How Covid-19 affected our film

This is my second time being in Media Studies, being in A level now. I did AS Level Media Studies last year and unfortunately, Covid-19 affected the end of our year. I am telling you this now so you know that Covid-19 has affected my time in Media Studies for two school years. This year for school, I am doing school online, so obviously some changes had to be made when doing school and working with a group to film/edit/plan. We all had to make sure before we agreed to be a group that our parents would be okay with us being together to film or do any other steps. It wasn’t too difficult to plan our film because we could do that over the phone. We all did certain parts of the storyboard and script and worked together to make the film fit all of our visions. The script was a little difficult to work on at separate times because we wanted to make sure we all agreed on it. To reduce the trouble, we made sure to read over it together after it was done and make changes together. The next thing was the storyboard, which was easy to do with the script. Filming was a little difficult because we had to make sure that the restaurant we wanted to film at would allow us with Covid-19 and social distancing. We also had to make sure that parents/families were comfortable with people being in houses. Luckily, all the parents/families and the restaurant were okay with us filming. In the restaurant, we wanted to film when it was less busy, however, because we did not want to have our masks on during the film. Editing was difficult just because we would not be able to all edit since only one person had the software. Ben did most of the editing, whereas Joaquina and I did most of the acting and planning. This worked for us because it highlighted all of our strengths. As you can see, because of Covid-19, a lot of changes had to be made. Because we’ve been living in this “covid world” for a while now though, we were able to make it work. I’m extremely grateful that my group was able to get together to film and that we worked so well together. Thank you for coming along this planning/filming/editing journey with me. I can’t wait to show you the final product.

Editing

We're finally starting to actually edit. As I said before, it would be a little more complicated to edit because we could not all be together. Joaquina and I chose the music for Ben to use. We emailed a few people but only two responded. King Princess's manager and Danger Incorporated's manager gave us approval to use their music. From King Princess, we would be using the song "Cheap Queen" and from Danger Incorporated we would be using the song "Diamonds." Although we had other songs that we wanted more, we were glad to get approval from any of the artists. The next thing Ben wanted us to do was tell him how we wanted the film to be editied. Joaquina and I both agreed that we wanted it to be editied similar to how many young adult/lgbtq+ films are edited. This means that there were little to no transitions. It also meant that the editing made the film look very smooth, with not a lot of cuts. Just like everything in our film had the conventions of lgbtq+ films, we wanted our editing to be the same. We hoped that even without the plotline, it was obvious our film was in the lgbtq+ genre. Through our editing, clothes, young characters, and dialogue, we hoped to achieve that. We also told Ben that when we watched the film, we wanted to feel a sense of contentment and excitedness for the characters. We told Ben that if he could do that with editing, it would be great. He said he would try to make it happen and that he had the same vision as us. It's great that our whole group had the same vision and was excited to see our project come alive. Ben told us that there would be no exterior shots because we did not have time, which was the only thing that we missed with the conventions. We're finally done with our film and I'm so excited, I can't wait for everyone to see it. Stay tuned on the next blog to see how Covid-19 affected filming, editing, and more. 

Editing: Choosing and shortening clips

Welcome back. We're finally done with filming so we're moving onto editing. With Covid-19, editing was going to be a little more difficult to do. Usually, we can edit at school together and take turns, but none of us are at school. Although editing would be difficult to do together, we were going to figure out a way to make it work. The first part of editing we had to do was choosing through all the clips. This was actually really fun to do. We watched all of the clips and "favorited" the ones we liked best. We usually "favorited" two clips of the same scene in case we liked one better than the other. I enjoyed watching the clips and thinking of the fun we had filming. After choosing our favorites, we then looked through those and only chose one clip for each scene instead of two. When we shot a lot of the shots, we recorded for longer than the scene was in case we needed extra time. That meant that when it was time to edit, we had to shorten these scenes. So, that was the next thing we had to do. We all did it together and Ben let us know where to end it since he would be doing most of the editing. Joaquina and I did most of this since Ben would be doing a lot of the editing. I can't believe we are so close to finishing our film. I'm really excited to see our final product because we've worked so hard. Read my next blog to see what happens next. Thanks for keeping up, see you soon! 

Filming: Filming at Joaquina's (take 2)

You're back for part 2 of filming at Joaquina's house. It's nice to see you again. So, the next thing we did during filming was film Cassidy on the phone with Jade asking her if she wants to come over. Gleda went to Joaquina's parent's room to look like she was at her own house during this scene. Joaquina was on the phone in another room but we did not film Joaquina, we just recorded Gleda. We also filmed another phone scene of Cassidy on the phone with Aiden. For this scene, we recorded line by line to make it easier for editing. We then filmed a scene of Cassidy and Paige on the phone and we did the same set up for this scene as we did for the one of Cassidy and Jade on the phone. Joaquina was filmed while I was on call on speaker so you could hear what I was saying. The last scene we filmed was the most eventful one and the most necessary one. This is the scene I was most excited for because 1.) it was very suspenseful and 2.) it meant we were done filming. Joaquina and Gleda are very close friends but this scene was a little awkward for them to film. In this scene, the girls were supposed to kiss, and then the film would cut off right before their lips touched. We filmed the girls talking from a few different angles before the big kiss was about to happen. To actually get the scene of them kissing, it took about 10-15 minutes. This was a really fun scene to film though because we were laughing and enjoying ourselves the whole time. We were now finally done with filming, for now. We hung out for a little before going home. We all agreed that filming was super fun. We can't wait for editing to start and to see our film come to life. Here is a picture of us filming at the diner! Talk to you when editing starts, BYE! 

Filming: Filming at Joaquina's House

Day 2 of filming is finally here! We were very motivated to finish filming today because then we would be done with filming, before reshoots (if they were necessary). We went to Joaquina's house at around 5:00 and just hung out for a little bit. We all went to Joaquina's house, even Ben and Aitan who weren't in any scenes, because we needed extra hands for filming and we all like hanging out together as friends. We decided what we would film first and made sure that everywhere we planned to film was tidy. We filmed the scene of Jade, Paige, and Cassidy laying on the bed first. Everyone was just laying around and Jade asked if she could do the girl's makeup. Ben filmed this scene while Aitan made sure everyone looked good and was shown. The boys worked together really well the entire time to make sure everyone that was being filmed was shown and the angles were nice. We filmed this a few times to get different angles of the girls laying down and different angles of Jade and Cassidy walking out of the room and towards the bathroom. The next scenes we filmed were all in the bathroom of Cassidy (Joaquina) and Jade (Gleda). Joaquina's bathroom has a huge mirror so we had to film where you couldn't see the camera but could still see both girls. It was important that we showed the girls maintaining eye contact because it was a big part of us showing that the girls were falling for one another. Ben and I did the filming for this scene because I was not in the scene and Aitan isn't really a part of the project besides acting. For this scene, we had to film Gleda looking like she's putting on Joaquina's eyeliner, and then she "messes up." Joaquina, then, re-did the eyeliner better because she actually knows how to do eyeliner, and then we filmed the rest of the scene. These scenes were my favorite to film because they show Cassidy and Jade getting closer and showing interest in one another. The next thing we filmed was my character, Paige, calling Cassidy and Jade back to watch a movie. Since the next part of the scene was all of the girls, Ben and Aitan filmed these scenes. We showed all of the girls being in the bed ready to watch a movie and Jade lays her head on Cassidy. Cassidy had a surprised look on her face when Jade did this to show that although it was unexpected, she still liked it. We aren't done with filming at Joaquina's house just yet. Look at the next blog to see how the rest of filming went. 

Filming: Outside the diner and at Aitan's house

You're back for the next one, wow. The filming of my film must be really interesting to you, but anyways, welcome back. So the last thing we heard was my group finished filming inside the diner, but we still had to film outside the diner. This didn't take too long. We had Joaquina, Ben, and Aitan walk outside the diner. The main point of this was to show that Cassidy was uninterested in Aiden and kind of disregarded his goodbye and when he said "I love you." Ben's character, Brian, was walking with them because Aiden was taking him home. We then filmed Jade and Paige walking out behind them just to show that Cassidy exited the shot the same way Jade and Paige did, showing the girls were leaving together. We had to film Brian and Aiden filming in the car. This scene was a longer one, but we were able to make it where the boys were reading the script but it wasn't shown. I liked this scene a lot because it's nice to see boys talking about something serious and bonding. This showed the closeness of Aiden and Brian's relationship, which you don't see anywhere else in the film. After this scene was done, Aitan drove us all to his house to film the scene of Aiden on the phone with Cassidy and the scene of Cassidy and Aiden in the room. We all wore masks inside Aitan's house since there were so many of us and we did not want to risk putting his family in danger. We filmed the scene first of Cassidy and Aiden talking in his room, showing their distance. This scene is a defining point in the film because it is evident that Cassidy is no longer into Aiden. We then filmed the scenes of Aiden on the phone. Ben, who will do a lot of the editing, told us to stop filming after each line because it would be easier to edit. We shot each line and we were finally done at Aitan's house. We are now officially done with our first day of filming. Today was definitely a success and we got a lot done. Stay tuned to see how our next filming day goes. 

Filming: More filming at the diner

You're back! Welcome to part 2 of filming at the diner. So now that we're ready to film and we filmed the scene of Gleda walking through the door, it was time to film another scene. We decided to film the scene of all 5 of us because that would be the most difficult to film. Ben and I had to pull another table close to the booth and use something to stand it up. While everyone was sitting, we had to look into the camera and see if it was focused and centered. It was so we started to film that scene. We had to film a few times because of multiple interruptions. While we were filming, a waitress came right in front of the camera, people walked past the camera, and, of course, we messed up our lines. It was annoying to have these interruptions but we got through it and the scene turned out great. We filmed it twice just to make sure we had two in case we didn't like one of them. We then filmed the scene where Jade walks up to the group's booth. With this scene, we had to figure out the perfect angle and who had a steady hand to film it. Ben filmed it while Joaquina told Gleda exactly where to walk so the scene looked best. The next scene was a longer one so before filming we went over the scene a few times to make sure we all got our lines down. This scene had angles of all 5 of us and angles directed toward specific people while they talked. We filmed the scene a few times to get all the angles down and so it looked the most natural. We were all done filming in the diner finally! Before leaving to go outside and film outside the diner, we had to clean up and pay for the food we got. The diner also told us to take pictures of their establishment that they could use for their website so we did that before going outside. Now I know this seems like a lot of filming, but the day still isn't over. Tune in to the next blog to hear about filming outside the diner and filming at Aitan's house. 

Filming: Setting up at the diner and Arriving

Hi guys! It's finally time to start filming. We had a lot to film, but luckily for us, it didn't take too long. The first thing I want to talk about is who filmed with my group. Our cast consisted of 5 people but we only had 3 people in our filming group. Our friends, Gleda and Aitan, helped us film. Gleda was Jade, the love interest and Aitan was Cassidy's boyfriend, Aiden. We used Gleda and Aitan to help us film because we know they'd be good actors and we are all good friends so the chemistry is already there. They also live close and were willing to help us film. Before we got to filming, I had to figure out how to dress like my character. I also had to print out the script and the storyboard so we could use it while filming. Aitan, having a car, drove Joaquina, Gleda, and I. Ben's dad drove him since he lives farther than all of us. When we all got there, we went inside and spoke to the manager. I spoke to the manager to remind him that we had spoken before and ask where he would like for us to be, to not be in the way of others. He told us wherever we wanted since it wasn't too busy and we chose a secluded booth. We chose this booth because it was secluded, wouldn't be too loud, and it had a table across from it we could use to film the scenes with all 5 of us. When we got to the booth, the first thing we had to figure out was how we were sitting so it made sense with the scene. As a group, Joaquina, Ben, and I chose which scene to film first. We actually did not film the first scene first because one of the scenes was in the middle of the diner and we wanted to get that over with. We did not want to be a distraction to others eating and we wanted to film it before we got too crowded. If you want to find out about the rest of filming, you'll have to read the next blog. See you at my next blog!