Ideas for Postcard

Hey Cambridge!!!

Today I started working on the print component for my film, One Flip Away. I'm making a postcard to give out at a film festival. I want it to be consistent with the Instagram page, so I'll use yellow, white, and blue colors ( Again). During our photoshoot, we’re planning to take close-up pictures of the coin so we can use that as the main key art for the postcard.

 
The postcard is an ad for a film festival screening. I need to add the title, the director, the date, time, place, and social media page. I want it to be easy to read and look intriguing. I’m trying to keep the design simple but eye-catching. I’m going to use fonts that match the Instagram page and the film, so it keeps the brand consistent.

Here's a sample I made (clearly it's not done yet, and I might end up changing the whole thing). I need to actually take the time and make it look good, but I still need the pictures from the photoshoot we are having next week.

Planning the Social Media

Hey Cambridgeeee!

As I mentioned in my last post, it has been raining so much that we can’t film... Since we can’t control the weather, we decided to focus on things we can do at home, like working on the social media component for our project!!

Today, I started planning out the Instagram page for the short film. This is one of the parts I’m most excited about!! I love working with social media pages and marketing overall, so I know I am going to have fun making it. The Instagram page is really important because it’s what people will see first and actually get interested in the film.

For the account name, I wanted something simple but still professional, so I am thinking on having the username be @oneflipaway.fim (I still haven’t made the page, so hopefully this username is still available). It clearly shows what the page is about, and it looks clean and put together. For the bio, I didn’t want anything too long, just something simple but catchy. Right now I’m thinking something like this:

Short Film

Comedy

Coming soon…

In terms of the overall aesthetic, I want the page to feel really bright, chaotic, and fun, just like the film. I’m going to use colors like red, yellow, white, and blue, based on the main character’s outfit. The red hoodie will stand out the most, and I also want to use bold text to grab people’s attention.

For the layout, I want the page to look organized but still interesting. I am planning to rotate between film clips, behind-the-scenes content, and interviews so the page does not feel repetitive.

For the content, I am going to post film clips like the first coin flip, teleportation moments, and the scenes where the kind acts go wrong. The film clips will be short and fun to watch. I also want to include behind-the-scenes content from filming in London and Madrid so people can see how everything was made. This will be really cool to see.

I am also thinking of posting more about the character, like a photoshoot and some interviews with the actor. I think people will like learning more about them. I want to post a lot of things so the page stays interesting and people keep coming back to see what is new.

We are also planning to do a photoshoot on March 25th after school to get pictures for both the postcard and the Instagram page. We want to take a lot of photos, so we have enough content to post on the Instagram page regularly. We are still deciding on what day we should film the interviews with our main character for the Instagram page.

I think this will be a fun part of the project. I am excited to start actually creating the posts for the Instagram page and seeing how it all turns out.

Filming Progress #1

Hey Cambridge!!!

So, a quick little update from spring break filming!!

David filmed the scenes in London and Madrid, which is actually so exciting (I wish I were there…). He filmed right in front of Plaza Mayor in Madrid, and his mom helped record some of the shots. He told me more about how everything went, and it sounded pretty successful to me!

We did realize that we don’t have as much footage as we originally hoped, but we both think we can still make it work. That just means that when we film together, we’re going to have to get a lot more shots and really make up for it.

Another issue we’ve been dealing with is the weather. It has literally been raining all week, which made it very hard to film. We had to move our film date, which also complicated things because of our work schedules… so Thursday, the 26th, it is... It was kind of stressful, but we figured out a new plan.

We’re still trying to stay on track!! We’re planning to start editing that same weekend so that we don’t fall behind. David sent me all the footage he got so I could get a better picture of how our film is coming together and what we still need to film.

Overall, even with the small setbacks, I feel like we’re in a good place right now, and I’m really excited to keep going with this project.

 

Project Update: Title and Costumes

Hey Cambridge!!!

Little update on the project!!! After finishing our full script and really understanding the story, we decided to name our short film “One Flip Away.” We both felt like it fit perfectly with the whole idea of the coin and all.

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, David is going to film some scenes while
he’s in Europe, and then we’re going to film the rest together once he’s back. We planned everything out so we could ensure that it would match our vision.

Today, we worked on costume design. We took a lot of inspiration from... You guessed it, Skipped!!! We noticed that the main character really stood out against the background. In that short film, the use of white against grey backgrounds made it super clear who the focus was. We wanted to do something similar where the audience’s attention goes straight to our main character.

We decided our main character is going to wear a bright red hoodie with blue jeans. We wanted something simple but also really eye-catching. I actually looked into color theory (I literally googled what red meant in color theory and then realized I took notes about costume design and colors in class... ), and it ended up helping a lot. Red can represent danger and courage, which connect to our character and the situations he ends up in. Red naturally grabs people's attention, so it works perfectly for making him stand out in each scene.

 I am a very artsy person, so I LOVEEEE Canva, so to help visualize everything, I also created a mood board with the colors and overall vibe we’re going for in the film. This really helped us make sure everything feels consistent and matches the tone we want.

Overall, everything is starting to come together, and I’m really excited to see how it all looks once we start putting the scenes together!!!

print components

Hey Cambridgeee!!!!

Today, I started looking into the print component for my project. For the short film package, I will be creating a postcard advertisement to promote my film. I researched different short film covers so I can get inspo for the postcard. The picture and words need to be easy to see and understand right away.

To get inspiration, I looked at the covers from Skipped and One-Minute Time Machine.

For Skipped, one of the covers has the character in an office. The background had different shades of grey, which made the office feel a
bit boring... The title was bright yellow, but the guy was the main focus. The other cover had a background with warm colors. The guy sitting in the chair wore a red tie and a white shirt, creating a contrast. The bold yellow title also really stood out. I also saw a cover with film festival laurels. It made the cover look official and professional. 

One-Minute Time Machine had two characters on a bench. The cover described the short film perfectly. The bold yellow title, along with the time travel device in the corner, really stood out.

For my project, I want to do something like this by using a picture of the coin or a crazy teleport moment and big bold words that fit the tone of my film. This helped me figure out that my postcard needs to be simple, look good, and be easy to understand quickly.

shooting schedules

Hey Cambridge!!!!

My partner (David) is leaving for Europe for spring break, so we decided to take that as an opportunity to film some of the scenes for our short film while he is there. After talking and planning everything out, we decided that our filming dates will be March 11, 12, 13, 18, and 19.

This is our filming schedule:

March 11
David will be in London, so he is planning to film near Big Ben. This will be one of the scenes where the character flips the coin, teleports, and tries to do a kind act that ends up backfiring.

March 12–13
He will be in Spain during these days, so he is going to try to film in front of Plaza Mayor in Madrid on one of those days. In this scene, he will again appear in a new location, flip the coin, and try to do a kind act that goes wrong. We have a couple of ideas for the kind acts, but we are still figuring that part out. I am not going to Europe with him, so I will not be there for those scenes. To make it work, I gave him my mini microphones so he could record the audio, and we talked about how the scenes should be filmed.

He comes back on March 16, so the rest of the filming will be done together yayy!

March 18
We are going to film the first segment of the short film, which is the intro, where the character finds the coin. We are also planning to go to the Everglades National Park that day to film another coin flipping scene.

March 19
We are planning to go to Brickell City Centre in Miami to film another scene where the character flips the coin and teleports again.

Now that we have our filming schedule planned out, we know exactly when and where we will be filming each part of the short film.

Group Meetingg!!

Hey Cambridgeee,

Today we had our first A-Level portfolio project group meeting. Our teacher split us into groups so we could share our project ideas, talk about concerns, and give each other suggestions. My group included Emi, Aneesa, Mariana, Fabiana, Daniela, and me. It was helpful hearing everyone’s ideas and seeing the different types of projects people are planning.

Emi Valdivia: Working with Joaquin and Andrew

This group is creating a dark comedy short film that critiques power struggles and makes a statement about people joining religions for power. The story follows a character who makes a deal with the devil in order to gain power and completes different tasks for him. By the end of the film, he realizes he has lost his humanity.

Notes

• Character makes a deal with the devil

• Completes tasks to gain power

• Script is already finished

Concerns

• Finding filming locations

Suggestions

• Reduce deaths from 3 to 1

• Film at Markham Park

• Create their own symbol instead of using a pentagram

Adriana Vega (AKA Me): Working with David

David and I are creating a comedy short film about a guy who realizes he can teleport every time he flips a penny. Every time he teleports somewhere new, he tries to do a kind act, but it always backfires in some way. The humor comes from the situations going wrong, even as the character tries to help.

Notes

• Teleports by flipping a penny

• Tries to do kind acts, but they backfire

• Interested in using fast cuts for teleport scenes

Concerns

• Scheduling

Suggestions

• He finally completes a kind act

• After that, the penny stops working

This suggestion was really helpful because I honestly didn’t know how I wanted to end the film before the meeting.

Aneesa Bajaj: Working with Quinn, Nico, and Zach

This group is making a meta dark comedy that focuses on breaking the fourth wall. Their idea is that the camera itself becomes part of the story and shifts attention between characters. One character then tries to win back the camera’s attention.

Notes

• The camera acts like part of the story

• Focus shifts between two characters

Concerns

• Making sure the storyline makes sense

Suggestions

• Spotlight is turning off on the main subject

• Microphone cutting out

• Setting it in a studio or casting call

Mariana Aldana: Working with Audrey

This group is creating a drama about grief and loss. The story starts with a boy in a therapy session talking about the death of his sister. The audience learns what happened through flashbacks.

Notes

• The film begins with a therapy session

• Flashbacks show what happened

Suggestions

• Sister dies suddenly (possibly a car crash)

• Therapy happens a year later

• Have an adult play the therapist

• Add a date on the screen

Fabiana Castillo: Working alone

Fabiana is creating a psychological thriller. Her story follows a character who killed a girl and is slowly going crazy because of guilt. He begins receiving strange messages that force him to face what he did.

Notes

• A character killed someone in the past

• Guilt is making him lose his sanity

Suggestions

• Show the crash at the beginning

• Include the year of the crash

• Represent the girl with an object

• Use limited dialogue

Daniela Gonzalez: Working with Gaby

This group is creating a music promo for the artist Annie Lemasters. The video has a dramatic pop vibe similar to artists like Taylor Swift or Olivia Rodrigo. The story builds up to a final scene where the artist runs on the beach.

Notes

• Artist: Annie Lemasters

• Story-based
  
  
  music promo

• Dramatic tone

Suggestions

• Film the beach scene at sunrise

• Plan everything carefully because filming time will be limited

This meeting was really helpful. It was interesting to hear everyone’s ideas and see how different everyone’s projects are. It also helped me figure out my ending and think more about how my film will work once we start filming.