Group Meeting + Filming Schedule

Yesterday during class we had the amazing opportunity of doing group meetings! Last year's group meetings helped me greatly with my film opening so I was really excited to be able to talk to and get ideas from my peers for the short film. My biggest concern going into the group meeting was that I was afraid that my idea was simple and not well developed. I thought that there might have not been enough action between the part where the girl finds the apple to when she encounters the weeping woman. 

Overall my group mates assured me that my idea was a really compelling one. However, they said that if I really felt I should add anything suggested that the main character could have another element that guides her throughout the forest. With this advice I decided to have a glinting light pique her curiosity, guiding her to run into the tree and then the weeping girl. 

Shot List

Tomorrow afternoon will be my first day filming with Maya and my friend Logan who I worked with the music video last year. In order to prepare for this, I wrote down a shot list of everything I wanted to shoot, as well as getting all of the props and equipment together.

Painting Preparations

Before beginning the actual painting I needed to do multiple things to prep the canvas +frame

 

The before picture

gold fill

The first thing I did was paint the wood portions of the frame gold. It took me around 9 coats to get to where the frame in the image above is but I still feel like there are a lot of portions that are not very opaque. I also plan to go in with a finer brush with some black and dark brown to age the gold portions further.

Gesso prime

The next thing I did was to prime the canvas with a gesso. The reason I did this is that since I don't know the quality of the current state of the canvas, I wanted to make sure that the oil paints I'll be using will not deteriorate it. Prior to priming it, however, I did not know that the gesso would be as opaque as it was which is a little sad as I wanted to see if I could incorporate the original piece somehow with the piece ill be painting. 

Before and after

The last thing I did within the frame was attempt at fixing the broken piece. I tried filling in and moulding clay to fit the empty space and match the pattern on the rest of the frame. As of right now, I am waiting for the clay to try so that I can paint over it but I am a little afraid that the clay won't stick to the frame, If this were to happen I think I'll just paint the empty space with acrylics and attempt to create the illusion of death with shadows. 

This Week in a Recap + Plans

Apologies for the mostly non-project related blog post but as I mentioned in last Sunday's blog from Thursday to Saturday I went on a state competition for French where we proceeded to DOMINATE. After winning various superiors (blue ribbon) as well as two judges' choices and jeopardy, Cypress Bay ranked first in our section. I'm super proud of not only every member of our team but also myself as I was extremely anxious for presenting my painting due to my stage fright but in the end, it turned out AMAZING as I got the highest ranks from both of the judges meaning I won a blue ribbon. It was incredibly fun and I'm so glad I was able to experience the competition during my senior year.

The team

My painting

Trophies + ribbons

As for the project, this week I'll be filming the inside painting scene as well as finishing the week so that I can film the part that it is in as soon as possible. Along with this, I also plan to make more social media posts as well as start designing the postcard though I'll only be able to truly finish it once I film the exhibit scenes. Good news! Both Maya and Maria were amazing friends and offered me places to film the scene in the museum which means that I'm saved and will just have to pick the location and start filming once the painting is done. 

Quick Photoshoot

 As planned in the schedule, yesterday afternoon Maya and I were able to take the reference photo I'll be using to start sketching the painting. Everything went smoothly besides the fact that I forgot my camera batterie as well as my SD card so I was unable to use to camera when taking the photo. Because of this and also the fact that Maya had her hair up, we will be retaking the photo sometime in the near future. 

Despite this predicament we still decided to feign a behind the scenes image of me taking her picture with my camera for a possible social media post. I'm not sure I like the composition and also the angle we took the behind the scenes picture so I might not end up suing it but I'll decide once playing around with it in photoshop. 

behind the scenes

I think the picture turned out really well actually. If we do end up taking a new reference photo I would try to change the angle to a higher one and also make sure that the lighting is good. 

The Photo!

Once I get back from the trip (or later today if I get done with packing early) I'll start sketching the piece as well as work on the background.

Editing film into paint

Something that I am looking forward to doing when it comes to my film is editing the portion in which the main character will be in the painting. Since the beginning, I've had this idea of editing these scenes in a way that it is evident that the setting is now the painting itself. I was hoping to do so by adding some form of effect that will distort the short to make it resemble oil paint. In order to figure out to do this, I went to trustworthy google to see if there are any tutorials on how to do so. 

Click above for the video

The first video I found is by YouTuber AdobeMasters. Titled "How to Make Your Footage Look Like a Painting in Premiere Pro CC (2018)" the video goes over various effects that can be utilized to make footage resemble a painting through Premiere Pro. 

Click above for the video

This video by VideoRevealed aims to show how one can edit their clips specifically to give them an Oil Painting look. Though it is really helpful and does give me tips on how I could edit my film, he does mention that one would need a hefty computer and mine is indubitably not.

Click above for the video

Though this final video by AdobeMaster does not showcase an effect that creates a painted look, it does create a stylistic appeal to the film through filters. I think that I'll attempt the other two tips first before trying this one as this editing style would be the last approach.

Stop Motion

Something that I am very excited to experiment with during my production is the scene where the protagonist goes into the painting. What I have envisioned for this scene is that the moment the woman touches the painting to wipe her tear, the paint will start to trail up her arm, engulfing her. I plan to do this by incorporating stop motion into the film. 

The music video for Somebody that I used to know by Gotye was the first thing that came to mind

Because I have absolutely zero experience when it comes to stop motion, I decided to look into a couple of videos that could give me some tips and tricks on how to achieve my vision.

Play Me!

Play Me!

These videos by Science Film Making tips and Marcos Rocha give tips and tricks on how to make stop motion look smooth and professional. The first video introduces the concept of what stop motion is, the act of taking various images and editing them in a way that showcases motion. It also talked about the different categories of stop motion such as claymation, object motion, cut out motion, and lastly pixelation. After watching the video I think my idea falls under a mixture between object motion and pixelation. Marcos Rocha stated that he believes stop motion is very similar to filming a time-lapse. He also suggests using equipment such as a tripod and remote shutter in order to not move the camera by accident. 

My biggest concern with incorporating stop motion into the film other than the time it'll take is how consistent it will look alongside normal footage. Because of this, I decided to research ways to edit a stop motion look on film. I think that editing this effect around 30 seconds before the stop motion begins would provide a nice transition from the footage to the images. 

Play Me!

This video by Always Creating mentions that creating this effect is really simple and easy which is exactly what I want. Using the non-stylized effect called "Posterize Time" he changed the frame rate of the original clip to 8 fps. He also color grades the footage and adds overlays however I don't think I'll be including that within my film. 

Schedule

This week I'll be going to a state french competition on Thursday which means that I really have to organize myself if I want to get any work done. Now, I've never had the best track record when it comes to staying focused and though I've come a long way in improving this I still need all of the help I can get. This is why I decided to make a schedule of sorts for myself and publish it here in hopes that It'll force me to actually stick with it. To make things easier I've bolded everything related to the portfolio project.

Sunday:

• Publish this blog post ✔

• Finish comp French painting ✔

• Work on Global essay

• Read Heart of Darkness

Monday

• Work on the presentation for french comp

• Publish stop motion blog

• Read Heart of Darkness

• Worksheet for Heart of Darkness

• Work on essay for Global

Tuesday

• Publish stylistic editing blog 

• Take reference photo of Maya

• Math homework (if any)

• Finish essay for Global

• Do laundry

Wednesday 

• Publish blog of the photoshoot on tuesday

• start catching up on assignments (probably not)

• Pack!

Thursday

• Competition

• Work on blog (maybe)

Friday

• Work on blog (if I didn't thurs)

Sunday

• Do all of the homework I've missed 

• Work on blog (if I haven't already)

• Fix the frame for the painting 

• Sketch the portrait

I plan on shooting the majority of the scenes during the following week of the 13th-19th as I'll have an extra set of hands and a means of transportation during this time. I'm sure I can film the scenes that take place inside the painting however I am a little concerned about finding a place to film the exhibit scene. If I can't find anywhere I might end up having to change the narrative of the story a bit in order to maybe have the scene take place in my house or some other location available to me. This scene also relies heavily on the painting so during this week I'll make sure to divide my time between painting, filming, and editing the footage I already have.