Come on over, it's time for a voice over!!

For those reading this post, you guys are in for a real treat!!! So call me crazy, but I want to know what you guys would think about the idea of adding a voiceover in our film opening because Carlos and I have been giving it a long thought and we believe that it could really work!! The reason we got inspired to add a voiceover is because during class, we had to do a visual analysis on an opening film of a series called “Pushing Daisies” and of course there was a narrator who told the story of a little boy named Ned from the third point of view. I thought that the voiceover worked really well in the opening film we saw because it gave the audience more of an insight into what’s happening which is the purpose of a voice over. Without the voiceover in this film, I don’t think I would’ve understood what was happening as there were certain scenes that would’ve been hard to interpret without the help of the voiceover. It basically lets the audience know all about Ned’s new power and the benefits and consequences that come along with it. Our voiceover would be a little different because it would be from a first-person point of view meaning that our main actress (Valeria) would also do the narration. The point of our voiceover would be to let the audience dive into our main actress’s head so we know everything she’s thinking and feeling. We still don’t know if we want to use the voice over the entire time or if we would just add it in certain parts that need further explanations. We definitely plan to add some dialogue throughout our opening, but also feel like the voiceover could really be a key asset.

Before I talk about some of the scenes we think of adding the voiceover for, I want to explain more about what the purpose of a voice over. Many filmmakers use voice overs to provide quick explanations, tell stories, and like I said before, look into the mind of the character. The scenes that I believe the voice over would be most useful in is right when our opening film begins since it’s all about knowing who the character is. For example, the voice over could say “ ew no, next “ in the scene of her changing into many different outfits, indicating that the author is insecure. Another time we could use the voice over is when the girl sees her crush outside her window. We could have the narrator say “ omg there he is” or basically anything that indicates she has a huge crush on him. Let me know what you guys think!!

For more information about voice overs check out the link below!
https://ctlsites.uga.edu/nvgf/ethans-article/




Xoxo
SP

The Voice Over and Its Use in Film. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://ctlsites.uga.edu/nvgf/ethans-article/

Introduction to production ;)

Before I start off with today's bogs, I wanna apologize for making you guys wait until now for updates about how our production process was going. To be honest, Carlos and I were planning to wait after the second meeting to tell you guys how everything went down, that way we could describe our progress better. So as you guys know, Carlos and I created a filming schedule which can be found in our latest few posts. Carlos and I had scheduled to meet up March 2nd, 2019 from 1:00pm-2:30pm and March 3rd,2019 from 12:00pm- 1:30pm, and so far so good as we stayed true to our schedule…. at least then. To really have you guys get a good picture of how everything went, I want to describe our progress form both days, so that way you have an idea of what leads to what and so on.

Let’s begin with March 2nd, 2019. This would mark our first meeting, so I have to admit that Carlos and I were both pretty nervous...at least I was. Carlos had got to my house right on time and I had everything from our outline to our storyboard set out on the table so that we could get started right way. Before we started, Carlos and I went over all the scenes we were planning to film that day just to refresh our memory until Valeria our leading actress got to my house. Due to the fact that our first meeting was not really going to consist of many scenes of her in it, just the primary stuff like the house, the mother cooking, and stuff in her bedroom, Carlos and I decided to shoot some scenes that we were planning on shooting on our second meeting since it involved more scenes of her. This ended up working out perfectly because, we needed to film a mother in the kitchen, yet there was no adult available at that time, so Carlos and I put our heads together and decided to shoot some scenes from the second meeting and decided to shoot the scene of the mother in the kitchen in our next meeting when an adult was available. Other than that, everything ran smoothly and Carlos and I were more than on a good track. 

Now, let’s talk about our second meeting, March 3rd, 2019. This meeting took place the day after our first meeting, so Carlos and I already knew exactly what we needed to do and had everything ready once again. Thankfully, my mom was home that day so the scene we couldn't film the day before of the mother cooking could now be recorded. I have to admit that Carlos and I have been doing really good on time as we finished way at 1:00 pm instead of 1:30pm, the actual time the meeting was supposed to end. Even though we finished earlier, Carlos and I didn't want to put any good time to waste so we grabbed my computer and started putting the scenes together to see how it looked so far and ……

LOL!! You guys really think I was going to tell you how it was turning out? Nope. Don’t worry though, you guys will know once you see the full video, but as for now, NO MORE SPOILERS!

P.S. I found a really cool website that has some really good pre-production tips, check it out!
https://www.singlegrain.com/video-marketing/20-pre-production-steps-to-video-content/



Love ya guys!!!

XoXo
SP

20 Pre-Production Steps to Successful Video Content. (2018, October 26). Retrieved from https://www.singlegrain.com/video-marketing/20-pre-production-steps-to-video-content/

STORYTIME!!

Welcome back, guys! I’m excited to announce that I have a very interesting story to tell you guys that has to do with the fact why Carlos and I have been doing a lot of rescheduling and planning. Don't freak out though because where there is a problem, there is always a solution. Before I talk about it though I want to let you guys in on the inside scoop of our situation or in better words problem, so ……. IT’S STORYTIME!

Once upon a time…LOL just kidding, enough with my jokes. So anyway, it all started during school today as I was sitting in class when all of a sudden, I got a text from Carlos asking me if we were still on for saturday as we had scheduled filming for our third meeting. If you guys don’t know what I am talking about when I say meeting then I recommend you guys go check out my last few posts as it has the filming schedule Carlos and I were planning to stick to. Anyway, the truth is that I had completely forgotten that we had to meet up tomorrow to film the next few scenes. This isn't supposed to be an excuse or anything, but the reason I forgot was because I had been prepping the whole week for my SAT which was on Saturday, March 9th. Carlos and I had planned to meet from 12:00pm- 2:00pm that day, but the SAT would end at 12:30pm or later so we would definitely need to change the timings. I suggested that we meet up later, but Carlos said he couldn't as he had a soccer game at 3:00pm. The story ends as Carlos and I met up quickly after school to come up with a new day to the film which ended up being... drum roll please.... this Wednesday, March 13th.

THE END

This is embarrassing to show, but since I like you guys, I'll let you take a look at our conversation:




Stay tuned for the next blog as I will be discussing how our filming from the last two meetings went!

XoXo 

SP

Change of Plans!!

UPDATE ALERT!! Welcome back guys, as you guys saw in my last post, Carlos and I were trying to get permission for the song “Perfect Day” which is why we emailed their company, Hoku. Soooo… I have some good news, but then again I have some bad news. Which one do you guys want to hear first? Alright, the good news it is! The good news is that the company Hoku finally emailed us back saying that they think our portfolio project sounds great and that they would love to help, but sadly, they aren't the company that owns the rights to that song. They also gave us information on who we should try to contact to ask for access rights, even though they think we can use the song if it doesn't have anything to do commercial distribution. Either way, we want to be 100% sure which is why we started researching once again the information that they gave us.

Take a look:



Here’s Hokus' response




Here’s me emailing Antonina Armatos’ page


For a better look, I've attached the PDFs down below!

file:///C:/Users/sophi/Downloads/IMG_0861.PNG
file:///C:/Users/sophi/Downloads/IMG_0862.jpg

As you guys can see, the first person they mentioned in the email was Antonina Armato which our research confirmed is the co-founder of Rock Mafia, a record production/songwriting team. We believe that our main focus should be on contacting Antonina Armato as she is the publisher of the song. In the email, they also mentioned trying to contact Interscope Records, but I think that it is going to take a long time for them to contact us back or they might not even reach out at all due to the fact that it is a large company. So now we are back on track as we emailed Antonina Armato, Interscope Records, and Rock Mafias' webpage. I REALLY hope they get back to us soon because if not, we are going to need a plan B!!

P.S. If you guys want to know more about Antonina Armato I found a really cool page down below!

Click link!!
https://www.dmpgroup.com/our-catalog/artist/antonina-armato

XoXo
SP

Mori. (n.d.). Antonina Armato. Retrieved from https://www.dmpgroup.com/our-catalog/artist/antonina-armato

Nothing can go wrong...When you add a song!

WHAT’S UP, MY PEOPLE!! So just to catch up, on my last few posts, I was updating you guys about my project by showing you my storyboard, outline, and time schedule. If I’m being straight up with you guys, this project sure has been a challenge because there's so much to do, and such little time. Alright sorry for my little rant, now back to today’s blog. Basically, Carlos and I have been thinking real hard about what song our opening should have because we have been leaning towards more copyrighted songs, but that could be a complicated process. We believe that royalty free music wouldn't really capture the upbeat mood we want to set for our opening which is why our decision is heading the other way. The two songs we are debating on using is either “Perfect Day” by Hoku or “Shut Up and Drive” by Rihanna as they both have an upbeat mood. These two songs definitely caught my attention when I heard “Perfect Day” on the radio and “Shut Up and Drive” in the movie Wreck it Ralph. What we have to consider is that if we do decide to go with copyrighted music, we would have to ask their production company or whoever has rights to the song for permission and who knows how long that is going to take... Anyway, Carlos and I are willing to take the risk and email the production company even if it means that there’s a chance they might say no. The main thing we have to remember is to mention in our email that it would be for a nonprofit organization, it won't be reproduced, and that it’s for a school project.

 Down below is a picture of one of the emails we sent to Hoku records which owns the song “Perfect Day” and of the contact information for the producers of the song “Shut Up and Drive.”





Let’s all cross our fingers!!

Xoxo
SP

Shooting Schedule is up!

Really…. you again? I’m just kidding!! Welcome back my loyal followers! The time has come to…… SHOOT OUR VIDEO!! Well, not exactly shoot our video, but come up with our filming schedule which is just as exciting right?! So basically, I’ve set up a schedule that Carlos and I are going to TRY to follow, that way we don't scramble the whole filming in one day. Of course, we have to make sure that when we film, everything looks the same, like for example, we can't have one scene where it is sunny and another seen where it is raining because it will make the film look messy and unrealistic. So, call me weird, but Carlos and I definitely have to search up the weather climate for the days we plan on filming, so we can reschedule if anything. For example, we are planning to film on sunny days since we believe that it'll go better with our story, as you guys can tell from the storyboard. Another obstacle we have to overcome is coming up with days that don't interfere with our soccer schedule since both of us are really committed soccer players who have practice 4 times a week and games almost every weekend. Don’t worry though, because Carlos and I won't let you down as we are going to make this our top priority.  So here is what we've been thinking, but if we end up rescheduling anything, we will be sure to let you guys know!

Meet days Time Location

1. March 2nd, 2019 1:00 pm-2:30 pm Sophia’s house
2. March 3rd, 2019 12:00 pm-1:30 pm Sophia’s house
3. March 9th, 2019 12:00 pm- 2:00 pm Sophia’s house
4. March 16th, 2019 3:00pm- 4:00 pm Carlos’s house and Sophia’s house

Scene Shooting

Meet day # 1: Establishing shot of the house, long shot of mother cooking, long shot of girl's bedroom, extreme close-ups of objects in her room, Close-up of the girl sleeping

Meet day #2: Long shot of the girl getting out of bed, Point of view shot of girl opening closet, long shot of girl trying on outfits

Meet day #3: Tracking shot of girl going to the kitchen and eating breakfast, shot reverse shot of mother and daughter talking

Meet day #4: Eyeline match of the girl staring out the window at her crush, long shot of crush waiting outside, medium shot of girl putting on makeup, a point of view shot of guy and cheerleader getting in the car, tracking shot of girl dragging backpack back inside her house

I just can't wait to start filming! I know that if Carlos and I follow this schedule, there is nothing holding us back from creating an awesome film opening, don't you guys agree? Anyway, I'll keep you guys posted thanks for tuning in!!

Xoxo

SP

                                     

Storyboard

Welcome back, friends! So as we get closer to shooting our film opening, Carlos and I have to be 100% prepared which is why we decided to draw a storyboard. I wanted to do a storyboard right after my outline because I just had so many ideas flowing into my head that I didn't want to pass them up, so I literally just got a paper and started drawing what I had written. I recommend for you guys to check out my last post about my outline before looking at my drawings, that way you guys have a better picture of how everything is going to go down. The scenes down below are the direction my imagination has taken me so far but don't worry, I’m not going to spoil the whole opening scene for you guys, I just want to give you an inside scoop. I also want to point that this is all for planning purposes and just so we have an idea of what to film when we meet up, so don't get focused if in our actual film opening, the scenes are in a different order or if they aren't there at all. Alright, enough of me, here’s what we've come up with… oh and also please excuse my drawings!








To take a better look, I've attached the PDFs down below!

file:///C:/Users/sophi/Downloads/IMG_0817.jpg
file:///C:/Users/sophi/Downloads/IMG_0812%20(1).jpg
file:///C:/Users/sophi/Downloads/IMG_0818%20(1).jpg

Once again, please comment if you have any pointers or suggestions of scenes that should be added or taken out!! I'm counting on you guys to be real with me because our film opening needs to be liveee!!!!


P.S. For my older fans, live is a slang word teenagers use to describe something amazing or cool.
Xoxo
SP