Production Process: Day 1

    Today in school we began the filming process of our film opening. The opening scene takes place with Maddie walking down the school hallway, looking very sad. She passes a poster that indicated its the lats day of school, and than students leave the classrooms and flood the hallway. Here is the part of our story board where you can see the shots we began to film:

The night before, with my group we decided what Maddie should be wearing. We came to the decision for her to wear sweatpants and a black hoodie. We felt this illustrates a feeling of an motivation and sadness we want her to display. Since I will be playing Maddie in the film opening, thats exactly what I wore. When we got to school today, we left to film. I took my little digital canon camera to record the scenes. Two problems we cam across was that 1) when we left to film, we had 5 minutes to do so, so it was very rushed. Problem number 2) In the middle of shooting the scene walking down the hallway, the camera turned off, it had ran out of battery. We have decided to keep filming next class and get all the school shots out of the way, this weekend we will begin filming all of the rest. These are some behind-the-scene videos of us filming the shots.

 

Prop Creation Process

     Soon we will begin to film the opening of our portfolio project "Dear Diary;" but before that we have to get some things done. We still have to make 2 props that will be big components of our film opening: the diary, and the summer poster. These are pictures of our story board:

The poster is going to help deliver the message to the audience that it is the last day of school before summer break, as a teenager, Maddie should be happy right? But obviously they will tell something is off. Later on in the opening, when Maddie gets home, the Diary will make its appearance, there the audience will confirm Maddie's suicidal thoughts.

The last day of school poster wont be too elaborated, we want to make it seem like the hallway posters at our school, but obviously something the will catch the viewers attention. Were planning on using white poster board with some sort of bright color to write out "Last Day Of School!"

For the Diary, we have decided to make it red. Everything in Maddie's room is very neutral colored, and the color red will highlight the contrast of her life and her thoughts. It will also catch the viewers attention, and make it clear the Diary has an important role in the film. We have decided to write mini Diary updates through the pages, progressively getting more dull, and depressing. While Maddie flips through the pages of her Diary to get to a blank page, the audience will see how her thoughts have changed for the worse. It will go from being very colorful and joyful to very sad. The color of the Diary will also show contrast in how her most things in her life are cool toned (depressed) and the diary is the only warm toned thing, where she gets to express herself fully. This is some inspiration we had for the diary: (something very simple, but with a lot of meaning behind it)

Dear Diary; Script

FADE IN: 

EXT. HIGH SCHOOL - DAY 

(CREDITS FADE IN AND OUT ACROSS SCREEN) 

 

The final bell rings. Students leave and go out of the school, laughing, hugging, making summer plans. The energy is high—except for one girl, Maddie (16). 

She walks alone, her movements slow, her face expressionless. An EXTREME LONG SHOT shows her making her way to the parking lot. Friends huddle together, parents pick up students, but Maddie is alone. She gets into the backseat of a car, closes the door. Two GIRLS are sitting in the front, talking excitedly. The car pulls away.  

 

The car starts. NON-DIEGETIC SAD MUSIC begins to play as the car pulls out of the school parking lot. The opening credits appear while the camera shows shots of the route home, passing through streets and endless rows of houses. 

 

INT. MADDIES HOUSE - AFTERNOON 

The front door opens. Maddie goes in. The house is dark and silent. She closes the door behind her. 

 

MADDIE  

Mom! I’m home! 

Silence.  

She opens the fridge, the light harsh against the dimly lit kitchen. She grabs something to eat—nothing special, just a quick snack. She walks to the counter, opens her phone, and scrolls through messages. She stops at a text thread with her friend. 

She types "Hey, do you want to hang out?" but pauses before hitting send. Instead, she opens Instagram. Her friend’s latest story plays. The friend is laughing with other people, a group of happy faces. Maddie’s gaze falls, her fingers hover over her phone. After a long moment, she deletes the message in the text box. 

 

INT. MADDIE’S BEDROOM - AFTERNOON 

She throws her backpack on the floor, and lays on her bed. She goes on her phone and scrolls through social media. Videos and pictures of her classmates pop up, their all laughing, hanging out, enjoying life. 

Her expression falls. She sets the phone down, turns away from the screen, and pulls her curtains shut. 

ON SCREEN: The title "Dear Diary;" slowly appears and fades away. 

Maddie turns on her nightlight. The glow is soft, barely cutting through the darkness. She reaches for a notebook labeled "DIARY" and a pen. 

She hesitates, lying back, rolling onto her side, then back onto her back. Something is weighing on her. She finally starts writing. 

As she writes, a distant sound interrupts—maybe the garage door opening. She freezes for a moment, then continues. 

 

FOOTSTEPS. Growing louder. Her bedroom door swings open. 

MOM (40s) walks in, flipping on the overhead light. She pulls open the curtains. 

 

MOM 

 Come on, Maddie. Let’s go. We’re going out. 

 

MADDIE  

(softly) 

 I don’t want to. 

Mom sighs, walks over, and tugs at her arm. 

 

MOM  

Enough. Let’s go. 

 

As Maddie stands up, the diary slips from her lap and falls open on the floor. 

CLOSE-UP: The page reads, "Dear Diary, I’m not even sure if I want to live this summer." 

Mom doesn’t see it. She guides Maddie out of the room. 

 

Maddie's Character Development

     In our film opening the main characters name, and who the story will be based on is Maddie. Since the film opening is just 2 minutes in length, the audience wont get to meet Maddie, and have some character development throughout the movie, so this is what I am here to tell you. 

    Maddie is a Junior in high school, and an only child. Both her parents work a lot and are almost never home, they try to give Maddie the best life they couldn't have when they where younger. What they don't realize is that Maddie just wants to spend quality time with them, especially since she is going through such a hard time with her metal health. Maddie doesn't have much of a social life, her best friend since she was younger had moved away a few months ago, and Maddie has been very lonely since than. Her friends had left her a special pen which is what Maddie will write with in her diary, and thats why its so important to her. 

    Maddie has been dreading summer to come for so long, the only time she gets our of the house and socializes is during school. Now that she wont see anyone or talk to any of her "friends" she doesn't know what to do with herself. She trys to find a purpose in her life to keep going, but its getting really hard to stay motivated, and that will be the struggle she overcomes during the film. It will be a Character vs. Self film.

Dear Diary's Audio

    Our film opening is based on a very sensitive and important problem teenagers go through with their mental health, depression and suicidal thoughts. Since it is such a sensitive topic we have decided we don't want to take away the spotlight of the story with different music of too much sounds to get the audience distracted from the film openings message. We want the audio and sounds included to be very gentle and subtle, no t something overly dramatic that will make it seem unprofessional or foolish.

    We will include a lot of diegetic sounds in the film. For example, some sounds included will be the bell ringing or student chatter when Maddie is leaving school. We will also include a lot of natural sounds, like the wind, the rustling of leaves on trees and birds chirping. Not to the point that it will feel like a joyful film, just that is will give that calm vibe.

    We have been looking for music to play in the opening part of the film, when we show the credits. It has been a very difficult process since almost everything we want to use is copyright. We though a song from Billie Eilish could fit really well with our idea. A lot of teenagers love and look up to her and she regularly mentions these sensitive topics, so we thought it could be a good match. We saw this song and are trying to find something similar that is not copyright because it fits Maddie's character perfectly. Her song is called "What was I made for?" and it talks about a girl not knowing her purpose in life.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW8VLC9nnTo 

If not we where thinking something instrumental, but were not sure yet, we have a lot of options to pick from.

Once Maddie gets home we want to make it clear her feeling of loneliness and the sadness she has. It will be very quiet to emphasize her isolation. Just the sounds of her struggling to gather her ideas and to think while writing will be heard. Some other sounds included will be her mom getting home, the lamp turning on, her writing in the diary, and finally her mom making her get out of her room for some air.

Dear Diary; Set/Props

    As I had mentioned before, misc-en-scene is a very important factor for the development of a film/film opening. I had already discussed lighting, so today we will focus on set and props for our film opening "Dear Diary;" We plan to film in 2 different locations, one is our school, and the next a house. In school there isn't much we can do to change how everything is, but ist fine because we just plan on filming in dismissal, in front of the school gates. Since this is showing Maddie leaving school on the last day of school before summer, the only prop we will use is her backpack, and the car she will go home in.

    Once we begin to film in the house, here is where we will have more freedom to include props and move the set around. The house has some cool tones and a lot of beige, we want to make the set feel dull to represent how Maddie feels. While Maddie is walking into the house we plan to put up in some portraits with  pictures of when she was little. These will be pictures in sunny days with her friends having fun, resembling the difference of how her summers where when she was younger to now. 

    Her phone will also be a prop for the film, where the audience will see how all of Maddie's friends have plans and are hanging out having fun together. It will better help the audience understand how lonely she feels. 

     Lastly, when we shoot the scene where Maddie is in her room we will include 2 more major props. The pen and the Diary. We haven't decided yet the meaning behind this, but we thought it could be a fun idea to include a special pen Maddie uses to write in her Diary. The idea was that Maddie's best friend had gifted her this pen, and something happened between them that got her depressed, so the pen is the last thing that she has connected to her, and that is why she wants to write with it. On the other hand we have the Diary as our second prop. We want to find a simple, plain cover book that has the word "Diary" on the cover. Something simple where she will write. In regards to the room, it has a lot of white and beige tones. This is good since it kind of represents Maddie's internal feelings. We will only use a lightbulb of cold lighting to show her sadness.

    

Dear Diary; Lighting

    Hey everyone, welcome to another blog post!!! Today ill be going a bit more in depth in a major misc -en-scene element that we want to focus on in our film opening, which is lighting. Mise-en-scene is the visual composition of a film, and lighting can be a big part on it. Different tones can make the viewer feel different things. For example, a warmed tone light can make the scene or whatever the viewer is watching feel homey, and safe. While a cold toned light can make things feel cold or serious. 

Some other example of how lighting can make a viewer feel about what theyre watching, or even the message they want to deliver to the audience about what is gong on: 

• Low key lighting could be used to create suspense in a horror film

• High key lighting can make things feel happy or cheerful
• 

• Side lighting the character can create a sense of mystery or suspense too

How you already know, the film opening will begin in a happy tone. For those shots we plan on using a lot of bright natural lighting. Since its the first day of summer we want to create a fun, happy mood. We will also be using warm tones to show comfort in everyone. Later on when the film opening starts to get sadder we will begin to show more cold toned lighting, this will help the viewers understand the emotions the main character is going through. The film opening is based a lot on how the main character is feeling, and it will help a lot to convey what is going through her mind to the audince

Film Opening Storyboard

     For our project we already have mostly everything thought out, we made a story board to picture better how everything in the opening will go. This story board helps us remain organized and have all our ideas in one spot. It also helped us be able to see everything we will need to film and if we need any props, in this case, things like a diary, pencil case, a car, etc. The story board also helped us take conscious of how much time we will really need to film this, and where we will film it, like the shots in school and at home. The best thing in my opinion about having a story board is that you don't even have to follow it precisely, since it gives you an idea of how it will look, if you don't like some clips, of the order they're in you can just switch them around which is really helpful too. Under each shot (drawing) there is also a brief description of what is taking place, which is also very helpful ton know exactly what to shoot.

This is our story board in order!