How we’ve been affected by Covid-19

This year, I am in the A-Level Media Studies. Last year, I did AS Level 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

At this stage, we can finally start editing. This is a little more difficult, due to our current situation. Amy 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. 

Starting to edit: Choosing clips

 Welcome to another blog! Last time, we wrapped up filming. Now, we move onto the editing portion. Due to Covid, editing is different from usual. We used to have time at school to film together and pick clips, but none of us are going to in-person school. We decided that we would find a way to make it work. We all went through and chose the clips which were fine. We got to look back on filming and how much fun we had. We picked the ones we like best and organize them into a separate folder. I liked watching the clips because it reminded me how fun filmmaking can be. We had a lot of clips that we had to shorten. Sometimes we film two takes in one video and had to crop it. This made it so that when it was time to edit, it would be quicker. We all decided that Ben would you most of the editing, that being his strong suit. It feels surreal to be almost done with the experience. We’re all very excited to see the final product. We are dedicated a lot of time and effort and are ready to start piecing together the final project. In the next blog, we will continue to edit. I plan on taking you guys every step of the way. See you next time!

Filming Blog: My room

 

Today, I’m gonna be blogging about the rest of the filming at my house. We had to film a scene with Cassidy and Jade on the phone. Cassidy invites Jade to hang out and we shot that scene in my parents' room. After that, we had to record a scene of Cassidy and Aiden on the phone. We went line by line using multiple cuts so would be easier to edit. The next scene of Cassidy and shit on the phone with set up the same way. I was filmed on speaker so you could hear the other person. The last scene that we filmed was the one that took the longest. We were all very excited and nervous because it was the kissing. It was suspenseful and awkward, which was what we were going for. We tried to get a few angles to see which one works better. After we picked when it was finally time to film it. It took us a while because we couldn’t stop giggling from the nerves but eventually, we got it done. After that scene, we were done filming. Although we might need to do re-shoots, this is what we need for now. We all talked a little about the project and hung out before going home. We all liked filming together and thought it was a good group. Next, we have to start editing. We’re all really excited to see the film come together. See you next time with more details!

Filming Blog: Filming at my house

Welcome to our second day of filming! With how well yesterday went, we were excited to film today. Today would be our last day filming, except for re-shoots (if they are needed). Everyone came over to my house. Ben and Aitan even came, even though they weren’t in any of the scenes. We needed as many people to help us film as possible. I had my room ready to be shot and we started. First, we did the scene of Jade, Paige, and Cassidy talking on the bed. Jade asked if she could do the girls' makeup and we shot that scene in the bathroom. We all worked together pretty well, we even had a few laughs. Like last time, we tried out different angles for each scene. Whichever angle looked better, we ended up using. In the bathroom scene, I have a big mirror so we had to work around that to assure that the cameraman was not in the shot. I had to sit on the sink and let Gleda, who plays Jade, do my makeup and “mess up“. I enjoyed filming the scenes because we got to see the chemistry between Cassidy and Jade. Then, we did the other bedroom scene. Here, the girls were shown watching a movie when Jade lays her head on Cassidy. I can’t take wait to tell you more. Stay tuned!

Filming blog: Aitan's car and house

 

Hello, welcome back! in today's blog, we are moving on. Today, we are going to talk about filming at Aitan’s house. Last time, we talked about the diner. That was the hardest place to film because of the circumstances. It is a public place and there were other people there. Nonetheless, we were able to successfully fill mosh scenes and make it out in time before the dinner rush. The scenes at Aitan's house were probably the easiest. Before that though, we had to film the scene outside the diner. Aitan, Ben, and I were the main focus. The purpose of this scene was to demonstrate how uninterested Cassidy was. To tie in later plot points, we had to show a struggle in the relationship. That day, we also filmed the scenes in Aitan's car. The boys were able to read their script without it being shown on screen. Atain’s house after that was fairly quick. It didn't take long to get the scenes between Cassidy and Aiden and we were able to wrap up reasonably early. We are definitely proud of the work that we got done in one day. We can't wait to see how the rest of our filming turns out. Tune in next week to see how it goes at my house.

Filming Blog: Diner Scenes

 

        Hi there! Today, we're blogging about the scenes we shot. We were able to finish filming the scenes at the diner. It felt like the whole process was worth it. We filmed the scene of Gleda walking into the restaurant. We also decided to get the scene of the 5 of us over with. That scene was the one that took the most time. We pulled a table close to ours and were able to set up the camera there. It took a few tries because we kept getting interrupted. It was frustrating to have to keep repeating the same lines, but hey, that's show business! We filmed Jade walking towards the booth. It was interesting to play with camera angles to get certain people's reactions. We ordered food, in order for the scene to seem realistic. We ended up taking it to go, but it looked good on camera. After we finished filming, we took pictures of the location for the owner. We are also going to use those pictures for our website. Now that we're done with those scenes, it's time for the next ones. We still have to film at Aitan's house and mine. Stay tuned for more behind the scenes! 

Filming blog: Setting up

 

        Welcome back! In today's blog, we are finally starting to film. The most important part about the first day was setting up. We had the location booked already, so that stress was over. It took us a while, so we were happy to finally have it done. One of the best parts about filming is the cast. This being a school project, it was a rare opportunity that we got to chose who we wanted to work with. Outside of our group members, we had two other people. Luckily, they are both my close friends. Gleda plays the role of Jade. I thought this would fit because she is almost like real-life Jade. Also, she is LGBT and understands the role. Aitan, our other friend, plays Aiden. We knew they would both be good at helping with the scenes. Aitan was good at helping us focus on the task at hand. All of us being friends, we did get distracted a few times, but nothing too out of hand. We printed out storyboards and scripts for everyone to have. We used Aitan's car as transportation. We set up in a small area, where we knew we wouldn't bother other customers and got to filming!