Filming Blog: Going To The Abandoned House

    On Sunday I headed to Anyeska’s house at 2 p.m, to get prop shopping for the abandoned house done. I wanted to decorate the house with creepy fake bugs, webs, rocks, sand, and candles. I also wanted to buy some plates and a mirror. I went to the Dollar Store to save some money due to the fact that we would only be using these things for the film. Everything was about fourteen dollars. Luckily, the Dollar Store had everything we wanted including a creepy old looking mirror and doll. After two hours of shopping we picked up Britania and met up with Lesly at Anyeska’s house. I started on Lesly’s makeup again as I did the day before and it took about an hour. After I was done, we headed to the abandoned house. Starting with the plates we bought we smashed them on the floor. Then we proceeded to put the fake bugs and scattered them around. Anyeska and I used finger paint on our hands and put hand-prints on the walls. Sand was then used to make a star and candles were placed on each point. As if someone had done a seance of some kind. We broke the mirror and placed the creepy doll in the middle of the star.  After setting everything up we began filming. First, we filmed all the scenes from outside of the house. Then, the first few seconds of the film where the three girls are playing with the Frisbee. Along with the scene of Claire losing the Frisbee and the creepy entity appears for the very first time. A tracking shot is of us running away. We didn’t get to re-film the inside scenes after the three girls ran away, so that will be on Sunday. Below is a picture of all of the items we bought from the store besides the plates we broke.

Filming Blog: Makeup, Props, and The First Scene

    While filming Saturday my group and I met together around 4 o’clock in the afternoon. As soon as everyone was together, we started heading to the store. Props were needed for the ghost and to decorate around the haunted house. The first stop was Party city. We searched Party City to try and find fake blood and wax for the scar, but there was none. Since Halloween already passed they were not selling those types of products. Next, we went to Walmart. Walmart also did not have any fake blood or scar wax. We did find a Frisbee that we would be using in the film instead of a ball. Later, I practiced the makeup for the scars on the entities face. Since we could not find fake blood or scar wax, Anyeska and I decided to buy items to make it ourselves. Lesly is playing the ghost, so I made fake cuts and a bullet wound with scar wax. I also put fake blood in the wounds to make it look realistic. I made the scar wax with flour and Vaseline. I made fake blood with corn syrup, food dye, and cornstarch. It looked pretty realistic. The makeup I brought helped make it look even more real because I blended blue, red, and black to make his skin look as if it was bruising on the outside of the scar. Black was used on his eyes to create under bags and on his mouth for just a scarier look. It was already dark outside because we went to two different stores and the makeup on Lesly took a while, so we decided to film all of our inside scenes. This is one of the shortest scenes because we are eating and then Britania’s character realizes she dropped her phone in the haunted house. This scene took about fifty shots because we kept messing up and laughing, but after we got it that was it for Saturday. Below is a picture of Lesly’s makeup.

Filming Blog: Starting The Final Film

The filming process has not yet started due to my group members and I not being able to meet up yet. Through the use of scripts and storyboards, we are using this to prepare to film for the project . The sound and shooting scripts have both been looked over by everyone in the group. There were some things we actually had to go back and change, in the storyboard and scripts. This is because some of the actors decided to change their character roles. Luckily, the roles were changed before we even picked up a camera. With everyone's contribution, the storyboard is complete. The storyboard and the script will help the filming process go smoothly as we already know exactly what we want to happen for the film. Another factor that will help us improve the film is the props. We will buy prosthetic makeup, props, and a mask for the “Ghost” to make the film more scary. The abandoned house will be perfect for the film as it is very eerie. The eerie house along with the scary props will help the movie hit its mark. My group and I have already made a filming schedule in order to be more effective. First, we will film on Sunday, February 20th in the afternoon. This filming will occur for some time until the sun goes down. Then, during the night, we will begin filming the second part. The darkness brings an unknown factor into the film, which makes it scarier. Good lighting will be ensured. Below is a picture of the camera and tripod we will be using for our project.

Film: Storyboard Blog

    Today, my teammates and I were able to start drawing out our storyboards. We grabbed our storyboard template, which we already had a stack of for future use. Then, immediately began. After completing our genre research, title research, and planning blogs where we discussed how we wanted to go about filming our opening scene, we knew it was time for our storyboard. It took approximately two hours to draw and write out our camera angles, camera movements, actions, and titles for each scene. Working diligently we were able to finish in class. First, we discussed our scenes with each other. Then, we made sure everyone agreed on what would happen in each scene and what angles we wanted to use to capture that moment. Although we had originally planned some of the scenes differently, there were changes in the final decision. It was decided that most of the scenes would be filmed at the abandoned house and some at Anyeska's house. Storyboarding would have been a much longer process if the entire group was not helping one another. We assigned different jobs, so that way we would all be diligently working. Since most of us in the group could not draw, we decided Lesly would be the best choice. Our storyboard consists of pan shots, medium shots, and high angles. It also has a brief overview of each character and each placement of the titles. Our opening scene will be around two minutes. So far, we are on a good track with timing. It is filled with great details that will guide us during the filming process. Our storyboard is shown below.

Planning Blog (Title Design in Details)

The studio my group and I have chosen is JLab Productions. In this Title, The Font size will be 40, the color would be black, the font would be Ultra. Also, the title will disappear after 2 to 3 seconds. The Production company we chose is RNFK Productions. The font, size, color, and duration will be the same. The film title we have chosen is “The House  on NW 10th Ave. The color will be red and the font size will be 80. Soon after the film title is shown, Actors’ Name titles will be shown. The actors include: “Anyeska, Britania, Lesly, And Jazmin. In the casting by title, The title will state, “Casting by Lesly”. Other slides include: Music by title, Costume Designer title, Edited by title, Production designer title, Director of photography title, Producer, executive producer title, Story by title, written by title, and directed by title.

Planning Blog (Health and Safety, Location, Sound, Schedule, and Participants)

For health and safety, we decided to bring a first aid kit on set in case anyone gets injured during the film-making process.  Also, we have the parents of my groupmate who volunteered to supervise while we are film-making. The supervisors will also have access to the phone that can dial 911. The location we will be filming at is an abandoned house in my group mates’ neighborhood. This house was burned down, so it gives off a spooky atmosphere. Another location will be Anyeska’s house. Our sound will be found online. Most of the scenes taking place in Anyeska’s house will take place in her Dining Room. Our Participants include: Anyeska as Molly, Britania as Claire, Jazmin as Rose, and Hangeno as the cameraman. My groupmates and I scheduled the filming to begin on February 16th and to end on March 27th.

Planning Blog: Sound Script

Below is our group’s PowerPoint of the sound script for our opening sequence. The sound script is about what the characters will be saying along with the type of sounds in each scene, minus angles, movements, and character movements. The purpose of the sound script is for us to know exactly which sounds to use in our movie, giving us a structure. Sounds which we plan to incorporate in our opening sequence include ambient music, diegetic sound, score, non-diegetic sound, and of course, dialogue. By having a variety of sounds, our opening sequence will appeal to the audience’s senses. Being that we have planned out our shooting and sound scripts, our ideas of our opening scene is beginning to manifest. We are now in a stage where we are more aware of how our movie will look and sound. Moreover, we have it in mind to edit in more information and do our final changes at any given moment being that we are still in the planning process. Making the sound script was relatively easy because we already knew what we wanted to use for the sound. The use of eerie music along with the monster’s laugh will definitely keep the audience on their feet.

Planning Blog: Shooting Script

Above is our group’s PowerPoint of the shooting script for our opening sequence. The shooting script revolves around what we will be doing per scene. It involves the camera angles, movements, and character movements, minus the dialogue in each scene. There are 10 scenes, not including the title slide. The script writing format was written in short, visual sentences, avoiding more than three sentences in each scene. Some of the camera angles, movements, and shots that we plan to use in our opening sequence include three-shot, wide shot, point of view shot, medium shot, close-ups. By mapping out or script ahead of time, we will be more organized and have the ideas and plans set for the film. We had to think of ways to make all of our thoughts of the film come to life. As we progress through our planning process, we have it in mind that our ideas of our film can possibly change. Therefore, having access to our PowerPoint, we will always ensure to go back and edit in new details to perfect our movie to our liking.