Postcard II

As soon as I had that idea in my mind, I knew I wanted to recreate it. So I waited until it was dark enough, I opened my entrance door, moved my lunch table to the center and took the same knife that I used for the film and placed it on the table. I also added a little bit of ketchup (yes, ketchup. I'm sorry Mrs. Stoklosa but I didn't have time to buy the ingredients for the fake blood mix) to the knife to see how it would look with the light. 

Also, remember the pushy light that I used for my filming? Well, I had two this time and they were really useful. 

This is basically how it looked when I set everything

The one on the right I took it with the outside light on, while the one on the left it's with the light off. That's why the left one is darker than the other one. I used my mom's iPhone S6 to take the pictures and on her screen, it didn't look that bad. However, when I passed it to my computer, it darkened but I guessed that I could fix the light. 

Nevertheless, every time that I'd increase the brightness, the light over the knife would look weird. So I just decided to work with the other one. I edited in Canva and this is how it looked:

Picture A

I increased the brightness and the contrast while also adding a blue tint. I absolutely loved the outcome, it has both blue and a little bit of orange which were basically the colors that I chose for the film. But also has that mysterious and spooky tone that every thriller should have. I started showing it to my peers to see what they thought about it and I received diverse opinions; some loved it and others not so much. One of them perceived the fence as an obstacle and as too bright for the whole picture. So I edited it on Pixlr and tried 2 outcomes, in one I lowered the brightness only on the fence and in the other one, I deleted the fence completely. After that, I added the blue tint.

Picture B

Picture C

However, I didn't like it. I feel that the white from the fence gives life to the picture. It also works as a nice place where to put the title. I exposed all the options to more people and they all chose picture A.

Btw, I downloaded the font from dafont.com.

Because plurality rules, I decided to go with picture A. I also put the title more transparent so it wouldn't be that bright. The final outcome is:

I sill have to add the basic information and do the back side of the postcard. I'm really excited because so far everything is turning out to be so well.

PS: my cat also wanted to be in the shot, so she just stepped in. And shout out to my mom for holding two pushy lights for half an hour.

Postcard

As I previously stated in my vlog, I was a little confused about the postcard layout. For instance, I didn't now if it had to be like a real postcard with the lines for people to write on them or just like a flyer in a postcard size. But I asked my teacher and she clarified this doubts for me. So I decided to start my research on horror/thriller posters as well as on Film Festivals postcards.

The majority of movies in these genres depicts their main characters in their movie posters. 

Split (2016)

Split (2016)

These two posters from Split (2016) are great. The one to the right shows Kevin as having 4 different shadows, which would be his different personalities. The second one shows a clearer representation of what's going on in Kevin's mind, as each personality tries to ''come into the light'' and be responsible for Kevin's actions/thoughts. The font used in both of them also conveys the meaning of the title as it appears to be cut or ''split''.

Don't Breathe (2016)

While Split shows the attacker, Don't Breathe (2016) focuses more on the victim. This poster shows the audience the lead actress and two man's hands that try to prevent her from breathing.

The Strangers (2008)

The movie poster from The Strangers (2008) shows a mixture of the last two. It depicts the attackers facing the camera and the victims showing their back, this is part of the last scene of the movie. The fact that they show their attackers completely exposed to the camera doest not create an issue for the movie's plot since they wear masks in both the poster and throughout the whole movie.

Nevertheless, due to how my film is going to develop (the audience believing the killer is the house's owner) I can't show any characteristic of my killer nor my victims. Moreover, since he doesn't wear any mask during his act, then the last poster is not an option either.

Therefore, I will be focusing more on symbology/actions/objects than in my actors.

Even though the movie poster from A Cure for Wellness (2017) also depicts a movie character (I haven't see the film so I have no idea who she is), it also shows a little bottle of an elixir (??) which would be symbolizing the cure. But the one from Lights out (2016) only shows a light switch which symbolizes the most important element of the movie, keep the lights on and the characters will survive.

A Cure for Wellness (2017)

Lights out (2016)

So thinking about my own film, I thought about having a knife and a closet but since I'm not really showing the closet in my film, but instead implying that the killer keeps their victims there by the news report audio, I didn't want to show it on my movie poster. That's when I came up with the title Break in and I visualized a house's door opened at the end of the picture and a knife on a chair/table. Something like this:

I will comment more about my process taking and editing this picture in my next post since this one came out to be a little long.

Sources:

"Split Movie Poster (#3 of 5)." IMP Awards - All the Latest Movie Posters. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

"Split Movie Poster (#4 of 5)." IMP Awards - All the Latest Movie Posters. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

"DON'T BREATHE Poster." Movieposter.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

"The Strangers Movie Poster (#4 of 10)." IMP Awards - All the Latest Movie Posters. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

"A Cure for Wellness Movie Poster (#1 of 5)." IMP Awards - All the Latest Movie Posters. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

"Lights Out." PicPhotos. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

Insert title here

After a whole weekend of deep thought and research of fancy words, I came up with my title. As I stated in my post about my killer's nickname, I wanted a simple word or set of words that wouldn't give too much about my film. Consequently, the option of using the nickname as my title was out of the table. 

Mrs. Stoklosa advised me to look for synonyms for ''cut, stab, knife'', etc', but I couldn't find anything that could convince me. Some peers suggested me to use ''Closet'', but I'm not exactly focusing on the closet during the duration of the movie, but instead inferring its significance through the audio from the news reports. I kept looking and thinking and throwing ideas but nothing would satisfy me enough to be my title.

I talked to my best friend about this problem and she mentioned ''Come in'' and I really liked it; I even visualize the front of my postcard (which I'll talk more in depth in my next post). Nevertheless, after repeating it numerous times, I realized that it implies an invitation, which is clearly not given in the film. But thanks to it, I thought about another title and it convinced me.

So, with no further talk, my title is (although subject to change):

Break In

What I like about it is that it's simple, quick, just like other thriller/horror movies; titles like ''Split''. ''Scream'', ''The Conjuring'' are the ones that stick with people. Also, I can continue with my idea for the postcard with it. 

Quickly updates in my other components:

• Filming will be finished this Saturday
• Postcard process has been started
• Website will be started in the following days

Follow the tendency

So a couple of my friends did vlogs for their media blogs and I didn't want to do one, but` I thought that it would be easier to show how I made all the sound effects. Thus, yes, I am following the media flow.

I  tried to make it as entertaining as possible, so I hope you enjoy it:

As I explained in my video, I didn't record all the sounds but I will when my crew and I film the rest of the scenes. Here's the exact list of what I need to do:

The Closet Killer

We had group meetings again yesterday and I shared with them my problem with my killer's nickname. At the beginning, I wanted to do something with homosexuality or homophobia but my peers advised me that that choice would give out too much about my film. So it was better if I do it related to the weapon or to the killer's M.O.  So, I talked to my teacher to get a little bit more of insight and sh told me that my peers were right. Also, I'm not doing alliteration anymore.

I looked up some serial killer nicknames and I have to admit that most of them were really bad. I never notice that people just combine the place where the person is killing with the way he/she does it and then POOF! nickname created. For instance:

Even BTK, who I thought had a cool nickname:

Instead, I wanted something like:

So I talked to my friends and I started to look up synonyms for cutter, stab, knife, etc. And suddenly we came up with...

The Closet Killer

So before I explain the meaning of it... remember that I also needed a signature for my killer? Well... what if, after he kills his victims he hides them in the closet, as of ''stay inside the closet'', because they're gay, get it? Thus, that's where The Closet Killer comes from. 

I really liked the nickname and the symbology of it since it adds something extra to my film. Nevertheless, I don't think that it is as powerful as to put it as my movie title. THEREFORE, here I am again in a dispute for my movie title. I want it to be a single ambiguous world. I'll think about it in the next couple of days and I'll keep you update it. 

Sources:

"42 Dangerous Serial Killers Who Had Nicknames." Ranker. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.
"21st Century Serial Killers." Ranker. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.

Step by Step

So.... I started filming last Thursday and it was a mix of success and failure.

First, let me introduce you to my actors.

• My killer:

Christopher Beytia  Frentzel

• My lesbian couple:

Isabella Armas - Leon

Catalina Castro

Also, here's my set (Isabella's house)

 

 

I arrived at her house at 6:00 pm to start organizing everything, and everyone else got there at like 6:30/7:00 pm. Nevertheless, it was still too clear to start filming, so we started filming the last scenes, like the one in the bathroom and in the kitchen. As it was getting darker, we could film the rest of the scenes. I was really worried about the lighting since I needed it to be dark but not as much so the audience could understand what was happening. Before I left my house I remember that my mom bought this Push Light for our kitchen so I decided to take it with me hoping that it would be really useful; and actually, it was. Larissa Martins helped me holding 7

Adhesive Push Light

At 8:00 pm we were all really tired but I still wanted to finish the final scene. The problem was that we were laughing so much because Cata and Isa couldn't be a real couple. At the end the scene was perfect... but then I realized that I wasn't filming. Everyone was so mad at me. So we had to film it again. Later on, I decided to order pizza for my actors, thanking them for all their cooperation.

When we finished eating, we still had a couple of scenes to film. So we started doing them as fast as possible because everyone else had other places to be.

However, because of this rush on filming, I completely forgot a really important scene. Also, when I started putting all my shots together on Monday, I realized that there are some continuity issues with some of them. Therefore, we all have to go next week, because this one is really busy for everyone, and film the remaining scenes. 

The good thing about filming is that I had to decide my killer's weapon fast. So I think that the easiest and more accesible thing to use was a knife. I was going to shot it as if the killer got it from the kitchen but then the perception of him coming ready to kill would be lost. So, I just decided to introduce it as if he has had it in his pocket since he arrived at the house.

Lastly, while we were eating Chris suggested that for my nickname choose a word related to homosexual relations or homophobia. So, I'm going to do that research today and decide whether I should go for the alliteration route or the symbolic route. 

Also, my goal for this week is to record all the sounds that I posted in my last post, so I'll keep you updated with that!

Sounds, sounds, sounds

Since I finished my storyboard yesterday, I started thinking about the production process. This process, even though characterized by filming all the scenes needed, also includes the creation of sound effects. I decided to make a list of all the sounds that I have to produce for my very soon-to-be short film.

Here's the list of all the sounds that I've thought about so far:

1. Footsteps in the pavement
2. Nature sounds
3. House door opening
4. News report of the beginning
5. Lights turning on in the kitchen
6. Fridge door opening
7. Fridge door closing 
8. Kitchen's cabinet opening
9. Kitchen's cabinet closing
10. Putting glass in the counter
11. Pouring water into the glass
12. Kitchen lights turning off
13. Turning off the TV
14. Phone vibration 
15. Water from the faucet of the kitchen
16. Bathroom door opening
17. Bathroom faucet 
18. Bathroom door opening
19. Bathroom lights turning on
20. Bathroom door closing
21. Bathroom lights turning off
22. Sighs
23. Low voices 
24. Strong bump in the wall
25. Heavy breathing
26. Bedroom knob door trying to be opened
27. Screams?
28. Final news report.

Music Maker JAM App

I think these are all the sound effects that I need for the creation of my short film. Maybe I'll add some more after I start editing.  Apart from this, I have to look up for suspense music. I don't know if it's possible to create this music in the Music Make JAM App that I downloaded on my phone or if I have to find a free soundtrack. 

In the meanwhile, I leave you this short film directed by Daniel Jewel about two Foley Artists: Pete Burgis and Sue Harding.

Sources:

Music, JAM - just add. "Music Maker JAM APK mirror Download - Free Music And Audio Apps for Android." APKupdate. N.p., 18 Jan. 2017. Web. 23 Mar. 2017.

"THE SECRET WORLD OF FOLEY." YouTube. N.p., 10 July 2016. Web. 23 Mar. 2017.