Production Blog 3 : I Made A Dress

 

Greetings Girlies,

Yes, I have done it again! Do you really think I was going to go this entire project without making at least ONE piece of garment?!

It was the night before I went out to film in Miami. Although I had filmed other scenes in a….suitable dress, I just knew it wasn’t going to make the cut this time. So, out my bead I went to grab some fabric I had bought months ago for a self project. I laid out the 2 yards of crinkle cotton fabric and thought about what I wanted the dress to look like. Since I had a lot of fabric, I decided to make it extra flows. I began drafting my patterns, which was fairly simply. I cut out all the pieces I need and began threading my machine. It was a blessing that the entire garment was one color, changing threads ever so often can be stressful. It was around 2:00 in the morning and I was around half way finished with the dress. The straps were spaghetti straps and this is almost, every sew it’s nightmare! Why you ask? Because they are devilishly hard to turn 😢. After that whole ordeal I finally attached the straps, sewed on my pockets and finally,

….. I was done.

It was 6:30 am and I need to t leave the house by 7:00am. After all those trials and efforts you would never believe that I ….never wore the dress. It was beautiful of course but in the end I wasn’t “feeling the vibe”  the dress was more suitable for a day on the beach or chilling on a watch but not for walking the entirety of Miami Design District. 

Especially, because the back was very low, it would require me to wear a t shirt underneath, which threw off the whole look. I sighed and said to myself “at least I got it done.”

That’s all for now girlies. Toodles.

Your Fashionista.

Re-Shoot Blog

 

Greetings girlies, 

There were many scenes that I wasn’t fond of the way they turned out. The field scene for example didn’t really, go as planned. There were just way too many people in the way and the grass wasn’t as tall as I would have liked it to be. Most importantly, the flowers, none were in bloom and I was really looking forward to including them in this shot. In the end I scrapped all the previous videos and and filmed them in my backyard instead. Which honestly, I should have done so in the first place. It would have saved me a lot of pain, struggle and crazy Miami highways.

Since I was filming this in the comfort of my own home, I used the white dress for this shot. I set up the camera to get an overhead view of me laying on the grass for the sleeping part. I didn’t have tall grass so I removed the scene of the girl running through the fields. In its placed I filmed a Dutch scene of the pocket watch. First it falls onto the grass and then the camera slowly, zooms in on the time.

Another thing that didn’t go as planned was also, the watch itself. I’ve had it for so long that now the handles won’t budge. So, I wasn’t able to adjust the time to my satisfaction. However, I still went on with the watch since it is a crucial part of the film.

Aside from the field scene I decided to scrap the entire playground scene . The shots looked dark and not pleasing for me. In stead I will replace these scenes by just filming the girl relaxing in the garden (my backyard) . Well that is all for this blog, I will catch you all in the next one !

Your Fashionista.

Music Blog

 

Hello Girlies,

Alas, nothing really went as planned with this one. Originally, I had wanted to use the song Caribbean Blue by Enya, however, I forgot that this project would require me to ask permission to use this audio. I hadn’t really been focusing too much on the music but now it’s too late to ask for permission. What to do you ask? I’d like to introduce you to my little friend, royalty free music. The problem is the right music, is extremely, hard to find. I spent hours scrolling through YouTube listening to what sounds like the same royalty free LoFi music. It was hard to find anything that sounded unique or stood out to me. No sound fit the vibe of my film and the ones that did I would have to buy a subscription. (Does anyone see my dying trial 😣)

Back to YouTube I went! This time I searched up vintage French music. I found a couple of pieces that I liked. One of the being a remix of La Vie En Rose. I was also, thinking to overlay an audio of the poem “Spanish Needle” by Claude McKay. It should be okay to use because the author died over 70 years ago.

I want to use this poem because of the meaning, the author reflecting on his childhood through a tribute to the Spanish needle flower. It would add a whimsical feeling to the intro. Aside from these, I was thinking of also, incorporating some old classical pieces. A few such as, symphony N.5 and Fur Elise. These pieces should add intensity or build excitement, especially, for scenes where the girl is running or walking through the city. I will be editing these tracks to suit the atmosphere of the film. Possibly, by adding a vintage vinyl or record effect along with some glitches.

Editing Blog 2

 

Howdy Do Girlies,

Have you ever Cringed so hard at a video of yourself? Yes?! Cause me too!

After editing all the fun scenes, it was time for the hard part. The mirror scene. I started off by of course, inserting all the clips that made met my criteria. For these scenes, the internal dialogue is going to be a voice over. The words will match the expressions of the girl and her reflection. Why do it like this you ask? I believe this helps to highlight that feeling of disassociation and psychotic nature. I mean the girl is having a full on conversation with her reflection! So, why not take the extra step to make it creepier!

After recording the voice over, I went and edited all the lines for the reflection. I used an echo effect for her voice to show she isn’t really apart of the real world.  The visuals on the other hand, using a cold or bluish filter, to add to the eerie atmosphere. Some scenes I had to take clips of the camera facing me, remove the background and then place myself in the mirror to act as the reflection. (Lol I say this as though we aren’t the same person)

All in all it was just a very interesting scene and I love the suspense and uncanny valley effect it has on the film. Finally, I edited in all the title scenes. First I created them by going into procreate and screen recording me using the watercolor brush. I used a splash of different colors to represent the different themes of the movie. I then took the old, picture of the title designs, placed it as an overlay and added a zoom in effect and a fade in effect. The title sequence is placed in the first couple of seconds in the intros like little cut / break throughs.

Well that is that, I will catch you in the next one my lovelies.

Editing Blog 1

 

Greetings Girlies,

After all that hectic filming, it’s time for editing! I started off with the easiest scenes which were all the ones in Design District and the flower field. As usual I am using Capcut for all the editing for this project. I imported all the videos into CapCut and began my work. First I muted all the audio from the videos. Then I added filters. I wanted the town/mall scene to be brighter and more whimsical than other scenes. I added a light pink filter over these videos and increased the saturation to get more vibrant colors. I also, added effects such as sunlights or hazy views to give it a more dream like feel. For the over the shoulder running scene, I slowed it down and increased the brightness. I also, added more motion blur to exaggerate the whimsical atmosphere. I used jump cut on the scenes where we can see the girl running from an eye level view. This part is in slow motion for most of the scene but just before the cut i speed up the video to have this fast forward look.

Moving along it was time to edit the flower field scene. The grass was looking a little dull in the video so I used the bright filter and increased the saturation, so it looked more healthy and vibrant. The long shot wolf the girl sleeping was good, however there bits of things I wanted to take. I cropped it to remove any unnecessary things in the background. Then I added a zoom effect, for suspense. Alongside this, i inserted a gradual tilt to the right. I did similar things for the short playground scene. Increased the saturation to portray that childlike setting and added a camcorder effect for this vintage, cinematic look.

All of these scenes were then put together and alternated according to the story board. Some scenes I used a fade out effect or bright light effect for the transitions, while others it immediately just cuts to the other scene. This highlights the dream state that we all experience, random jumps and collage of one dream state to the next.

That’s all for now !

Production Blog - Filming 2

 

Greetings Girlies,

For this day of filming I first headed over to my local park. I made sure to arrive early, to avoid the crowd. Once there, I set up my tripod close to the slides and zoomed in to get a close up of the girl crawling oh the slide. I filmed this a couple of times to make sure I got the right angles and lighting. After that I filmed a long shot of the girl just running around the play ground. I also, got a few medium shots of her just laying around casually.

 

Now that the easy part is over! It was time to take a trip to Miami’s Design District. My biggest worry was the crowd, which was to be expected but I tried to get as many empty shots as I could get. It was a bit intimidating, filming in front of all those people but I just had to suck it up and get it done. I set up my tripod to get a long shot of the colorful buildings and art works. I began running and just looking around at various buildings and things. For the next scenes, I needed aid to film the over the shoulder shot of the girl running. The camera had to be tracking my movements and following close behind. 

After the design district, I rushed over to a farm I found in Miami that I thought would be perfect for the flower field scene. Once there, I wasted no time. I threw out random pieces of clothing, toys and accessories onto the grass and organized them into a messy circle. I lay in the middle and had someone else, get an over head, medium shot of the girl sleeping in the fields. Just as I did for the previous running scene, I followed similar steps. 

That’s all for this blog lovelies  I shall greet you in the next one.

Production Blog - Day 1 of Filming

 

Greetings Girlies,

First day of filming was an experience…To get my desired setting, yours truly, took an hour drive to West Palm Beach to visit my aunts house. She was generous enough to allow me to use her house for filming.I woke up at around 8 am so I could get that gorgeous, morning glow. Although, the house lighting proved just as sufficient. I began by filming the mirror scene since it would be the most convenient. I set up my tripod at an angle that would catch me and my reflection. 

This scene is the dialogue between the girl and her alternate self/reflection. It was extremely, awkward filming these scenes. I don’t think acting is my forte…when I’m by myself. None the less I pushed through. I wanted it to look like all of this was in her mind. Hence, why the characters mouths’ will not be moving. However their expressions are very communicative. So, I made a bunch of different faces while, reciting the dialogue in my head. 

After that, I filmed the girl walking over to the tub to fill it up. The tub takes a while, so I’m the mean time I filmed the bedroom/ waking up scene. I asked my aunt to help me get an over head shot of the girl sleeping, twisting and turning, as though she were in a nightmare. This by far was the shortest scene.

Finally, the moment you’ve all been waiting for….the tub scene. I have never jumped in a jacuzzi in a full on dress. Guess I can cross that off my bucket list. Once the tub was full, I got in after setting up the tripod. I also required assistance for this part. For the scene where the reflection hands the girl the pocket watch, once again, I asked my aunt to be the one to hand it to me. The most difficult part if this scene, was submerging my self under the water…trying to make it look effortless (not to mention I had to get my braids wet :< ) this was also a over head view, so the viewer can feel the suspense of the whole scene.

That concludes the first day of filming, I hope the others are just as exciting.