MY CCR

     With both happiness from the outcome of the project and sorrow for it being over, I present you the final part of my project: My CCR. Enjoy! :)

Lights, Camera, and My Reflection!

     I will say, these past few months have been an emotional rollercoaster. We have been working hard for over two months and finally, we are done. It is true that our project seemed to be all over the place at first since we did struggle to find an original idea that was easy to produce with our resources and given Covid-19, but we made it.

    Like I have mentioned in previous posts, at first, our initial idea for our project was different. It included a kidnap scene and a stalker, but as we continued to work on that, we realized that this idea was so cliche and there were multiple movies already done revolving around that same concept. We wanted to be unique. Our film opening had to be one of a kind. There were multiple late-night facetime group calls thinking of the perfect idea that would be a combination of our favorite shows, movies and would reflect us as well. And so, one night we came up with Walker 9:37. 

    At first, this opening involved a third subject in which that one person was going to die and the only one that saw the murder was going to be Maya, but later we came to the conclusion that it was best if we made Maya's best friend die and also be imaginary as a cause of her traumas. It was perfect. It had the deep character development we wanted, as most of our movies and shows that we inspired on had that sense where they mainly focused on the character's personality, and it had a plotline that we had never seen before. 

    And we planned and planned and planned and for the past four weeks, we polished the idea, gathered the props we needed, and filmed, which I would say was the hardest part. Then came the second hardest part which was the editing. Even though we're all good at editing and all liked it, we did encounter one main problem which was the lighting. We wanted our opening to display more dull and dark lighting in order to go with the whole tone of the movie, but since we did film this early in the morning, the light was very bright, which it was a bit difficult to work it. However, with some editing, we were able to partially get rid of it and have our finished product.

    This experience definitely was one of a kind. Not only I was able to work on a project as big as this one, but through research and the help of my teammates, I learned a lot more about the filming production process than I did before. This was a remarkable experience that I wouldn't want to ever forget. Yes, it was very stressful and time-consuming, but in the end, it was all worth it. 

The Finish Product: The Film Opening

     We are so excited to announce the release of Walker 9:37. This has taken us weeks and we are so happy to share it with you! Here's the link. Click and enjoy!!

Our Film Opening. 

Some Shots We Filmed!

    This week we started the filming production for our project. I will say, at first we all thought that this was going to be fairly easy, however as we approach the date and as we started to shoot, things became very technical in a matter of seconds. We shot multiple scenes many times in order to get the best angles and the best results. We are still yet deciding which shots to use for the final product but here are a few of them. 

In this clip, we used a close-up with some pan movements to create a sense of tiredness. One is able to appreciate the chaos in her room, which is why we focused more on her legs when doing its scene as well as to show how tire she is of life by the way she's walking. 

In this shot, we wanted the prescription pills to be the center of the shot, which is why we placed them in the center third. Maya is prescribed Amitriptyline by her doctor, which is an anti depressant pill. These pills are the ones that help her cope with all the traumatizing events that she has gone through that have made her the way she is. However, in a sense or another, these pills are not working on her because she has a bigger problem which is a mental illness. By using a tilt motion, we were able to move the camera in a way that we would show the audience her intaking the pills. 

Our film opening consists of many close-up shots, but the last shot I will be sharing with you is an over-the-shoulder one. This shot is the last in our opening where we reveal that an accident has happened. It is left in a cliffhanger where the audience wonders what will happen next. We specifically used this type of shot to show a more clear view on Maya, her actions and her expression when she sees the unexpected. 

Lights, Camera, and PROPS!

 Props are a very essential thing in films. The way items are displayed and used throughout a movie can say a lot about a character or the setting they live in. As a group, we have gathered and decided to use certain objects that overall will tell more about our characters. 

    To start off, the first place where we will be shooting and the place where the opening will begin is Maya's bedroom. A person's bedroom says a lot about the person. It's the only place in the world where one feels safe and at home. In this case, it is the only place that Maya feels at ease. We will be using books such as:

                                  Some of her favorite reads                      Education books: SAT 

    As shown in the dialogue we made, Maya is a very good student at school. Months in advance, Maya prepares herself for projects, tests, and even does her homework days before it due. She is always on top of everyone and due to her hard work, it shows. Also, school is a way that she can escape from her personal problems, and stress about other ones. Also, if you look closer to the books that interest her the most, her favorite once, we see that two of them correlate with subjects of the brain and how it works. This is ironic since she might believe that hers is working completely fine when in reality her brain is working to help her not suffer from her past. 

Another important aspect of these books is that there are some that are in Spanish, portraying Maya's culture. Maya comes from a Hispanic father, and including objects that represent that, makes the character developing of Maya way more successful. 

Along with the books, we will make her workplace a messy one. Her whole room will be displayed as very clean and organized, but once we get to the workplace, one will be able to see how disorganize it is, showcasing her problems in life and how her work, or school, is her way of escaping from them; however, no matter how hard she tries, she will never be able to do so without help. 

Costume time!!

     Going back to an older blog post I wrote about our characters and the colors that most define them in our film, today I will be showing you the costumes we have made for both of them and explain them furthermore. 

Maya:

For starters, we have Maya's costume.  From last time I've talked about our characters and the colors that we will be using to define them, there are some things that we changed. It is true that we will be using a light pink in some accents of her bedroom and accessories to showcase her innocence, but also we want to use both green and blue in her costumes as well. As seen in the image, her outfit consists of athleisure since that is the activity being shown in the opening. She will be wearing both green leggings and a sweatshirt which she will be taking off in the car before running, and a blue shirt along with her running shoes. 

The use of green in both her leggings and sweatshirt is used to portray the life in her. As we know, Lucy is the imaginary friend that Maya has created in her head, which means she is not real. On the other hand, green is usually associated with nature nowadays, which is also associated with life. Outside of her close people, everyone views Maya as someone free and filled with life, but once she takes off her sweatshirt and reveals the blue shirt, we discover that Maya also has personal problems. These problems have affected her in a negative way, hints at the cooler, more toned-down blue. 

Moreover, it is evident to discuss that, unlike Lucy, Maya is more conservative with her choice of wear. As we will be seeing shortly, Lucy is more 'out there' and is not afraid of showing herself

Lucy:

As we see in the picture displayed on the left, Lucy's costume is much different from the one of Maya. She not only is showing way more skin, but the style is very different. As talked about in the posts where I illustrate their personalities, Lucy is the cause of why Maya runs and is athletic today. Maya used to be a very shy girl and still is, but now since her friendship with Lucy has flourished, she is more attracted to doing sports like Lucy does. 

Lucy uses more athletic shoes, specifically for running, which hint at that aspect of their friendship. Also considering the fact that Lucy is wearing the 'correct' form of clothes for the activity, shows her experience in sports.

When talking about the color, there's only one that prevails: purple. We purposely did not want to include more than one strong color in her outfit, to not drift the viewer from the desired theme. Like I've mentioned before, purple in media most often symbolizes fantasy. Now, since Lucy is a product of Maya's fantasy, it seemed correct to make this decision. 

Even though we will be including other accessories in these outfits, the main aspects of them are what is being showcased in the pictures. 

The Script

 This week we have been working on our finishing touches for the opening. Some of which are the props, costumes, and one of the most important aspects of it, the script. A script is the written text that describes every motion and dialogue or a play, broadcaster, or in this case our film opening. 

    Scripts are very important since it guides the director and the actors what to do in each scene. Dialogue is an important aspect of scripts. How a character speaks and communicates says a lot about them. It can either represent their personality or also categorize them in a certain stereotype or even a culture.  Even though we weren't able to physically meet up for this activity, we did a group call and worked together on our script displayed here:

As we have already described our character's personality and physical traits in other posts, we wanted to illustrate and communicate those traits in the way they spoke. As seen in the dialogue, we see how Lucy has a very colloquial and sarcastic way of speaking. She's usually the friend taking the lead in their conversations and that shows. She is not afraid to communicate what she thinks, especially not in front of her best friend. On the other hand, Maya is more conservative. We see her truly speaking up on a matter at the beginning of the dialogue when she speaks about her dad not being home. This is a usual occurrence for her, and the fact that it has always bothered her, she most often shares that with Lucy.