Choosing a Score

Like I mentioned in my last post, I have one more day of shooting to get through (and reshoots), but I wanted to get a head start in choosing the music for my opening (besides the Stevie Wonder song that I no longer need to use). Choosing the music will allow me to get a better feel for the opening's tone & mood and therefore I'll be able to choose shots that match or help enhance that. After searching for some time I found 2 scores that would fit the atmosphere I want to create. I requested a downloaded copy of the first one from the site killertracks.com to my instructor, the second one I found in the WeVideo library, a no-license-required library of music that paid users of WeVideo get access to. After listening to the music while seeing the videos I got some new ideas for different shots I wanted to try and incorporate into my piece (I'll take these new shots in the re shoots!). I've narrowed it down to two but I'm still deciding on which one would match the visuals better, I've included a sample of both audios bellow; as I move through the editing process I'll post samples of the visuals matched with the music so that I can get them peer-reviewed by my classmates and my friends who are also taking the course.

KILLER TRACKS AUDIO -> Click Here (First one in line)

WEVIDEO TRACK ->

Reshoots

Today I was re-shooting the 2017 researchers scenes; unlike the first time around, this shoot only took about 1 hour! Once my dad was in costume we got started right the way! The hardest part of today's shoot was putting the props back to the same position they were at on Wednesday, I studied the videos from the first day to make sure I put things right were they were on the original shoot. 

I was able to get more interesting shots today than I did on the first day! I got some nice pans and some engaging handheld shots that I'm confident will look great in the scene! I also practiced focusing with the camera on low lighting, so today's shots came out way sharper than the first! I don't want to fall behind any more than I already am so I plan on choosing the music today and stating to edit over the upcoming days. 

Uploading & Checking my videos

I still have one more day of shooting to go but I began the uploading process to WeVideo because I have A TON of videos for the platform to process and transfer to the cloud, which can be a lengthy process when doing it all at once. I also want to go through every video I took because I want to make sure that the shots aren't out of focus and that there's diversity in the type of angles and camera movements. After uploading them all to WeVideo I began to inspect them, doing so I found that I didn't like some of the shots, they felt odd and out of place. The biggest problem with most shots is the camera's focus because it was all filmed in a low light environment with many props on the table, the camera had a hard time focusing on one subject. This caused some of the videos to have random focus pulls and others to have a lense focusing interruption halfway through a shot. After reviewing all my videos I decided I wanted to re shoot day #3; not fully, but definitely parts of it. I've scheduled the re shoots for tomorrow, I'm lucky my dad is off work then!

Doing My Homework!

THIS IS THE RESPONSE I WAS WAITING FOR!! This is the continuation to my last post!

The explanation seemed far fetched so I decided to get it fact-checked. I contacted "THE SCIENCE & ENTERTAINMENT EXCHANGE" via their hotline, I left a voice mail explaining the curriculum, the project, it benefits, and my question; shortly after they called me back with an answer... In theory, this would make sense! They reached out to a psychology professor who had confirmed the need for a debriefing and the standard practice of recording the experiment via video & photographs. He mentioned some experiments like Milgram recorded the debriefing process, so the concept isn't far fetched. I was even given the "identical strangers" study in which Neubauer had Yale University lock away and seal the study records until 2065 as an example of a real-life study that comes very close to my film's experiment. The representative I talked to was super nice and excited for me being a young "filmmaker" who is "exposing audiences to important topics of conversation"! Since it was only a quick fact check and I communicated the purpose and nature of my project, I wasn't charged anything! I'm very thankful for this experience, so much that I gave a shout out to the science exchange on Twitter thanking them!

Shooting Day #3

Me directing in my garage

My third day of shooting!! (Second really if you don't count the Guava incident). Today I shot the main body of the opening, the 2017 researcher scene in which the experiment is getting reactivated and researcher is transferring paperwork from the 1964 file into the new 2017 folder. I convinced my dad to play the researcher, the hardest part was actually getting him to wear a tie! The shoot took nearly 3 1/2 hours; thankfully, my dad decided to buy a fan 2 days ago which was the only thing keeping us from getting a heat stroke!😅

The Set Up

Costume

For the costume, I looked to my previous research and took inspiration from my previous costume choice. This time, however, I decided the shirt should be blue, not white, and the tie should be green, not black. Although it may seem like a rather random decision, there are 2 main factors to it. 

Screen capture of one of the shots

1. Fashion: Fashion trends change, although the black and white color scheme in suits is still very widely used today, color is prominent in all fashion. A quick google search for "men suits" shows an array of color combinations for men's fashion. Considering that the researcher is living in 2017, it makes sense for him to dress like it.
2. Meaning: Unlike in 1964 or even 1945 (when the 1st experiment started), nothing is longer black and white. In the literal sense, our media is no longer presented to us in black and white like back then. Symbolically, we don't see the world in black and white; for example, we need to see deeper than the label real or fake, we need to judge the quality of the information presented to us, consider the source, and weight possible personal bias that might influence the way facts are presented to us. In a way, it's asking the audience to do the same thing when judging the events in the movie following the opening, it's saying "You should pay close attention, don't jump to black & white conclusions, and take a second to analyze what the movie is truly wanting to show you." ( A story about human unity told through one of human division). 

Lighting & The Set

A picture of the set built in my garage

I was shooting in the set I built and with the light set up I previously discussed. The only change in the setup was that I took the orange cover off of the LED light; therefore, removing the yellow hue. The new use of pure white light allowed me to capture certain shots better because the room was slightly brighter. 

You can read all about the lighting setup -> See Blog Post 

You can read my post about set building-> See Blog Post

You can watch my vlog about set building and the lighting setup HERE!

The Shoot

The Directing
I had a lot of fun at this shoot! I told my dad what to do with the props on the table and just tried different shots, angles, and camera movements! I had my storyboard on-site with me to help guide me through the shots I previously had planned but -like I mentioned in my storyboard post- I had enough room in my storyboard to get creative right there and then! I also had to make up the shots I didn't plan for since I removed the BBQ scene (thanks to my neighbors, the Guavas). I used a lot of pans, A LOT of focus pulls, over the shoulder shots, mid shots, etc. In some of the videos, you can't see my dad's head but it wasn't because I watching thing the headspace, I didn't want the audience too much information about the resraher, that includes his face.

 Me filming a handheld shot

The Acting

I can't complain, my dad did a good job! Unlike Enrique, my dad had no lines to read so language wasn't a barrier. I'm thankful that my dad had the time to help me with this project! There was truly no downside to working with him! Well... He HAS been bragging about being like Denzel Washington for the whole night so I'm not sure my last statement was 100% true 😂 (Either way, thank you dad!)