Location scouting

LAUNDROMATS

 location time! So we need two main locations a casino and a laundromat. Here are some options I found for both. 

CASINO

Hard Rock:

This one is a great option it’s huge, meaning there will be many slot machines and places to film. I zoomed in on the pictures they had online and it seems like they have games with a coin slot. But it might be packed and hard to film with so many people. This one is also really brightly lit which is not what I wanted.

CASINO @ DANIA BEACH:

I’ve driven past this one on the way to the beach and it’s always packed, but it seems pretty big. The thing I like about it is the lighting is dark and the lights they have are colored lights, which is the vision I had in my head. 

GULFSTREAM CASINO :

This one is a lot smaller than the others. And less well known so it might be easier to film, and I like the lighting here, it’s dimmed so most of the lighting depends on the games.  

 LAUNDROMATS

COIN LAUNDRY 24/7: 

This laundromat is perfect. It accepts coins. It fits the vibe. It’s 24/7 so I can go at whatever time. And it has 4/5 starts. I LOVE IT 😍 

I think what i’m going to do is go to the hard rock, because my mom also knows her way around it and it has a lot of benefits and then go to the laundromat. Location scouting ✅

Getting everything together!!

 Hey bloggg so today I started getting everything together since i’m filming this weekend…crazy I feel like we just started. 

First I picked out my outfits… for the casino i’m going to wear these black jorts that I own and a black tank top, I don’t want to wear a colorful outfit since I want the lights in the casino to be the color.

 I also got the outfit for the laundromat which is just a purple cami with some skinny jeans, and crocs. 

For the pregnant belly I wanted to get one of those fake silicon bellies from amazon but it was way to expensive. Instead i’m going to use a balloon and use a wrap to flatten it out and make it look realistic. I already tried it today and it honestly wasn’t terrible. It will also only be shown far away and for a couple seconds.

I cleared out my closet which took forever by the way and found some clothes I need to give away so i’m taking that to the laundromat to be the clothes I need to “clean.” I already have a blue laundry basket which i’m going to take.

Today I also tried out some makeup looks i’m going to do on the day of shooting. For the casino i’m adding some eye bags with makeup and just a kind of simple messy makeup look to make it seem like she’s been there for a while. 

And for the laundromat i’m not going to wear any makeup but i’m putting oil in my hair so that way it seems like she’s kind of all over the place and not organized. 

I also found location and equipment but i’ll be sharing that next time. Bye blog!!! 

Audio 🎧

 Hey blog!!! Today we’re talking about audio and here’s my idea. I don’t want any dialogue…is that crazy??? I have a reason. I feel like audio will take away from the moment and intensity of the scene. What I want to do is focus a lot on the sounds of her surroundings.

 For example when i film in the casino I want to get the sounds of all the slot machines, people walking around, laughing, talking. What i’m going to do for this is bring a mic and find these sounds and film the separately and add them all together in editing. 

As for the Laundromat what I wanted to do for one 

of the scenes was add an intense heartbeat and everything else would quite down. Then someone 

around her would cough and she would snap out of it. Doing this will help the audience see the anxiety that thinking of the casino brings her and help them understand how bad her addiction is.  

I of course also want to get sounds of the washing machines circulating and to do this I will do the same process that I would at the casino. 

Here’s the mic i’m going to use. 

Character Building

 I’m backkkkk! So today I want to talk about my main character. Her imagine is extremely important because i’m not thinking about adding any dialogue in my film opening (I have a reason) butttt that’s for later in the week. 

My character’s personality has to be very strong and her posture must demonstrate that. The way she walks can also show that she has to walk strong and confident. This is because she is strong, she is trying her best to not go back to the casino and her walk should also prove that. Her facial expressions though should not demonstrate her confidence instead her sadness in a way. She won’t be completely frowning but a slight hint of it can show the internal struggle. Kind of like this: 😕

On the other hand, when she’s at the casino her facial expression will be blank more zombie like.  😶 This is to show she doesn’t care what’s around her she’s addicted and that’s it.

As for makeup and hair. I want to base my character a bit of Fiona Gallagher from shameless so they have a similar vibe. This means that she will have a little bit of makeup on but it looks like it was done in a rush. She’s also just in a laundromat so she doesn’t have to be crazy put together. For the hair I was thinking a messy bun to show her messy state of mind and how everything can explode in just one second. 

In the casino she’ll have no makeup to show she doesn’t care what she looks like and who she sees she just wants to play and that’s all that’s important to her. Her hair will be let down and wavy messy curls this demonstrates how she feels free in the casino and like she is herself. 

The outfits will be very basic for the laundromat I was thinking of her wearing a grey shirt stained with food and some jeans. Something really basic can show how she just wants to blend in with the rest of the world, not be recognized and maybe even just hide away from everything. Even her problems…

In the casino she’ll wear something a bitttt different but not crazy. She can wear a red or black shirt. (The color of poker cards) And a skirt or a nice pair of pants. This shows the difference and how maybe even though she was addicted she was happier and dressing like herself. 

Casino: 

Laundromat: 

Props

 For my props I don’t plan on having many. Most of the props I need are accessible at the location of filming. For instance, the slot machine, washing machine, chair. What I do need to bring myself if a laundry basket. And it’s a pivotal prop in the story. 

Props are so important to tell a story and can tell a lot. Some props are so famous you can see and recognize what film it’s from. Example the lightsabers and star wars. For my film opening it’s nothing cool like that. Just a simple old blue laundry basket. But its significance is key to tell my story. 

The laundry basket is what hides her pregnant belly the whole first minute and 50 seconds. When she moves the laundry basket out of the way it reveals her pregnancy. The laundry basket will help me tell the story, because the audience will not suspect the plot twist at the end. It helps them better understand why she’s quitting gambling. For her baby. The laundry basket being there all the way helping me tell the story. 

My other props of course will be used to tell the story but this one shapes the rest of the movie. Reveals reason for the chaos. 

storyboard :)

 Today in class I finished my story board…although i’m not the best artist it makes sense to me and when the time comes to film it’s definitely going to help me be much more organized. I wrote down the angles, shots, editing techniques, and sounds i’ll be using in certain scenes. I’ll insert it below! 👇 

FINAL IDEA!!

 I GOT IT!!!!!!! Im actually really excited that I knew exactly the plot and point of my film opening.

Basically the first shot will be of a girl in a laundromat putting her clothes in the wash these scences i want to be in a grayish tone but I want her to be the center of attention and stand out so shell probably wear something more colorful. Then you will see a closeup of her inserting a coin into the washing mashing, and it will switch into a casino, specifically putting a coin into a slot machine. This will be done with a mesh cut and there will be three of these. The shot will widen out and show the same girl sitting on the casino chair.

It will then transition back to the laundromat where the woman will appear stressed, sweaty, and nervous. Then as she goes to turn the washing machine on it will mesh cut back into the casino of her playing a game and pulling the lever. Again when it goes back to the laundromat she tries to shake the thoughts away starts the washing machine and sits down. 

She watches the machine circulating and there is a sort of back and foward between her eyes and the circulation of the machine until the last match cut. Which would be the machine circulating and an imagine of her eye with the casino lights reflecting. This scene lingers for a second to grab the hearts of the audience. The next scene is her picking up and leaving the laundromat. It will start close then zoom out to show her pregnant belly.

The ending shows the audience why she is trying to quit her gambling addiction. The match cuts between the laundromat and casino are to demonstrate how hard it is for her to do daily tasks without going back to the memories of the casino or wanting to go back. The rest of the film would be about her overcoming the addiction and maybe even falling back into old habits. I was thinking of calling the film “Falling” or “Getting” ill explain why in another blog post :) I really want the diffrence between both settings to be noticeable.. these are the vibes im going for.

Group Meeting #1

 Today we had our first group meeting where we were all able to discuss our project ideas and gain feed back from everyone. 

Joaquin went first:

• Psychological drama - wakes up naked and everything is a mess, hears big bang on the door, sees excited guy, breakup - Guy is a drug addict and a loser, based a little bit on Breaking Bad

• Little confused on the plot

These are the notes my group took on his project. I thought the idea was good, but a bit basic. I was asking questions about location, and what would the main point of the story be, since his group wasn’t sure what would happen after the first intro scene. I think the scene is do-able, but I imagined the scene in a trailer or something of that sort, so im not how they’re going to make it seem that way.

Next I went:

• Gambler trying to get over her addiction - starts with her putting clothes in at laundromat, puts in coin, and it’s a flashback to her putting a coin in the slot machine. Suffering from withdrawal symptoms from gambling, everyday things are hard for her. She’s pregnant and that’s the reason she wants to quit, drama

• Idea for the title: “Getting” but she’s unsure about the name

  
  

  Since im working alone on my project I received a lot of good advice and feedback from my 

  group. First they were worried about the filming locations, they made a good point, this week

  im planning on calling multiple laundromats to see if ill be able to film there. They also asked

  me what im going to do for audio, but I don’t believe im going to use many lines if any in my

  film opening. I also have my own personal mics to use in that case.

  
  

  Then went Maiya:

  • Time loop - sci-fi - This girl is in therapy and it’s confusing - Starts at the end of the session, girl leaves, takes her meds, realizes she only has one left, takes it, goes through her car and gets in it. She realizes she’s back in therapy and realizes she’s in the middle of a time loop

  • She should play with colors more, but she wants the colors to be neutral

    
    

    I thought her idea was a bittttt disney channel esque. I also think they need to think a lot more about what they are putting in their film opening, what we discussed was really

    repetitive and boring. It also felt way to long to be able to do in 2 minutes. A lot of plot developing has to be thought for her group in my opinion…

    
    

    Davis was next:

    • Drama/coming of age - two people talking in a cafe because one is moving away and they talk about it, start looking at places to move into, universities, etc.

    • Not using specific colors

    • They meet at the beginning and in the end, they find themselves back together and the movie title could be “See you again” or something like that

      
      

      This project was really simplistic, There isn’t much i can say on this project since its not that detailed, but I think its something that if the script is done well can come out really well.

      
      

      Finally Christian went:

      • Theme - Coming of age

      • Group of teenagers who always go out whenever they want and vlog everything, the day before they leave to college, they all meet up at someone’s house and someone runs late and they’re vlogging, they finally get to the house. They start talking and they look at the vlogs they have together as the camera zooms in, cuts to everything they did together (i.e. parties, hanging out, having fun, doing dumb shit, etc.) this makes the motivated and they go out again one last time and it’s them saying goodbye and going off to college

        
        

        My group members didn’t seem to like this one that much, but I thought it was really fun. It seems like one of those 2000’s movies, and if the shots and acting are done well it can look really realistic. Its also relatable since a lot of us are in out last year of high school and have to seperate from friends.

  Sooooo first group meeting went really well getting advice from others was so helpful. Im excited to meet again and tell them any advancments and see if they took any advice!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Todorov’s equilibrium theory

 Today im going to be researching Media Theory specifically Todorov’s Narrative Theory of Equilibrium. 

Todorov states that every narrative story has distinctive parts. Today Ill be talking about three of those parts. Equilibrium, disequilibrium, and new equilibrium. 

The equilibrium is when the audience is introduced to characters and beginning of the story. in my case this would be the first switch from the laundromat to the casino. At first the main character seems like a normal woman doing her laundry, then the flashback to the casino makes it seem as if she has a secret.

Next would be the disequilibrium which is the initial disruption…something disrupts the protagonist’s life. In the case of my story the disequilibrium would be her struggling to get out of her gambling addition..and even falling back into old habits.

Finally New equilibrium the protagonist’s solves the disruption, or not (usually for a good reason. My protagonist will be ATTEMPTING to solve the problem for good reason. Her baby. If she fails or if she succeeds is something that only the rest of the movie will tell.

Some movies that use Todorov’s Equilibrium theory are Moana, Toy Story, Decent, and much more. These moves are very successful and if I follow along with his rules so will my film opening.

Genre research

 Based of my idea I’m going to be talking about drama today. It’s a highly emotional and storytelling genre. There always has to be conflict. In mine it would be Man vs Self. My character would have to battle her feelings of going back to the casino. The characters also have to be well developed which is why I will be taking the intro so slow. That way the audience can truly understand her perspective and feelings. 

An example of a film opening that did this is THREE BILLBOARDS

I’m going to be using a lot of zoom to emphasize certain moments or something I want the audience to catch for example any facial expressions as she is trying to fight going back to the casino. The lighting in the casino will also be a lot darker than in the laundromat to symbolize it’s a dark time for her. 

Here are some drama movies: 

Lady Bird 

Titanic 

Casablanca 

The Perks of Being Wallflower 

Schedule

 Here’s the schedule for my blog posting and the rest of my portfolio project this will help me work efficiently and make sure I get everything done in time. 

The blog postings will be: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. 

I will start filming on February 15th and 16th. I’ve already called multiple laundromats for permission to film and they said they’d get back to me… nothing yet. For the casino I was thinking the Hard Rock casino. 

I’m going to start editing the film opening during the week. I want to be finished with it by the 28th of February. Once i’m done with the film opening I’ll start working on the Creative Critical Reflection I want to put a lot of effort and time into this portion. This will allow me to show my work and knowledge. 

Portfolio Project pt.1

 Heyyy! I’m so excited because we’re officially starting the pro folio project… Is it crazy to say I’m excited…? No but I honestly am, ever since my teacher has told us that we’re doing this project in the beginning of the year I’ve been waiting for it. I have a couple of ideas so far. I want to do something about gambling. 

I have this one shot in mind to start it off, where it’s a close-up of her eyes and you could just see the lights of the casino through her eyes. Other than that, IDK!! I might do something like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) but for gamblers. 

My other idea is of her being in a laundromat, and it just keeps transitioning to the casino. Signifying that doing daily stuff in her life is difficult for her to not think of going back to the casino. One of the transitions would be putting a coin into the washing machine and then it’ll flash back to putting a coin into a slot machine. I was thinking at the end, there could be a shock for the audience that she’s pregnant and it would allude to the fact that that’s why she’s trying to quit gambling. 

As for the title, I was thinking of naming it getting, it’s pretty basic, but I think it works well with the storyline and plot of the film. The font that I found was on Pinterest and I think it could work really well since it kind of looks like poker cards, but in letter form, and that’s pretty much it for now. I’ll keep updating when I have new advances. :)