40. Editing Day 1

To start off, I decided to put the clips I had in chronological order, then I went back to decide which to use and how much to shorten each. 

After picking the clips, and removing over half, I felt that the beginning was extremely fast. I had wanted it to be a nice, slow introduction of V, then LI would come and break the slowness. When adding more clips, it makes it even faster with the quick cuts and extending the clips felt uneasy and awkward, although that could be from the angles taken. 

A video of the edited down beginning.

When looking through the title clips, I did notice that they all were slightly slanted and had a bit too much space on the right side. I may try to fix it in editing or re-film it. 

An example of how slanted the title was.

The worst part is honestly the acting. I know that Talia said she can't act, but I didn't think it was this bad. The moments where she is supposed to be concerned/nervous she's constantly smiling and it's unconvincing overall. There's also the problem where she would move way too quick from a position, and it's difficult to have a clip be a certain length to stretch out the tension between the characters. Also, the scene where she jumped on me, she immediately raised her head. The way I will try to change this when we re-film is to play out entire scenes (rather than just the moment in the take) to try to make it seem more natural and less stiff. This can also give me more footage in case I have to change an angle. This will definitely take a lot more time, but I feel that the acting will be much better.

Due to the amount of camera angle changes, I didn't think about how the background would be affected. I used a leveling app to make sure the camera itself was level, but not what looked nice in the video. I realize I can slightly rotate the video in editing; however, there are so many inconsistencies with the background all together. 

For some reason there is a stool in one shot, then it's not there in another. 

The shot with the stool in it.

The shot without the stool.

The time-lapse idea was a strange idea. I didn't think about how I was going to incorporate it (transition-wise) into the film smoothly. It also was very weird going from a nice, calm, slow scene to extremely fast in a second. It didn't fit in the film at all so I removed it. 

With all the issues, poor acting and inconsistent background, I made the decision to re-film everything. I had talked to Talia about it to figure out when we're both free and, unfortunately, we'll be filming on the 3/9-10/24, which is basically a week before everything is due. I fear that I won't get the film done, but this does bring the opportunity to completely focus on the minor tasks and the music. 

Even with all the issues, I did enjoy how far away the camera was and how small the characters looked compared to the environment. It feels like the audience is a spectator watching the two's personal moments (the swings and LI being concerned in the hallway), but the audience gets involved with the story when learning new information about the characters (the walking in the park). When re-filming I will try to replicate this and it gives me a better idea for the cinematography. 

The swings scene.

The hallway scene.

39. Filming Day 2 (Park)

Apparently, parents still bring their kids to parks. 

The people in the playground. You can't completely see them, but if they were moving it would be obvious. 

The next thing to film was the park scene and there were people everywhere. In the field, the basketball court, on the sidewalk, and the playground. The main issue with this was the inconsistency the film would have and the fact that there are moving people in the background the viewers might focus on.

A good amount of time was wasted waiting for people to leave.

I tried to film the shots that wouldn't have anyone in the frame (the two of us walking and talking). Those went well, until I realized LI was not supposed to have the flower in her hair at all for most of those shots and by the time I realized, it was too dark to re-film. 

To avoid people, again, I tried to have the walking shots be front facing, rather than the back, but the sun was right behind and created a bright, eye-catching light, removing all focus from the characters. This was also done near the end of the day, so it wasn't consistent with the time of the walking. 

The attempt to have a front-facing shot.

The worst issue was the fact that the park was going to close before the sun went down. Meaning the swings scene won't have the same impact of the two being there for such a long time that the sun went down. I was able to get shots where the sky is noticeably different, but I think re-filming on a different day might be better to get a completely different sky.

The beginning of the swings scene, brighter sunlight.

The end of the swings scene, slightly darker.

38. Filming Day 2 (Room)

This day was filming the shots of just my (V's) shots in the room. 

I was alone filming this and I had to re-film a few times to get everything in shot, since I couldn't see the camera. 

The window, again, was an issue. The way I had the shot originally planned had the window in frame, but I had to angle it to remove the blinding, white spot in the shot.

The original shot, with the window in the frame.

The new shot, without the window. 

Even with the angle change, the light was still a focal point with how bright it was, and the white curtains were drawn over the window. 

For the title shot, I wanted it to be an overhead shot so I did that. 

The camera placement attempt to do and overhead shot.

I thought I had to do it like this to get a good shot, with the video the right way. However, it was incredibility difficult to see what I was doing, because I had to be under the tripod to flip the paper title. Plus the camera was shaking to make sure I still did the actions required for the shot. Then I realized, I could film upside down and flip it in editing. 

The better attempt at filming the title.

To have it leaning forward, to get the shot, I stacked some books under the tripod to give it the overhead angle. This did give me the shot I wanted. Then in the camera app I flipped the entire video to be right-side up.

I did also slightly change the idea for the shot too, since I didn't write the title on the sketchbook paper, there was no reason for my head to be in frame anymore and I didn't have to push the sketchbook up. 

Since I was by myself, I couldn't get any deep focuses, and I have learned that you 100% need another person to do deep focuses. 

37. Filming Day 1 (Room and Hallway)

Unfortunately, and fortunately, the schedule did not go to plan and we filmed the weekend after. It was quite annoying because now I have even less time for the film, but it did allow me to finalize the film. 

To not waste time and sunlight, I decided to film the shots where Talia was in, physically. Some shots (me coughing into my hand) don't have LI in the frame, but she is still there in the background talking. I decided that we could do the voiceovers, with the entire speech, later and only do what is completely necessary. Plus, Talia couldn't remember exactly what to say, so it was an easier solution

Talia didn't completely understand my script so I acted out what she should do and had her replicate it. This wasn't the worst idea, but I did waste a lot of time having to act it out multiple times.

There were quite a lot of changes to the camera angles that I did to either avoid some light issues and to fit both of us in frame.

One was changing the sketchbook flip to just putting my head down on top of it. I had to position my left arm a certain way, so my mobility was limited. Plus, there isn't much space in that area to completely get the flip in frame.

The shot in the room, right before V runs out, isn't supposed to be angled and should only show LI. There wasn't enough space, since the door is open for V to run out, so I decided to angle it to show both characters. 

The first attempt, I was barely in the frame, and it was slightly tilted, so we re-filmed it.

The fixed version of the shot. 

In the hallway shot, the space was too small for the camera, to get a perfect side profile of LI on the door and the back view of the door. Plus the window in the bathroom was extremely distracting and a large light that attracted the viewer's eyes, so I decided to angle the camera again.

The window in the bathroom, if the shot was taken directly from behind.

The shot of LI on the door, angled.

The shot of LI about to get off the door, angled.

The biggest issue with these new shots are the canted angles of the door frames, however, these can be changed in editing.

When filming takes, I decided to continuously film and not separate each take. I did this last year and it was a little annoying to edit, but since I wanted to keep doing multiple takes, without stopping, I felt that for the acting it would be better to keep doing it one after another.

I also decided to use the back camera, compared to last year. Doing this allows for a clearer video and deep focus can only be done with the back camera. 

One of the best parts of having another person are the ideas they can give for the story. I didn't really like the ending, death scene because it was anticlimactic and too tame for a death reveal. Talia did give some suggestions, like her saying "I love you" just before she picks her head up to look at V. It gives the audience a bit more of an understanding about how mutual their feelings were towards each other. The overall ending is still very boring, but now she can help and give ideas that I wouldn't have had before. 

36. Decision for Social Media Task

For the social media, I wanted to get a realistic idea on which would get the best chance of being seen. 

The links are what I used to research for each social media.

YouTube- There is an extremely low chance of getting into the recommendations. You would have to follow the algorithm and to do that you would need to continuously post videos, or have popular keywords/hashtags in the title/description. There is the chance of getting demonetized from using music or getting age-restricted, which will lead to a slimmer chance of getting into recommendations. There is now the option of YouTube Shorts, however those are based on what you typically watch, so unless you're constantly watching short films, it won't get on it. 

https://www.descript.com/blog/article/how-to-become-a-youtuber#:~:text=It's%20not%20easy%2C%20by%20any,re%20in%20the%20right%20place. 

TikTok- The chance is somewhat higher to be seen than YouTube. A person's popularity can happen through their first post. If the post gets thousands of views, then you would constantly stay on people's For You pages. However, if you don't you have to slowly build through the algorithm (posting at certain times and amounts). The user's attention span on TikTok is quite short, meaning the videos posted have to cater towards that, so people would actually watch. Users may also watch people based on the current trends and would probably scroll if they don't see any. Recently, TikTok removed all songs under the UMG corporation. There is an extremely large userbase and both photos and videos can be posted. 

https://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-get-tiktok-famous/ 

https://www.wikihow.com/Become-Popular-on-TikTok#:~:text=All%20it%20takes%20is%20one,long%20list%20of%20followers%20necessary.&text=Although%20there's%20no%20specific%20formula,shortcomings)%20with%20the%20latest%20trends. 

Twitter- Twitter is slightly different. The idea is to be yourself, rather than a brand (there are brands but a good amount of Twitter is your personality). If you go for being yourself, then you can raise your audience's engagement with you film and get to know other users. This would also include having to post a lot or talk to others to keep that building interest and engagement high. Being a brand account removes the audience engagement (it's not typically expected for brands to interact, only to give information about what they are representing.) but it is more forward and less cluttered when looking through the profile. The main downside is that the word count is 280 characters, meaning you would have to make a thread of what you want to say, people may not want to read all of it. However, videos, images and text can all be in one post, compared to the other sites.

https://hypefury.com/blog/en/how-to-become-twitter-famous-the-quick-and-simple-way/#:~:text=If%20you%20share%20solid%20content,in%20no%20time%20at%20all.

Instagram- More time and energy is required for Instagram. For people to want to click on your profile, the pictures or videos would have to be high quality, meaning more expensive equipment or editing apps. There is also the ability to interact with followers with stories. A picture/video is required to post something. 

https://nealschaffer.com/how-to-become-instagram-famous/#:~:text=your%20Instagram%20account.-,How%20Long%20Does%20It%20Take%20to%20Become%20Instagram%20Famous%3F,your%20Instagram%20profile%20every%20day. 

For all social media, key words or hashtags are needed to get to user's pages like in titles or captions. There needs to be an eye-catching profile or profile picture to get people to click on it. 

I will focus on the production of the film from start to finish in my social media task.

I did find a previous year's social media task and gained a general idea on what to add.

Sneak peaks, the process, aftermath/during filming time, getting to know the actors/introduction page.

https://blogs.grammar.sch.gg/mediastudies2022/category/year-13-coursework/social-media-page/ 

I feel that being a brand account on Twitter would be one of the more effective ways to get people to be interested in the film. I can completely focus on just information for the film and not the audience.

35. New Title and Meaning

I felt like the title I made looked strange. There was random green leaves to give it a more floral look and to remove the excess white space, but that made it look extremely busy and Christmassy, with the red and green. It also looked too 'perfect' and stiff, like it wasn't handmade. The audience should look at the title and realize that V made that herself; it should look handmade. 

The previous font.

The old title.

I decided, very last minute, that I should change how it looked. The first change was the actual font I would use. I wanted something that still kept a floral look, so something that was flowy like a plant/flower, but also something that could be read very quickly. I searched for 'floral font' again and found a font that incorporated leaves into the letters itself, was easy to read and not as stiff. 

The font I used instead.

This font did have some weird bubbling in the letters, which were a little distracting and not the nicest to look at, so I left it out

The new title.

For the colors, I really did not like the green and red together, but I did want to keep the red to represent blood. I chose pink to have the audience associate the title with Valentines Day. This should lead the audience to think that the film will be about love and happiness, which again will deny their expectations. The two colors are also similar, so it won't be an eyesore to look at or read. Plus, without the previous green leaves scattered around, people's eyes should stay focused on the title as a whole and not wander around to look at each leaf and detail. 

The title does still have a slightly stiff and perfect look, however I don't think I could have changed much more, leading to the title becoming unreadable. 

34. Jacket Idea

There wasn't enough close, character relationship in the film. I felt that there wasn't enough shown to insinuate that the two characters have an extremely close bond throughout the entire film. There is the shots in the beginning where LI jumps on V, and how LI is concerned about why V suddenly left the room. Although, there was was nothing else in the middle of the film. 

Thus, the jacket idea was born. It shows that the two characters share clothes, are comfortable with each other to do so and a stronger relationship. 

It would be:

Beginning: V has the jacket on while she's laying down on the bed, then takes it off when she runs out of the room.

Middle: LI is wearing the jacket throughout the entire park scene.

End: LI comes to return the jacket back in the Room scene. LI would drop both the sunflower and the jacket on the floor and gives dialog stating that the jacket is V's. 

"I forgot to give your jacket back.." 

The jacket is also extremely close to the color of LI's shirt. Having this can show that the two are matching in outfit colors. This isn't meant to show much symbolism, in color, but it can show that the two like matching together; it's just meant to be cute.

V's outfit wearing the jacket.

V wearing the jacket, in the beginning. 

LI's outfit wearing the jacket.

33. Script

Compared to last year, there was no dialog and no other actors, so there was no reason for me to make a script because I could see everything I wanted in my mind. However, this year, Talia isn't in my mind, so I had to write it out. 

Before I wrote the script, the dialog was barely thought of, so writing everything out allowed me to think and completely develop it. 

I had sent the storyboard only to Talia and she had no idea what was happening, so I made a script. 

The beginning of the film is set in the room. 

Inside the bathroom, when V is panicking. 

The outside of the bathroom door, where LI is worried.

The park, just before the swings, when we are walking.

The acting for the swings, no dialog.

Back into the bedroom, where V is dead.

Each section has a description for the time I would have to film, just to remember when to get that lighting I need. 

There are instructions for how the actors should look, emotionally and physically, and any movements they have to do.

I mainly replicated script templates. 

32. Pre-filming Decisions

Before filming, I decided to make sure the shots would actually work the way I envisioned them. I only could do the ones in the house, but that was only the concern. This also allowed me to see the angles I wanted and to get a rough idea on how much I would have to change the height of the tripod. The only thing was I didn't have Talia with me so I couldn't see if there would be specific changes. This also gave me a good idea on what I needed to physically move in order to get the tripod in the area.

A test on where to put the tripod, what it would capture and how everything looked.

The close up of V, the window is in frame and extremely bright, it can be fixed by either moving the camera all together, having a deep focus to remove some light or opening the curtain to show the outside instead.

The overhead shot. I wanted to see about how much would be covered by my head and about how much I should angle the camera. I definitely have to have a slight angle so the audience doesn't see the tripod's legs and to give me room to push the sketchbook up or move myself entirely.

I also got a better idea on what time Talia should come over based on how bright my room is from the sun. The sun is the brightest from 9am-4pm. However 9am-10am is just way too bright and too little time to film multiple takes of shots. I feel that 11am-4pm allows the best lighting because the sun is not directly in the window. This gives a better range of time to have similar lighting throughout filming, making it not look different from shot to shot. 

I also changed the curtains in my room from the red to white and the difference is amazing. The light is still so clear with the white curtains now and can be muted down when the curtains actually cover the window. There won't be any shots directly showing the window, so the blinding light it used to have won't be a problem. 

The previous red curtains.

The new white curtains.

When looking at the hallway/bathroom, I noticed that the wall was in the way and the general idea for the shot is off. Plus the lighting in the area is basically nonexistant! Now, I could either move the location to a different bathroom, or throw some symbolism there and I'm going with latter! This darkened area can represent how LI is feeling (she's the only one in this scene, until V opens the door) she's nervous and anxious about why V just suddenly left and ran to the bathroom. Then once V opens the bathroom's door, a ray of light will come out with her, slightly brightening the hallway, which can show LI feeling better once V has come out looking okay and the fact that LI's mood brightens up when she sees V (leading the audience to think LI is interested in V).

This shot is the camera outside the wall, it gives a darker and narrower visual.

This shot is the camera in front of the wall, it's difficult to get to this spot, but the shot is brighter. I would most likely use this shot but slightly adjusted.

31. Title Drawing Font and Ideas

Now that I decided on how to make the title diegetic; I needed to find a font. It needed to be a very clear font, not cursive, since the title wouldn't show for too long; something that looked sharp and bold. 

Lots of the fonts were too curvy and not too easy to read and I wasn't sure on what exactly to search for in terms of font names. Until Andrew suggested to look up "floral" fonts, to match the theme of flowers. Due to that suggestion, I found a website that was one of the best fonts. 

https://ayakaito.com/project/flora 

A close up of the font and each element that makes it special. 

The font in italic, both uppercase and lowercase. I will use this when drawing out the title.

Continuing with the title shot, the word "Chrysanthemum" is so long that it would have to take up two pages in the sketchbook. My idea was to actually write the word on the sketchbook paper, but it is just too long and it would have had to be spilt in half to span the two pages, plus there's the awkward spot of the spine, metal part, making it even less seamless. 

My trial and error on how I would incorporate the title into the sketchbook.

The idea now is to write the word on a separate piece of paper, tape it to the sketchbook but have it folded a certain way so that when the reveal happens in the film it is eye catching, dramatic and unique.

The video is what I am planning to do for the title, although the one in the film will span both pages.

While looking for fonts, I did end up finding some pictures of Chrysanthemum sketches.

This is what the Chrysanthemum drawings in the sketchbook will be. It will have the full flowers along with the parts of it to both fill space and give the audience an idea of how far along V is with the disease, like a documentation. 

These are more Chrysanthemums, ones that could be used for references and to fill in any empty space.

30. Costumes

The costumes of the film were meant to be symbolic. When I was first deciding the colors, I had way more scenes, thus more costume changes. Now, there is no need for all of that and two costumes for LI is needed and one for V. 

Before, it would have been similar to their respective LGBQT flag, pansexual and lesbian, which the audience was expected to realize that. There would have been symbolism to each color.

Yellow (LI): Hope, happiness, friendship (beginning on the film, friendship is the main point, but hope is also present for romantic interest)

Pink(LI and V): Romantic, love, compassion, unrealistic (middle of the film, showing LI's growing romantic interest towards V), (V would wear this in the beginning instead, to express her interest towards LI has been there since the start)

Blue (LI): Trust, sadness, depressed (end of the film, where LI would have seen V dead)

Orange (V): Warmth, optimism, warning (V would wear this in the middle of the film, showing how she is warning the audience that something bad is going to happen)

White (V): Purity, calm, innocence (V would wear this when she had died, also representing an angel)

With the removal of all the costumes, I had to make the audience understand in a different way. V will be very stereotypical in how she dresses, like a feminine lesbian. She's going to be wearing a long dress, with her hair slightly up and maybe light makeup. I didn't plan this but my septum piercing, as said by others, makes me look more lesbian. 

For LI, she shouldn't look gay at all. A regular shirt and pants, hair down and no or slight make up; it will depend on how Talia looks with it on. The film should be like a regular day, there is no need for extreme makeup. 

The first dress I had for V was an orange one. This was picked out when I had my pervious actress and was meant to match with her hair and follow the idea of symbolism. This one is nice with its minimal design, however I feel like it blends with my skin too much and looks bad. Not to mention there's nothing breaking the color up; it's solid orange and not the nicest to look at for a whole 5 minutes. It was a very lesbian looking dress, the square neckline and how it framed me, stayed straight on the bottom. The dress was also slightly itchy so it wasn't a total loss. 

The orange dress. 

 The second dress is a short, purple one. Wearing this one made me realize I should use darker colors for me specifically, since it complements my skin nicer. It had small flowers throughout the entire dress. The only issue is that the length and sleeves were extremely short and I would have to wear a jacket with it.

The purple dress. 

The dress I am going to use is a black dress with a flower pattern. This is the complete opposite of what I wanted for the dress to be, however, it is perfect. It has that square neckline and is as tall as I am, while being slightly flowy, too. The sleeves aren't look long and awkward as the orange one is and it fits and complements me well. 

The black dress. 

A close up of V's dress. 

LI's costume was never 100% thought of. I never completely pictured what she would wear, since she is a neutral looking character. I had to ask Talia on what she would be comfortable in wearing, which in hindsight, I shouldn't have. This made me cater towards her more than I should have. It made the costume more for her and not LI because I wanted her comfortable. This is another reason I see why you wouldn't want a friend in your film. Even with these issues, I did find a perfect shirt for LI. It is dark green and also has a flower theme! When I brought it, I had no idea but one of the flowers on it, was a Chrysanthemum! It was pure coincidence.

Talia in her costume. 

A close up of LI's shirt; the arrow is pointing to the Chrysanthemum.

With the two costumes confirmed, I realized that both are darker than what the film will be overall. Although, I don't think it's a bad thing. Having both characters be complementing each other and not the film. It lets the characters pop out more, when before they would have probably blended into the film. Both costumes also have flowers, which hopefully, the audience will catch and understand that flowers have something to do with the film.