WE OUT

Love Ablaze CCR

Youtube Link: https://youtu.be/DTMZQqAPqsk
Google Drive Link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B576XnKCPBQbTHppQWNuWGxNWXc
Thank you for accompanying me on this safari journey. I will now be will my Croc family.
G'day Mate.

THE FINAL NAE

LOVE ABLAZE

Creators: Zoe Milenkovic, Ash Ryskind, Kristen Alvarenga 

Starring: Berni Berkower as the Witch 

Nate Benetatos as the tied up man 

Youtube Link: https://youtu.be/9PJZcTzQqck
Googledrive Link:https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9yy1BbykjwhTDJra1JSOTF2OW8/view?usp=sharing

Song: Cheek to Cheek by Irving Berlin sung by Dorothy Collins

       Our film introduction is entitled Love Ablaze and presents what seems to be an ordinary 1950's housewife coming home with the groceries. In the latter part of the intro you see a complete change in the mood when we reveal that our main character is actually a powerful witch. Our story tells the tale of a witch who, in the Victorian Era, had a lover that was burnt at the stake. By rejuvenating her powers and finding the right ingredients, our witch plans to bring her lover back from the ashes.

A special thanks to Bernie for lending us her mystical looking self to bring our main character to life and to Nate Benetatos for his superb acting and patience while being tied up.

             Enjoy!

Sherman, Amy. Baked Alaska. Digital image. Foodnetwork. Scripps Networks, 13 Apr. 2016. Web. 10 Apr. 2017. <http://blog.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/2016/04/3-of-a-kind-baked-alaska/>.

SO CLOSE

We are only one step away from completely finishing our whole entire editing process and I have felt a wave of relief pass through my soul. Our group has been watching and re-watching our scene to make sure everything is done to its best. We noticed some changes needed to be made in the sound levels and placement. We decided to trash our previously recorded chair scooting sounds and record new ones because they weren't as clear as we wanted them to be. We also reluctantly added the credits of our own names (not that we didn't want to be credited, it was just very hard to find a shot that would be okay to put words over).

We also specifically chose the font and its color to look friendly and welcoming to give the viewers more of a shock when they realize our scene isn't what they thought it would be. We were inspired by opening credits like those in Full House (1987-1995) and Moonrise Kingdom (2012).

The dream team is going strong.

Full House. Digital image. Youtube. N.p., 14 July 2009. Web. 7 Apr. 2017. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agZ0qQ8lYDk>.

Anderson, Wes. Moonrise Kingdom. Digital image. Annoys. N.p., 2012. Web. 7 Apr. 2017. <http://annyas.com/screenshots/updates/moonrise-kingdom-2012-movie-typography/>.

Finally Final Filming

On the last day of filming the only thing we had to set up was a table with the candles and left the rest to camera trickery. We used tight shots so that we didn't have to show more props than necessary.

Half empty or half FULL?

Me getting that angle, son

In this last scene we established the driving force for the Bruja character's actions. We show her making a potion that rejuvenates her. This was shown by her turning around and back to the camera touching her face and smiling. We also chose to shine a white light behind her to make it seem like she was glowing. 

Berni hitting that nae

In this part of the scene we also brought back the brooch that was seen in the picture of the Bruja's dead lover. Our witch is seen casting a spell using this object. We established this by having her hold what seems to be a spell book and extinguishing the flames using her magic (or spicy bruja glare).

This whole scene is also filmed at a low angle to show her gaining power. We also used mostly red lighting for these parts to represent the passion for her lover that the whole driving force of her actions as well as her anger and power.

The only thing left is to edit. I can see the light my friends.

NOT IN MY PASTA

Our final day of filming started off as the biggest spilled bowl of pasta in all of noodle history.

When we were unpacking our various prop items, we realized that powerful forces unknown to man did not want us to succeed in this project. Our one and only blue light bulb traveled through the space time continuum and somehow ended up in the fabric I was unpacking. As I unrolled this piece of fabric our precious light bulb fell onto the ground and shattered into a million pieces.

WHAT KIND OF MASHUGANA

Take the easy way and go to a Home Depot to buy a new light bulb you say? Of course we didn't do that. We had to go on the adventure of finding a strange back road hardware store that none of us had ever been to. And when I say adventure I mean The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey type of ring around the rosy. We drove around for 30 minutes when it should have been a 10 minute trip...

At least I met the love of my life Billy Bob Junior.

Although all the elements of nature wanted us to fail we prevailed and sailed on.

NEAR...FAR.....

We have come so far and at this point all of my teachers have decided to charge at me at the same time wishing for my death. Despite this fact I refuse to raise my white flag. Just as Steve Irwin once said, "My number one rule is keep the camera rolling... Even if a big ol' croc's chewing me up, mate I wanna go down and go CROIKEYYY!" So, even as the big ol' croc of life is swallowing me up, I'm giving this project the biggest CROIKEY I've got left.

The only thing we have left to film is the ending scene. This worries me because I don't want it to end too abruptly but we only have a couple of seconds left until we hit our maximum of 2 minutes. It pains me to say we also may have to let go of the vision that hit me like a chancla coming from an enraged abuela because of this time limit. We are most likely going to film a one candle ritual and use that smoke to end the intro and display the title. We also have to add the credits in the beginning of the scene. Our beautiful and talented angel Zoe has created a short little animation to add before our intro that will represent a production company to show our understanding of film intro conventions. (View the rough draft here)

I will continue to swerve all the icebergs to keep this titanic afloat. But if this ship does start to sink you can bet your sweet niblets that I will make space on any floating log for the whole dream team and we will float on. There will be no sinking Jacks. Not on my watch.

*Lets go of Jack*

This is your captain signing off.
My heart will go on.

Titanic. Digital image. Rebloggy. N.p., Jan. 2013. Web. 2 Apr. 2017. <http://rebloggy.com/post/gif-love-movies-pain-titanic-jack-never-let-go-leonardo-di-caprio/38464590832>.

I am your father..

I am starting to sweat about this project a little bit now that we have started editing. I have realized that we could've easily made this into a whole short film. Now I understand the challenge is that we can only create the intro. There is so much we are trying to fit into our intro that im afraid it might be moving to fast for people to understand. We had to cut alot of shots that were beautiful because we needed to narrow it down to shots that were absolutely necessary. I am definitely a bit worried that the pacing and rhythem may be too fast for the mood that we are trying to convey. Peachpit.com says "Rhythm is the flow and separation of the overall story" while "pacing is the timing of cuts, the topic of this chapter". They say slow pacing builds intensity (a good example being this scene from Inglourious Basterds directed by Quentin Tarantino) and I'm worried that our scene doesnt build as much suspense as it should because of the time limit and the amount of things we are trying to fit in the intro. But at the same time, I knew we would have to run into an obstacle sooner or later because our Obi-Wan Kenobe of media studies Tina Stoklosa told us it would. Because we filmed and editied at a good time it gives us a chance to conquer this issue.
The force is strong in this team.

 

Hockrow, Ross. "Pacing for Video and Cinema Editors: Timing and Types of Cuts." Peachpit. Pearson Education, 22 July 2014. Web. 01 Apr. 2017. <http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=2233986>.

LAND HO!

Hello, you can call me Dabloon Bruja. I am feeling like a pirate explorer who can see a shining mountain of gold in the horizon. We are so close to the end goal but we still have a ways to go. We filmed most of the garage scene on Monday and started right after school until 10:00 pm. We had our man tied up in the garage and our bruja stirring her magical liquids. It was the longest and most interesting Monday of my life.  It went very well and I am so excited to see the final product come together.

There was a little bit of a struggle using colored lighting because the quality didn't look as good. But then I remembered reading about white light in my research and how it can help with this if you combine it with the colored lighting. So, as the kids say, we hit that nae.

We used the lamp shades to shine the light in specific direction as well as a light diffuser at times.  We also placed them strategically to make eerie shadows that would add to the witch's mysterious and powerful feel of always hovering above the tied up man. The multiple shadows created also represents the darkness within her conflicting with the love she holds for her dead lover.

We still have to finish the ending shots for this scene to be complete but I am worried about the 2 minute time limit because we got a lot of footage. We will also use the next day of filming to fix anything we may need to.

I also want to show off our set up for the props because we may not have enough time to show the whole thing. Here is our child his name is Timothy:

Here are some more beautiful moments from the shoot:

LET THERE BE LIGHT

From live performances on stage to fashion photoshoots and film, lighting can play an essential role in creating a desired mood and look for a production. We have been planning to use colored lighting as the scene moves from the kitchen to the garage. At first we thought to use blue to contrast with the yellow from the kitchen scene, but now that I've researched lighting more I think we may use red. But we are also thinking, "Why not take me to funky town and combine red with blue and black light?" Play that funky music, am I right?

I have found inspiration in an interesting film by Dario Argento called Suspiria (1977).

These stills show the funky yet eerie feeling that the two contrasting colors create.  We believe that using this color lighting technique will create a very intense feeling and give off a more deranged mood for our witch's violent actions.

We will also use hard lighting to create a dark and shadowy effect within the scene. Zacuto.com defines hard light as "very directional and casts definitive shadows on the subject". An example of the kind of the lighting we want to create is seen in the image to the right from a scene in Vertigo (1958) by Alfred Hitchcock. According to Videomaker.com, "By taking low-key lighting to extremes, you can deliver spooky, mysterious and menacing feelings. In this approach, you reduce bright areas to the minimum needed to understand the image or, for extra suspense, even below that minimum. This makes the audience strain to identify that huge shape that is lurching toward the plucky heroine."  We believe that using this lighting will definitely add to the mysterious feel of the scene. It will help connect the audience to what the man is feeling, not knowing where he is or who this strange witch lady is. We want the viewers to think "Oh hullo? What happened to Sheril?? What is this grim reaper/casper the friendly ghost looking lady doing floating around the room like a shadow??" We believe this will have them on the edge of their seat and wanting more. 

To learn more about hard versus soft lighting you can watch a quite cheesy but informative video I found here. 

I also had a Raven Baxter moment and saw a vision of the ending..

After our witch gathers her ingredients from the tied up man (his hair, finger nails, tears, blood, etc..) she stirs the potion together and puts it in a nice little flask (AKA one of the fancy perfume bottles I found in my home). She then goes in the middle of a circle of candles and starts chanting some spell while having the pendant that belonged to her lover in front of her. She then drinks the potion and pauses. The candles around her all blow out except the one in front of her..

She then opens her eyes and blows out the last candle. Everything goes dark but u still see the smoke of the candle on the right third of the frame....

Then the title ...

LOVE ABLAZE

Anna. Suspiria-133. Digital image. Film Grimoire. N.p., 10 Feb. 2015. Web. 26 Mar. 2017. <https://filmgrimoire.com/2015/02/10/suspiria-1977-do-you-know-anything-about-witches/>.

Anna. Suspiria-212. Digital image. Film Grimoire. N.p., 10 Feb. 2015. Web. 26 Mar. 2017. <https://filmgrimoire.com/2015/02/10/suspiria-1977-do-you-know-anything-about-witches/>.

Anna. Suspiria-214. Digital image. Film Grimoire. N.p., 10 Feb. 2015. Web. 26 Mar. 2017. <https://filmgrimoire.com/2015/02/10/suspiria-1977-do-you-know-anything-about-witches/>.

Blowing out candle. Digital image. Giphy. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2017. <http://giphy.com/gifs/black-fire-dark-L5bUTUzhM6pWw>.

Farley, Jason. Vertigo (1958). Digital image. The Film Spectrum. N.p., 29 Oct. 2011. Web. 26 Mar. 2017. <http://thefilmspectrum.com/?p=6832>.

Machado, Robert, and Jeremy Le. "Film Lighting Basics: Soft Lighting and Hard Lighting in Film." Zacuto. N.p., 22 Mar. 2017. Web. 26 Mar. 2017. <http://www.zacuto.com/film-lighting-basics-quality>.

Mendoza, Richard. Cast the Circle. Digital image. Pinterest. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2017. <https://www.pinterest.com/pin/451767406344337032/>.

Rodrigues, Britney Goldfield. That's So Raven. Digital image. Andpop. N.p., 25 Apr. 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2017. <http://www.andpop.com/2013/04/25/23-things-we-miss-about-thats-so-raven/>.
Stinson, Jim. "Light Source: Lighting for Mood." Videomaker. N.p., 1 July 2004. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.
<https://www.videomaker.com/article/c13/10216-light-source-lighting-for-mood>.

What do you mean. Digital image. Giphy. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2017. <http://giphy.com/gifs/what-do-you-mean-swe0OZMILbXPy>.

A potion's a-brewin'

Zoe has concocted our witch's potion that will be used in the garage scene. We did research on different edible liquids that could glow and found that tonic water would be our best option. According to Scientific American, "Under an ultraviolet 'black light,' the quinine in tonic water makes the water fluoresce a brilliant, bright blue.."  We tried it and accomplished this magical result:

What kind wizardry?!

Zoe then added some green food coloring and got this:

What a magical looking bowl of liquid

We were also thinking of adding a boiling effect to the pot by adding a little bit of dry ice to it as well. Dryiceinfo.com says, "Dry Ice when combined with hot tap water can produce vigorous bubbling water and voluminous flowing fog." This is a common characteristic of witch potions seen in film, one example out of many being Disney's Hocus Pocus.

In the garage scene we also plan to switch from the previously seen warm tones in the lighting to a cool tone like blue. This will also blend well with the use of black light for the glow of the tonic water. Can I get an amen? AMEN

Buddies, Science. "Shining Science: Explore Glow-in-the-Dark Water!" Scientific American. Nature America Inc., 14 Aug. 2014. Web. 25 Mar. 2017. <https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/shining-science-explore-glow-in-the-dark-water/>.

"Dry Ice Fog and Special Effects." Dry Ice Fog and Special Effects. N.p., 6 Oct. 2015. Web. 25 Mar. 2017. <http://dryiceinfo.com/fog.htm>.

Hocus Pocus. Digital image. My Daily News. Disney, 4 July 2014. Web. 25 Mar. 2017. <http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/tina-fey-star-witch-movie-disney-article-1.1855459>.

HONEY, I'M HOME

We finally started filming the kitchen scene on Wednesday. After making a long traffic filled drive down to Kendall to use Ash's aunt's house, we came to discover that none of us were prepared for the Sahara Desert of Death that was this woman's home. It is also a known fact that one should never touch the A/C in a Hispanic home unless you want a sandal (AKA La Chancla) thrown in your face.

Despite this struggle, I believe our filming went very well. Our main character was also looking extra spicy in her costume and 50's up-do. One problem that did arise is that we realized her nose ring was not one that could be easily taken out. Because of this our shots were mostly of the other side of her face.

The Fresh Prince of I Love Lucy 

The props we found also worked very well with the time period we were trying to set this in.

We also threw in a little suspense to clue in the audience about the future events in this scene despite our previous thought of not adding any. We felt that adding foreshadowing and some clues was inevitable and also adds more excitement to the scene. According to Authors Craft, "Foreshadowing adds dramatic tension to a story by building anticipation about what might happen next." We believe this will keep the viewers on the edge of their seats and more immersed in the scene. They will want to pay more attention because they will get the feeling of something fishy happening but won't know exactly what.

I don't remember this scene in I Love Lucy 

We plan to film the garage scene on Sunday. Our Bruja awaits.

"Author's Craft." Author's Craft - Narrative Elements - Foreshadowing. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2017. <http://udleditions.cast.org/craft_elm_foreshadowing.html>.

Abuela bruja comes alive

I have finally created the photo of our main character's lover that will be used in the picture frame and the locket. After researching online I found this tutorial on Alfoart.com that explains step by step how  to create an aging effect on Adobe Photoshop. I did use this as a tool to guid me, but being in AP photo has taught me a trick or two.

To make sure that having this photo would make sense in the first place we researched the date that the first photograph ever was taken. According to the Harry Ransom Center, "The First Photograph, or more specifically, the earliest known surviving photograph made in a camera, was taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826 or 1827." This meant that our main character's lover would've had to take the photograph in the Victorian era (1837-1901). We also wanted to make it apparent in our that the main witch has been extending her life and that despite her youthful appearance, she is over 100 years old. This means we would set their tragic love story around the start of the Victorian Era.

Knowing this, I researched common styles for women in the Victorian era. I found that women's dresses usually covered their chest up to their necks. According to lovetoknow.com, women usually wore "detached collars and under sleeves".

Victorianchildren.org

Luckily in the crevices of the rainforest jungle that is my closet, I had a dress that would fit this look perfectly. I had to wrap a black cloth around my neck and chest and put it under the dress to create the illusion of wearing a detached collar. I also found a pendant to attach to my collar because this was commonly seen in women's fashion.

photographer: Koller Károly

Here is my final product:

When I showed this photo to my grandma she thought it was an old photo of her mom.

My job here is done. 

Fomicheva, Alexandra. ""OLD PHOTO, VINTAGE EFFECT"." Alfoart Graphic & Web Design. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2017. <http://alfoart.com/jaguar_car_1.html>.

Harry Ransom Center. "The First Photograph." Harry Ransom Center The University of Texas at Austin. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2017. <http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/firstphotograph/>.

Károly, Koller. Portrait of a young lady. Digital image. Flickr. Yahoo, 1883. Web. 19 Mar. 2017. <https://www.flickr.com/photos/23912178@N08/7667146620/in/photostream/>.

Price, Paxton. "Victorian Dress and Victorian Style Clothing." Victorian Children. N.p., 8 June 2013. Web. 19 Mar. 2017. <https://victorianchildren.org/victorian-dress-and-victorian-style-clothing/>.

Sandeen, Del. "Victorian Fashion History." LoveToKnow. LoveToKnow Corp, n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2017. <http://womens-fashion.lovetoknow.com/victorian-fashion-history>.

The road to success

Weeks	Tasks
Week of March 13	Kristen - Get actors Bernie and Nate? Take old pic Get Nate’s costume Ash - Get Location Zoe - Script Make up Storyboard Foley All - Go thrift shopping Plot Pick day to film
Week of March 20	Kristen - Directing Lights Ash - Make up Zoe - Sound All - Film at location 1: My House
Week of March 27	Kristen - Directing Lights Ash - Make up Zoe - Sound All - Film at location 2: Weston
Week of April 3	Kristen - Critiquing and improving editing Ash - Critiquing and improving editing Zoe - Editing
April 9	Turning it in!

So far all of week 13 has been completed right on schedule. We have the stars of our project on lock. We also have our locations chosen and our story planned out. Yesterday went to American Thrift and bought the main character's costume and some props.

Bernie (AKA our witch) and the perfect fit

The effects of finding scarfs for the house wife look

Zoe and our witch's pot

We chose to go with a red dress for our witch's look because it is an extremely powerful color. According to Colormatters.com, "[Red] is the color of passionate love, seduction, violence, danger, anger, and adventure." We believed this to fit our story line perfectly. The color of her dress will be used as a tool to symbolize the passion for the lover she lost in her past as well as the anger towards her lover's husband. It will also represent her violent and dangerous nature. 

We also chose to use a large scarf we found as an apron to fit the 1950's idealistic house wife look. The yellow of the apron will be used to trick the viewers into believing that our story is a lighthearted and happy one because of the symbolism associated with this bright color. We are using warm hues at the start of the intro for this reason as well. 

Morton, Jill L. "Red: The Meanings of Red." Color Matters. J.L. Morton, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2017. <https://www.colormatters.com/the-meanings-of-colors/red>.