CR Blog

  How do your products represent social groups or issues? 

Our short film is a part of the LGBTQ+ genre, it tackles and highlights LGBTQ+ relationships and issues that many people in the community face on a daily basis. Our film is based around a young girl, Cassidy, who struggles with her sexuality. When we first meet Cassidy, she is in a straight relationship that is going great until she meets Jade, a girl she quickly gains feelings for. This makes things much more complicated for her as she has to deal with discovering her sexuality, maintaining her relationship with her boyfriend, and facing the question of if she wants to continue that relationship and along the way she starts to discover herself. We wanted our film to show to people who might be going through the same issue of sexuality, that many people face this issue and that they are not alone and show others what people can go through in situations such as this one. We hope our film can influence people that it is okay to be in the LGBTQ+ community and that being heterosexual is not the “normal” way. Although in the end, Cassidy does end up with Jade, this will probably not be the end of her journey regarding sexuality. We hope that viewers realize this but are still inspired to explore their own sexuality bravely and not be afraid of backlash. We chose the LGBTQ+ genre because we want to inspire people to be themselves and to not be afraid of embracing themselves and not worry about what others may think. We want to show people that straight relationships and being heterosexual is not the only way and that, just like Cassidy, they too should not be afraid to explore their sexuality. 

How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’?

When having the discussion about the film my group and I made, it’s not just about the actual video. I am discussing everything that makes this film unique and how we are getting it out to people. When making a film, the goal is obviously for people to see and enjoy it. In order to get our film out to people, we have to do a few things to guarantee that people will be informed of its release. This is known as branding the film. When making our film, we also were assigned to make multiple social media accounts along with a website, a poster, a postcard, and more. Doing all this and spreading it to the world was our way of telling people our film is coming. These forms of advertisement are similar to when a movie is coming out and there is a trailer that is released, telling you what it is about and when and where you can watch it. On our social media and website, we give information about the film, this includes the pitch and when you can watch it. We also created a postcard that provides the usernames and handles of the social media, the website, and a quote that is from the film. All of these forms of branding have the same colors and a photo of the diner to give a subconscious link of connection. These similar colors and photos show a theme throughout our film and forms of branding. We hope that through our social media, website, and more people will find out about our film and will be excited to see it. 

How do your products engage with the audience?

Our film engages with audiences on an emotional level. Watching our film, audiences will feel different emotions towards all of the characters. While watching Cassidy struggle with her sexuality, some viewers may relate and feel the same way. The viewer may form a connection to Cassidy and feel safe seeing that other people go through what they are going through. They might like and appreciate Cassidy for being brave and exploring her sexuality, especially if the viewer watching is scared to explore theirs. We hope our film can influence others to be brave and explore their sexuality and that being heterosexual isn’t “normal,” any sexuality is “normal.” Viewers can also feel for other characters. For example, viewers might feel bad for Aiden seeing as he loves Cassidy and she is starting to not reciprocate those feelings. This is one way that people watching our film can feel for other characters. The audience might also like the character of Brian and Paige because they are kind of the comedic relief and they are there for Aiden and Cassidy. Viewers might also like Jade because they appreciate what she represents for Cassidy. Not only did she help Cassidy explore her sexuality, but she was there for Cassidy too when she felt alone and when she had no one else to talk to. All of these emotions just serve to help our film engage with audiences on an emotional level. People can emotionally relate to the main characters and feel for them in some way. 

How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?

When doing a project, it is important to know and research the genre and the products associated with it and this is no different when producing a film. Research during a film is very important to make sure that the film is not too different or too similar to any other film in that same genre. When researching the LGBTQ+ genre, we noticed that the characters were usually teenagers, usually someone struggling with their sexuality, and the color correction was usually bright. We followed these conventions in many ways while still keeping a safe distance from them. This being a highschool student film, the characters were all teenagers and the plot of the film was the main character struggling with their sexuality. We also had everyone wear colors that were bright and the diner and room we mainly filmed in were full of color. We did, however, also challenge conventions in some way. For example, the angles used in LGBTQ+ films are mostly mid shots and are two-person shots. We did include these but we also did scenes with only one person and scenes that were close-ups and we did from different angles. High angles are not a convention of the LGBTQ+ genre, but we still used them. We also challenged conventions because the main girl starts off in a straight relationship, where this usually doesn’t happen in many LGBTQ+ films. We wanted to challenge some conventions to set our film apart, making more people want to see it. We did however follow some of the conventions because we wanted people to tell what genre the film fit into. 

Short Film Package

 My Short Film Package:

Moonlite Diner (our short film)

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg3NsRM8-jw&t=2s

Link to website: https://joaquinaort2004.wixsite.com/mysite

Post Card:

(Front)

(Back)

Refilming the short film

 When editing the film, I noticed that a few of the scenes we needed to re-film. Some of them got cut off or we were talking too fast or the sound wasn't that good so re-filming would get us the quality that we wanted to make our film as good as we could make it. Luckily for us, all the scenes that needed to be re-filmed had to be done at Joaquina's house. When preparing to go to Joaquina's house, we all had to make sure that we put on the exact same outfits and looked as similar as we could to the first day we filmed. We did not want to mess up and have different outfits and make the film confusing when scenes from the same day had different outfits on. We had to re-film the scene of Jade, Cassidy, and Paige on the bed talking. When we originally filmed this scene, we were talking too fast and not loud enough so we couldn't hear it well. We re-filmed this scene and we tried to make it look more natural. We re-did it twice and then watched them both to make sure you could hear us. We also had to re-film Cassidy and Jade in the bathroom. We accidentally cut the scenes off too short. We had to re-do the scenes and film them a few seconds before and after we started talking. They did this because when I was putting the scenes together some of the scene got cut off so we wanted to make sure that none of our talking got cut off. It was annoying that we had to re-do some of the scenes because they were really good and the acting was perfect but we didn't want any talking to be cut off, so we did it. We were worried that if the talking was cut off that the film wouldn't be as easy to understand and we wanted everything to be clear. We also re-filmed the end scene where the girls are about to kiss. We did not have to re-film this scene but we did it just in case. The first time we filmed, when we were filming this scene, the girls kept laughing. We wanted to re-film it just in case the scene ended with them laughing accidentally. After we re-filmed, I put in all of these scenes and the movie was almost done. I am finishing some final touches and then the movie will be done and I'm so excited to see the final product. I can't wait for you to see it too!

Making the Postcard and keeping up with social media

 Hi, welcome back to the blog! For this next part of the film, we just had a lot of little things we had to do to keep up with our film. Now that we were pretty much done with filming and editing, there were still a few things that needed to be done. For example, we had to finish a postcard. The postcard was fun to make. I love being a part of digital design so this was fun to make, especially with my friends who are also creative. We decided for the front of the postcard we would do a picture of the diner. We decided that this was best because it was the front cover of our film and the name of the film was based on the diner. This diner is also significant in the film because it is where the love interests first meet. The front also included the name of the film, of course. Joaquina said that we should include that it was a short student film and from ABJ productions so we also included that. We all worked together to decide what colors and we chose the same colors as the website. We decided to have the back have all the social medias. This included the Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube handle. I suggested a small burger at the top right to go along with the diner theme. We found a very cute minimalistic one and added it. We used the website Canva to make the postcard. The next thing we had to do for our film was keep up with the social medias. We followed all of the artists that allowed us to use their songs. We also followed some more people/accounts of student films. Thank you for reading this blog, go on to the next blog to see more updates about our film. 

On to editing

 Welcome back. We're finally done with filming so we're moving onto editing. With Covid-19, editing was going to be a little more difficult to do. Usually, we can edit at school together and take turns, but none of us are at school. Although editing would be difficult to do together, we were going to figure out a way to make it work. The first part of editing we had to do was choosing through all the clips. This was actually really fun to do. We watched all of the clips and "favorited" the ones we liked best. We usually "favorited" two clips of the same scene in case we liked one better than the other. I enjoyed watching the clips and thinking of the fun we had filming. After choosing our favorites, we then looked through those and only chose one clip for each scene instead of two. When we shot a lot of the shots, we recorded for longer than the scene was in case we needed extra time. That meant that when it was time to edit, we had to shorten these scenes. So, that was the next thing we had to do. We all did it together and I let the group know where to end it since he would be doing most of the editing. Joaquina and I did most of this since I would be doing a lot of the editing. I can't believe we are so close to finishing our film. I'm really excited to see our final product because we've worked so hard. Read my next blog to see what happens next. Thanks for keeping up, see you soon! 

COVID and Editing

 This is my second time being in Media Studies, being in A level now. I did AS Level Media Studies last year and unfortunately Covid-19 affected the end of our year. I am telling you this now so you know that Covid-19 has affected my time in Media Studies for two school years. This year for school, I am doing school online, so obviously some changes had to be made when doing school and working with a group to film/edit/plan. We all had to make sure before we agreed to be a group that our parents would be okay with us being together to film or do any other steps. It wasn’t too difficult to plan our film because we could do that over the phone. We all did certain parts of the storyboard and script and worked together to make the film fit all of our visions. The script was a little difficult to work on at separate times because we wanted to make sure we all agreed on it. To reduce the trouble, we made sure to read over it together after it was done and make changes together. The next thing was the storyboard, which was easy to do with the script. Filming was a little difficult because we had to make sure that the restaurant we wanted to film at would allow us with Covid-19 and social distancing. We also had to make sure that parents/families were comfortable with people being in houses. Luckily, all the parents/families and the restaurant were okay with us filming. In the restaurant, we wanted to film when it was less busy, however, because we did not want to have our masks on during the film. Editing was difficult just because we would not be able to all edit since only one person had the software. I did most of the editing, whereas Joaquina and Amy did most of the acting and planning. This worked for us because it highlighted all of our strengths. As you can see, because of Covid-19, a lot of changes had to be made. Because we’ve been living in this “covid world” for a while now though, we were able to make it work. I’m extremely grateful that my group was able to get together to film and that we worked so well together. Thank you for coming along this planning/filming/editing journey with me. I can’t wait to show you the final product.

the begining of editing

 We're finally starting to actually edit. As I said before, it would be a little more complicated to edit because we could not all be together. Joaquina and Amy chose the music for me to use. We emailed a few people but only two responded. King Princess's manager and Danger Incorporated's manager gave us approval to use their music. From King Princess, we would be using the song "Cheap Queen" and from Danger Incorporated we would be using the song "Diamonds." Although we had other songs that we wanted more, we were glad to get approval from any of the artists. The next thing I wanted my group to do was tell me how they wanted the film to be edited. Joaquina and I both agreed that we wanted it to be edited similar to how many young adult/lgbtq+ films are edited. This means that there were little to no transitions. It also meant that the editing made the film look very smooth, with not a lot of cuts. Just like everything in our film had the conventions of lgbtq+ films, we wanted our editing to be the same. We hoped that even without the plotline, it was obvious our film was in the lgbtq+ genre. Through our editing, clothes, young characters, and dialogue, we hoped to achieve that. They also told me that when we watched the film, we wanted to feel a sense of contentment and excitedness for the characters. My group told me that if I could do that with editing, it would be great. I said he would try to make it happen and that I had the same vision as them. It's great that our whole group had the same vision and was excited to see our project come alive. I told My group that there would be no exterior shots because we did not have time, which was the only thing that we missed with the conventions. We're finally done with our film and I'm so excited, I can't wait for everyone to see it. Stay tuned on the next blog to see how Covid-19 affected filming, editing, and more.

Next part of filming

 Day 2 of filming is finally here! We were very motivated to finish filming today because then we would be done with filming, before reshoots (if they were necessary). We went to Joaquina's house at around 5:00 and just hung out for a little bit. We all went to Joaquina's house, even me and Aitan who weren't in any scenes, because we needed extra hands for filming and we all like hanging out together as friends. We decided what we would film first and made sure that everywhere we planned to film was tidy. We filmed the scene of Jade, Paige, and Cassidy laying on the bed first. Everyone was just laying around and Jade asked if she could do the girl's makeup. I filmed this scene while Aitan made sure everyone looked good and was shown. The boys worked together really well the entire time to make sure everyone that was being filmed was shown and the angles were nice. We filmed this a few times to get different angles of the girls laying down and different angles of Jade and Cassidy walking out of the room and towards the bathroom. The next scenes we filmed were all in the bathroom of Cassidy (Joaquina) and Jade (Gleda). Joaquina's bathroom has a huge mirror so we had to film where you couldn't see the camera but could still see both girls. It was important that we showed the girls maintaining eye contact because it was a big part of us showing that the girls were falling for one another. Amy and I did the filming for this scene because I was not in the scene and Aitan isn't really a part of the project besides acting. For this scene, we had to film Gleda looking like she's putting on Joaquina's eyeliner, and then she "messes up." Joaquina, then, re-did the eyeliner better because she actually knows how to do eyeliner, and then we filmed the rest of the scene. These scenes were my favorite to film because they show Cassidy and Jade getting closer and showing interest in one another. The next thing we filmed was my character, Paige, calling Cassidy and Jade back to watch a movie. Since the next part of the scene was all of the girls, me and Aitan filmed these scenes. We showed all of the girls being in the bed ready to watch a movie and Jade lays her head on Cassidy. Cassidy had a surprised look on her face when Jade did this to show that although it was unexpected, she still liked it. We aren't done with filming at Joaquina's house just yet. Look at the next blog to see how the rest of filming went.

Third part of filming

 You're back for part 2 of filming at Joaquina's house. It's nice to see you again. So, the next thing we did during filming was film Cassidy on the phone with Jade asking her if she wants to come over. Gleda went to Joaquina's parent's room to look like she was at her own house during this scene. Joaquina was on the phone in another room but we did not film Joaquina, we just recorded Gleda. We also filmed another phone scene of Cassidy on the phone with Aiden. For this scene, we recorded line by line to make it easier for editing. We then filmed a scene of Cassidy and Paige on the phone and we did the same set up for this scene as we did for the one of Cassidy and Jade on the phone. Joaquina was filmed while I was on call on speaker so you could hear what I was saying. The last scene we filmed was the most eventful one and the most necessary one. This is the scene I was most excited for because 1.) it was very suspenseful and 2.) it meant we were done filming. Joaquina and Gleda are very close friends but this scene was a little awkward for them to film. In this scene, the girls were supposed to kiss, and then the film would cut off right before their lips touched. We filmed the girls talking from a few different angles before the big kiss was about to happen. To actually get the scene of them kissing, it took about 10-15 minutes. This was a really fun scene to film though because we were laughing and enjoying ourselves the whole time. We were now finally done with filming, for now. We hung out for a little before going home. We all agreed that filming was super fun. We can't wait for editing to start and to see our film come to life. Here is a picture of us filming at the diner! Talk to you when editing starts, BYE! 

Fimling at the diner

 You're back! Welcome to part 2 of filming at the diner. So now that we're ready to film and we filmed the scene of Gleda walking through the door, it was time to film another scene. We decided to film the scene of all 5 of us because that would be the most difficult to film. Amy and I had to pull another table close to the booth and use something to stand it up. While everyone was sitting, we had to look into the camera and see if it was focused and centered. It was so we started to film that scene. We had to film a few times because of multiple interruptions. While we were filming, a waitress came right in front of the camera, people walked past the camera, and, of course, we messed up our lines. It was annoying to have these interruptions but we got through it and the scene turned out great. We filmed it twice just to make sure we had two in case we didn't like one of them. We then filmed the scene where Jade walks up to the group's booth. With this scene, we had to figure out the perfect angle and who had a steady hand to film it. I filmed it while Joaquina told Gleda exactly where to walk so the scene looked best. The next scene was a longer one so before filming we went over the scene a few times to make sure we all got our lines down. This scene had angles of all 5 of us and angles directed toward specific people while they talked. We filmed the scene a few times to get all the angles down and so it looked the most natural. We were all done filming in the diner finally! Before leaving to go outside and film outside the diner, we had to clean up and pay for the food we got. The diner also told us to take pictures of their establishment that they could use for their website so we did that before going outside. Now I know this seems like a lot of filming, but the day still isn't over. Tune in to the next blog to hear about filming outside the diner and filming at Aitan's house. 

Filming our Short film

 You're back for the next one, wow. The filming of my film must be really interesting to you, but anyways, welcome back. So the last thing we heard was my group finished filming inside the diner, but we still had to film outside the diner. This didn't take too long. We had Joaquina, me, and Aitan walk outside the diner. The main point of this was to show that Cassidy was uninterested in Aiden and kind of disregarded his goodbye and when he said "I love you." My character, Brian, was walking with them because Aiden was taking him home. We then filmed Jade and Paige walking out behind them just to show that Cassidy exited the shot the same way Jade and Paige did, showing the girls were leaving together. We had to film Brian and Aiden filming in the car. This scene was a longer one, but we were able to make it where the boys were reading the script but it wasn't shown. I liked this scene a lot because it's nice to see boys talking about something serious and bonding. This showed the closeness of Aiden and Brian's relationship, which you don't see anywhere else in the film. After this scene was done, Aitan drove us all to his house to film the scene of Aiden on the phone with Cassidy and the scene of Cassidy and Aiden in the room. We all wore masks inside Aitan's house since there were so many of us and we did not want to risk putting his family in danger. We filmed the scene first of Cassidy and Aiden talking in his room, showing their distance. This scene is a defining point in the film because it is evident that Cassidy is no longer into Aiden. We then filmed the scenes of Aiden on the phone. I will do a lot of the editing, so I told my group to stop filming after each line because it would be easier to edit. We shot each line and we were finally done at Aitan's house. We are now officially done with our first day of filming. Today was definitely a success and we got a lot done. Stay tuned to see how our next filming day goes.

The begining Of the filming process

 Hi guys! It's finally time to start filming. We had a lot to film, but luckily for us, it didn't take too long. The first thing I want to talk about is who filmed with my group. Our cast consisted of 5 people but we only had 3 people in our filming group. Our friends, Gleda and Aitan, helped us film. Gleda was Jade, the love interest and Aitan was Cassidy's boyfriend, Aiden. We used Gleda and Aitan to help us film because we know they'd be good actors and we are all good friends so the chemistry is already there. They also live close and were willing to help us film. Before we got to filming, I had to figure out how to dress like my character. Amy also had to print out the script and the storyboard so we could use it while filming. Aitan, having a car, drove Joaquina, Gleda, and Am. My dad drove him since I live farther than all of them. When we all got there, we went inside and spoke to the manager. Amy spoke to the manager to remind him that we had spoken before and ask where he would like for us to be, to not be in the way of others. He told us wherever we wanted since it wasn't too busy and we chose a secluded booth. We chose this booth because it was secluded, wouldn't be too loud, and it had a table across from it we could use to film the scenes with all 5 of us. When we got to the booth, the first thing we had to figure out was how we were sitting so it made sense with the scene. As a group, Joaquina, Me, and Amy chose which scene to film first. We actually did not film the first scene first because one of the scenes was in the middle of the diner and we wanted to get that over with. We did not want to be a distraction to others eating and we wanted to film it before we got too crowded. If you want to find out about the rest of filming, you'll have to read the next blog. See you at my next blog!

Planing: getting music for our short film

 We have a spot to film so now it’s time to pick music. My group and I, of course, wanted to make this step to be done by all of us. The way we decided to do this was for all of us to choose a few songs first. We all chose 3 songs and then put them into a playlist. My group and I listened to all 9 songs and chose individually which 4 songs we thought fit the best for our film. For me, the process of picking out the 3 songs was very fun. I loved looking through my playlist and listening to songs that I loved. The songs I chose were: Night Shift by Lucy David, Candy Paint by Post Malone, and Lights Up by Harry Styles. I picked these songs because I thought they perfectly fit our film and had a specific place where I thought they’d sound nice. When it was time to listen to all the songs Ben and Joaquina chose, I was so excited. I couldn’t wait to just sit and listen to music. After listening to the songs, it was evident which ones would fit best. We used 2 songs Joaquina suggested, 1 I suggested, and 1 Amy suggested. My group and I were really glad that the “finalists” for the songs were all chosen by someone different. I think this allowed for creativity from all of our parts, rather than just one person shining through. The next thing we had to do was ask for approval. We emailed all the managers of the artists who wrote the songs. I emailed the artist of the song that we chose that I suggested, Joaquina did the same, and so did Amy. We still haven’t gotten anything back. Hopefully, we will get something back because if not we will have to chose new music. If we have to do so, the first thing we will do is look at the other songs we chose and then look into new songs, if we don’t like those. I’m so excited to be diving into this film even more everyday. See you later with even more updates on our film!

Collaborating with Moonlite Diner

 From the beginning, we knew we wanted to film at Moonlite Diner. This diner has a nice retro interior and exactly the vibe we want to associate our film with.everyone in our group knows this diner and where it is. It is also one of the only diners we know around us. We obviously knew that we couldn't just walk into the diner and film, we needed approval. The first thing we did was have me call and ask if we could film. I was told, by an employee that in order to film/ask questions about anything, we would have to go to the diner's website and fill out a form with our questions. Joaquina composed the email (the form) and sent it to the diner. We didn't get an answer for about a week, so we decided to try again, but still with no luck. My group and I decided it would just be best for me to go to the diner and ask for the manager. After asking the manager, he told me he would ask the owner and then he'd call me back. He assumed it would be fine, as long as we didn't film on the weekend which are their busiest days. We didn't get an answer for a few days so I called again and asked for the manager, he told me that the owner approved but still wanted to talk to me on the phone. He called me and we discussed my group's plans and when we were considering filming. He asked about our film and I told him it was about an LGBTQ+ experience and he loved it. We learned that he usually charges people if they want to film, but that he would let us film for free. The owner's only requirement was that we didn't film on a weekend and that we took photos of the diner for him to use for the website. My group and I agreed to do such. The whole Moonlite Diner staff was so accommodating and my group and I are already excited to work with them. Now that we officially are filming at Moonlite, we can't wait to start filming and create a wonderful short film.

Social Media and Marketing

Filming is rapidly approaching, my group and I couldn't be more excited. As filming is near we have started to do some things to make our film feel more like a real movie. We have made multiple social media for our film. We've made an Instagram account, a Twitter account, a Youtube account, and a Facebook account. We've also made an email and a website. Joaquina, Amy, and I all worked together on the website. It was a great learning experience to make the website. We had made an alternate version of the site, although it did not come to fruition. Still we're happy with the results. Since we are not in school and could not be together, working together on the website was difficult but we were able to go on Zoom, although I suggested an app called Discord, because the screen sharing is much more clear and higher resolution and work together to make the website creative and our own. We chose colors that went well with the aesthetic of the diner and incorporated that into the website and our production logo. We wanted to do more with colors, but when we added a picture of the diner on the homepage of the website, we realized the colors did not look good/match. We all decided together on the different tabs on the website, like producers, about, content, etc. The website we used to make our website had its own tabs, colors, and pictures and we had to customize them all. It was difficult to come up with tabs and agree on colors but we ended up making do. For the social media, Joaquina made Facebook and Youtube accounts, Amy made the Twitter account, and I made the Instagram account. It was fun making an Instagram account using the platform and following my friends' films. It was also a cool experience for me to explore the platform and I'm even thinking of making a personal account for myself. It was such a fun and new experience making social media and the website, which I've never done before, so thank you for this cool experience. Anyways, follow us on Twitter @moonlitefilm,Youtube @moonlitedinerfilm, Facebook @CassidyJensen, and our Instagram @moonlitedinerfilm.

 

Storyboard for Short film

 We’re definitely moving along with our project. This past week, we finished the planning for the filming of our short film. We have done everything from pick a title to figure out location. We are so excited to be able to count the days. This week, we all helped piece together our storyboard. The storyboard helps later on when we have to worry about camera placement. We sketch out the overall look of the scene and any specific angles or movements. Because there are three of us, we were able to split up the pages so it wasn’t as much work. We each took on a few scenes and talked about how we envisioned the shots. It got us even more excited about getting ready to film. We tried to organize the scenes, so the more the audience watches, the more they feel for the characters. For example, the main character Cassidy is supposed to be set up as relatable for queer teenagers. To relay this, we had a shot of her with the love interest’s head on her shoulder. She had a shocked expression and it was clear that she was freaking out. This comes full circle with the genre of the film being LGBT+. We wanted to make a short film that accurately represents the anxieties of being “in the closet” and in a relationship. Not only is it an interesting thing to film, but it is something that a lot of the LGBT+ community go through. Recently, there have been a few LGBT+ films in the limelight. Only a few of those, although, are accurate representation. That’s why it was so important for us, and me especially, to tell a real story.

Planning for short film

  Since my group and I have already finished writing our screenplay, it's time for us to start planning. We have been provided with a list of things we need to have thought out. That is very helpful because it's easy to lose track of what we need. The first thing we had to think out was our schedule. As of today, we've set aside the days from November 16th to the 23rd. We chose these days because two of the members of the group might be away for thanksgiving. Also, with the holidays coming up, one of us might be out of the country, so we feel it's important that we film as soon as we can. The next thing we had to think of was the location of our scenes. The opening scene, along with a few others, takes place in the main character's room. For those, we are going to use my room, as it is most fitting for Cassidy's (the main character) personality. Along with my house, we are going to be using Aitan's house. He s a friend that will be one of the actors in the short film. We are also going to film at one of our local diners and following their protocol for filming. In between certain scenes, we will also be filming in cars. Besides our three group members (Joaquina, Amy, and Ben), two of our friends, Gleda and Aitan, have volunteered to be some of the main roles in our project. Health and safety is definitely the most important factor in filming this year, especially amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. We fully plan on wearing masks everywhere we go and avoiding seeing anybody, besides our families, the week before we film. Since we won't be needing to do any stunts for any of our scenes, we are mostly trying to stay safe from the virus. For props, we don't need anything specific, besides the phones that will be used in certain scenes and things for mise en scene, like the food, and decoration for the rooms (posters, furniture, etc.). The last thing we need to plan is the costumes, which we decided are going to be very casual and modern, with each outfit fitting the character's personality.

Genre Choice for Film

  We had a couple of options for what genre we wanted to label our short film as. There was LGBT+, comedy, and romance. We took enough time to research all of them thoroughly. We went through all of the common aspects of each. We were able to immediately rule out one of the genres. The comedy one didn't necessarily fit with the vision that we have for the short film. We were able to break down the ideas and compare them to the other two options. We considered the romance genre for a while because of the love triangle that is shown. While it is a very present part of the film, we didn't want it take take away from the message. We had to step back and look at the bigger picture. We want it to stand for all the LGBT+ teens that could use support. We felt that the LGBT+ genre was most fitting for our film. We believe the pitch is great as it is. It previes the audience to the LGBT+ aspect, along with setting the tone for it as a teen film. It stamps it as a tool that can be used for guidance. This piece will have the beautiful blend of giggles and tears that is so desired in coming of age movies. We could not be more excited to continue this journey as amateur filmmakers. This class has introduced us to the passion we have for promoting love through a screen. We are so ready to begin the process to do just that. 

Genre Research- LGBTQ+, comedy, and romance

Some examples, CAMS in the LGBTQ+ genre, for costumes the characters usually wear modern clothes. this is because they are usually set in present day. Some common angles in this genre usually. With movements, this genre usually has tilts, pans, zooms and tracking shots. Sounds of this genre include music from either LGBTQ+ aritsts or music about sexuality. The Mis-en-scene usually is influenced by mood or tone. The lighting is usually adjusted to reflect how the character(s) is feeling. With clothing, movies in this genre can show character progression thruogh how they express themselves with their clothes. The editing in this genre is pretty standard, there is more of emphasis on drama. An example from this genre is Love Simon. Some elements I like about this genre the chemistry between the actors can be really good, and the movies can be really representative of the community. An element I dont really like is that some of these can be very stereotypical. For Comedy, some examples of CAMS is that some of the clothes can can be very goofy. Angles can range from being normal, or being really expressive. movies in this genre usually has tilts, pans, zooms and tracking shots. Music in this genre is usually goofy. Mis en scene usually has an emphasis on keeping things entertainingly funny. An example of this genre is WaterBoy. An element I like is that I can get a lot of enjoyment out of these movies. An element I don't like is that these movies can be a bit too childish. For romance, examples of CAMS are the characters usually wear modern clothes. this is because they are usually set in present day. Some common angles in this genre usually. With movements, this genre usually has tilts, pans, zooms and tracking shots. Sounds of this genre include music about love. For Mis en Scene scenes are usually  influenced by mood or tone. The lighting is usually adjusted to reflect how the character is feeling. With clothing, movies in this genre can show character progression thruogh how they express themselves with their clothes. The editing in this genre is pretty standard, there is more of emphasis on drama. An example from this genre is The Notebook. An element I like is that movies of this gnere can be really touching. An element I don't like is that these movies can be unbearably corny and tend to get repetative.

Genre research for short film

 The genres that my group will be exploring and researching are the LGBTQ+, comedy, and romance genres. My group and I agree that the film we are planning on doing fits in best with these genres. They share similarities of fun and young adult movies, which is what we hope our film will be. To start off, our film will be centered around a young girl who is figuring out her sexuality and if she likes girls, while also being in a straight relationship. Because we will be focusing on LGBTQ+ relationships, it would make sense to research the LGBTQ+ genre. We are excited to research the LGBTQ+ genre because we want to learn more about it because it is not a common genre. We also hope to bring light to LGBTQ+ relationships, which need to be talked about in the media more. Also, we think that romance will be a good genre to explore and see if we want that to be our genre. Our film will have 2 relationships, but they will not be the focus of the film. We have Cassidy's (the main character) relationship with her boyfriend and we also have her relationship with the new girl, and if she wants that to be romantically. We might not chose to do a romance genre, however. This is because the center of our film is not as much about her relationship with the new girl or her boyfriend and more about her exploring if she likes the new girl and exploring her sexuality. This will be a good genre to research, though. Even if it not the main part of our film, it does play an important part. Cassidy is trying to see if she wants a romantic relationship with a girl. The last genre we might research is comedy. This genre we are the least likely to do. Our film is about sexuality and romance and, even if it is funny, that will probably not be the basis of our film. We will look into it, though, to see if we would like to do it and what it entails. All of these genres have their similarities so it is our job to explore how they are different and decide on one.