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.

Researching Social Media Pages

Heyy Cambridge!! Today in class, we researched different social media pages (basically just Instagram) to get some inspiration for my short film. 

Media Text: Caleb Shaw 

Social Media Tool: Instagram - @wherescalebshaw

Description of types of posts: Caleb's Instagram page has a lot of videos and photos related to filmmaking. Many of these posts show clips from behind the scenes of his short films. Some posts also have advice on filmmaking and things he learned while filming his content. For example, one of his posts was about the lessons he learned after making his veryyyy first short film. His page also has videos where he talks directly to the camera about writing, directing, and editing. It focuses on filmmaking and storytelling.

Description of how branding is developed: He mostly posts edits (their videos are really cool) and clips from his short films. The edits use different shots, clips, and colors to make the videos interesting. All of the Instagram posts also use a similar dark color scheme, which helps show the brand of the page. It honestly just looked super cohesive and aestheticcc. This helps people recognize him and connect with his content. The page mainly focuses on editing and showing parts of his short films.

Analysis of how you will use this to develop your own social media presence: Looking through Caleb's content, I got a better understanding of how filmmaker
s market and show off their work. He posts teasers and behind-the-scenes content and even talks about the process. For my short film, I also want to post similar content on the Instagram page I make. I want to post clips from the film, filming moments, and updates about the project. I also want to keep a consistent visual style so the page looks connected to the film.

Media text: Scales and A Little Normal (short films)

Social media tool: Instagram - @ali.__.films

Description of types of posts:
Ali's Instagram page mainly has content related to short films and filmmaking. He posts clips, trailers, and teasers from his short films. Many posts promote the short film Scales, including the official trailer and teaser videos. There are also posts related to another short film, A Little Normal, including clips and visuals from the film and its soundtrack. Ali also posts videos in which he offers advice to people who want to become filmmakers or discusses topics like film school.

Description of how branding is developed:
Each short film on Ali’s Instagram has its own aesthetic. Scales uses a darker, more elegant, old-time visual style, while A Little Normal is lighter, showing kids in everyday settings. For each film, he posts a series of images and clips, around seven or so, that follow that film’s look. Even though the films differ, the page stays cohesive because each film’s set of posts has a clear style. The pinned posts for Scales form one large teaser image, which immediately highlights the film. This also works as a marketing strategy because the teasers help build curiosity and make people interested in watching the full short film. Overall, the branding is developed by grouping each film’s posts with a distinct color scheme and vibe, which helps attract viewers and grow an audience.

Analysis of how you will use this to develop your own social media presence: This page shows how social media can be used to promote a short film and build a clear visual style. When I make an Instagram page for my short film, I am going to post teasers and clips from my film to get people interested. I am also going to try to keep consistent cinematography so the page looks professional and organized. I really liked the idea of pinning important posts, like a teaser or trailer, so they are the first thing people see when they visit the page.

Media text: Think You Know Boston? and School

Social media tool: Instagram – @_madebymojo

Description of types of posts: The Instagram shows things like trailers, teasers, and promotional videos for his short films. Many posts promote Think You Know Boston?, with different scenes and a trailer. There are also posts connected to the school, showing scenes or visuals from that project. Sometimes, he posts filmmaking tips or shares professional pictures of himself.

Description of how branding is developed: The branding on this page is developed through the visuals and style used in the posts. Many of the posts have a night city aesthetic, with shots of streets and Boston at night. He also mixes these with more professional pictures of himself, which gives the page a very balanced look. Each film also has its own visual style. For example, Think You Know Boston? often uses bold yellow text and city visuals, which makes those posts easy to recognize. The posts for the school have a slightly different style and tone. This helps organize the page because each project has its own aesthetic, but the overall cinematic style keeps the page feeling connected.

Analysis of how you will use this to develop your own social media presence: After looking at these Instagram pages, I noticed that they all keep a clear aesthetic across their posts. Since my short film is a comedy, I could do something similar to the bold yellow text used in Think You Know Boston? to make my posts feel more fun and noticeable. I also saw that they post teasers, trailers, and clips from their films, which helps people stay interested in the project. Looking at these pages helped me understand how I could promote my own short film when I create my Instagram page.

Outline

Hey Cambridgeee,

As I said in my previous blog posts, my partner and I decided to create a short film, specifically a comedy short film, for our project. After looking at different genres and watching examples in class, we felt comedy would work best for us, especially since we want to focus more on visual humor than on dialogue.

Today in class, I worked on the outline of my project. I wanted to figure out the full idea and story before moving on to anything else. I also wanted to take inspiration from Skipped, which I talked about in one of my previous posts, and structure my short film into three segments. The film will start with the main character picking up a penny from the ground and realizing that every time he flips the coin, he teleports to a new location.

Once he starts teleporting from place to place, he decides he might as well try to do something good with this ability (this is where the kind acts come into play). His goal becomes trying to do kind acts for people wherever he ends up. Slight problem… every time he tries to do something nice, it ends up backfiring (in a funny way). So each time he teleports somewhere new, he sees an opportunity to help someone, tries to do something kind, and then the situation goes wrong.

Even though things keep going wrong, he still keeps trying to help people. That is something I want to connect to the message of the film. I want the theme to show that kindness still matters even when things do not go perfectly.

At the end of the film, the main character teleports one last time and finally manages to complete a kind act without anything backfiring. When he tries to flip the coin again, attempting to teleport, nothing happens. The coin stops working. This is supposed to show the real point of the coin, which was to push him to do something nice for someone. The film ends with him realizing that he does not need the coin anymore and that he can still help people even without the teleportation.

Visual Humor (genre research)

Hey Cambridgeee!!!!

Something I realized today while researching comedy is that it is not just about funny dialogue. A lot of humor in comedy films actually comes from visuals, editing, and sound. This is important because I am thinking about having very little dialogue in my short film.

In Project X, the cinematography makes everything feel really chaotic. The handheld camera makes the party feel real and out of control. As the night goes on, the visuals show that the situation is getting worse without much dialogue (which I am taking inspo from). I like how the visuals alone show that things are getting worse without the characters having to explain it.

Another great example is Home Alone. Even though it is more family-oriented, it is a good example of visual comedy. Some scenes have very little dialogue, but they are still funny because of exaggerated sound effects, close-ups, fast editing, and the dramatic music during certain scenes. The reactions and sound effects made the small accidents feel a lot bigger.

From researching these films, I have learned that comedy can be very visual. Silence can build tension before something embarrassing happens, and music can completely shift the tone.

For my short film, I want to focus on visual humor. I think using close-ups of reactions, quick cuts during chaotic moments, and maybe even a music shift when things start going wrong could help make the backfiring situations more entertaining.

Character Types (genre research)

HIII Cambridge!!!!

In my last post, I researched a bit about how I want the structure of my short film to be. Today, I wanted to research the types of characters that usually appear in comedies. I focused on teen comedies to get inspiration for the type of characters I want to have in my short film.

In The DUFF, the main character finds out she is labeled the DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) of her friend group. She feels insecure but decides to try to change how people see her. The film incorporates a relatable character who feels misunderstood. Having a relatable character is important for the type of film I am doing, especially since the target audience is teenagers and young adults. It has the classic roles that most teenage comedies have, like the love interest, the messy best friends, and the
social hierarchy. A lot of the humor comes from the main character attempting to fix her image, which honestly just makes things worse.

Another good example is 10 Things I Hate About You. This film uses humor and exaggeration to make normal high school situations feel bigger than they actually are. The strict dating rule creates unnecessary drama, which leads to awkward setups and funny misunderstandings. Patrick is charming but unpredictable, which creates tension and keeps the relationship interesting.

Both films show that teen comedies rely on character contrast.

From these films, I can see how exaggerating simple problems can make them funnier. For my short film, I could take a normal situation and make it feel way more dramatic than it needs to be.

Structure.. (genre research)

Hey Cambridgeee!!!!

Now that I’ve officially chosen comedy as my genre, I wanted to look into how teen comedies are usually structured. I am especially interested in films where everything backfires because I feel like that structure would work really well for my short film.

One film that clearly follows this chaotic structure is Superbad. The whole movie is based on one simple goal. Two best friends just want to buy alcohol for a party before graduation. But every single step of their plan goes wrong... They deal with fake IDs, police officers, awkward social moments, and miscommunication. They start off with making small, simple mistakes, but each mistake leads to a bigger problem. By the end, everything completely spiraled.

- The goal is simple and clear.

- Small mistakes start happening.

- Each mistake leads to a bigger problem.

- By the end, everything has spiraled.

Booksmart has a pretty similar concept. Two girls who focused on school their entire lives decide to party the night before graduation. Just like in Superbad, every time they think they’ve figured something out, something new goes wrong.

From these films, I’ve learned that comedy often depends on escalation. I want my short to follow the same type of storyline. One small mistake or problem leading into a chain reaction of disasters.