Reviewing Concentration Footage

     There was a lot of footage from the day that I filmed, but there were also a lot of issues too. This is a time-lapse to show both me and my sister hard at work!!

Problems

    Some of the problems that occurred while filming was first: lighting. First, I had to wait until the nighttime in order to start filming, because I did not want to rely on the outside light in order to do the lighting, since I knew that it would change fast, and that would cause problems with continuity. So, in order to avoid this problem, I waited until it was night so that I would only rely on the artificial lighting in my house. 

    However, for some of the shots, the lighting was still bad, since it was in low lit areas. For instance, the lighting for the clip where Ayami was very low lit at first. However, after putting some lamps behind me, I was able to make the lighting a bit better, so that the audience could at least see what was going on. This is how that clip turned out.

    Another problem had to do with shadows. There were a lot of shadows due to the table, chairs, and sometimes even me trying to film. I know that by using the three-point lighting technique, but I, unfortunately, did not have the resources to accomplish this. So instead, I tried my best to not include myself in the shots. For instance, here is a clip that had me like a shadow. However, this is a clip that shows me adjusting and trying my best not to show my shadow in the clip anymore. 

    It was also a struggle to try and keep the camera steady while doing a tracking shot. For instance, in this shot, you can see that I had a hard time keeping the camera level while filming. However, after a few tries, I was able to get it to be more smooth, but it did take a while to try and achieve this. This is the clip that is much smoother. 

    Another issue had to do with my grades. When I first had the idea, I wanted to use the list of grades in my language arts class, since they were consistently Ds and Fs (which is not good in real life, but good for the film). However, by the time spring break came, my teacher randomly put in a bunch of 100% grades, so my pinnacle was full of "green," which I didn't want to show for my film. However, I found a way to work around this by only filming a few of the grades, since there was a list of at least five grades in a row that were bad, so I mainly highlighted that. This is the clip to show how it turned out. 

    One shot that I was not able to film yet was the close-up of the time before 9pm. I wanted to get a shot of the time around 5 or 6pm, but I, unfortunately, forgot that day. So I have to make sure to do to get both of these shots on another day. I think that I will need to make an alarm for me to remember to do this. This is the original 9pm shot, but I will have to replace it so that it will have the correct date on it for both of the times. However, I plan to shoot it exactly like how I shot the original one.  

Additions!

    No, this does not mean addition as in math. These are shots that I am hoping to add to my opening, that were not already included in the storyboard or script. 

   

    The first addition I made was including shots just showing the mess on the table so that the audience can have a closer look at what the environment is usually like for a person that has ADHD. This clip and also this one show this. 

    The second addition I added was showing Ayami doodling on an index card. At first, Ayami was just drawing for fun on the index card because she was bored for a second. But then I decided that it would be good to include it in my film, since doodling, while I'm supposed to be doing work, is something that always happens to me. This is one of the shots that I got of her doing that. 

    

    The last addition I added was an extreme close-up of Ayami looking around. I already knew that I wanted to include Ayami looking around, according to my storyboard. However, while filming, I realized that it was hard to notice Ayami's eyes moving around, so I decided to also d an extreme close-up of just her eyes. This is what the clip looked like. 

    

    

Costume and Set Up

     Today I filmed the second part of my opening! This is the scene where Ayami is having a lot of trouble concentrating while doing her homework. It was easy to find a day to film this because I just needed to find a time that Ayami was free (which is literally any time I want, since she isn't a busy person like me). The spot was also a very easy thing to get ready since I filmed it at my house at the dining room table. I am glad that I was able to film this entire part in one day since the only thing I need to be left for the film is the library part. I have decided that I will not include the one-word quotes at the end, since it does not really fit with a film opening, and is more likely to be at the end of the entire film. I also think that it is a way to direct way of explaining what is happening in the opening. I think even without this entire part, it will hopefully be able to communicate the meaning of the opening, which is basically trying to represent how Asian Americans deal with people invalidating their ADHD. 

Set Up

[Set Up + Ayami looking adorable]

I wanted to make the setup of the table be as accurate as it could be to show a person that has ADHD. In my personal experience with ADHD, I am a very messy person and I do not usually clean up the area that I am working on, because my mind is usually just so focused on so many other things. I tried to put multiple AP books around Ayami, to show that even if someone takes hard classes (like AP classes) this does not mean that they do not also struggle with ADHD. I also tried to make it look more messy and chaotic by putting papers, calculators, and pens everywhere. The more things on the table, the better. 

Costume

[Ayami's costume]

I wanted Ayami to wear blue during this scene, to show her sadness, and how much ADHD has effected her life. I know that with me, my ADHD makes my life hard sometimes, and that can make me really upset and sad with myself, since I feel like I can do better if I just didn't have ADHD. 

Backyard clips part 2!!

    Okay, so this is the second part of the backyard footage. I really like these clips, so I wrote a little more for them. 

     This is a nice long clip of Ayami dancing in place. It could be easy to add credits on both the right and left sides of the clip. However, it might be hard to make sure Ayami does not run into them. I think that I should still try to do it though because it should be cool to have a different type of credit style by putting it on both sides. I also really like this clip because there are multiple different angles of my backyard. However, I think the only parts of the clip that I think I might use are the parts that don't show my house, since I want to show the natural elements rather than my house. 

    This clip is very important and is the only clip that I made specifically related to the monologue. All the other clips were just filmed with different emotions that were a part of the monologue. But this clip was for specific sentences in the monologue: "That reminds me! I also have to ask mom..." The shot perfectly represents this part of the monologue because at first Ayami is laying on the ground thinking of the swimming lessons before, but then suddenly remembers about asking her mom about dinner. I will try to edit the voiceover and the clip to perfectly align so that the part where she thinks "that reminds me!" will go perfectly with her jolting up in the clip. 

    This clip shows Ayami sitting on the ground and thinking. It is good for the part of the monologue where she is lost in thought. I also like how I do a tracking shot for this shot and move the camera to go around her, so there are multiple angles of her face. 

Going through the MANY backyard clips!

    Not only do I have a lot of footage from the dog park, but I also have SO much footage from the backyard too. And now I'm going to review that footage! I of course won't be using ALL of the footage that I took, since there is so much, and it is only needed for however long the monologue is (which shouldn't be that long). I do like how I have a variety of different shots to choose from though. 

    This clip shows Ayami dancing. I like how I started from the bottom, and then went up her body. It gives more variety to the shots I already have. I also like how I also slightly moved around her, to get different angles of her. 

    This clip also shows Ayami dancing. It is similar to the clip above because it starts from her feet. But it is different because it has a low angle which is good because now I have a variety of angles. 

    This clip is very good because it clearly shows the expression on Ayami's face. It is also very good because it has a lot of room on the right third to add credits to, and it is easy to put credits there because it does not move. 

    This clip shows Ayami sitting on the ground. It is also good because Ayami is in the left third of the shot, and there is a lot of room on the right third for credits. 

    This clip shows Ayami running around. It is not a very good shot to put credits in because there is not a definite place for them to go in. However, I do like the content of the actual video, because it shows Ayami having a lot of fun and running around, which is very good for a part of the monologue in which she is happy.

Going through the MANY videos I took

     Since one part of the opening is done, the opening sequence, I decided to go through all the footage that I took last weekend. I hope that I will have enough footage to go with all of the voiceovers. I didn't secretly plan out each of the different shots on paper, and I instead went with the flow and got as many different angles and shots as I could get. I do not want this part to be too structured and instead want it more to be like a series of very short clips, that I will edit very fast together. I have picked out some of my favorite clips (but only from the dog park), and I will be describing what I like about all of them down 

    This clip is of Ayami walking down the sidewalk. I like it because it is a tracking shot, and follows her as she is thinking while walking. I like how it's different than some of the other shots since, in most of them, she is usually sitting down. I also like how the camera movement allows for first her face not to be shown, but then it shows her face. 

    This clip shows Ayami pondering something while leaning against a tree. I also like how this shot is different than the others because it kind of uses a prop (the tree) as a way of helping the shot have something more interesting in it. I'm glad that we went to the dog park so that we could have different types of footage, but still have it be outside. I also like this clip because of the fact that she is slightly on the right third of the shot. This makes it easy to add the credits on the left third. 

    This clip is a pretty basic one that just shows Ayami thinking while sitting on the ground. However, I really like it because there is a lot of room for credits on the left third of the shot. 

    There is much more footage from the dog park, but it hasn't been downloaded from my phone to the computer yet, which is kind of a bummer. But! You will be able to see the various different clips I took once I edit together all the shots that I took this weekend in order to get one part of the opening done with!

Group Meeting!

     We had our group meetings today, and I was able to gain lots of valuable help for my project. 

[My amazing group!]

    After I explained my project to everyone in my group, I explained my main concerns. I talked about how I felt like there was too much going on in my opening, and how it didn't really feel like a film opening and more of a short film. Diego, a person in my group, had this same issue. At first, my group members said that having a lot going on would be good at representing ADHD. But then I explained that my main concern was about timing. I explained how I felt like my opening would be much more than 2 minutes long, because I want to include so many things in it. Then we found a solution to make it shorter by getting rid of the last part with the people talking to the camera. When I was explaining my opening and got to that part, some people were a little confused why I wanted to include that in my opening, because it seemed like something that would be included at the end of my film. I agree with this since I also feel like it's a good way to end an entire film, not just an opening. So the solution that we all came up with for my problem was to just delete the entire part at the end of the opening was too long. However, if it was still a good amount of time, then I should keep the ending part. 

    Another problem that I was concerned about was what type of music I should use for the entire voiceover part of my opening. I was telling them my ideas of using cheery music since it is all in her head. They all agreed with this and thought that I should do something upbeat and cheerful since it is all happy thoughts in the main character's head. 

    The main things I learned from this entire experience actually came from hearing other people give advice to other people's projects, not mine. For instance, Emma and Diego have already finished filming their entire thing. Since they are already done with that part, they understand what it's like. What I learned from them is that I should not expect all of the clips I take the first time to be good. Because what happened to both of them is that they have to reshoot some of their clips since some of the first-time ones were not good enough for them. I hope this doesn't happen too much to me, because it would be really disappointing if I have to reshoot a lot of my clips. people

filming day two!

DOG PARK

So glad that today was also a sunny day!!! Yesterday, we filmed in my backyard, but today we filmed at the dog park

This park is really good because there was so much open area to film and I was able to use different locations in the dog park to make it look better from different angles. For instance, I got some shots of Ayami against the tree and also sitting on the bench.

TIME LAPSES

I also took a few time-lapses from yesterday and today that show me filming my sister in the various locations (and also a bonus feature of us walking there)

Time-lapse of filming in the backyard

More filming in backyard

Time-lapse of walking to the dog park

Filming in dog park

And here's another bonus feature of Ayami crying because filming can be hard sometimes. 

the pain of filming

filming day uno

Yay I started filming!!! 

COSTUMES

My first challenge was trying to make my sister wear something colorful. I wanted her to wear something colorful because I wanted it to contrast with how numb she was feeling while she was talking to Barbara. Since she mainly wears black, I just made her wear the only colorful clothes that she owns which is blue and red (which was good enough for me). 

[She looks incredible]

BACKYARD

It was the perfect day to film because it was bright and sunny, which is exactly what I wanted. First we filmed in my backyard. I tried my best not to get random things such as recycling bins in the shot. I also used the hedges as the backdrop for some of the shots.

The perfect title??

    I was able to finally talk to my teachers about being in my film, and also my friend. My sister already agreed to be in it, and I really appreciated that. And the teachers that I want to be in my film agreed to be in it! Mr. McKnight and Ms. Van Buren were both really excited to be in it. Now I have to either ask my parents or other teachers to find out more adults to be in it. I also need to ask some of my other friends, but i think that will be easy since all they have to do is just say one line. 

    After I figure out all the people that will be at the end part of my film, I need to assign lines to them. Because when I was talking to my teachers about it, they asked what they would have to say, but i had to tell them that I still had to figure it out. I think that I want Mr. McKnight to say "everyone gets distracted sometimes" and Ms. Van Buren to say "your grades are so good! what do you mean you're struggling with ADHD?" 

    But I have a really big problem!! Barbara is not able to be in my film :(( She said that she's always really busy on weekend, so she can't film during them. Then I asked my friend Martina, and she also said that she was really busy this weekend and next weekend too. THEN I asked my friend Scarlet, and she said that she couldn't do it either!! AHHH I have no idea how I will find someone to play the friend character. I will have to ask a lot of my friends tomorrow in order to film something this weekend. It was a really big mistake to wait until the last minute to try and find a friend to be in my film. 

    Also bad thing that happened was that I had a conference with all of my teachers in the morning today. The bad thing about this conference was that I started crying, because I just felt so misunderstood and overwhelmed. One thing that was discussed was my 504 plan. Or actually, lack there of. Only one of my teachers, my environmental teacher, agreed that I should have one. I talked with her the day before, and she said that even if a student has good grades, they should still have a 504 plan if they are diagnosed ADHD. I totally agree with her. My other teachers didn't seem to understand my struggles though. They said that since they don't see me turning in my tests and quizzes in late, then I don't really need extra time. However, what they don't know is that I actually guess for most of the last questions because I feel embarresed when I am the last one to finish. So most of teh times, I just guess on these questions, which really takes a toll on my grades. I felt terribel throughout the entire meeting. BUT!!! I think this helped me with my film. Becuase not only do I have more lines to add to the end of the opening with things people have said to me about my ADHD, i think I also have the perfect title!

    Presenting the perfect title... "INVALIDATED." I think that this is the perfect title, because this is how I feel every time someone tells me that I should not struggle, since I am so smart. This invalidates all of my feelings when people tell me things like this. So... I think that this is the perfect title to show exactly how people should feel for the main character. 

Honestly, I'm really proud of myself

    I just finished writing my screenplay!! I had to do a lot of research on how to write a screen play. Honestly, the hardest part was trying to figure out how to format the entire thing. I still think I've made a few mistakes with the formatting, but this is just my first screenplay. So hopefully writing more will help me get better! You know what they say... practice makes perfect!! In order to figure out how to write my screenplay, I watched this video and also this one. They were really helpful! If you want to learn how to write a screenplay, I totally recommend both of them. 

    After writing out my script, I had one concern in mind...how long it is!! I know that my film opening has to be around two minutes, and I'm scared that mine might be a lot longer than that. But then again, I have trouble figuring out how long things will take, just by writing it. For instance, I once had to write a two minute speech, and I thought that I had written enough, but it turned out to only be 45 seconds!! How embarrassing is that AHH. I hope that it is in the time range, because I was trying to figure out what scenes I could cut out if it is too long, but honestly I think every scene is very important to the opening. One thing that I could do to cut back is delete some of the dialogue, because there are certain parts where a character talks for a bit too long. 

    Anyways... enough of my worries! Lets take a look at my first draft of my screenplay!

Organization (something I'm not really good at heh...)

     Now that my storyboard is complete, I need to make a definite schedule in order to make sure that I get things done before the due date! One issue I usually really struggle with is time management (ADHD issues el oh el), so I really need to plan things out before doing them. 

    One thing that I am scared of is actually asking Barbara to be in my film opening. I know what your thinking... "Nethumi why haven't you asked her yet!!" If you want a genuine answer, it is because I am scared that she will say no. And I know I know, I should really ask her as soon as possible, just in case she can't be in it and I need to find a replacement. If she isn't able to be in it for whatever reason, then I will try and ask my other friends from theater such as Martina, Nicole, Talia, etc. If none of my theater friends agree to be in it, I will ask my friends from school. And if all else fails, I will just have to beg my little brother to be in it. (I really hope it doesn't come to this point though, because honestly, he is not the best actor since he is only 12 years old). 

    I know that I cannot start filming this weekend because I have this event called World Fest (which I'm actually really excited for!!) But I will try my best to ask if we can start filming on either the 12th or 13th. There are only a few scenes with the friend, so I believe that I will only have to spend one day filming these scenes. (Unless I am complete wrong and I get distracted while filming, and it takes wayyyy longer than planned). 

    On whatever day I decided to film with my friend, I will film at the library, since that is the place where the friend and main character interact. 

    Then I will try to film the scenes that are outside. I plan to film these in multiple different outside locations, such as this park near my house, my backyard, and maybe Markham Park. I need to film these scenes on a day that my sister is not busy. It also needs to be a day that is fairly sunny, since the lighting is a very important part of these scenes. 

    Then I will film the part where my sister is struggling to do homework. Since this scene will take place on my dining room table, it will be easy to schedule a time sometime next week in order to film this part. 

    I think the hardest part of filming will be trying to find people to agree to be at the end of my film, in order to say the one liners of things that people usually say to me that invalidate my ADHD. I think that it will be a struggle, not because I don't want to ask people to be in my film, but because it is honestly kind of embarrassing to ask people to say things like that to a camera. I'm not sure why, but the topic of ADHD, especially as an Asian person, is really embarrassing to bring up. I think this is why this topic is not really spoken about, so I am glad that I will be representing it in my film opening. 

    Anyways, some of the people that I have in mind for this part include some of my friends including scarlet, Laiba, Julia, and Liyansha. I might ask my parents to be in it too, if I can work up the courage to ask them heh. And finally, some of my teachers include of Mr. McKnight and Ms. Van Buren. I think the hardest part for the teachers part will be finding time to ask them to film it, since I know that they are very busy people. 

P.S. All of the images used for this blog post were found on the internet, and were included solely for the purpose of representing the type of setting I want to do for specific scenes, this does not mean that my locations will look exactly like this :D

STORYBOARD TIME!!

     I have finally finished my storyboard, which means that I finally have a clear visual representation on what I want to do for my film opening. I am really excited to get started filming! Since I have my full vision in my head right now, all I have to do is figure out where I want to put the film credits in the beginning, but I already have multiple ideas of how I will do that in my head. I think that later, I should write out exactly where I want them to go, in order for me not to forget any of them. 

    Anyways, the moment you have all been waiting for...my storyboard!

    Since I already have my plan in mind, I need to start filming. Since I know that I am busy this weekend, I plan to get started next weekend. I need to figure out what days my friend is free, in order to film with her. Filming the parts with just my sister will be easier, since I know what times she is free, which is why I made her the main character. I am really excited to start filming and see my project come to life!