Change of Plans

 Being that we were completely thrown off by the entire pandemic, somethings had to change. Due to some of our cast members traveling we had to completely change our cast. We also ran into major issues when it came to finding the perfect scenery for our abduction scene. Our original plan was to film in Dunkin’ Donuts where they have a reserved office space that was closed off by glass doors that would’ve been perfect for our scene. But again because of the pandemic they aren’t able to rent out the space at this moment. And that was only the beginning of our troubles. We later came to realize that we couldn’t seem to locate a parking garage that would be a good use for our abduction scene which entails Destiny being dragged into a car. So when idea that we came up with is Ashleigh’s home where her dad has a home office that is actually perfect for our storyline and our scenes. We also had to cut down on the amount of people that we are allowed to film with us, it will now only be myself Ashleigh and Jontae and Dwana. Because our schedules aren’t as flexible as we thought they would be we have to film different segments at different times of the day, separately. We even have Ashleigh and Destiny playing the director role in our own film. Even changing some of the scenery, we have made changes within our actual script and the way we want things that play out in the scene. There’s going to be a little bit different dialogue that was initially outlined in the storyboard in the script. As well as different shots, action movements, and even editing techniques used once we reach that process. We feel as if this will not offset our original idea of the movie but, will shine light onto the actual plot of our story, sticking more to our choice of genre. Because with our choice of genre there is lots of action that needs to take place, but also outlined to be clearly outlined as to what’s going on. Lastly we decided to use the parking garage of our local Home Depot, we want it to be busy to give the actual effect of Destiny leaving work. 

Recast

 not only due to the pandemic, along with the holidays, some of our cast members did travel and that sort of complicated the process of filming. It not only complicated but delayed our filming process. We reached out to other people to see who would be available on such short notice and we happened to come across someone. We needed someone for the scene where Destiny is being taken in the parking garage of her job. Jontae will play an important role in the kidnapping of Destiny, and he also fits the image we were initially going for. We also are having trouble getting together and filming scenes. It has totally been a hassle trying to get everyone together and film this movie. Dwana and I compromised the perfect plan that not only works for our busy schedules. But works best following post-pandemic guidelines that puts fewer people in one setting. So, to our advantage Ashleigh and Destiny has an office inside their home which greatly helps because we were troubled finding an office space. A lot is going to have to be done differently now that we waited so late to film, we do not want it to be a last minute thing. With this plan in motion Ashleigh will actually film our first scene which is Destiny in the office arguing with the CEO of her job. And this role will be played by her dad. With them doing that on their own that allow us to eliminate the abundant amount of filming we would’ve had to accomplish on the day we all get together to  film. The idea of Ashleigh’s dad being the CEO also helps with our storyline and would paint another plot twist/ cliff hanger as to why Destiny’s very own sister and dad and VP of their company would want to out  her. Sometimes especially in film, not everything turns out as planned but most of the time it works itself out ultimately. Although this filming process isn’t perfect we still have an outlined/detailed plan that will still produce a great film. We have  actually a few clips that we do want to reshoot so that will have to get done Friday due to our schedules. By Friday we should have all of our footage as well as partial editing done. Then by Saturday the whole film should be done and ready to put out for the fans. 

Thanksgiving Break

Although we could’ve filmed over our thanksgiving break, we chose not too. Some of us were traveling with family, and even in a pandemic, we weren’t able to get together this time around. I still feel really good about the position that we’re in as far as when the film is actually due. Only because the filming process can be done in one day if we really stick to our schedule, and my partner and I are both really good at editing. So it also doesn’t delay us or slow us down in the editing process. If we film over Christmas break we’ll have about two  and a half weeks to months only film but make sure our editing, music, sounds, everything is properly pieced together. Although we referenced in our “Planning” blog we would film on 11/23, things have seemingly changed. It worked out because we are actually in need of one more actor and we actually still haven’t decided upon who that will be yet.

Music Choice

 Since this our second time around making a film the music choice was fairly easy decision. We first toyed around with the idea of emailing some people in order to get permission to use some music to. We figured that the would be too much trouble as people are really take time to answer back emails. We finally came to the decision to use Walking on Sunshine. Since most our film is going to be natural sounds we wanted to stray away from using too much music otherwise the audience would not be able to focus on the action that is going on in the movie. Like I said earlier the hardest part about trying to get any music was asking for permission from people who own the rights to the song. Our last project it took nearly 2 months for someone to get back to us about one song. How we can to decide on walking on Sunshine I have no idea. We were throwing back songs ideas back and forth and my partner said Walking on Sunshine and somehow we both agreed. I'm really curious to see how we incorporate

the sounds and song into our film. 

Marketing Campaign

This was probably the easiest part of this whole process of the whole project. The whole creating a website and making social media pages for the movie made it real. Using the Wix website application was honestly easier than I thought. The first thing I had to figure out was whether or not to use my real name for the website. Naturally I did the the first thing I could think of and that was to make up a name. Laura Howard was obviously the most reasonable name I could come up with it. I got Laura from a television show I was watching earlier that same day. I got Howard from talking about sending our applications for Howard University. Once I was able to come up with my fake name everything else just flowed. I honestly hadn't even thought about the title of the movie since before this website. I got the idea for this movie off of lifetime. The most reasonable thing was to continue to get my inspiration from the by watching at least 8 lifetime movies with my partner. That is how we came up with the Sisters Keeper. We're able to get pictures of our actor together since they are real life sisters. Seeing the website come together with all the pictures was exciting to see. I was able to make the social media pages which was a different experience since we only had personal pages for ourselves. We really felt like marketing campaign managers for a real movie. This has to be my favorite part of this whole experience thus far. 

Storyboard

Planning our storyboard probably is the most challenging task for us right now. It’s like we know exactly how we want this film to play out, we’re able to visualize and everything; but putting it down on paper was so much more challenging. Especially knowing how to break up all the specifications of the scenes into 5 second picture boxes and not putting too much content into one square. Also some of our scenes were short so we had to kind of stretch/improvise the scenes just a little. Storyboarding is actually one of the biggest steps to filming for me because it gives you almost like a tentative schedule to follow. It is obviously always something that can be modified but for the most part you have everything you need to do outlined for you right there on the paper. So when it comes to filming day we can just refer back to the storyboard to see the specifications of each scene. Not only that but having a general idea as far as we hat shot, angle, camera movements, and what kind of sounds go in each scene. Which is very important. This is actually our first time working together and because of everything being virtual and social distancing it did become a little harder as far as communication goes to be able to successfully fulfill this projects every need. We’re also filming with some of our close friends as our actors so to keep the amount of people narrow, and not jeopardizing any COVID-19 precautions. The next challenge for the actual filming process is actually finding an office space/ scenery that is actually going to allow us to film there. The corona restrictions have altered a lot of places and companies and the activities that are able to take palace. We actually found one venue but they aren’t allowing people to sit down inside. Which means we’re back to square one with everything beside of course the scenes that can take place outside. We also may need a few extra actors but I do want to make sure that everyone is safe so we may film on different days with different people. Just to make sure no one especially our actors, are being put in harms way. Lastly, we do anticipate on recording over our thanksgiving break so that actually gives us another week to plan our our location and what days we want to film with who, and who belongs in the right scenes. As well as making sure we, the producers of the film are safe as well. 

Planning for Short Film

 

Planning Blog- Location- Office space at Dunkin Donuts and an underground parking garage 

Health and Safety- We plan to make sure to have our seatbelts while driving. Also while we are “using the knife we are using all the safety protocols. We take safety very seriously. In addition to these safety precautions, we will have a buddy system. So if anyone needs to walk off during our filming process someone will be with them. You could never be too safe. 

Props- In our short film we don’t really incorporate that many props. Since this is a fairly traditionally thriller film we will be using props like knives, ropes, zip ties, chairs, and cars.

Costumes-  Destiny will be wearing a business suit while Ashleigh will be in something casual. Most likely jeans and a tee shirt 

Participants- The main two actors will be our friends Ashleigh and Destiny each playing their respective roles. Jontae who will be playing the President that Destiny argues with in the beginning and Ashleigh’s dad who will play the mysterious man throughout the rest of the film 

Schedule-  

On 11/10-11/13 we will be doing our storyboard. On 11/23 we would like to start filming. We want a couple of days to film. Since we have a week long break for thanksgiving break we should have a couple of days to film everything and refilm if necessary.