How do I turn this thing on? (Filming Day 1)

Friends, this post has been long in the making. Or, rather, the actual post hasn't been, but rather the process the post describes. On Sunday, March 12th, Day 1 of filming for Unpacking happened.

A few things complicated it. First of all, I was with two of my friends from Orlando, Max and Ellie; they kindly agreed to help out on the day of filming, which was a huge help I hadn't anticipated, since- well- they live in Orlando. I've worked with both of them before on individual projects across lots of mediums, but never film. Second of all, we started filming in the afternoon, around 3 pm; and as the sun set, we had to worry about losing natural daylight.

Max (left), assistant cinematographer; Ellie (right), assistant producer

Max (left); Ellie (top); Bia (right), actor for Christine; Clover (bottom), me!

I used Bia's tripod, which she was kind enough to lend me; Max, however, had to use it as a monopod a lot of the time to get the handheld movement I wanted in a lot of my shots. I think it really helped as a stabilizer, though.

Over the course of filming, we did a lot of rehearsal with the camera rolling so that we could get used to it, while also getting Max used to the specific style of handheld motion needed to frame each shot. I also shot a lot of vlog-style commentary that I want to edit into a longer vlog of filming, so that I can (hopefully) have something a bit more to look back on, and hopefully edit & post to YouTube- along with a bloopers reel. 

We were able to rehearse and film all of the bedroom conversation, but we quickly realized that it was just over 30 seconds- which was probably not nearly long enough for what I needed. So, Bia came up with the (genius) idea to write my credits on boxes and have that be a part of the transition between the car scene and the bedroom scene. However, we didn't have the boxes yet, so I was left stumped as to how we were going to pull that off. But by then, we needed to film the car scene, which we had planned to do before I drove Bia home. 

I piled a bunch of my bags and backpacks into the backseat, and then I had Max record several different takes of up to 30 seconds of me staring out the window wearing earbuds. We played Phoebe Bridgers' Motion Sickness to ensure that I would have sufficient footage for everything we needed. We also tried out several different techniques; I knew I wanted a slow zoom-out from a really close-up, tight, intimate shot to showing the rest of the backseat. Eventually, I settled on a computerized zoom on 4K footage (the rest of my footage is shot in HD 30 fps to reduce storage space and upload times), because after reviewing the different types of manual zooms Max was able to get using my phone's lenses (which zoom between 0.5x and 6x), all of them looked really blurry and shaky. 

With that, the first day of filming was done. And, so, for now, am I.

Yours always,

Clover Fields

Editing software research- and the final dilemma

 When I was looking for editing software for Unpacking, I had originally only one thing in mind: using Adobe Premiere Pro. However, although I'd experimented with it very briefly for previous projects, I had never done the brunt of the work editing any major video on it, and I was really intimidated by how tech-heavy the interface was. So, it was time to find a new editing software.

I had a few requirements in mind. First of all, it had to be free. Not only was that within the constraints my instructor set out for our learning, but as a genuine amateur filmmaker, my budget is zero (0) dollars. I used the two blog posts linked below in my citation to find some free options.

Finally, I settled on three: Adobe Premiere Rush, which would be free with my school-account Adobe Creative Cloud subscription; DaVinci Resolve; and iMovie. Finally, I decided on a combination of Adobe Premiere Rush and iMovie. This was for a few reasons: I knew that I wanted a specific slow computerized zoom, which my instructor told me was available on iMovie, but since I don't have access to a MacOS computer, it would be unwieldy for me to try and precisely edit the entire thing on my phone, without keyboard shortcuts, since I have limited functionality in my hands with certain movements. After fiddling with Premiere Rush to rough cut my clips into takes that I could store in different places like my phone, my computer, and Google Drive to ensure that my footage was available everywhere, I liked the keyboard shortcuts and feel of it enough that I decided that was going to be what I used to edit the pacing and audio for the majority of Unpacking. However, I think I'm going to use iMovie to edit any zoom effects, of which there will be at least two or three.

Sources:

https://www.facebook.com/lifewire. (2019). Need a Free Video Editor? These Are 2019’s Best Video Editing Programs. Lifewire. https://www.lifewire.com/best-free-video-editing-software-programs-4128924

January 2021, J. P. 22. (n.d.). The best free video editing software 2020: free video editors for all your projects. TechRadar. https://www.techradar.com/best/free-video-editing-software

Should I use royalty-free music??

 Readers, a key element of any production is music, but especially so in the teen drama genre. 

In Paste Magazine's review of "The 10 Best Teen Movie Soundtracks of the 21st Century", here, many indie songs popular at the time of each production's release were used during the sound production of the film. This is partially because of the feeling that music evokes in an artistic sense, but more practically, it's also a useful tool to engage viewers with songs they may already listen to that deal with similar themes.

So, keeping all this in mind, I made a Spotify playlist of a few songs that I was thinking of using for my film opening.

I knew that, after discussing my storyboard with my instructor, that my initial establishing shot of the car and the slow zoom-out on Charlie sitting in the backseat of the car was going to need music. This was done for multiple reasons. Not only is a common theme of teen movies and all of adolescence using music to express and understand one's feelings as an escape mechanism, but- as a musician- music also helped me get through the events Charlie's story and Unpacking are based off of. But personal reasons aside, I also knew that the emotional intention of the shot would work well with a soundtrack, because a large part of the themes I wanted to communicate within my initial sequence were those of alienation, loss of support, loss of innocence, and loneliness, while also (it must be said) imbuing my work with a certain cinematic quality that only music can ever provide. So, I turned to my existing body of knowledge as a musician and consumer of music: I knew that I wanted grungy, distorted electric guitar, and perhaps some moody vocals to play. I didn't want anything too upbeat, and I wanted something slightly dramatic. I also needed, at maximum, 15-20 seconds. Based off of all these criteria, I settled on Phoebe Bridgers' "Motion Sickness" as the best choice; the vibe of the opening guitar perfectly matched the slightly nostalgic yet melancholic tone I was aiming to imbue Charlie's introspection with, and the opening lyric "I hate you for what you did/ And I miss you like a little kid" matched the themes of childhood innocence transitioning to adolescent struggle present in the conflict which causes our viewer to be thrust into Unpacking in medias res. (In the middle of things. Forgive the Latin, it's a personal failing.)

However, that led me to an issue: "Motion Sickness" is not royalty-free music, and therefore I had to figure out who could grant me permission to use it in my production. This was a multi-step process: first I used Google to frantically search things such as, "Phoebe Bridgers copyright owner?" and "Phoebe Bridgers Motion Sickness copyright" before I came to my senses and decided it was probably a better idea for me to find her representatives. So, I came across her website, https://phoebefuckingbridgers.com/. Under the "Contact" tab, and under "Management", was listed Darin Harmon, of Blue Raincoat Music. I navigated to their website, with little success. So, I decided to use the email address listed under Mr. Harmon's name on Phoebe Bridgers' website, and wrote him a professional email using the guidelines my instructor had previously communicated on what the appropriate way to ask for copyright permission for a royalty.

However, that was on March 2nd; today is March 8th. My instructor had previously said that sometimes copyright requests can take as long as a month to come back; however, I need to wrap up production and post-production in two to three weeks; my first day of shooting is this weekend, on Sunday, March 12th. This timeframe, then, does not work with my timeframe. Such is life; however, that does put me in a bit of a pickle.

I think my current strategy will be to conduct more research on what royalty-free music sites I can use to find music. If I can't find something I really like, then I'll compose, perform, record, and edit an original score for the opening music, since it's really important to me that I have music to carry that opening sequence; but that takes time, a lot of it. You'll see the evolution as it happens, though.

Yours always,

Clover Fields

Sources:

The 10 Best Teen Movie Soundtracks of the 21st Century. (n.d.). Paste Magazine. Retrieved March 9, 2023, from https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/booksmart/best-2000s-movie-soundtracks/

Reflecting (creatively, critically)- the introduction

There's about a month left- 4 weeks or so- in the schedule for the rest of Unpacking. So, my instructor decided to give a lesson on creating the CCR, or Creative Critical Reflection, last week during class. I hadn't thought that lesson would come up at this point during our academic year, since it was scheduled on the syllabus for a different day, and I had initially wanted to focus just on completing the script and storyboard for Unpacking. However, a lot of the critical reflection process happens (and is happening) for me right now, during the pre-production and development phase; and it was also good to brainstorm some ideas for the eventual creative format of my CCR.

To begin with, the major takeaway that I got from the lecture lesson was that it's helpful to include a talk show or interview element to the CCR. I know personally that while I have experience in creating YouTube videos solo, I don't have experience delivering an engaging, professional, academically-styled speech into a camera lens. So, after watching a past student's interview-style CCR, I decided that a blend of an interview style and a director's cut style commentary would be a good choice for me to not only display my cinematography and editing skills in the production of the CCR for answering the first two questions, but also have another person to help keep my video engaging with the interview format. I was also really interested in doing a podcasting format for the second production that makes up my full CCR. 

As I plan all this, you'll be the first to know- as always.

Yours always,

Clover Fields

Shotlist/Schedule

Readers, in my original planning for my portfolio project, I had a fairly ambitious schedule in mind with this Google Doc as my planning space. However, life gets in the way. I'm choosing to combine my shotlist and scheduling posting, because I find it difficult to separate the scheduling of my filming and editing from the shots and sets I'll need to use. In my earlier planning post, I told you about how I took some practice shots around my home. Using that information, I was able to define three different filming locations that I can use.

First of all, the entryway of my current home is going to be the second set chronologically in the film, but I have a very definite deadline for filming the sequences by the front door and on the stairs: I am moving on Wednesday, March 15th. My first day of shooting with my classmate Beatriz/Bia, who is my main actor besides myself, is Sunday, March 12th; my second and third days of filming are Friday, March 17th and Sunday, March 19th. Here are the shots I need in that location:

1. Charlie and Christine walk in

2. Wide shot of Charlie framed against the door

3. Medium shot of Charlie looking at stairs , possible zoom to a close-up

4. Close-up of Charlie looking at stairs, in case the medium shot doesn't work as well

5. Christine leads Charlie up the stairs

Shots 1 and 5 involve both me and Beatriz, so we'll need to shoot those either with a tripod or with someone else holding the camera. The only logistical concern that I have in that arena is that shot number 5 looked pretty good with some camera movement to draw the eye to Christine and Charlie. However, the dynamic lines of the white banisters, combined with the actor movement, should be enough to create interest with careful framing. Since there isn't a lot of dialogue in most of these shots, we should be able to shoot them with convincing delivery. However, that leads me to the second location in my current house: the bedroom that Christine's family gives to Charlie.

I took some practice shots in my bedroom, which I found logistically impractical for multiple reasons. First of all, I have a mix of white, medium brown, and dark brown furniture in my room, as well as a large full-length mirror in one corner, and posters on my walls. So, it's not only visually distracting, with multiple color and shape disturbances on the walls from every angle and perspective, it also reflects my unique personality. While I quite like having a room that reflects a bit more of an eclectic, academic aesthetic, I wanted Charlie's room in Christine's house to feel very, very sparse, and a bit stuffy, as though it hadn't been used since Christine's grandma died. So, I took more practice shots in my older sister's bedroom. Here are the shots I need in the bedroom set:

1. Medium shot of Christine and Charlie walking through the door (main shot)

2. Medium shot of Christine and Charlie walking through the door from behind (extra take)

3. Close up of Christine and Charlie walking through the door (extra take)

4. Wide shot of Christine and Charlie sitting on the bed

5. Conversation, recorded over Charlie's shoulder

6. Conversation, recorded over Christine's shoulder

7. Conversation, CU on Charlie

8. Conversation, CU on Christine

9. Christine walking out and closing door

10. Charlie staring at door, scribbling on notepad

11. CU on notepad ("Unpacking")

I would like to spend some time practicing the script with Beatriz, so that we can perfect our delivery. I want to practice this in my bedroom so that we can use my full-length mirror, or in my office so that I can use my large mirror there and we can see our facial expressions. Having spoken with my instructor about the tight, intimate nature of my production, she advised me that whatever dialogue is delivered in Unpacking needs to be well-rehearsed and well-delivered. Therefore, I think it's a good idea for us to practice that portion of the script. This will also be shot on Sunday, March 12th, possibly in the late afternoon or evening, since the positioning of the shots compared to the one window in the bedroom we'll be using as a set for that location works better with the artificial light from the overhead lamp compared to natural light. However, I'm the most worried about matching the lighting schemes between the first and third settings: the entryway... and the car.

The car was a setting that I was initially worried about shooting in, because I was worried about continuity problems matching takes and different angles with the background moving. However, after meeting with my instructor, we determined that it would work better logistically, as an amateur filmmaker, if the car was parked outside the house. Here are the shots I need from the car, which can be done either outside of my current house, the house I'm moving into, or possibly Beatriz's house as a last resort.

1. Medium shot of Charlie in the backseat, staring out of the window

2. Close-up of Charlie in the backseat, staring out of the window

3. Charlie getting bags, getting out of the car, from the interior

4. Close-up of Charlie opening the car door from the interior

5. Medium shot of the car door opening, from the exterior

6. Close-up low angle of the car door opening, from the exterior

7. Medium shot of Beatriz from the backseat, eyes in rearview mirror

8. Close-up of Beatriz's eyes in rearview mirror

9. Close-up of Charlie getting bags from backseat

I want all of these shots to be done in daylight, and while that's my biggest criterion, I'm also somewhat worried about the quality of the light and the weather. If possible, I would like the sky behind Charlie to be somewhat dim and gloomy; and I'm not very experienced with editing or post-production, so I don't think that it would be feasible for me to edit the light to look cohesive. But the most important thing to me is making sure that the quality of the natural light is fairly cohesive between the entryway shots and the car shots. So, if possible, I would love to get all the shots done at my house on Sunday, but I also don't want to put too much stress on Beatriz to help me get everything done that particular day. So, on Friday the 10th and Saturday the 11th, while I'm setting up the hair, makeup, costume, and mise-en-scene elements for Charlie, Charlie's room, and Charlie's bags, I may try to shoot some of those shots by myself. I'll let you know how well that goes.

Yours always,

Clover Fields

The storyboarding process so far- and planning some more logistics

 On Monday, February 27th, I began producing my storyboard with the class time my instructor allotted for us to work on our portfolio projects. Here's a link to a PDF of my storyboard, both versions.

I had a few goals in mind here. First of all, whenever I direct any sort of visual content or video production, I always like to storyboard as many shots as possible, because it helps me envision what each shot looks like, thus saving time on the actual day of filming. After meeting with my instructor, I used the feedback she gave me to develop a new version of my storyboard. For instance, we transitioned from a more complex sequence of shots during the initial music break to a more simple focus and zoom on Charlie in the backseat to the music, to communicate a more intense emotional moment.

I then used tools such as Getty Images and Windows' in-house image editing as reference pictures for certain frames on my storyboard so that I could really bring what I saw in my head to life. I used these pictures as references for some of the car shots in my storyboard.

After I developed a new version of my storyboard, I took some test shots around possible set locations: my bedroom, my older sister's empty bedroom, the entryway and staircase of my house, and my car. I asked my significant other/romantic partner to act in some of these practice shots so I could visualize them better. This was an extremely valuable part of my planning process, since I was able to use my phone (which is what I plan to use to film much of my opening) to shoot, and I was also able to determine that some shots (like the entryway scene and car scene) could be shot by one person or with the help of Beatriz (my lead actor and peer from the course) and her tripod. I cannot show the stills from my practice shots for privacy reasons.

Then, I conducted research into what tools I could use to develop my script. I knew that formatting to industry standard would be more trouble than it was worth on Google Docs or Microsoft Word, even though I had free access to both of those tools. I used this blog post to help me determine that Drama Queen's free tool was more than enough to suit my needs as an amateur writer/director/filmmaker. Here's a link to my script so far.

I also asked my partner to help me read it out loud so that I could time it roughly, planning for about 20 seconds of music in the intro. I also cannot include the audio recording for privacy reasons.

Friends, I am exhausted. More on the mise-en-scene elements will come next week, but I'm very glad that I have my opening visualized and written down on paper.

Yours always,

Clover Fields

Sources:

Boy (9 in backseat of car, looking out window. (n.d.). Getty Images. Retrieved March 6, 2023, from https://www.gettyimages.com.mx/detail/foto/boy-9-in-backseat-of-car-looking-out-window-imagen-libre-de-derechos/479205069

Authentic and engaging images from Offset. (n.d.). Offset. Retrieved March 6, 2023, from https://www.offset.com/photos/young-woman-sitting-on-backseat-in-a-car-looking-out-of-window-765070

8 Free Screenwriting Software Choices For Writers 2020. (2019, December). Script Reader Pro. https://www.scriptreaderpro.com/free-screenwriting-software/

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Locations and logistics and irony- and the name of the film

Remember my portfolio project? The one about moving, rather forcibly and unpleasantly, based somewhat off of my own life and experiences? Ironically, I am moving house on March 14th. This time, it's not nearly so sudden nor so exhausting as the other 9 or so places I've moved to within the past 3 years; but the major problem is now the location in which I am to film Unpacking. Which is what I've decided to call my film, and by extension, its opening.

I actually was somewhat inspired by the video game Unpacking, in which the player learns about the main character indirectly, through unpacking their boxes as they move between different stages of life. However, that connection didn't occur to me until later. I decided to name my project Unpacking because I think the main part of what everyone remembers about moving is not the actual moving day, but the long and exhausting process of unpacking all of one's belongings- of trying to fit your home into a new space that isn't quite shaped right for it yet. In addition, it's commonly used to mean talking about something at length; to unpack an issue or a trauma is to explore it with another person and understand it through communication. Finally, most of the genre research I did, primarily with the teen drama films Lady Bird (2017) and The Half of It (2020), but also into other teen genres, revealed to me that most teen drama films have titles that represent major issues or conflicts within the film. Specifically, I wanted Unpacking to be, at first glance, about moving and changing physical location; just as Lady Bird is, at first glance, about a young girl who prefers to be called Lady Bird, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) is about a "wallflower" who finds friendship. But without further ado, here is one of my major difficulties that I anticipate in planning and executing the production of my project.

The sets of my film opening are the car in which the initial shots take place, which is parked outside a house; the exterior of said house; and the interior of said house, in the entryway and in a bedroom. The exterior/street scene was initially supposed to be my current house pre-move, but I may change that. I anticipate shooting some shots (more on that tomorrow) on my own this Sunday, March 5th, as I plan to play Charlie (also, I plan to play Charlie. Is that news? It's certainly important, but also- I thought- fairly expected.). However, I know that the house I'm moving to will not be completely finished, since it was recently renovated. All this leads me to believe that not only will I have to shoot things out of order, I may have to split my filming locations for the interior and exterior shots.

I really wanted to shoot the entryway shots in my current home, since I really like the look of the big double doors with a high window. I really want the entryway shot to look as though Charlie is being dwarfed by the entrance to the home before a more intimate and personal close-up. I also wanted a shot of Charlie and Christine going up a flight of stairs, because the excerpt as I have planned it so far is fairly quiet and intimate, and I thought the physical movement would not only provide more visual interest, but also establish that the bond between the two characters is deeply related to Christine's literal and figurative leading Charlie into new and possibly better places. The actor playing Christine, my peer and friend Beatriz/Bia, is out of town at the moment, though; which is another difficulty that I'll go over in the rest of the week as I discuss the character design and casting choices I made for Christine and Charlie more in depth, as well as a full overview of my shotlist and production schedule. I anticipate being able to shoot these two shots on different days, as long as I'm careful about my continuity with Charlie's costume design, which again, I'll discuss more in my post about character design and casting choice (myself) for Charlie. 

However, the exterior shots are a different story, as is the interior shot of the room that Charlie is to inhabit for the rest of the film. (Well, the audience doesn't really know that, but one of the key questions I'd like them to be asking is whether this situation is temporary or not; my opening doesn't really give them a whole lot of exposition, and that's kind of the point. I want it to feel very sudden.) I initially thought that I might be able to shoot the scene within the room in my room as it's prepared for moving, or in my older sister's room as it's prepared for moving. I know that in my personal experience, the bedroom that I stayed in while undergoing the real-life situation that Unpacking is inspired by was actually very heavily decorated in a Parisian theme, because it was a room dedicated to my host family's grandmother. While I considered trying to decorate a set for Charlie's room to an extremely personal degree- just for a different person than Charlie- to convey the feeling of being an outsider to a tight-knit family, I decided that would be prohibitively expensive and time-consuming to construct for 20 seconds' worth of footage. So, I decided I'd go the opposite route: the room set aside for Charlie in Christine's house would be very, very simple, almost impersonal, a generic guest room devoid of Charlie's personality or any real character. Thematically, I realized that this served multiple purposes: it would highlight the lack of personality, yes, but it would also provide visual contrast to Charlie's multiple bags and messy demeanor if the room were to be very, very clean and neat, as though it had been kept tidy for a long time out of decorum and had stayed tidy for a long time out of disuse. Practically, I also wanted almost no decoration, and I knew that my room (which already doesn't have a lot of decoration) would become even more sparse as my things were gradually packed up. I believe that my current room will be the best location to shoot that in. 

As for the exterior shots, the possible second and third days of filming are after I move; so the primary difficulty in that is going to be getting good shots of the car scene so that I have lots of options when I edit, as well as getting different variations on the shot of the car parked outside the house. I think that, if possible, I will shoot those shots at my new house. However, since it's still under renovation, I'm unsure if workers will be present, or if the exterior of the home will look finished enough. So I'm also contacting some of my friends and peers to see if I can use their driveways as possible shooting locations. However, my car will be the set of the scenes in the car, so I'm not worried about having access to it- I'm the only one who drives it, and I drive it every day.

Finally, filming in the car was one of the main things I met with my instructor on, and created some pretty major changes to my storyboard- more on that tomorrow. But logistically, she gave me some guidelines for my shots: not only to keep them tight, but also to get all the shots of the backseat from the perspective of the passenger seat. Since I will probably be alone for the initial shot of Charlie sitting alone in the backseat, I realized that I will also need a tripod. The logistics of shooting the car scene in practice will probably deserve their own blog post.

Reader, I think that's all for tonight. Tomorrow, I plan to finish my storyboard, and meet with my instructor a second and final time this week; and as I wrap up the first week of the pre-production process, you'll get all the juicy details, I promise. 

Yours always,

Clover Fields