Portfolio Project Week #5, Post #1

 Getting the actors together

I have now asked two of the three actors if they'd be willing to be apart of my project. I have gotten a response back from Riley, the one playing the person in the security footage. She said she is available to film this weekend and we plan to do just that. Her part should not be long as it will only be shown on screen for a few seconds. Her part will be filmed at a park close to both of our houses as she is just running around the track. 

The other actor I asked is Josh, who I will ask to play the detective. I just texted him a few minutes ago and I await his response. I still am yet to decide on a third actor to play the suspect. After I have figured this out, I will text them and Josh to coordinate a date to film the main interrogation scene.

Premier Pro

I plan to use Premier Pro to edit my project. I am not too familiar with Premier but I will spend the next few days before we film practicing and learning about it. I have used other adobe programs before, but I suspect Premier will take a little getting used to. As Adobe is currently updating, I am looking at some online guides. I visited Adobe's official guides for adding effects, keyboard shortcuts, and titles.

I thought it would be a good idea to test out effects with my title image. I put it into Premier and put on some simple effects. Here is a cross dissolve (which I may wind up using in the final project):

Portfolio Project Week #4, Post #3

 Planning for production/film

I am hoping to begin filming either next week or the week after. This will depend on how fast I can find actors to commit and then to coordinate with them on a day to film. I plan to have 3 different actors. One playing the detective, one playing the suspect, and one playing the person at the park on the security tapes. I already have a friend in mind to play the detective, I will ask him officially about it within the next few days. The other two actors I have to think about who I should ask to play them.

An image of the park I plan to film at

The filming locations will be, a park very close to my house. Here I will film the suspects "flashback" to the park, and then the security tape footage. Another location is needed for the "interrogation" scene. This will either take place at my house where, with hopefully the right lighting, I can make it look like an interrogation room. The other place could be my mother's classroom, as it is empty after school and we would be able to adjust lighting and move things around. Or perhaps I can think of a better place to film that would make giving off a serious interrogation feel easy; I still have some thinking to do.

Portfolio Project Week #4, Post #2

 The title

Today I have worked on the title for the movie and how its going to look when it is displayed during the opening. I used Photoshop to create it as I've used Photoshop before, and I have a relative understanding of using it. This is what it turned out like:

Obviously it looks better in actuality, blogger has just reduced the quality. I like how its fairly simple and I like the white color scheme, it does two things. It creates a sort of "ghostly" effect and the white contrasts with the "dark" themes of murder that are shown in the movie. To achieve this effect, I used a font called "Dax ExtraBold," which I have had downloaded for a while. I made this a gray color and then I added an inner and outer glow. Both are pure white. Here are the specifics of what the effects are:

Outer Glow

Inner Glow

Portfolio Project Week #4, Post #1

 Script

I worked and finished a script today. To be honest, it kind of felt like a waste of time. My opening does not have that much dialogue, with the majority being between the detective and suspect. Also, I knew what I what I wanted the characters to say and it sort of felt pointless to type it up all fancy when I could've just written down the lines quickly. I suppose this could be beneficial to the actors as they would not know their lines or exactly what is happening within the opening. Here was a part of the script looks like:

Like I mentioned in the last post I used this website to model my script after. Its not exact or nearly as professional but my script will get the job done. 

Figuring out some small, but important details

Also, I've realized I have not actually thought up of names for the characters. I think I want them to have fairly basic names like "Ryan" or "Josh". Josh would work well as one of the actors I have in mind is my friend, Josh. The suspect doesn't need a name, at least not during the opening of the film, as he disappears at the end of the opening and is not named before hand.

I also thought about what I wanted to call the film today. Other murder/mystery movies tend to have either "murder" in the title or something about the crime. Such as "Murder on the Orient Express", which is very fittingly named as it is about a murder on a train called "Orient Express." I think that since my movie is about a murder (the one the suspect is being interviewed about) and then a missing person (the suspect disappearing) I want to title it "Gone." Representing the life of the person who was murdered and then obviously the disappearance of the suspect. I think keeping it short and simple is a good idea as it also adds more mystery to all the things the movie could possibly be about.

Portfolio Project Week #3, Post #4

 I was able to get some free time today and work on my project just a little bit. I think I have an idea of where I want there to be dialogue. There is going to be dialogue between the detective and the suspect during the interrogation, just normal routine investigation questions. Such as, "Where were you on the day of the crime?" and the suspect will answer, so on and so forth.

During my time in class next week, I will begin working on a concrete script. I want it to be formatted correctly, so I'm taking a look at some websites that describe how scripts usually look (such as this one). I will also figure out where and when I want the credits and can hopefully start planning out the production process. I'm excited to finally get working towards producing this opening. 

Portfolio Project Week #3, Post #3

 After a very bust day, I finally found time to work on my project. I've finished the storyboard and I'm happy with how it came out. I am very much not an artist but I did the best I could for very rough drawings. For example, I had to lookup a clipart drawing of a chair because I struggled to draw the chair. I can understand it, and that is what is most important. I still have to figure out when/where I want the credits to appear and the actual timing of it all. The entire storyboard was a rough draft as is subject to change as I begin the production process. Hopefully, I will be able to stick to it for the most part. Tomorrow is also going to be a very busy day for me, so I hope to brainstorm a script and actually start one if I have the chance.

The last panels of the storyboard are shown above. They depict the detective taking a look at the computer one more time before rushing back into the interrogating room. As soon as he steps inside an eyeline match will be shown, which shows that the detective is staring at an empty suspect chair. I plan to end the opening here as it allows the rest of the film to pickup and develop on this initial mystery. 

Portfolio Project Week #3, Post #2

 I was able to work a little more on my storyboard today. I still have not completely finished it and I plan to complete it sometime within the next few days. I only have a few panels left and hope to work on them tomorrow or Sunday. After I finish the storyboard, I would like to get started on a script. The script should be fairly short as there is not much dialogue.

The second page of the storyboard

This page of the storyboard depicts the detective getting a call from another detective. The two detectives speak on the phone with the second one informing the first that they have finally retrieved security camera footage. The interrogating detective excuses himself at another room to view the tapes. It is shown on a computer of the suspect running the track as he claimed to have during the interrogating. Upon further viewing, the detective realizes that the person show in the tapes is not the suspect they have held in interrogating. The detective becomes increasingly confused as the tape continues to play.