Question 3: How did your production skills develop throughout this project?
-Reflect on how your process evolved throughout the production
Personally, I've only ever made a film project in middle school for my 8th grade film class but even though we were given a tripod, that was the only "professional" film equipment I have ever used. One of my group members, Vicky, is in Cypress Bay TV Production meaning she had so many ideas and so much equipment that she introduced to me and changed my production skills significantly. For example, she had an actual professional high-quality and complex camera that I refused to touch because I was afraid I'd break it. She had bright and strong lights that she borrowed from her CBTV class that she set up and changed the colors of. She also used both my script and her own storyboard combined to ensure that the process went smoothly. I personally never looked back at the storyboard after making it for the projects I've done in this class but Vicky relied on them so much that it helped me realize how helpful they actually are. I went from thinking my phone camera was a very strong way to film, relying on memory and how I imagined scenes, shots, angles, etc. instead of actually drawing it to life to make reaching it for feasible, and way more other differences me and Vicky used to have when it came to filming.
-Discuss how you begin with research and planning – offer specific details about both of these processes
We started planning by just sitting near each other in class and brainstorming ideas depending on the genres we had in mind. When we finally reached the idea of opening the film with a normal-looking woman setting up a normal-looking dinner but adding a twist, we instantly started planning the darkest and jaw-dropping twist. We established on that murderous element and we started taking notes on different scenes, shots, angles, etc. that we had in mind for the opening and once we were done with the notes, I typed up a script and Vicky drew up a storyboard. Once we decided on a filming date very last minute (the day of the filming day/Sunday, February 16th), Bella made a list of the props we needed and we all checked to see what we did and didn't have in our houses. Vicky had mostly everything which is what led us to choose her house as the filming location but we were missing a few things such as the rotisserie chicken and the fake blood. Bella found the fake blood she had from a previous Halloween year hidden somewhere in her closet and I went to Publix and bought the rotisserie chicken which we didn't even end up using til hours later when we got to that shot.
-Discuss your approach to production. What did you have to change or adapt as you worked on the project?
As I said before, I changed my usual habits of filming based on what I had in mind and what I was feeling in that moment to relying on it physically. This means using scripts, storyboards, prop lists, lights, professional cameras, camera stands, etc. I was definitely open to it once we started getting ready for filming but I got more comfortable with it as the process went on. I loved using all of the different professional equipment by the end of it especially when Vicky knew how to use it and incorporate it into the film correctly, demonstrating how useful it could be.
-End with a reflection on where you started and where you ended.
I went from relying on my mind and phone camera for my previous film projects such as my music video in Film 1 in 8th grade and my One-Word Film for AICE Media Studies AS this year and now I opened myself to using professional filmmaking equipment for the most important project of this year.
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