Filming Day 1 + Film Poster

     YAAAAASSSSS! We started filming and it is GLORIOUS!!!!

Day one went really well. From now on, most of my posts are not going to be research based, but more discussion and production based as I am now in full swing in actual project creation

       We started out the shoot in my guest bedroom where I needed to redecorate it to make it look more like a teenage girls room. So I added in lots of props like wall art, pens and pencils on counters, stuffed animals, a more purple color scheme for the room, photos, flowers, and a Himalayan salt lamp (the red/yellow/orange light it gives off is just beautiful and great for ambiance). 

We shot many computer and work driven shots here, as most high schoolers typically do work in their rooms and on their beds. 

We shot a lot of shots over time with the intent of having a lot of footage so we wouldn't feel pressured having too little.

(One of the shots from our filming in the bedroom)

Creating Our Own Addie

     Taylor and I needed to actually create some of our own props for the film, so what we did was buy vegan pill capsules that can be filled with anything. Addie is usually portrayed in real life as a red or orange pill, so we simple bought some red sprinkles at the store, and individually filled watch capsule.

     As for the prescription bottle, I have many stored in my house, so we took the label off an old one and simply filled our own home made sprinkle Adderall pills in the bottle. It actually looks really sketchy and good the end product was fantastic.

Next Shots:

1. We shot also in my dining room, as the room is positioned in a very long fashion and provided us with the ability to capture some really cool perspective shots of our actress working frantically.
2. We turned an empty room in my house into a therapist/psychiatrist room by moving in a couch and some pillows. And too make it look even more real, we printed out fake psychology and doctor degrees and put them up on the wall. This gave the sense that it was a real phycologists office through prop and mise en scene.
3. After that we shot at the park. We shot a lot on the swings and actually would place both the tripod and our actress on the swing, that way the shots were not only in motion, but they looked smooth and really unique. We figured this out just through experimentation. Sound wasn't an issue even though we were outside because thankfully no one was at the park and it wasn't a windy day. Hallelujah!
4. Inspired by the Psycho shower murder scene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atjhOhH-V3E) which was actually the first ever film analyzed in AICE Media, we wanted to make our actress look naked without actually showing her naked bits. So like in Psycho, we inferred her taking off her clothes at different angles that made the viewer assume she was unclothed. We did other shots of her chest and up and even utilized the steam of the shower to help us cover up her body from the glass screen. Taylor and I are both very excited for you guys to see the shots from this scene as they came out incredible!
5. Outside Shot: Outside my house I have little lights that surround the entire perimeter of my house, and the way they barley lightened up my actresses face was fascinating. It looked dark and sad and even a bit creepy, but the face and position of the shot just felt so natural and worked so well. As of now this is my favorite shot (Did this one at night).

        My partner in crime Taylor is a photoshop goddess, and utilizing the iPhone 7's newest camera feature called Portraits Mode/Depth Perception, we were able to take some pretty cool looking shots that we can use for our film poster. Here is one of the many shots we got:

We decided to better split up the work, so that Tay would create the film poster and that I would create the website. More done in less time. Simple.

Here is a clue for the next time we shoot... we get one with nature.

-Ash

Chicken Biscuit (Defining Our Two Trailers)

(DISCLAIMER: This post is inspired by my amazing partner for this project, Taylor, who loves chicken biscuits and wanted one of my posts to be titled as such... so here it is. The chicken biscuit really has nothing to do with the rest of the post's content... so... yep.)

 As a part of our project, it is Taylor's and my job to create two different trailers that we will broadcast in two different ways (audience wise and medium wise).

Trailer #1 (Movie Theater Trailer):

1. Trailers displayed at the movie theaters and at film festivals are usually 1:30 to 2:00 minutes. These platforms are suitable for a genre-driven audience who are interested in the characteristics and conventions used in the film. This audience is commonly described as “movie-goers” because they tend to go and see films at these platforms rather than streaming them or watching them at home. Therefore, one of our trailers will be more geared towards focusing on the drama and that one will be presented at these locations.

2. Film festivals and Movie Theaters are a great way to advertise the film because most likely the audience is going to come back to see more films. Our trailer will be displayed at other drama movies that are released before our film so that the same audience is exposed to it. This is commonly how previews are organized at movie theaters and at film festivals- they are displayed before the same genre so that the same targeted audience comes to see it.

3. Indie films do not have that must of a disadvantage as very popular, and wealthy franchised films because it’s about marketing and how well the trailers are produced. Trailers are also typically released within 100 days before the film.

Find more info on Movie Theater Trailers and how they are cut here: http://filmmakermagazine.com/37093-first-impressions/#disqus_thread 

Trailer #2 (Social Media Trailer: Instagram/Snapchat/Twitter):

(https://www.slideshare.net/simdam/codes-conventions-of-a-film-trailer-47051528)

1. Trailers tend to be 1 minute in length, as social media users tend to be more quick with their consumption decisions. Also, some media platforms such as Instagram regulate the video lengths that can be broadcasted on their application (Instagram allows for videos to be 60 seconds or less). Thus, our social media trailer will be a 60 second trailer.

2. What is nice about social media is that you can broadcast so many different trailers and types (full length, shorter, teaser, etc.). Unlike TV movie trailer commercials  which on average are 30 seconds or less, social media's like Twitter and Snapchat allow for longer full length trailers for a fraction of a cost, as TV costs big bucks to feature commercials on differing networks while social medias cost no money to create and post on their own pages and are not expensive when advertising when compared to TV.

3. Snapchat it is especially important as advertisements on snap usually feature a teaser trailer that, if chosen by the consumer, can be "Swipped Up" to view a longer length trailer, making the consumer feel like they are in control with what advertisements they see (all relates to marketing to Millenials and Gen Z with creating brand loyalty and advertising without advertising). Snapchat to us is an incredible resource and totally relates to all of the postmodernism marketing techniques/conventions we learned earlier in the year.

4. Examples of social media trailers that have been very successful with variability that relate to the conventions just listed:
Ghost In A Shell - 

(https://twitter.com/GhostInShell/status/847845938148159494)

Atomic Blond-

(https://twitter.com/atomic_blonde)

Before I Fall-

(https://twitter.com/BeforeIFallFilm)

Until Next Time Lovelies!

-Ash

I did some damage... Oops... 🙃 + Props (Mise-en-scene)

   

     Okay! So I am going to be headed off to college soon, and because it is my goal to achieve a BA in Media eventually, I know I am going to need to buy myself some equipment.

     I have always wanted a tripod for filming, and so I saved up some money, and will my Media teacher's recommendation. I bought myself my first ever tripod! Ahhh I'm so happy you don't even know!!

     A tripod will allow me to have more steady and concrete looking shots. My shots will look more professional and be easier to edit as I won't have to take into account human motion/error while holding the camera.

Here is the link to the tripod I bought: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005KP473Q/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Also! I ended up also buying an attachment for my cell phone as it is the only device I have with me to film. In college I will have access to better filming equipment at Indiana University. But for now, my iPhone will do and I have shot all my other films in high school with my phone, so it'll be no different than before.

Link to the attachment: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EYFV6FY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This is a major step up from my filming quality from my last year's project "Red Room" where I was literally using books and chairs to act as a stabilizing structure for my phone. You have no clue how many times the structure would fall or fail... it's PTST.

BUT NOW! I have equipment that will make my projects/products look better, plus I feel more like a professional and why not boost my ego and make me more confident 😈.

Now moving into props. Here are some of the major props we will be incorporating into our film. 99% of the props used are things Taylor, Megan and I already had, but we did have to buy some things:

-Art for walls (add cute high school room ascetic)
-Messy Desk
-Laptop
-Himalayan Salt Lamp
-Cute Backpack
-Different trendy high school outfits (we will be working with Megan on the costume design aspect to create a more organic high school feel)
-Cell Phone
-Artificial Tears
-Placebo Pills (this was a hard one to find)

When it came to finding fake pills it was not easy. You see, even though our actress Megan won't be consuming the pills when we take shots of her taking them (we'll have her just act like she is swallowing them), she is a vegan, thus I needed to find Vegan fake pills.

   Many fake pills were made with gelatin, which meant there were vegetation but not vegan, but after countless hours of research (I'm serious it took me forever to find the right shape and type) I found the correct fake placebo pill. The bottle says vegetarian, but the ingredient list specifies that it is vegan.

     I learned from this process that your film is nothing without a happy and well supplied actor, and so we made it work!

Here is the link to the pills I found on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017GUH42I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 
Whelp, that is all I have for you now.

Next week I will be posting about how and what we are doing for our different trailers and also... WE BEGIN FILMING!!! WOOHOO!

Bye bye,

-Asher 😘💗🦄

Shots Shots Shots 💃🏼💃🏼💃🏼

 Taylor and I have planned out our entire lists of Shots we want to take and scenes we want to set up for our trailers. They are not in any particular order.

     Taylor and I have compiled a list. Some shots will be used in one of our trailers, and other shots will be in the other, and some may be used in both. It is our job to create two different trailers that will reach two different audiences. Taylor and I already have complied our ideas for each trailer and know how we will be broadcasting these differing products over specific media platforms.... but all will be revealed with good time. Probably later this week is when we will come out with the research for how we will be presenting our two trailers.

Until then, here is a photo of the lists of shots/scenes Taylor and I will be shooting. We will be utilizing all of the locations discussed in my location post with descriptions of the types of shots we will be taking.

The best part, our actress is prepared to do all of them.

Check out our full list below. Most shots are going to relate back to the drama conventions study I did in a previous post with some exceptions of how we defy some conventions. Take a look!!

See ya next time,

-Asher

Casting and Problems With High School Representation

Well, Taylor and I have been on the search for a while now for an actress who will be able to be in our film, and we finally found someone who we think will be perfect for our film.

      Her name is Megan Vitko, and she is a graduated senior from my high school. She is so beautiful and free spirited and has exactly the look, feel, vibe, time, and expletive we are looking for in an actress.

This is Megan:


     Megan is also going to school for fashion and even is the president of our school's fashion club. She is perfect for providing that modern high schooler fashion forward ascetic Taylor and I are trying to achieve. That way, not only Megan looks like a high schooler because she is one, but our target audience consumers will be able to relate more to her fashion wear and age wise.

      Taylor and I have identified a major problem that many drama and high school teen movies are facing now a days. THAT MOST OF THE ACTORS ARE LITERARILY SO OLD AND LOOK NOTHING LIKE HIGH SCHOOLERS. Seriously, it's so frustrating being a high schooler looking at films that portray us looking like college or late twenties people.

     Taylor and I will not stand for this. New shows coming out on Netflix like "Thirteen Reasons Why" and older movies based on high school like "High School Musical" who poorly portray the average high school student are no more. 

THE FOLLOWING ARE HORRIBLE REPRESENTATIONS OF HIGH SCHOOLERS IN HIGH SCHOOL BECAUSE ALL THE ACTORS ARE PROBABLY ALMOST IN THEIR THIRTIES OMG SMH!

     Taylor and I appreciate movies more like "The Edge of 17" which portrays actors that actually look my age are what we want to go for. That is how you gain consumer trust and how you generate better responses from Gen Z and Millennials.


     Megan is so down to get this thing going, and so Taylor and I have a ton planned for all of you.

Until next time,

-Asher

A New Perspective

   The following are two personal interviews Taylor and I conducted with two different people who were willing to be open with their Adderall usage. Unlike in our podcast with Julia Brilliant, the following people are not using the drug for medical or prescribed reasons. The identities of the interviewees have been kept out for this blog and will not under any circumstance be disclosed.

Person 1 Interview:

• So why do you take Adderall?
• “I want to do well in school. I started my junior year, I work about 30 hours a week, and it is all just really stressful and it helps me.”

• Do you feel like you do better overall in life with Adderall?
• “Yes. Definitely. I don’t need sleep so it cuts that out. I’ll maybe sleep a few hours a night, but not usually. I’d say I get four hours of sleep per week. So everytime I get tired I just take another one.”

• What is it like being on Adderall?
• I can become very stimulated. I get paranoid. My heart rate increases so much. It curbs my appetite so I don’t need to eat and take time to do that. I feel just very paranoid like everyone is watching me. I’m walking in the hallway freaking out like shaking. After two days of not sleepy fully I just break down and cry. I just take a really high dosage.”

• What dosage do you take?
• “I take a 45 mg or a 55 mg depending on what I can buy or is available. I think some people take 10 mg but I need more. They are about $10 a pill. I get it from a dealer.”

• What’s the biggest difference on and off Adderall?
• “I get very focus to the point where it consumes me. Like I could be on a math problem for an hour or I’m focused on a dot on my paper for like an hour. It did hurt me on a test but Adderall usually helps me on my tests when I finish them.”

• Are you going to continue using it?
• “100%.”

• Do you feel like you are addicted?
• “I don’t know... pretty borderline.”

• If you were to stop how would your life be affected?
• “I don’t think it I’d be affected that much. I mean I remember things better on it but I think I’d be fine. I mean I only take it for school.
• “Are you worried about the potential health risks and side effects?”
• “Sometimes. Like if it curbs your appetite like that’s not healthy. Like the way it affects me is not healthy either... so... oh well.. That’s what the school system does for you.”

• “How did you start taking it?”
• My friend introduced it to my my junior year and it helped me in school and I just didn’t stop.”

Person 2:

• When did you start taking Adderall?
• “I started at the end of junior year for AP and AICE Exams.”

• When was it first introduced to you?
• “I can’t remember exactly, but I know it was from my friends who took it.”

• How many times have you taken it?
• “Only about 12-13 times.”

• What is the milligram of each pill”
• “I take 25 mg, extended release, which lasts about 6-8 hours.” (Keep in mind that prescribed Adderall is only 10 mg and is not extended release.)

• How does it make you feel when you take it?
• “Everyone describes it as extreme focus, and yeah that’s what it is, but it’s more like you can’t stand to not be productive. Like for me personally, I feel good and I feel happy when I am productive and when I can achieve something with my time. Like when you’re on it, you can’t stand to just be sitting there and doing nothing and being unproductive, you need to be doing something.”

• What does it feel like when you’re on Adderall and you’re doing nothing?
• “It feels like, for me, that it is a waste of time and energy.”

• Are you worried at all about the side effects?
• “Like Addiction? No, because it’s not like if you just take something once or a couple of times you’re going to get addicted.”

• Do you generally do better in school when you take Adderall?
• It’s doesn’t necessarily mean that I get like miles better test grades because I take a prescription that I’m not supposed to be taking, but it just makes me feel better that I can be productive and focus better in school on stuff that I need to learn and be a more successful person doing so. I can do the things that I want to be able to do, if that makes any sense.”

• Do you want to continue using it in college?
• “Umm… I mean obviously you’re immediate thought is yeah, yes I want to because it would help a lot and it would help me focus on the things I need to do. But at the same time, it’s like what are you gonna do? Are you gonna go out and convince some random doctor in your new city to like give it to you.”

• Do you normally convince your doctor to give it to you? Or how to you get it?
• “Oh, no, no, no, I don’t do that with my doctor. I get it from my friends.”

• Adderall is usually referred to as a studying steroid, do you feel like that statement is true?
• “So the thing about that is, as least for me, when I think about steroids in sports is that is changed your physiology, without any extra effort you get better results that you normally wouldn’t get. With Adderall, you need to put in the exact same effort and the exact same mind power and motivation into that to get the results you’re looking for.”

• So how do you feel when you have a lot of homework and studying to do, but you don’t end up taking Adderall?
• “For me, it takes me a significantly longer amount of time to do anything because I am constantly getting distracted and I get distracted very easily, like I’ll look at my phone every couple of seconds.”

• Do you usually feel motivated?
• “Yeah, but it just makes me happy to have that extra boost to my motivation. I think you have to be a special type of motivated to want to take a drug like this.”

• Have you ever got to the point where you are too focused and end up spending too much time on something?
• “Yeah when I was doing a lab last week, like it had to be perfect. I was in that mindset where it had to be perfect, even though it took me a substantial amount of time. And sometimes I’ll get caught up on a problem on tests and realize that now I only have 10 minutes left for 20 multiple choice questions.”

• What are some of the side effects you feel on it?”
• “It completely curves my appetite to the point where I have no motivation to eat. Like I don’t eat when I’m on it. Usually I’ll binge eat when I’m not on it because I’m bored or because I’m not doing anything. So it completely takes away that distraction and motivation to want to eat.”

• Are you scared of the side effects taking a major affect on your life?
• “No, because at this point I know that I’m not addicted and I know that I have a certain cap on what is appropriate for me to ask for and how much to take. For me, it’s not like I have a constant supply that would make me worried.”

• Is all of it even worth it?
• “I guess not. It’s not like, at least for me, where a lot of people spend a substantial amount of money on a pill or something like that. But money aside, if I were to get addicted I don’t think it would be worth it. But at this point, I think it’s worth it in the amount that it is.”

Take Me On A Trip

      No silly I'm not talking about an acid trip... I'm talking about a LOCATION SCOUTING TRIP! YAYYAYAYAYAYAYAYasdfghjkl;!

Last year I really didn't need to do a lot of location scouting due to the fact I was just doing a film opening and that needed a confined grey looking space like an abandoned warehouse or garage for my AS project Red Room, but this year I'm not doing a horror film, I'm doing a drama trailer package with many more complex scenes with many more locations.

Location 1 :: Cypress Bay High School :: Our main character is a high school Junior, and what a better place to film other that our actual high school. Taylor and I go to "The Bay" and thankfully we go to one of the largest high schools in the whole United States both campus and population size. Meaning that there are various places for us to shoot on campus. With over 50 portables, 3 buildings, a connecting bridge, and a large sports complex, Cypress Bay High School is an excellent and readily available location for shooting shots for our film opening.

Location 2 :: Doctors/Psychiatrist/Therapist Office and Consultation Room :: My Therapist Dr. Victoria is not certain that we will be able to use her office to film due to the fact that she has a very busy schedule and primarily works in that room, in any case her office room does look very good for Taylor and me to use because it literally is a therapists office. If that plan falls through, we can always use my dad's office which can readily and easily be turned into a therapists office look alike as it is small and comforting in decor.

Location 3 :: Bedroom :: We will either be decorating my bedroom or my guest bedroom, as any bedroom will really do. The reason we would use my bedroom would be for the fact I am a bit messy and it really looks like your stereotypical high school Junior/Senior's bed room with pictures and art on the walls and a horribly organized desk (I'm ready let the judging being... but hey don't judge your probably just as bad no shade). And many of our more personal and emotionally driven scenes would happen in the bed room, as this is where many teens regularly spend a majority of their time. Unlike most high school movies that act like high schoolers are never in school and are always partying and have no homework, our trailer will depict a more realistic high school student representation age wise and living wise.

Location 4 :: Glass Shower :: Taylor and I are going to be getting some very risqué shots with the implications that our actress in naked in the shower. The steam of the shower and just the fact that the shower is usually a place where people think all comes together to create a more beautiful and vulnerable scene and get some pretty cool shots. Taylor and I are very excited for the shower scenes in our trailers, so we are going to need to find an actress who is okay with being in a shower scene (for our sake she'd be in a bathing suit).

Location 5 :: Markham Park :: A national park area with lots of trails, lakes, and woodsy areas we could use for some of our more fast paced and confusing shots. Taylor and I even like the idea of having a reflective shot right by the water to create a really beautiful shot. We have a lot of ideas in mind for this location.

     As of now these are the locations Taylor and I have scouted, if we come up with any more in the future we will be sure to let you all know. As for now, that is all I have for you.

-Asher

Let The Creative Juices Flow (Character Development)

 It is time to begin the more creative side of my project now that I have compiled so much research. Taylor and I started storyboarding by doing a character mapping activity together I originally learned in my Creative Writing class that comes in handy whenever I need to start a new project. This activity is all about getting all of your creative energy out onto paper and pasting things that make sense together and scrapping unnecessary things at the end. There are no bad answers in this activity, it all works in the end, and if you don't like the character developed just try again.

       Start it off! We quickly discussed who we actually wanted our main protagonist to be. Instantly we both said a female junior high school student soon to become a Senior. Done.

Social attribues: We discussed she would be friendly and well known but not popular, she would have been known as the sweet bubbly girl next door. She would deal with some stress and anxiety. She would not be an introvert but defiantly not an extrovert, somewhere nice right in the middle. Done.

Name: Taylor and I took some BS if we were to have a baby together what should we name it tests. We got a good laugh out of it but it didn't work. Then, we looked up popular baby names from this year and realized we hated them all. So then we looked at other countries popular names as we wanted our character to have a simple and unique name that would go along with our character development thus far (I know it sounds particular but hey it's our project). We eventually found the name Nora and it clicked in both of our minds instantly. And it was settled, our main female protagonist would be named Nora Brawn! The last name was Taylor's manifestation it just came out of nowhere and we both loved it. Done.

Meaning behind our character's name: https://www.babycenter.com/baby-names-nora-3443.htm 

     Looks: Cute and attractive but defiantly not like super hot (TRUST ME I KNOW THIS SOUNDS CONFUSING BUT IT MAKES SENSE TO US HIGH SCHOOLERS 😂). Good with style but is defiantly more on the simplistic side. Your overall average, cute high school Junior going through her days of high school life. Brown to dirty blond hair. Race doesn't matter. Done.

       Taylor and I are now on the look for a actress for our film that fits this whole character map we have created for Nora.

As for the other characters, we will have a psychiatrist/therapist/doctor (we may use my actual phycologist Dr. Victoria as I we believe she will be totally willing to help out and she has the perfect setting to shoot as she has a little talking office), some basic high school groupie friends who act super angsty and popular, and some very concerned parents.

Because we are creating a movie trailer, the other characters outside of our main protagonist do not need so much character development, and their screen time in comparison to Nora will be minimal only their to show the dynamic character setting and reveal little bits and peaces of the movie's plot.

Until next time,

-Ash