before, I had thought there would be issues but after hearing everyone's critiques and thoughts I feel fantastic. 

I gave feedback to other members as well, and think I helped them in their findings. 

I genuinely got some great feedback and compliments on my project. For example, one member of my group, Sebastian, told me that while Logan Parker is walking through the house, there should be a muffled humming/mumbling noise. This fits amazing, as it shows there is a real person there and it is not so much up to interpretation. 

Another member of my group, Joey, told me that I should have the news broadcast on in the background instead of making it a main focus.

Broadcast Filming

This will be a very interesting blog post, as I am piggybacking off of my last post, but also changing a key idea. 

In order to waste as little time as I can, I am going to film the broadcast scene with my parents ASAP!!!

Adrian and I are both going to be gone for spring break, so I have to wait for him in order to film the majority of it. However, on Monday, my calendar is completely free, and I will most likely use that time to gather my parents and film the broadcaster/ homeless man scene.

With this layout, I do not have to worry about the extra editing I have to do with the broadcast scene. It gives me more than enough time to edit and put together that scene while I am on vacation. When I get back, I will have it ready so that Adrian can run the rest of it and I have more than enough time to edit and complete the opening!!!

Production Schedule

The production schedule. One of the most boring parts, but at the same time, ever so important. 

My spring break is coming up and it truly is the perfect time to film my opening. Although, of course, there is always a bump in the road. When I originally planned the filming process, I forgot to account the fact that I would be on vacation for most of this break. As a result, my production is strewn all of the place. 

I get back from my vacation towards the end of this break but the problem is, the deadline for the project itself. Spring break ends on March 28, and the project is due less than a week later, on April 4. 

I gathered all of my thoughts and problems and created the following, short but effective, production schedule:

March 20: Return from trip. 

March 22: Begin filming. Use the entire day if necessary to film all scenes and give any time for reshoots. 

March 23-24: aw time for any reshoots, if needed. that I notice while editing. 

March 25- April 1: Edit, Edit, Edit. 

April 2-3: Fix anything at all I may need and make sure the project is done and perfect before submission. 

CAST!!!

I am beginning my blog this week with a look at my cast for the upcoming production of “A Day in the Life”. 

To start it off… drumroll please… we have Adrian Graff. 

Adrian is truly one of, if not, the best actor I know. I know for a fact he would be able to pull off both the innocent teenage pool boy, while also adhering to Logan Parker’s murderous tendencies. I have both been in and seen him act in so many productions that I have a great amount of faith in him.

The convenient part about my script is that there are only three parts. Logan Parker, the protagonist, the news reporter, and the homeless man. These two other characters only appear for around 20 seconds as the broadcast play on the TV. 

For these two characters, I decided to go with none other than my parents, Todd and Yadira. 

This is them for reference (please ignore my sister crying in the middle). I have decided to use my mom as the news reporter and my dad as the homeless man. While they do not have much experience with acting, I know they will do amazing.

Costume and Prop Creation

My final post for the week will be about one of the most important, but often overlooked, parts of production, costume and prop creation. 

For my film, props and costume are truly going to have an effect on the tone and the way my story is told. 

For my costume design, I only have to dress three people: my main character, Logan Parker, the news broadcaster on the TV, and the homeless man that interrupts him.

The last two are very simple costumes, in my opinion. For the broadcaster, I was thinking of the normal attire: a business suit, nice hair, and very well presented. For the homeless man, I will need to find very old, dirty and disgusting clothes for him. I will also most likely get the actor to put on makeup to make his face and body dirty.

For Logan, he will change costumes at least once. He begins in a pool, so when we are introduced, he will be in a bathing suit and no shirt. When he walks inside, he grabs a towel, and after drying himself off, he puts it around his neck. When he is in his room and the audience is seeing his room, he will be changing into a long sleeve black shirt and black pants. He will then grab the apron and goggles and apply those. 

Now that costumes have been organized, it is time for props.

My list of props includes:

Pool floatie

Towel

Apron

Scalpel

Garbage bags

Anything to fill the garbage bags

The materials here will truly be easy to find. I have the pool floatie, towel, garbage bags and apron already, so there is no need to buy anything there. I am going to have to purchase the scalpel, most likely at Walmart, since they are sold there. I will then most likely end up filling the bags with clothes to add more volume and "body parts" to them.

Set Design

Alright. I am choosing to further focus on the production design this week. I am mapping out the course that the camera will truly travel in my opening. I am deciding to explain it to make it easy for my readers to imagine, and for myself to plan accordingly. 

As previous readers know, the film opens on me in the pool, and there is a long continuous shot from the pool, to the living room, to my bedroom, to then my guest room. The final shots are of the character throwing away the bodies. 

The set design is essential, as a huge part of the opening is how each of these locations look. 

The pictures shown are of each location for reference:

The living room where Logan will watch the news broadcast. Most likely from this angle. 

Logan's bedroom. Will most likely change some things around, but just for reference, this is the location.

Logan's room where he will do his experiments. Of course, it is not completed yet, as I will begin to create the set as I move towards filming. I will most likely move the couch out of the room, change the lighting a lot, and overall create the darker tone that the room should portray.