Areas of Production

All four areas of production were visited. For mise-en-scene, we had a photography camera to hint towards Ziya's love for capturing important moments. The clothing was restricted to cream and white colors to create a feeling of innocence and youth as the characters are supposed to be on a trip to ease their problems back home. 

For cinematography, we utilized over the shoulder shots because there is a lot of dialogue in the scene but tried to keep the shots a little messy. This was an afterthought because when I watched back the takes, they did not fall into clear definitions of types of shots. So, to add more depth to the opening as well as make up for the shortage of cinematography, I decided to use the "forest" sequence as a flashback and develop a new scene of Ziya in the present. 

For sound, the mics gave pretty clear audio except for 2 clips that did not have any sound. This was because we filmed for two continuous hours so they ran out of charge without our knowledge. But to cover up that mistake too, the new clip that I will film will be put in the stead of those muted clips. As for BGM, the new scene will have rain in the background and the flashback will contain dainty background music that will disappear when the dialogue comes in. 

Finally for editing, I will mainly change the coloring. So for the forest scene, add a warm tone, and the rain one will be cool toned. Kind of to show the drastic difference in Ziya's mood in the two scenes. Of course, I will make sure to edit match cuts so they align smoothly and place credits throughout my opening scene.

Finally Filming

The day had come. Friday March 24th, 2023, the day I filmed my opening scene. We arrived to Markham park at 5:30pm , the perfect time for the sun to be warm and shining brightly, bringing a golden glare to the film. Since the scene takes place at one location and during a specific time period, we only had 2 hours to complete the filming. With over 93 videos in my camera roll and my phone at 9%, we finished at 7:30pm. Just enough time. 

Markham park is huge. It has aero flying plane fields, golf playing fields, sawgrass fields, but no flower fields. This was my first "oh" moment. After driving for about 10 minutes, I settled on a plot of land at the edge of water with tall trees standing near it through which sunlight peeked out. This would work, no white flowers in sight, but I would have to adapt. 

The sight was a little creepy to be honest. There was no one around except for this one person who was standing a hundred feet away and then threw a freezbee towards us. As the natural reaction, I picked it up and walked to hand it to him, until he waked over as well and told me it was a game. My second "oh" moment. Some golf puck throwing thing that occurs allover the park. I apologized for moving his impressive placement and moved on with my evening, while he walked further into the forest, throwing freebees. (now that I look back, I remember looking at the park map and seeing dots with point values, most probably the game that person was talking about). 

Moving on from that weird encounter, we set up camp, got the tripod situated, attached microphones (tried our best to conceal them), and ran over the script one more time. Filming was difficult. Since I was not behind the camera but acting into it, I had no idea how our shots would turn out. And I couldn't check each one after it was filmed, that would be unproductive. So I hoped for the best or something presentable. In theory, everything was thought out. Ashveen was wearing her white dress, I had the camera around my neck, Mitchell was steady with the phone. 

After I got home, I charged my dead phone and 2 hours later, I finally watched back the footage. Okay not bad, this shot is good, ooh nice lighting, wait, what happened here? My last "oh" moment. Well there were some problems to say the least but those will be unrevealed when I start editing. For now, this was my experience on the day of filming, Friday March 24th, 2023. 

Rehearsal

After multiple weeks of planning, preparation, and trial and error, I was finally ready to rehearse my opening scene with my cast members. I conducted a video call with the person helping me film, Mitchell Wagner, and the person acting with me, Ashveen Saini. 

We discussed our lines and did a run through of each scene. During the run-through, we changed the dialogue and added some improv so the characters could feel more natural to us. A main part of my opening scene was the growing tension between the two characters and to display that, Ashveen and I practiced using different movements and words. 

With me acting in the actual scenes, I could not film at my own discretion. So in the video call, I walked through the camera shots with Mitchell and explained the overall storyline. But he could interpret the scenes differently so we changed some of the formatting up. For example, new insert shots were added of me grabbing a phone or looking at the camera to create a variety of filming techniques. 

We practiced using the tripod, microphones, and photography camera so everyone could be comfortable with the materials on the day of filming.

Through this collaboration and rehearsal, I was exposed to new perspectives which would be vital in having the filming process run smoothly the next day. 

Progress 2

    The planning part of my film opening is almost finished. The mise-en-scene for the film has been collected. The two main characters are Maahi and Ziya which will be played by my friend and I. Their two outfits and aesthetics are described below, Maahi being the flowy, pure older sister while Ziya is the stricter and spiteful younger sister. I have asked to borrow a professional camera as the main prop and pictures taken on it will be edited into scenes as real time snapshots. This will create a unique POV shot in my film opening. 

As for production, since we are filming the scenes outside, maintaining the audio quality is very important just as the video quality. So we have ordered materials to aid in this process. For example, we have a wireless microphone will be crucial in recording close-up shots where dialogue is essential to understanding the scene. Also, we have acquired a tripod to make filming more stable and to film from higher angles. Lastly, to mask the sound of walking on grass, we will lay out a thin carpet over the grass or wear fabric under our shoes to make sure the only sound being heard is the characters speaking. 

For video, I will still be utilizing my iPhone 14 Pro Max as it has the highest camera quality available. To elevate it however, I will film some scenes in cinematic mode and give them a glowing effect by placing a piece of glass in front of the lens and rubbing Vaseline on it. With these measures taken in the planning process, I expect to start filming in no time.