#DroppedDiego

My Brother, Brandon

Is it really a surprise? After many unanswered texts and not returning my calls I just asked my brother Bandon and his friend Glenn to film. There was no way I could wait around for Diego since he was making it too hard to work around his schedule.

Brandon, Glenn, & I 

The pair got home pretty late last night and we I ended up falling asleep around 3 in the morning. We filmed basically the entire first scene in the bathroom and the beginning of the bedroom scene before my camera ran out of battery.

I edited about the first minute or so and I'm looking forward to filming more when my brother get's home from work. His friend Glenn works too, so possibly

Since they didn't even look over the script, some of the lines are paraphrased, which actually turned out to sound more natural since my writing can sound a little stiff.

Overall, I'm actually excited to be having these boys to film with since they're really always readily available during the night and I'm pretty well acquainted. Last night, they seemed really down for acting despite some prior thoughts and were pretty bummed when we had to stop filming so I could charge my battery. (Which was completely out of the blue. I had been using the camera for a few days minimally with 3 bars of battery and then last night it dropped to 1 out of NOWHERE??? Hey, at least I learned my lesson and that bad boy is all charged up now.)

ay caramba, this not how I envisioned it

DIY green screen

So...I'm, so behind on my schedule. I really, really wanted to start filming on Thursday, but once it was apparent that that wasn't going to happen I tried to set up filming on Saturday,but my it was my grandfather's birthday and my mom basically put me on house arrest all day with her. Not to mention Diego was not responding to my texts and wasn't being clear on when he could film. I texted him on Thursday about filming and he said yes originally, but when I texted him early Saturday morning I got no response until I texted him about 2 more times. He told me he was in rehearsal and I tried to set up something for later that night. He told me he already made plans and I tried my best, yet again, to arrange even an hour of filming, but he didn't respond for 6 hours even after I kept texting him. His response turned out to be a phone glitch and he later told me that he never saw it until Sunday, a whole day later.

Anyways I worked all day today from 9am to 8pm and called Diego the minute I got home to try and set something up for tonight. However, he explained to me he'd been going through some serious stuff with his family and truly didn't mean to ignore me. When I asked him if he could film tonight he said he would ask his mom and then text me back.

nous in "drug" baggies 

To no surprise he never texted me back...😒 so I just took that as a "no" and tried to get everything ready for filming (possibly on Monday). He did say that he would be available all week and I'm trying to start on Monday. Since Thursday my house has been ready to start filming whenever Diego is ready, I have set up a DIY green screen (which is just 4 posters taped together) and tested it out, adjusted and cleaned my filming space, put together all the props (all the nous in baggies, fake blood)

and got some more lighting. The only thing that isn't always ready is my brother's room since my brother is constantly messing everything up.


Oh well.

Just A Little Test Run

I've been playing around with editing, just to see how I would create the effect of a hyper mind and this is what I came up with. While getting used to the camera I was loaned to by my cousin and ended up just filming shots of my brother's room, just playing with the lighting and how to stage his room.  Take a peak at my vision.

After viewing it once it's exported and after viewing it a few times I obviously have found things I want to change. For one, I hate the font that I chose. I have no clue why I decided to use that. It just looks generic and bland. Next time around I know that I want to change the font to a more computer code or typewriter font. 

Also do not be fooled by the information in screen and think it's just mumbo jumbo. Everything is cohesive and has to do with light bulbs or the science of light bulbs. Yep! You bet, for every shot I'm going to be researching everything so that Greyson's hyper mind is authentic. 

More Updates (I Swear There's Progress)

For the past few week or so I have been creating my storyboard, despite my lack of artistic talent. I really want to be sure to know exactly what shots to film before I got ready to film. I almost can't believe I almost started filming last week WITHOUT even thinking about story-boarding. I felt so pressured on time that I felt as if I needed to start filming even though I was 100% NOT ready.  Honestly, getting spring break as an extra week has saved me and this project to the fullest and I could not be more thankful.

Right now I've been gauging on where my fellow classmates are in their projects, just so I can tell if I'm falling behind or right up to speed. So far it seems like I'm on par with everyone else. Majority of everyone I've spoken with hasn't started filming and is at least planning to film sometime later this week. Which brings me to my filming schedule.

Diego is also filming another Media Studies project and he was doing that on Tuesday. I was hopeful that I could film today on Wednesday, but it's hard to work around on both Diego, mine, and my mom's schedule. As well as trying to coordinate with Diego's friend, Gianni, who I've assumed to be playing Chris. I'm really trying my best, but since neither Diego or I have a car so he can't drive over to my house and I can't go to pick him up. I can only do so when my mom is home, but she has been working later than usual this week.

Honestly, my last resort is Ubering Diego and Gianni to my house to film. I know I have to start filming this week. If I can't film until the weekend, I'll just start working on my website and postcard. (I started playing around with the website, but I haven't decided on what website maker I wanted to use.)

I swear, next update I'll have something substantial to blog about.

NOT Real Drugs! (and overall updates)

I should probably clarify this, but Nous isn't a real drug and I will not be using any hazardous materials to film. To create the look of real, futuristic drugs I will be using Listerine FreshBurts PocketPaks which are basically mints in tab form that dissolve on your tongue.

They're probably the most realistic Nous I'll get without creating my own technological-based drug. They're just small, thin tabs that are about a 2 in long and 1 in in width. They basically take up the entire base of the tongue, which I though to be too big. So I figured I would cut them in half, straight down the center, making them out to be 1 in long and .5 in in width.

1 tab, cut into 2

I tried cutting them into 4th,but to me they were too small and didn't feel like they would have such a crazy effect and could not hold such great technology. I mean, at that size they barely fit on my fingertip. I knew that during filming they would be hard to work with and they'd be falling and sliding everywhere. So I stuck with the medium size.


Also, I watched another short film on YouTube titled PERCEPTION which also deals with an experimental drug. However,  this drug solely focuses on memories and causes the user to relive memories while on the drug. The drug is given in a small bag with little stickers on it. To create the full aesthetic of a realistic drug I'll have the the tabs in small baggies as well.

I have family in town the entire weekend and we're having a large family reunion. So, I haven't been able to work on my project as much as I'd like to, but I've been trying my best. Besides the blog I've been working on my storyboard and gathering some material to be filming. I also filmed a little bit of filler stuff and started editing it, just to see how much time I would need to put into editing.

Setting

Within my film there are 3 major settings in which scenes take place.
The settings are as follows:

• a bathroom
• a male bedroom with seating area
• the Center - a public town area  (but in a more secluded space)

For the both the bathroom and the male bedroom I will be using my own house. For the bedroom I will be using my older brother's bedroom. His room, while messy, has the essence of a stereotyped boy. His room is filled with memorabilia, game consoles, boy's clothing, gender-masculine colors, and general "boy" stuff. With a few adjustments I have made my brother's room into Greyson's room.
 Such as the addition of seating, since the only seating available would be the bed on the couch which would allow 3 to 4 seats. However, since the seating is primarily on one side of the room and Chris is supposed to dominate the room I added one more seat in the back left corner between the television and the closet. This is where Chris will be sitting, right in front of the entrance to the room and will draw attention from the moment he enters the shot.

As for "The Center" I will be using one of my town's plaza's called the Town Center, which is both a town hangout, business area, and marketplace. On the second floor, where the majority of the businesses are, there is a seating area that overlooks the entire marketplace. This is where Greyson meets Chris, the friend who introduced him to Nous. This is where the dramatic part really hits. They would be sitting on the benches.

I haven't decided if it takes place during night or day, but I have been there during night and there are lights.

Constantly Changing (hey isn't that an oxymoron)

I just finished writing my script!!!! It's a little rough and is in now way professional, but I can read it and understand it. ( I linked a PDF file on Google Drive here if you'd like to take a peek)

Hey, like do you remember when I said to expect changes with my plot a few blog posts back? Glad I planned on that because boy oh boy did I change it up. One of biggest changes in my plot is that Greyson does not die. In the original plot I really, really wanted him to do to symbolize society and all that was wrong with it yada yada yada.

After talking to Mrs. Stoklosa I realized a lot of plot holes in my plot. One of major ones being the aspect of time and how to portray a lengthy period of time in just 5 minutes without a cheesy "let's learn how to use my powers" montage. This was one of the main thoughts in my mind when writing this final script. I kept asking myself "how do I do this?" I asked all my friends their opinions and my new-ish plot was born.

No worries, it's not changed that much. Greyson still ends up being pressured to take the drug which ultimately alters his mind to a supersonic processing speed and fills it with knowledge. Greyson however doesn't push his abilities or mind to the limit. The biggest change, besides the lack of his death, is the ending. Greyson, as the unreliable narrator, believes that this is all happening for the very first time. It is not.

Greyson has been taking nous for 7 months and is unable to remember the previous times since he still has a human brain. The enormity of the power given to him by nous is still too much for him to handle, yet he is addicted to it and continues to take it. His powers are illustrated as just another side effect from the drug and the deterioration of his mind is the drug wearing off. Thus, Greyson develops somewhat a "chain-smoker" addiction in which he's taking more nous just as the last is wearing off.

Greyson is kept in this cycle by his own will. However, it is explained to him every time and he understands what he's doing.

The social undertone is what drives him. To live in a society without strong emotions dulls a persons mortality. Experiencing these emotions and intelligence at full blast, creating a high, was the strongest drug. Being freed from social suppression was and is his greatest desire, along with everyone else's.