Week Eight - 4

Creative Critical Reflection -

Hey guys i stumbled upon a segment of a never before seen interview with the star of our short film, check it out! In the interview he discusses how the conventions that were used helped establish our films brand. Here, Jonathan also discusses the techniques used to help engage with audiences.

Week Eight - 3

Completed Project -

Welcome back guys!
After a long two months im very happy to finally bring you "Disconnected."
I really hope you enjoy, my partner and I worked very hard on it :)

Our postcard advertisement:

Website URL: https://disconnectedshortfilm.weebly.com/

Week Eight - 2

Reflecting Process -

Michael came over my house today with the completed short film and it was totally awesome! I was so proud of what we created and although some of the shots were imperfect, we knew that if we planned more diligently to allow us and our actors more time then it would've turned out its best. Luckily with both of our perspectives drawn, we were able to spot a couple mistakes and tweak them last minute. I also got a couple more photos Michael had suggested to me to throw up on the website, and they tie the whole thing together. Sadly though, since we took screenshots of footage from our short film the couple of photos that were sent came out slightly blurry when we blew them up on the website. We decided it wasn't too off putting though and stuck with it.

I also helped Michael finalize the postcard by deciding on fonts and such. Now that we had all three components completed they came together perfectly. I feel we did such a good job at maintaining a personality within our brand that was bland and lifeless. This constantly reinforced the underlying theme of "Disconnected" but another aspect of our film that works comfortably is the integration of familiar technologies such as smart phones and VR. These recognizable devices are used to effectively highlight the social group, adolescents and teenagers, that our film focuses on, not to mention these devices are the main issue that our film focuses on.

On the other hand though i feel our message could've been delivered with a more powerful punch. The rising actions seem to foreshadow some sort of reveal or some goal being reached, however our ending seems to come too soon and, personally, leaves me unsatisfied with the physicality of it all. Coincidentally though, the idea that technological expansion results in a social "disconnect" is actually supposed to create a deep sense of dissatisfaction in the viewer and is supposed to remind the audience that indulgence in everyday media prevents physical progression. I'm hoping that people turn away from my short film reevaluating their relationship with media and technology.

Week Eight - 1

Final Shots -

With the due date creeping up, Michael and I knew that if we wanted to include any last minute shots, we needed to shoot them asap so the editing process could be wrapped up and we can begin reflecting. After reviewing the footage, we noticed a few takes at school that could very easily be perfected, and this included parts in the introduction where my character and the female lead first see each other. Today we asked my friend Sara to bring the exact costume she wore the day we filmed and this time we attempted the shoot with less people around, but we aimed to maintain the natural diegetic audio of a high school. We also developed an amazing new idea for the very first shot in the short film. It includes a close up of me drinking from a water fountain, and when i lift my head, the camera tilts up and follows me down the hallway from behind as i listen to music. I envisioned this to be an en-captivating and dramatic way to immediately introduce our audience to the subject of our short film, while also making our way into an established setting.

In the afternoon, I drove over to Michael's house to revisit the bedroom scene, and although we got amazing shots of me putting on the VR headset before the date, we never actually got a shot of me taking it off at the end! So, i lied down and Michael orbited me trying to find the best angle. The shot shows my head jolting up in a sense, and since it was a close up angle it was difficult for him to keep me completely in the middle of the frame. He ended up bringing out a ladder and getting a really high angle shot of me, not only to keep me in frame, but also to portray me as overpowered by the virtual reality.

Now with all the footage collected and uploaded, we were able to efficiently review it. Michael began the heavy editing process immediately and i collected a bunch of still shots i felt would help brand our short film on our website. In the next two days we plan on meeting a number of times to work together on the final components of our project and our CCRs, so stay tuned!

Week Seven - 3

Shooting Bedroom Scene -

Dylan, Michael, and I were all available early in the day today so we got together at Michaels house and began recording the rising actions in our short film. It went pretty smoothly since we were mostly prepared on what to say, and i had even gotten the chance to draw up a few concept shots of how i felt the scene should pan out.  Although throughout the date scene we focused mainly on a mixture of up close shots and medium shots to create a sense of romance, we chose to shoot the scene in Michaels room with medium to wide angle shots to create a larger sense of disconnect between our characters on screen.

It became a challenge deciding exactly how we wanted to transition from our intro or exposition scene, which was going to take place on campus at the end of a school day, into the rising actions that take place in Michaels room. I told him that we either needed to use a cut that utilized sound or dialogue, or we needed to make use of motion and continuity. Since we struggled to come up with a clever dialogue transition, i suggested that the two boys exit the school out of a door. Then cut to the bedroom door opening, that way there is sequential context behind the jump cut and the audience isn’t left confused.

Other than a few more tiny complications we were able to finish shooting the scene in a little over an hour, and since Dylan had some homework to attend to, we quickly made sure we had a variety of shots and angles to work with in our takes and wrapped up.

Week Seven - 2

and, ACTION! -

Dylan was busy all day today sadly, so we could not get together and film the scene in Michaels bedroom. However, we managed to coordinate a time that works for us and for my friend, Sara, who agreed to help us out as the female lead. Since we planned to capture the scene with bright lighting and colorful surroundings, we felt that meeting up midday, around 3 o clock exactly, was the best time to shoot.

We put together a more vibrant and expressive outfit for the date scene than the one we planned to use throughout the rest of the movie. Instead of wearing bland khakis, i changed myself into jeans and a colorful button down, whilst Sara showed up in a very cute sundress. These outfits included bright colors like red to make it pop, and we also wanted to get our hands on a prop or two for the date, so we got bought some beautiful flowers.

As we arrived at Vista View Park, we went back to the same spot we began filming at the last time we were there. We chose the very top point of this hill because it provided us with beautiful scenery to help enhance the ultra realism we hoped to create on this Virtual Date. Unfortunately, a couple of families were also enjoying a day at that park on this saturday, so we had to scout some locations that were out of the way of commotion.

Week Seven - 1

Script Finished -

Today in class michael and I got a full fledged script outlined for the bedroom scene. We consulted with our friend, Dylan, who’s going to be playing the male supporting role, and together we articulated a conversation between two high school teenagers. Dylan only had a rough idea of the entire plot, however before filming we made sure he understood the theme of our film and the message of “growing disconnect” that were trying to deliver. The three of us boys were able to generate a very genuine dialogue, however we also succeeded at producing a scene that is so awkwardly dull. Again, we aimed to communicate the constant idea that technology and screens are creating distance in everyday relationships, and so Dylan’s job became nothing but starting into his phone and throwing out a few wise cracks, lol.

We’re going to be getting together as soon as the weekend starts and filming this scene. We also still need to go back to Vista View park and re-record shots that came out shaky when we made our first attempt, and I’ve reached out to a close friend who was willing to come participate in our film as the female lead. Anyways, that’s all for today. I’m going to leave a snippet down below of the finished script to give you guys a glimpse of what’s in store, but don’t forget to check in again next week.

jon- so what should i do bro

brandes- lemme see her Ipage again
ooo 500 likes, dude that’s like half the senior class

jon- that’s not advice, ricky

brandes- alright alright look dude
just send her a private message

jon- saying what? not to be creepy or anythinggg but-

brandes- no no dude just ask for homework or something idk

jon- alright. i can do that

brandes- ya dude you got this

jon- i got this!

*send dm*

brandes- and now we wait

jon- ya..

*sits in silence on phones*

*bzzz bzz*

jon- dude!

brandes- she answered?!

jon- ya haaa!