Production Blog: Filming Yet Again!

 Hello, hello! Now that the weekend is over, the only glimpse of hope I have is recalling back upon it, and upon my filming during it. After the exciting fun of Saturday, I was beaming with joy on Sunday during filming! Similarly to Saturday, the group met at Ashley's house between 12:00-1:00 PM. The filming began again by pre-recording the needed audio clips for the day ahead. 

In yesterday's blog, you may recall that I mentioned how the office scene ends with Ashley smiling into the distance to provide a transition to the next day's filming. This picks up again in Ashley's bedroom, for the second morning scene. If you were curious, she was left off smiling because she was on a phone call with her new girlfriend. This carries over to the following day as she listens to her recorded voicemail, mentioning her date with said girlfriend, which would take place that night. To get her into the same position to allow for this seamless(ish) transition, I again had to use a reference photo from the office scene. After placing her correctly, I recorded from the nightstand in one continuous take. Once this was done, Jordyn was able to quickly add the clip into her editing software to assure that it lined up with the previous scene. Upon doing so, she and I both realized that something was a bit off. Since one was filmed in the kitchen area and the other was filmed in the bedroom, there was a difference in lighting. Although not atrocious, this was noticeable. To fix it, Jordyn found a light attachment and adhered it to the tripod above the camera. I stood off to the side, also shining my phone's flashlight, to mimic the angle of the lighting in the kitchen. After again filming and comparing in the editing software, this take was much more favorable.

Upon completing this scene, the group discussed how to proceed. Since it was a busy day for all members, an attempt was made to conclude filming as early as possible. On this day, Ashley had to switch from her father's house to her mother's house for the duration of the week, and the impact of this was discussed as well. It was agreed upon that the date scene at the "restaurant" along with the argument scene following could both be filmed at Ashley's mother's house, and quite frankly needed to be filmed there as the screenplay outlined two separate living rooms. Because of this, the group decided instead of overworking and falling back on other work or activities, they would film the rest of the scenes that took place at Ashley's father's and then conclude for the day. Luckily, this was only one more scene. 

The final scene of the weekend was actually the very last scene in the film. Fast forward through a few major plot-developing moments, and you are left in the main character's living room. This is the scene in which she wakes up on her couch the night after the big date. She puts on her glasses, ignoring the sticky note which was next to them, and turns on the TV to watch the news. In preparation for this scene, the group actually created a clip from a news channel. This was achieved by Jordyn sitting against a wall, using Ashley's laundry basket- turned upside down- as her desk. It also involved me having to take a photo (shown below) to use to represent my character on the news broadcast. This broadcast clip was rather easy to film, and Jorydn was immediately hard at work editing the video and its surrounding space to give the look of a real news broadcast. She is a very hard worker and very skilled at using Microsoft PowerPoint, so it was no surprise that she produced an extremely impressive result. She then shared the PowerPoint to Ashley's TV using AirPlay. The rest of the scene was quite simple, Ashley remained in the same position on the couch the entire time for both parts of the scene. For the first part (as outlined), she awoke, put on her glasses, and turned on the TV. The scene then cuts to the news broadcast, followed by Ashley in the same spot on the couch reciting a short line. After this, I filmed an over-the-shoulder shot from behind the couch as the news broadcast continued, and someone knocks on the door; the knocker in this situation being Jordyn. Simply put, Ashley would scream loudly for Jorydn to knock so she could hear through the door, and this simple shot was done in 2 takes. After quickly and roughly editing these clips together, the group was content and called it a day after some short cleanup. I am so satisfied with the film so far and cannot wait to film again! Until next time, goodbye!






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