and thats a wrap

 WE WRAPPED FILMING AND DID A SEANCE LESS GOOOOO

Third day of filming went swimmingly, so less recap.

Quinn's dog Bono (we are best friends, right, Bono) 

and I waiting for da actors to arrive

While Aneesa and Nico were out getting some shots for the dead wife montage we wanted to include, Quinn and I created darkness 

Our first attempt did not go well

However, the dead wife crew came in clutch and grabbed us some trash bags to blackout the windows, so when they got to set, we trashed the place. 

blacked out 😛

I know it doesn't look like it, but I contributed more than this. Ok, on to filming.

We quickly shot the flashback scenes we needed, then started Claire's entrance and montage. We wanted to have a huge tonal shift from this more laid-back vibe to the dramatized seance scene later, so we went with a more natural lighting setup for these shots. 

calm setup. 

We bounced the light off the wall to give it a softer feel, and had Quinn's yellow lamp lit up in the background for some nice accent lighting and a nice little pop of warmth. 

After we finished those scenes, it was on to the next scene. For the seance, we wanted a very dramatic, classically evil vibe. We lit the room purple and red, while pointing a white key light at each person's face when they were on camera to highlight them. 

squad

also squad

bono in da light

This scene took a while to film, but we needed to take the time to do so because it's the climax of the film. We had to do the scene around 4 or 5 different times for each character, nailing the deliveries I wanted each time. Huge props to our cast, because you volunteered to do this. I do not know why. 

But once we were done, I got to say the best 3 words in film: That's a wrap. 

Editing next less goo

2nd filming day goated W less go we're back haha cmon

 YEAHHHHH we goated 

We had our second day of filming, and it was actually a success. Today we wanted to get all the void scenes and flashbacks out of the way so we could focus on the seance another day. We also shot the beginning scene of the film, a short scene we added in a rewrite that we thought would entice the viewer more. We also needed to shoot around the fact that one of our core four had to work today, so we needed to get everything without her. 

first scene W 

Once we finished setting up the set for Claire's bedroom (Quinn's sibling's room, who's in college), we got to work on this behemoth backdrop that we had to set up again from yesterday. We used this for the void.

Crew dub

The actors all showed up late, but once they got there, it was a pretty smooth shoot. We wrapped around 7ish and sent them home for the day. Tomorrow, though, is where the fun begins. So... put on your little red horns, light a nice candle, and say your prayers, because we're doing a seanceeeeeee

socially aloof

CAMBRIDGE WE DID IT WE WENT VIRAL ON SOCIAL MEDIA 😍

We started our social media, and issa good one

wowza

I know it's a bit of a late start, but hey, we're now, aren't we? 

We had the cast and crew all gather to take pics on this black backdrop Quinn has, and we made cool little character posters. 

Aneesa and Nico had a great idea to put them on tarot cards as a promo for the film, and I LOVE IT!!!!

raw pic

how it was posted

Quinn put some filters on it, and then I clicked post. It's really fun seeing our promo coming.

they'll never know 🤫

ok we finished (da script)

 After a very turbulent process, Quinn, Nico, and I got together to fix the script. 

 

We decided to shave off the extra couple of characters and focus a lot more on Sarina. We decided to make the fix because we thought the cast would get too bloated, and with 4 characters that already need developing, any way to shave off a few would really help. This also means we kind of had to shoehorn in some VO and void scenes to explain Sarina and Claire's relationship, but I think it works. We also made the void a more pivotal plot device, having it represent Claire's mind. Claire and Sarina's relationship also gives a bit more of an emotional backbone to the story, and also gives us an easy out to explain how the witches are defeated (power of friendship with yet another win). 

 I think this was the best we could get out of the script, so enjoy. 

da script (final)

more of da script

Nicolas Restrepo, I love you.

Nico locked in on a lot of the script today, and I think it's looking pretty good.  He added a crush character to give Claire some more emotional attachments, and while I wasn't loving the idea at first, I think it's worth a try to see it through. 

We're also going to test out a void sequence, which could be cool, so sit back, relax, and read some of the script. 

we are perchance back

 soooo... 

We're injecting moral dilemmas into da film

just pondering

A big problem with our writing is that it feels very clichéd. It's always good to introduce tropes, but we don't want to just stick to what's already been done. Our original idea for where we would take the story is having Claire be drained of her life force by the witches, so they can keep being popular and pretty. However, this is a very common trope found across the witchy teen genre. 

Instead of that, we're going to have Claire be given a choice. She must decide to either join the witches or become popular, and finally have friends, or she can not join them and stay true to her morals. 

This decision allows for a more interesting character exploration of Claire, and gives her much more of a choice in the finale. 

 I like where this is going...

we are unprepared

 We filmed our first scene today, and we were kind of unprepared. 

We finished the first scene of our script yesterday, and because it's a teacher planning day today, we knew we had to take the opportunity of there being no kids in school to film. My mom is a teacher at the middle school right next to us, so we used her empty classroom to film. 

Because we filmed before our script was done, we had to make a lot of decisions on the fly. We also color-coordinated the characters. Claire, our lead and the "innocent" one, wore white, while the other, more evil ones, wore red (red cuz evil)

It's grey for an amazing reason (log footage)

Our first scene focuses mainly on introducing Claire as a shy, nervous, wannabe popular girl who is running late to school. For the first time. EVER. Claire was a natural in her role, and Andre, our titular "popular girl," was also at home in the character. 

I'm really happy with how this scene turned out, and I think we're starting off on the right foot. 

Now let's finish dat script.

    

waffle house is a fine establishment

 Quinn and I eat at Waffle House, yum. 

mmmfmfffmm

ok wedidn'tt just go tWaffle Housese, we fueled up before writing

So before we film tomorrow, we kind of need a script. 

Nico, Quinn, and I all gathered and tried to come up with the best possible scene to film tomorrow. We need something that introduces all our characters well, establishes the tone of the film, establishes the plot, and feels connected to the rest of the story that we have yet to write. 

After like a billion years of thinking, here's what we came up with

(working title)

ok wish me luck filming tomorrow i need it pls ahhhhh ok bye

imma post a card

 A little niche aspect of this project is doing a postcard for our short film. Just our luck that Quinn's sister just made a banger one, so we want to take inspiration from it. The goal of the postcard is to give the audience an idea of what our film is about, who's involved, where they can see it, and how to follow the account on socials. A good postcard incorporates all of these elements in a clean, neat design. 

Quinn's sister's postcard

The postcard is a 4x5 ratio, and has info on the front and back. Immediately upon receiving this card, you know it's about bees and honey. It has a description of the product on the back,  and where to see it in an easy-to-spot place on the card. 

We might want to include film festival logos on the card just to spruce it up a bit. We're also going to add contact info for the directors and the studio so viewers can email them with any questions or to start a dialogue. 

This postcard is a pretty good starting point for us, and allows us to build on its already excellent qualities. 

what time is this seance

 ok so now we have to rush 

but its ok 

we were made for this 

lets do this 

We need to solidify a script by mid-week (hopefully Tuesday), so that we can start filming before spring break. Of course, I'm the only group member leaving (vacationing in the lovely city of Swampscott, Massachusetts, my goats fr), so we want to get the bigger sequences of the film done Thursday and Friday so that when I come back, we don't have to speedrun our final project. 

On Friday, we want to utilize the fact that it's a teacher planning day to film in my mom's classroom. No kids are present, so we have free reign to arrange (bar) the class however we want it. This is especially important because we have a couple of cool shots in mind where we need to block the actors in a specific way to create some cool witchlike symbolism. We want to have the popular girls show up in an arch around the main character (almost in a seance-like stance, but I won't foreshadow). It'd also be good for audio purposes, so we don't have the annoying chatter of kids constantly interrupting us during what is the only reason a class should be used for.

Also, in lieu of a lot of research (which will come later on) for this new style, just think of Mean Girls meeting Ever After High meeting Jennifers Body meeting Bottoms meeting...

Ok that's a lot sorry 

On Thursday, we'll probably do the seance. If you have anyone you want us to summon lmk now because I have to have a chat with the devil about it. This is the biggest scene in our film, and we need to properly plan it out this week to actually execute it. I'm excited to do it, but it needs to be done right. 

Ok 

big week ahead

earned not given

im so scared

im so tired

i will summon the devil for my film 

bye