Post Production!

Well, it has been a journey.  Even though I finished editing, I know that I'll probably go in a change the opening around a little more on Sunday.

I think one of the hardest parts was picking a monologue, and I ended up going with...

you'll find out! :)

Just kidding, I made the choice of no longer including the monologue because I realized that it didn't fit.  Sure, it was a nice element, but in the end I was thinking that I would let the opening speak for itself, as well as the fact that silence tends to make people uncomfortable.  This would be a great way for the audience to get an idea of what Lilly's going through in a better way considering that she is uncomfortable or on edge all the time.  I think it also helps intensify the knocking heard at the end of the opening.  

Anyways, it's kind of sad to know that this part is all over, especially because I've looked forward to it for so long, but at the same time, I'm also glad it's over because of all that I had overcome throughout this process!

Editing! (Week 2)

 Ahh, still editing.  Well, honestly the editing has been a little bit hectic.  To give a little more background, I feel like I should mention that I finally went back to school today after 17 days, and it's a little overwhelming, especially because there are some things that I now have to catch up on.  

Either way, this week,  I was showing a few friends what I had just to get some feedback on it, I also just need to add and fix the credits.  Also, I'm still figuring out which monologue that I plan to record for the opening.  In fact, I'm actually writing a new one that mixes the two that I already had, but I think I'm gonna have to just take lines from one and put them in the other rather than trying to find a better blend of the two.

I know that I mentioned that I wanted to add my composition from AICE Music last year, but I realized that it didn't fit the way I thought it would, and even though it makes sense, I don't have time to look back at that piece and arrange it differently to add onto the opening.  

I haven't made much progress this week, but I know that I will have it ready by tomorrow!

Editing! (week one)

 This week, I started editing my film opening.

It's definitely not done yet, but I thought that I would break down what I've been working on the past few days!

Monday 3/21/22

Monday, I was very hesitant to start editing.  I genuinely thought that nothing would work and that I wouldn't have a film opening.  Being very stressed about that, my main goal was to get the clips I had onto my laptop.

Luckily, they uploaded, and I began.  I decided to take the day slow and just try to put the clips in order, watch it back, and shorten if needed.  

At this point, the opening was roughly two minutes and five seconds long.

Tuesday 3/22/22

On Tuesday, I wanted to focus on adding transitions, at least mess around with them a little bit.  Which I did, I'm still figuring them out, but I don't think it's too bad.  Anyways, I realized that I needed to shorten to clips a little more before adding more transitions.

I think I watched the opening back about ten times while adding the transitions.  At this point, I realized that I needed to stop for the day and wait for the next so I could look at the opening with fresh eyes.

Like I said, I still wasn't too happy with the transitions.

Wednesday 3/23/22

Today, I decided to add the opening credits.  Since my title appears at the end, I knew that I would have to get the credits to drag onto the end that way they would lead up to the title.

I even decided on a title for the project.  My opening, as of now, will be called "I Couldn't Help It".  I think it shows that Lilly felt like the only way to get people out of her head was by committing murder, and that's her excuse, that she couldn't help it.  I think it makes sense.

Thursday 3/24/22

I decided that for today, I wouldn't edit the opening itself, I think that if I look at it too often that I won't be able to pin point what I don't like about it and need to fix.  

I also came up with a new monologue idea to use for the opening.  So it's a matter of deciding which one.  I showed it to a few friends and left a poll to see which one I should use.  I also showed one of my friends what I had so far for the opening.

Today 3/35/22

Honestly, I still can't figure out what I don't like about it, but I know that I need to take a break from looking at the opening.  I shortened the last clip a little, but that was really it.  I know that tomorrow I'm going to film a short film for my friend's media project, so at one point, we'll probably watch mine and see what to do as well.  It's definitely not done, but I plan to have it done by 4/1/2022, I think that's a pretty fair goal.  I hope to have the voice over added on 3/30/2022 that way I have an extra two days to make sure it fits well, and adjust the script as needed.  For some reason, I can't add it here, but will find a way to share it in the next post!

Good News and Tough Decisions!

 Hello there!  After a bit of a rough patch, I have really good news: what I shot about two weeks ago is actually working to edit, meaning I started editing, but that's for another time, and I have a title for the second idea, but again, that's for next time.

Also, with the vlog I made on Sunday, I know I had issues with getting it on here, but I found a solution.  I posted it on YouTube, unlisted of course, so if you want to see what was intended for Sunday, you can check that out using this link: 

(Copy and Paste this link)

https://youtu.be/B52JQafMZA8

Anyways, for the opening I need to record a monologue for a voice over.  But of course, I've written more than one, and can't decide which one I want to use.  I've shared the first one before, but have modified it slightly, and then today wrote a completely different one.  Before I share the link to them, I want to talk about them a little more.

Option 1

This version of Lilly's monologue, is intended to be more of a diary entry, which I genuinely think achieves that.  It feels natural, but the thing about it is that I feel like it doesn't show that Lilly feels what other people feel and goes through it herself.  Well, it does, but not to the extent that I would want it to.  I still think it is a really good option for the opening, but still not sure about it.

Option 2

To be honest, I think this is the more psycho version of option one, as if it were elevated.  The one thing that I would say is that even though it starts with "dear diary", it doesn't really feel like a diary entry, and I feel like that's important for the opening.  However, one thing that I thought about was keeping the opening silent and just letting the voice over play, and this monologue really emphasizes what silence can do to a person.  I think, in a way, it could make the audience slightly uncomfortable, which I guess could emulate or represent how Lilly is driven crazy stuck in her own and everyone else's thoughts.  

I think either monologue will fit well, and I will include the link:

(Copy and Paste this link)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18O1LfSA7mRqQ8zTnnqzi9WRFDKU2GyBdb32sk6RlAcA/edit?usp=sharing

Tell me what you think here!

(Copy and Paste this link)

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfVgW4EFA0Z761hJY-Tup9NJYlqv5aOSuSVoePaU6GXD8e14A/viewform?usp=sf_link

I'm Worried

 Good morning, in yesterday's post we saw that I really wasn't having a good day to create my film opening, and today is now my new intended day to film and/or edit.  

Honestly, I am really scared that I won't have a film opening.  Considering all that went on yesterday with trying to even edit what I already had, now I'm wondering if anything will work now.  For some reason the clips I had already shot don't want to upload onto iMovie or onto my computer, however everything I filmed yesterday for the vlog worked fine.  

I think I'm really starting to doubt myself, because even if I manage to get a film opening of some sort, I am worried that it won't be good and will affect my score on the exam.  

For right now, I think the best idea is to have a positive attitude and see how today goes.  

Wish me luck!

And It All Went Downhill...

Where to begin?

I know the title sounds scary, and for good reason.  Today, I intended to have a vlog for this entry rather than a traditional blog post, but as you will see later and come to understand, of course that wouldn't work out for me, so instead, I will be breaking down what has happened over the past few days that I initially had 

The New Idea

As I mentioned before, I had come up with a new idea, which was to create a fake documentary.  The next day, which was last Friday for me,  I decided to double check that the fake documentary would be okay for me to do.  

After checking the rubric, it turns out that I need to create something that is fiction.  Was my idea fiction?  Technically yes, but it's essentially me trying to create the story of a version of me that doesn't exist.  With that in mind, I decided that I would still keep that idea, but tell the story in a different way.  My new-new idea was to tell the story of a girl writing a song and then it would late be a huge success for her, and the rest would be history.  The opening would be her getting an idea for a melody and then struggling to write.  In the hypothetical rest of the film, not only will she have donut inspiration, but she would also have seen success.

As a songwriter myself, I know the process and the struggle of having an idea and then completely blanking.  I knew this character very well, as she would essentially be me.  I would have kept the same character name, just changed around a few things about Lilly.  I knew that I would be able to use my own work for this and be able to revisit and go back through what I had, even if it was something I wasn't too proud of, this could also allowed me to revisit my own work and possibly have a new idea for it.

I'd also be able to feature my guitar and give people insight into what it's like to write a song sometimes and how long and hard it is, but as of right now, this won't be happening.

Yesterday

Yesterday, I was excited because I started to work on a script for this new idea, however, my Google Docs ran out of storage and my Word account from school was glitching so I was left with Pages on my Mac.  It's not that I don't like Pages, but using it in the past has given me many issues with anything important I've ever had to do, but regardless, I resorted to it.

I hadn't written much, simply because I knew what I wanted to do and was going to do, that I felt it would be much better if I had written the script after filming, so I made more of a guide.

Not only did I have a mini mock-up of a script for this, but then one of my friends told me that she would be able to help me film.  Although I had tested positive for COVID-19, I was no longer contagious on Friday, and her parents were aware that it would be possible for me to test positive for even three more weeks.  I was starting to regain some confidence in my idea and project as a whole.

Today

Well, it was just one thing after another today.

I had texted my friend to figure out a good time for her to come over for the project, and at first she told me that she would be able to some time this afternoon.

I decided that I would try to start getting ready by curling my hair, so I could let the curls drop and wave my hair a little to get my desired look for the opening.  However, once I had finished doing my hair, my friend had sent me a text saying that unless I tested negative, she wouldn't be able to come over.

Here's the thing, of course, I 100% understand why her parents are hesitant to let her come and help me, but it's the last thing I needed.  I've gone through a lot lately, and this wasn't helping my case.  I ultimately decided that I was going to take the footage that I already had, but wasn't happy with, and see what I could create with it.

I get my record player set, and try to upload the clips onto my computer, and of course, it wouldn't work.  I decided that even though it would be more uncomfortable for me, I would have to edit it on my phone.  

For some reason, iMovie wouldn't let me select the videos from that day, however everything I had vlogged up to that point was fine to upload on there.  

This was really frustrating for me, so I decided that I would take a break to calm down and think.

I tried again, but it wasn't working, and decided that I was done for the day and was going to revisit this tomorrow even though it would throw me off of my schedule.

I edited there vlog, since that seemed to work and was able to upload it to my computer.  In fact, I was about to upload it here, but as the trend was going, it decided not to work for me.  

It's been a long and frustrating day.  I've decided that I am going to put a pause on this for right now, and figure out what I will do tomorrow.  I will try again with the other clips I had, but if that doesn't, I don't know what I will do.

New Idea Alert! (again...)

 Welcome back to "Quarantine Chronicles", I'm your host, Rafi Prieto, and on today's episode, we're going to talk about my new idea for the film opening!

Sorry about that introduction, that's how I've been jokingly texting my friends for the past few days, and I thought why not include it here!

As the title shows, I have yet another idea.  This one feels a lot better.

Sooooo, I have to create a film opening, but there is no specific type of film for me to create. I was looking around my room, and looked at my gorgeous Orangewood Echo Live Guitar, I'll insert a picture.

That's my beautiful guitar, it has a filter over it, but you get the idea.  As I looked at it I thought, "Rafi, you're a musician, why don't you do something about that?"  

I've always been a singer, and love song-writing, so I was thinking, what if I did a documentary.  I guess imagining what it would look like if I were a successful artist.  I don't get too comfortable sharing my own music, but I can always insert clips of voice memos I have, and some clips I have of me playing.  I could also do fake interviews.

I feel like in this idea, I can do what I already know and love.  I think it's also a unique take on this project, and maybe I'll act like I'm older and bring in some of what I am currently going through.  

I'm still creating a character, even though it's me, and I'm still developing a story of some sort.  I think this is the one!