Picking Apart Creative Critical Reflection

 In this finishing journey, here is the last step. Hope four you to see me in projects like this in the future!

Headaches, stress and my first film project

It is exciting and very important to me to have finally declared that my project has been completely done, the finished cut version that I will be presenting for my "official" project. There are many details that were not able to be put on the final cut due to timing reasons, which is was a relief since that would mean to edit more. I want to keep some of the information and many of my reflections for my next post, but I still feel like I have a lot of information that I could share with in here. Once again, I can dependently say that I have to learn how to more perfectly edit and consider the different tools that can be seen; I want to work in this road of work, I need to prepare much further than what I expected. Here is my short description to the short film, also included in my YouTube description: "Psychological realism film opening that concentrates in the p[protagonist’s journey to recovery from her problems with food. Working through internal struggle to show hope. Hope you enjoy!

Creating my credits sequence

 I continue to find new information and make changes to my editting process on the spot, which I am usually not like, I tend to be more of the type to come with a paln and stick with. But, since the beggining of this project, I have had many changes to what I thought I would be doing at any point of it, exactly what I am going through right now with my editting. Though I said that I would have been doing the whole film completly beofre doinga ny finsihing touches, I have not had the appropiate time to extract all of the raw footage from my phone to the computer, having to edit with the media files already avaliable in my computer. Because of that, I realize that I didhad all of the shots that compose the credits sequence are there, so to advance the procress faster until I get my fottage safely inot my computer, I will be completing the credits sequence, which I find easier than editting scenes itself, but I have not actually started with creating it, so I may retract my words later. It is essential to the film opening, usually included in this part of the film in conventional commercial movies.  For now, I am aware of who and what to credit in the sequence, the order of apperance is the same as it is in this list: 

• Studio producing my film- Ale MP studios, putting my nickname and the first intials from both my parental and maternal last names, sounds very professional and realsitic for how a studio could be called, many named after the last names of their founders
• Director- Me, Ale Mejia, going by my first name's nickname as well. I controlled all of the camera work and movement throughout the film, no need for more credits in the director section
• Cast- Ale Mejia, Benjamin Mejia- the order of apperance, with the first one with the most ones. 
• Script by Ale Mejia- wrote the script also all by myself, having to appear a total of three times during the credits 
• Title- "Picking Apart"

I do know where the text tool, to add text into the video, is within HitFIlm Express, but I do want to maintaing that moving effect that I showed in my conceptual art for the title itself, it is very impactful to create very visually appeling text credits to keep the adueince hook form the begginning and create a differnt impact for them, establsihing the thems of the film subconunstly through the type of font and animations used. i resorted to the place where Ifind more of the help with the editting process : Youtube, with their tutorials helping me much more due to showing the stpes ont he interface and how each stage should look like. 

For now, I will be attempting to complete that feast by the end of the week, since it does look longer than if I were to just put the text itself. I did completed most of the other text for it, still need to search for a a wway for the letters to transition much more nicely. I included a black screen at the beggining to put the studio information, to transtion to the master shot, i used one of the transition effects, it really hides the cut into another shot good without being over the top as if it were a transition through PowerPoint slides, which usually have very weird transitions. This is the result for now:

I can easily notice the great difference between when I first started editting to now. i use to fear the trnasitions that the program offred becaosue they qoul too "bad" but I wil actually say that they are barely noticable but still add a great contrast in the film. As i said, I need to find a way for thext to dissolve as easily too, something that I will try as I will be finalizing the title itself an other scenes together. Once again, need to be mindful of my time and how long the software will take to export, though literally nerve wrecking, I can find myself happier with the creation that it is turning to look like.

Citations:

“FALLING TEXT Animation - Hitfilm Express Tutorial.” Youtube, Shiny Films, 20 Nov. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeH18RZYaQ0.

Looking at the cuts that I could do and regular transitions

While I still feel very much anxious and unprepared to complete my short film, I need to continue with the process. I am more aware of the different types of shots and angles for the film aspects, even the more technical aspects of the video features such as the frame rate and the resolution of it, but I have not revised about the types of cuts there are, what are their meanings, and how to include them. I want to continue the editing and doing it as fast as I can to get it ready and have one draft seeing with other people, but it is not useful to continue in the editing without knowing what to do, when I see others people work I don't even notice the editing, it looks really amateurish and the cuts do not seem to be seen good, which it just makes it seem faster and not understandable. For example, if someone did not know about my story or what I am trying to say, I think that it is not as clear that the story is about someone who has ARFID and is struggling with her eating, it only sees to be a person struggling in general and not understanding what she is doing. 

I liked the way that it is being explained, which is exactly what I needed to know what types of  cuts I will be doing. For the video, I learned from this video to decide if a cut is needed and what to choose from:

• What emotions I want to show in the scene or shot?
• Does it move the story for the plot?
• Is the rhythm going in a way that makes sense?
• What is the movement and the focus for the audience?
• Is the path of the Axis along with the film?
• Does it have the space along the scene coherent?

From this video, I think that my film will mostly consist of:

• Jump Cut- Cutting from one action of a chracter to the same character appering to have "jumped", hence the name. As I seen in various videos, these would be heavily used within my montage, also noting to the time passing between each scene, how she jumps from different times. Try not to use it as much as it shows the editted nature of the film, a more "Artificial" tone and themes, which in my film would not get as well, since I'm trying to portray this problems and the story itself as "real" it can be feel, not disconnect the aduience form the experience of seeing my character as a real person, that it feels as if they were stepping to see her life for a couple of days.
• Insert Shot- To make the audience see in detail a prop or object, which will have a great toll within the sotry itself and how your aduidience interprets it. For me, it will b eused as togather with the calendar as it is shown with days marked as the days passed, showing in a close up what date it is and make sure the audience make the connection of it being very near to her birthday as well as how the hand movmeent goes each time more weakly, due to lack of nutrition
• Match Cut- Matching a certain piece of sound, graphic or movement to the next scene, showing symbolism or drawing connections. I will specifically use it to match audio, how the annoying sound would be countiniuing throughout the montage, but increasing in each day, showing how it is taking a toll on her and destabalizing the calm environment that she had. I would like to do a graphic match cut, where Maripposa's phone can be seen ringing on her table to match it to her Dad calling her and then zooming out to reveal her Dad
• Eyeline Match-I can cut between the gaze from Mariposa to the note from her therapist, as well as going from the phone to her seeing the calendar. It is to  make the audience focus on that scene alone and be able to understand the countiniutiy of the scene itself, since some of the objects or things being cut away to are critical to the story, the calendar signifiying the passage of time and how the peanut butter reference comes at the end. Within the montage, cutting to matching the plate of food, how it looks form her perspective, litterally and mentally
• Cutaway- Cutting from the original shot to a new one, then returning to the previous one with a new meaning. Done mostly in the supermarket scne, cutting from seeing the aisles of food, to then seeing Mariposa looking worried, then again to the food with the undertanding that she is trying to face her fears

It was refreshing to lkearn about the differnt types of cuts, have not been looking at them in intesinty as much as other aspects of the editting process. WIth this, I can safely name which shot will be needed and what effect to use specifically to achieve it. I will alter some of my previous edititng work with this information, hopefuly achiving a better cohesive narrative as I wanted it. 

Citations:

“10 Cuts & Transitions Every Video Editor Should Know.” Youtube, Movavi Blog, 23 Aug. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tEw1ncznYU&t=127s.

More roadblocks on the way and audio issues

While I though that the stress could not be any more major and that time was not flying away from me, more problems are always awaiting in the future and life usually does not goes as it is expected. For starters. I had developed a massive case of migraine, havign headaches that leave me exhausted as well as unable to concetrate. Beecause of that, I was not very productive in any of my classes today, I will have usually finished multiple things, as well as editted my film further. Also, while checking some of my footage, I noticed how some scenes for my montage are not usuable, because I mistainkly filmed them vertically instead of horizontally, which means that I will have to decicate a certain part of my weekend in reshooting those scenes, also checking to see other scenes. As it is been clear for the past few weeks,the ones acting in this film are me and my Dad. A scene in the beggining required my Dad to read some dialogue for me to record and then add the telephone effect, but, out of the sudden, he decided he did not wanted to say that part of diologue due to not "being him" and not knowing how to say it. I tried convincing him, but since I know he is tired, I gave up and decided to, once again, do it myself. 

I already knew how to made the voice for it to sound like it was coming from a telephone, not neccesarily difficult, but now I had to add the problem of making it deeper. For comparison, this is the raw voice recording from my phone:

It was already some noise in the background as well as having some interruptions in my speech, I was able to fix some of those problems through the program's nose reduction and normalization, but it is still hearable in the editted version. I considered using text to voice, but that would have sounded very much more fake, which I did not want, also being too "formal" to the tone that I would want the father to say it. Thnakfully, there was a tutorial to implement a deeper voice into a recording:

I still find that the final product to sound as if I was faking my voice to sound deeper in a parody sort of way, which does not go with the serious tone and the conventions of my genre,  not sure how to fix that match the dialogue that my Dad says on camera later on. In any case, I have a draft for what I want it to sound like, so I positioned in the part of the film that it would and was able to edit it into the video itself, here is the result for now:

I am actually proud of the results, will still mix again with other audio and see if it sounds better. I need to find my other diagetic and non-diagetic sounds as well. I noticed, as I was exporting my video from my editting, it takes very long for only a couple of seconds, will need to account for that when I finish the project or try comrpesseing it to a smaller file size. I want to refresh my memory as well with the differnt types of cuts and transitions, since I feel like what I am doing is just not as smooth or understandable as I would want to, need to see other options, as well as how to add my moving text for the credit sequence. 

Citations:

“How To: Make Your Voice Deep in Audacity.” Youtube, Casual Savage, 7 Nov. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa7G8w1_3AU.

Editing and audio updates

 I announced in here that I would start to edit the first scene of my film opening, which I did, but I expected it to do go much more smoother and faster than what it did. I have about 17 seconds of my film already, with only 2 shots in the main timeline, as seen in the editing bar at the left. If my film opening should be 2 minutes, which is a total of 120 seconds. By doing simple math, that means I have 103 seconds left, which is still a lot of time, but I need to be careful with how much of a certain shot am I willing to show. I did cut some frames out of the 2 clips that I put inside the film, starting from my oven than before it, as well as cutting some seconds in the beginning the bathroom scenes. This where not as important as other scenes, because I actually did not accounted for them in my shot list nor in my storyboards; either way, I need to be prepared in cutting scenes that I actually did what to include and be able to explain why I had to delete it and do not compromise the integrity, themes, mise-en-scene and moral of the story. I will announce those decisions and point to what scene I will actually throw out or edit very differently than when I was drafting my shot list. 

Though I said that I will be able to concentrate in one particular scene at a time, I do not think that technique is actually useful at the time. If this film opening was compared to taking an exam, it is not recommendable to concentrate in only one section at a time and make that section be perfect, which you could get stuck but not move because you want one part to be "perfect"; those who use that method will usually not have time to complete the following sections and have sections with very different levels of quality or not completed at all. For that, I want my film to be coherent and not be seen as chunks of different scenes stitched together. Also, putting all of my raw footage in the order that I wanted it to be and then notice how they integrate with each other will help me realize how much raw footage I have in total and how much I will have to cut in general, instead of committing the mistake of cutting too much in one section due to it being too long and then having another section that actually has more material to eliminate and could balance the time out. I will want to publish that first draft of my edited film, at least some parts of it and to be seen compared to with my raw footage. I need to figure out the different types of cuts and transitions I will be using, the terminology for them, since I tend to find my transitions that I am doing now to be too "rough" or not understandable, will fix that this afternoon. 

In the middle of my planning to shot and acquire the materials I will need to edit, I realize how I will need to include some of my own sound effects and diegetic sound. For example, the response for Mariposa's Dad on the phone. While I did not find it useful to have my Dad call me and pick up the audio from the phone, because it will echo through the house due to being so close, I went with the route of editing my own sound. Though I did not find any tutorials or help to directly do it in HitFilm nor in any other free video editing software that was available to me,  I did find this app called Audacity. It is a free audio editing software, which I did find many tutorials and instructions to make an audio recorded sound as if is coming from a telephone. It also had the function to alter the pitch and certain other aspects of the audio, which the video software does not have, and will also help me directly with the creation of non-diegetic sound, the screeching from the refrigerator and disturbance sound that I will record from my piano. The software layout looks like the screenshot that is at the left, once again, much more advanced and not as user friendly as those recording memos apps that are on smartphones. However, it is free to use and install in the computer, which are the biggest pros for me, and will get me to check the audio separately and then insert it to my film. This presented tutorial is for one of the specific reason that I chose it:

I have some recordings from my Dad, need to check those again or ask him to record the dialogue to be exported again. I will try to include all of the following effects as well through this system. Need to still be even more aware of my time, I only can use Audacity, again, in my home computer, for the same reason that I can only use HitFilm Express in my home computer.

Citations:

“Audacity 2020 My Updated Tutorial Telephone Sound Effect.” Youtube, Double J-Show, 10 Aug. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4YODo-Sf3s. 

Getting hands on with my editing software of choice

 Though all of these days I been dreading for this week to come to, I have little to no experience when it comes to editing. I may have used iMovie in the past before, since it is free and it fairly simple to use. However, while looking at the different tools and information that it has, I do not think that it will be fit with the type of cuts and overall tone that I want to express with my film, very limited options. Also, I did not want to edit within my phone, while it may be easier since that way I would not have to export any videos to an external device and corrupt them in any way, I think that it will be at the end time consuming. I am aware that if I chose the app that it is in my phone, iMovie, I could be able to edit in any place and at any time, but I will still want to have multiple different effects and tools to achieve what I want to show and tell in the film, and in any case, I usually work better in a fixed time schedule than if I have open accessibility to what I have to do. For those reasons, I chose to use the editing software called "Hit Film Express".

This app for the computer has much more accessibility to files, while still being free to use, advanced options for after effects and complete autonomy with audio and image preference. The layout itself may look more intimidating to those who are just beginners in video editing, which I am as well, but I have used and learned how to go through layouts that, while not specifically for video editing, have a more complicated appearance, Photoshop, and learned how to manage to go through the tools. It is not as similar and looks much more complicated, I think it will able to make the most out of the new platform, like I said before also, I have experience with iMovie, while with a completely different interface. There is a major drawback with this editing choice, while I do not plan to choose another one, I will have to use my time very carefully to finish my project by the date that I have planned for. I have a personal laptop, which the school assigned to me, where I do most of my assignments and I am able to take with me while going to school, having the accessibility to complete assignments in class when the teacher gives us the time. I do not have a personal laptop that I own, which is the main reason why I got a school one, but it does not allow me to install third party apps without the permission of an administrator. Thankfully, my Dad acquired a home desktop while we were moving houses, one that he uses for his work, where I was able to install the app to it, but that means that I am only able to edit when I get home, which is usually at the later half of the afternoon and I still have to complete house chores, get myself ready for the next day and other things that have to do with my personal life, leaving me little to no time for my other assignments overall. 

Realizing the low mount of time that I have in reality, even less than I though at first, I need to be proficient with the editing and have a plan in mind to what parts I'm doing each day. To that, I need to know first how to use it, but I do not have a lot of time to learn all of the little nuances and experiment. This video was very helpful to decide what to do directly with the different tools. I know that I will examining to effects and the separation of audio from video, which I need for the match cuts and transition cuts to between scenes. It was also important to know how you can alternate the frame rate, though I want to maintain the ones that come with my phone. I may use the filters in certain scenes, to increase the overall mise en scene and play with the low lighting being equal to Mariposa's getting worse or being "okay".

For that, the plan is to edit the film opening in "chunks", saying that I will edit those shots that belong in a single scene. This will help me better organize my time than stressing over the whole film at once. For that, I plan to get to my home today and organize my opening scene and scene 2, contrasting with the shot list that I did to be able to contrast how many did I do or changed, since I also had notes for the types of cut, as well as with my storyboard. 

Citations:

Bai, director. HitFilm Express - Tutorial for Beginners in 11 MINUTES! Youtube, 21 Sept. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO1m7aZlkM4&t=1s.

Chaito, Hadi. “HitFilm Express For Absolute Beginners.” Surfaced Studio, 5 Oct. 2020, www.surfacedstudio.com/tutorials/hitfilm/hitfilm-express-absolute-beginners/.

Day 4 of Shooting: Finalizing scenes that included my Dad and the montage

I would like to say that this is the official last day of shooting, But I would essentially be being very positive about the real outcomes from my raw footage. While looking through it, I noticed many inconsistencies in terms of plot, me wearing things like glasses in one scene and then inexplicably not having them, or vice versa. Many of this continuum errors can be seen, and since I am mostly very detailed about most of the work that I do and notice most of many insignificant details about things that other will not care to notice. Because of this, I have decided to reshot certain scenes in this coming weekend, especially those that are in the beginning and that I think have a very shaky hand movement where I do not intend to. Also, some other scenes seem to not have connectors to the main story, I want my story to make sense with elements inside the film that also tied up with my main story, making sense for everyone and not only me. Another aspect that I have seen could contribute to this would be to add some monologues from Mariposa, explain more her motivations and doubts before the mental downs, more clearly. I will prefer to present it to do it in a more subtle way, but the lack of time and the story beats to get to leave me with limited options of explaining these types of story. 

I filmed many scenes with my Dad, like it says on the title, finishing the entirety of all shots needed for my short film and the scenes containing him. Unfortunately, I notice some of the shots to not be complete useable and having my Dad not act as professionally or concerned for the scene as I wanted, that is why I ask if we could reshoot some of those scenes tomorrow. Though many are able to be used, some of more specific ones, such as my tilting up to him and tilting down to me, and others where the audio from the TV or my sister could be heard. Thankfully, he is open to help me and has said yes to reshooting, which I am very glad, having to get a new person to act as my Dad would be very difficult, from the logistic of instead refiling all of those scenes and having to get someone who can reliably play as my Dad, someone like my sister could not do it. For that, I will saw I completed the first run of shooting all of my scenes, the next set of reshooting after examining the images will begin this weekend to have all scenes in perfect condition for editing. 

Now, some of the scenes that I am very grateful to have finished is my montage, which I am seen recording my meal, almost putting the food in my mouth and "throwing it" away (I do not throw the food that I film away in its entirety, I actually finish my meal and then pretend to throw it away, the only thing being thrown away are crumbs that I have left). I could have completed this scene the same day that I filmed with my Dad, I have not done so because I was having dinner with him, something that we do not have as much as we would want to, having different eating schedules and him usually getting late from work and eating later than me or doing something else, so I wanted to prioritize that time with my Dad and felt weird so ask to record my food. Then, I could not do it for my lunches because I am usually not at my house during the week, going to school regularly, that being an inexplicable change of location as well as, again, feeling awkward of recording my food and then "pretending" to fall down as I am throwing some crumbs away. I hope that the increasing shakiness and nervousness seen through my "Acting" can be seen and picked up by the audience

 

 

 I am happy to have finished the recording as it is, but I still have some aspects that I will take with me as I am editing. I already discussed some of my raw footage that I saw as unsuasible, but some of my scenes, for example Mariposa's phone call, require for me to record my Dad's voice and then pass it through an audio editing software to include it as background noise, same with Mariposa's voices as she is having a difficult moment. Together with the recording, I hope to take time to just recording my Dad reading the lines that I have for that phone call as well as the voices and other original sounds. 

Researching into opening credits

 I am close to finishing shooting and including all of the raw footage into one file in my computer. Today in the afternoon I will be recording my final scenes for my short film, with my dad and revising them. I am excited to be actually done with recording and send all of my hard work to get into its finishing touches. But, at the moment, I currently cannot record or advance with any other aspect of my film which makes me nervous, I want to advance with other aspects while I have time. Then, I saw another part that could technically count as a part of the recording or raw footage, which are the opening credits. Since I want to know how different pieces within my genre, psychological realism, include it as well as having my own creative liberties to design them.

First, I wanted to see how others within my genre have decided to create their own opening sequences. For example, a film that I examined earlier was "Gone Girl", which had a lot of elements that helped me in creating and adapting certain parts of my script. It is interesting to note that this shot sequence is about almost the same length that I need for my short film, which also shows me what I can actually achieve in that time and preoccupying me a little bit if I will be able to hit my story beats, that I will see that when I have all of my footage and in editing mode. Now, rewatching their opening scene, I can notice certain things and their order. For them, their sequence went:

·                     The studio producing the film (20th Century Fox)

·                     The director (David Fincher)

·                     The main cast (Ben Affleck, Rosamound Pike)

·                     The title of the movie (Gone Girl)

·                     Other actors (Neil Pactrick, etc.)

·                     Other contributors to the film

·                     The screenplay (Gillian Flynn)

I like how the words get dissolved as the main shot appears later, I want to be able to create a similar effect for my film. When presenting the first aspects of the film, I noticed, they decided to cut from the black background to the shot, and then a black background again. Though I do not necessarily know if I want to do that yet, I understand the tone that they were going for, a more of a mystery vibe as the protagonist talks in the background. I think, in my own opinion, that I like more how the credits go with shots showing the surroundings of the characters, the town of where they live, with the soundtrack behind, which also shows the character having their regular routine. That is something that I particularly want to do with my introductory scene, showing Mariposa having their routine and having shots of their surroundings. 

While seeing other short openings to films that treat psychological disorders and problems similar to the ones being experimented by my protagonist, I saw Silver Linings Playbook. Though I have seen this movie before, but now I was trying to analyze how they did their credits. It was interesting, I saw similar pattern to the one described above, almost the same order, so that must be the code that there is to present movies of this category. Not only the order of presentation of the different credits, but also how they were represented, cutting to black, having some type of dialogue before the actual initial shot is shown. 

With this new information in me, I know how I would want to present my credits. First, I will present the main studio, which is Ale MP, against a black background. I will have to create a logo for my own studio, or I could present it with only the letters "Ale MP", which I prefer the second option more, makes the story and title scene more important than having the audience concentrate in how the logo looks. Instead of a black background, I decided to present the main credits against some of the establishing shots, since it has a better "look" to the type of movie I want to create and not waste actual time of my film only presenting words in a black background. The order will stay the same, with next presenting the title, "Picking Apart". For the title itself, I will do the dissolving effect as Mariposa leaves the bathroom and the mirror is presented with those words. I want it to look more animated than everything else, representing the state of mind Mariposa is in trying to eat, with each letter being mistach from the other, moving while it is being shown. I created a concept idea of what I want it to look, to have an idea of what I want while I'm editing a try to achieve something similar to it with the tools available in the program. 

Citations:

Flinch, David, director. Gone Girl. Gone Girl Opening Titles, 15 Apr. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlrSBEIZEuY.

Day 3 of Shooting: Filming into the week and filming someone else

 Now doing shooting within the week, it takes longer from my energy as well as trying to get motivation to complete the shots that I need to finish. Though I still need to finish one more important scene it is entiraerty and 2 shots for the final scene. I am getting more anxious to complete all of the shots that I need, but I do not have had no energy and time to finish the shots, mutliple things in school as well as in my personal life going on at the same time. I should have made a second schedule with one expecting for me recordign longer than expected, because just waiting for the inspiration to come for me and going without having a concrete plan has really made my schedule drag out longer than I would have wanted. However, things are already in motion and the week is ending, I would only have the deadline for myself that I will finish the entire recording and raw footage getting. If anything in editting looks wrong, then I will proably reshoot or add anything for it to make sense. 

Now, thankfully, the first day of the week, Monday, my Dad did not have to go to work and was able to stay home. My Dad's schedule is very unpredictable, the reason why it is hard to try to plan something to do together in genral and that the only day that is almost certain thet he would have time in is the weekend. Now, since I already had the momentum going from the previous shooting days and the notion of having to film my Dad's scenes, I went with that plan in mind. After picking me from school, I fgured that we were already in his car, so we could record the scene in the car that I needed, which was also short. I wanted to make him look concerned and try to direct him on what to do, as well as telling him what the story is about and what I am trying to say with it. I believe he undestnad me and alsor ecoomended me to add some diologue on his own, what would someone said in that conversation and how they will respond, which I did not particulary anaylzed before because I am usually the only one that is revising my scipt, it is better to have a second perspective, specially one from a person who is also a parent that gets concerned about his children when they do not answer to them. My Dad's first language is not English, still struggles sometimes with communicating in that language, but I think is not as noticable in the clip, except for the acccent, which I do not mind and actually adds more depth to the character as a whole and the different nuance characteristics that it has outsid ethe storry, how much it has to tell outside of the story it has choose to tell. I do admit it was easier to film someone else instead of myself, actually seing how the caemra looks as it is recording, not when I finished. The day was sunny, which heloed a lot with lighting outside and seeing the environment as a whole, which also heps with the video quiality of the recording overall, not having to adjust brightness. 

For this over the shoulder shot, I just had to move myself to the back. to capture the image from behind and the movment as he goes out to drive. Not difficult, again, since I could see how the camera was looking as I was recording. However, I did notice in the mirror in the car, that you could see a corner of my head and a finger, which I am not supposed to be in the shot, he needs to be seen as he is alone in the car as he drives away. i did not want to bother my Dad any more by having him return and do the whole scne again, he is tired from work, has other responsabilities to attend to and does not get many time to rest. My final decision on how to approach this scene is to cut down wher emy finger starts to show, the most telling sing of someone else being in the car, and try to get my head out of the shot. 

Due to the same reasons discussed above, I only completed this scene this recording day, to allow my Dad to have some rst and time to explain to him how I want the scene to appear. I learne dto checked how me, as the camera person, try not get caought in the shot, as well as continuing using the selfie stick to stabilize my hand movements. Overall, though not the one with the most shots filmed in one day, it wa san insightfuls scene to complete and take a brake from the continous shooting for the following days.

Day 2 of Shooting: Finishing some scenes and waiting for changes

 In the second day of shooting, more things came to change, thankfully finishing up with the first scene and last scene, as well as continuing with the montage and a scene in the middle. These following days have been very stressful, specially with the test and deadlines coming on, so have been having some roadblocks and lack of motivation to write, that is why describing what happened on Sunday comes easier to me. It was also my sister's birthday, so I had to go her house to be congratulate her, but I still did not stay long to finish recording and complete other homework as well. It is hard to be recording and analyzing your own clips once they are done, but I do get a sense of creativity spirit inside of mine and keep reminding myself that it does not have to be perfect, can change according to my possibilities. 

I did woke up to try to record, finishing the first scene being on top priority and completing the final scene as well, since in those two I planned to wear the same outfit and that way I do not have to be changing constantly in between scenes and also how the lighting in both scenes should match, as it represents the morning. I did a similar shot to the mirror scene, but this time I did with the selfie stick that, thanks to my Dad, I found and was able to adapt to fit my phone. It was really helpful for each following scene, not have been able to achieve some shots by myself without it. I still had to have a good grip into it so the shot would not come shaky when I did not intended to be, but it had a longer reach so I could hide it easier without contorting my body in extreme ways. This scene would be used for the final scene, recalling the events on the first scene, but now a more somber look and not as cheerful as before, but with a stable ground to continue. I do not know if my acting is the best, but I hope that the differences are able to be noticed. It was good enough, since I think it was a good transition, but I still need to develop a stronger grip.

Then, since that day we needed to buy some items for my sister, we went into the grocery store. This way the perfect place for me to film, finalizing the scene that I have on the middle with Mariposa in that location, mostly finishing all of the scenes that I need to do in the dress and not risking going multiple time to the grocery store to record, since I usually do not have anyone to take me during the week and it is not safe to go out as frequently. Unfortunately, the photos that I took for reference where for the grocery store next door, but Dad said that he wanted to buy birthday cards and they only had them at the grocery store next door. Though it may not the location that I expected and sketched for, I think I could make it work since it had a similar layout and the elements that I wanted to include, the neon lighting and lack of noise. I did not want to record where a lot of people where at, did not want to record them in my film without their consideration and preferred to avoid asking them and just wait for the places to be empty for me to record. My recording was also cut short due to my Dad wanting to leave to go to my sister's birthday, but I was able to record all of the footage that i needed. I like how the scenes of the long corridors look, as well as my focus on my face and having a focus on it while I go through. I tried for my mask to not be noticeable, with recording just my eyes, but it was still seen, so I decided to let it be and be a part of the film as a whole, because it could not be recorded safely in a public space without it. A plot hole that I did found while recording was that I had my glasses on, now it is part of Mariposa's character, using glasses for having to read the list of foods she has made, also because I did not got any shots that I consider of the same quality without my glasses. That prop I also had to create it at last minute, because I forgot to create it earlier with the other props. But, I think that gives it a more rushed and angry look, since that it is exactly how I picture Mariposa writing it after receiving her Dad's phone call. 

I was able to finish the first scene, as well as mostly of the last. Like I explained earlier, my Dad helped me find the selfie stick and to use it for my different shots. It was vital for my tracking scenes, allowing me to have more natural movements, more stable movement and getting more inside the shot, not only my face. The phone call took multiple shots to get right, by my standards, but I did like how the movement ended looking. The scene where Mariposa is throwing things away is also important to the store, the first problem arising, had to change the movement to be able to capture more shots and be seen as "chaotic" without drooping quality. The last scene in the whole film, where Mariposa takes a bite
out of the Peanut Butter, it was a little harder to record, since I had to put the camera really close to my lips to capture it how I wanted it and also make sure that it was on frame and not only capturing half of my lips. That scene is very important, the resolution to all of the problems with food and just seeing a glimpse into recovery, but not having like a 180 degree change in one day, since change takes time.

I finished another sequence within the montage as well. I still need one more sequence within the montage, all of the scenes with my Dad and then check that I had hit all of the story points that are absolutely necessary to be done. This end the shooting time that I had on the weekend. Though I did not finished all of the shots that I wanted for my film, it did help me realize how I was able to do it by myself and to manage my time by finishing the scenes that only needed me in the shot. I want to be able to plan like that for my next projects, I plan to study film and produce my own work, so this is very necessary experience, even though it may be in a small scale. 

Day 1 of Shooting: Mistakes, change of Plans and scenes

 From this very chaotic weekend, I am glad to say that I shot some important material for my film. However, I did not exactly finished all of it, but I do not feel as anxious as I thought i would if i did not finish on the time i set myself (or at least I do not feel it yet). The first day of shooting, as i indicated in the title of this post, brought up a lot of new information about how to shot in the next days and how it was not as overwhelming as I thought. During Friday, as i was laying down all o the props and sets for my short film, i was remembered that my sister's birthday was on Sunday. Because of this, I had little time to film on Saturday, specifically, due to going out with both my sister and Dad to eat, in a safe Covid space, and then spending the time walking around the neighborhood. My sister does not live with us either, she lives around 30 minutes from our house, and we had to return her at the end of the day. I returned to my house very late and returned to rest, so it was not as productive as I would have wanted it to be. 

However, I still got a lot of useful footage that i will edit later, as well as trying different techniques with the limited resources that I have at the moment. For example, to get myself in the character of Mariposa, I went with dressing in the dress that I showed in previous post, as well as using hair gel to keep it "Tidy", something to symbolize how she goes from this mental state to a breakdown later in the film. In a day to day basis, I usually would not use it nor wear this dress, but it was a way to get into character. I did not had any makeup at hand, something that  I notice in retrospective would have given the character to be able to show more how she is a "feminine" person and likes taking care of herself, seeing the descent more dramatically. But I do not own any and most of it is expensive, do not want to be wasteful and use a product that would take me time to learn to apply correctly, not really having anyone that could teach me. Either way, I hope that the lighting and different position of the camera can show my face as less tired in general and more "upbeat" in the initial scenes. 

The same mirror from the pictures above was also use for, what i would like to think, one of the most ambitious shot of the film opening. I say it like that because, I wanted to capture Mariposa getting ready in the bathroom, in the initial scene, showing as she looks at herself in the mirror and then exists the bathroom. The problem is, since I am my own cameraperson, i had to extend my arm as far as i could, that it is why you can only see one of my hands in the shot. I could not put it close to me, since that would mean that it would show in the mirror, something that i did not wanted to happen. I could not ask another person to record me from the outside and then zoom out, and there was nowhere for me to put my camera to be static and then go to grab it myself. After multiple tries that did not convince me at all, at least about 7 or 8, I was able to get one that i was okay with:

It is not perfect, the movement of the camera is somewhat not static, the angle is sideways and it unfocuses out of frame as it is being zoom out. However, I think I will not try to stress myself that much about it, since some of those problems can be solved during editing, and i do not want to feel like there was nothing useful to get out of Saturday's recording session. The crooked angle could be a sign also about how Mariposa may seem well put together on the inside but still has things that are not "correct" that preoccupy her. 

I forgot to mention earlier, but most of these scenes were pure handheld, since I could not find the selfie stick that my Dad has and saw the prices for another one, it being way too expensive for me. I did achieve to complete most of the first scene, except the phone call and Mariposa throwing things away, because I could not get a clean movement or track myself without it being very close to my face only. 

Other scenes that i partially completed were the montage, changing the time to now be at night, since I did not had time to film at the time that I wanted and I decided to change the time to fit my schedule. It is mostly the first part of the montage, with Mariposa in front of the food and her then later throwing it away. I also have footage of the closeups to the meal, as well as it goes to my mouth. These scenes were easier to record, since i only had to use other things that were on the table as stands and just letting it be still, closeups to my mouth can be done in a more stable manner, as well as recording something else that is not me. 

I would like to say that on Sunday I finished all of my shooting, although that would be a lie. However, I did notice it going smoother and faster in terms of recording, and other details would be discussed in my following post. For now, as well as some clips that I did not include, this is all of the material from Saturday.                              

Creating my own sound effects: clean diegetic and non-diegetic sound

 It appears that the person that I had for Mariposa, she has not responded yet, so i will start making preparations for me to act as her replacement. Though i am frustrated and anxious about the change, I usually hate last minute changes, but I understand that we are all living through difficult times and has affected everyone hard, don't want to be seen as a nuisance to be pestering her to participate in the film if she does not feel comfortable. I also was expecting for this to happen, since I had not received a response from last week, so I already prepared myself mentally and, with some advice from others, set my camera in a way and cut the parts when I'm hitting record in post. In any case, I want to continue advancing with parts of my production, while I'm going to start recording on the weekend officially, I had made some advances in terms of props and other objects to have ready for my shooting days. Another part of my production that i can start in this moment are my diegetic and non-diegetic sounds, some that are not exactly playing in the recording but will be added later. 

First, i want to test out how the audio recording from my phone actually sounds like, to not get with the surprise when the day comes and the audio sounds different than I expect. I want for most, if not all , of my audio to come from me, not rely on royalty free sound effects. But, if from this trial, it sounds bad, then it could take away from the tone of my film and change the experience, and i will have no choice but to search for alternatives. Before I make any radical decisions, I recorded myself as a trial, not any actual dialogue from my movie. This is the result:

It sounds really low, i recorded it while i was school. Either way, I think my audio recording is good enough for my short film. I did notice, in past recordings that i have, that there were a lot of echo, but i think that was due to the previous phone that I had and that i usually recorded it not considering the audio quality but the the content. I searched for some advice for recording in my phone, found an article. It was helpful to find some things that i can change to better the audio, which i already did, and i plan to install the app recommended: Voice Record Pro, to get it even better.

A part of my diegetic sound, dialogue, I have decided to record over and then add it in the editing process. That is the part of the phone call in the first scene, the one with the Dad on the phone. While i first considered to just record it as it was happening, then i remember that the actual echo of the conversation would be too high, having to put my Dad on another room, and then with the possibility of the both voices echoing each other, with causes high pitches in the scene, what i do not want to happen, as well as my phone audio being unable to pick it up. So, that is why i decided to record my Dad saying his lines, the lines for the phone call, then add the audio. I was looking for video editing software that will allow me to edit the audio to sound like a phone call, but i was unable to find a free option. iMovie seems to carry the option, but for their Mac devices, and i do not own one of them. Then, Premiere Pro is a pay for editing software. Luckily, I found an app called "Audacity", it is a free audio editing that lets you edit the audio only, but from there, i will export it into the film. 

For the category of sound effects, non-diegetic sound, i want to include sharp high notes and distorted sounds, increasing in intensity and volume as the film progresses, representing how Mariposa's mind is getting clouded. Here is an example:

I will probably lower the pitch at first, then increasing it as the film goes on, the mental stability failing and how she cannot take it anymore. I will layer it with other disturbance sounds, as well as her own voice telling her what to do, externalizing her thoughts. I can achieve this sound in my own, just recording my sister's piano and changing the pitch and frequency later, as well as waiting for the refrigerator that we have, which is very loud, and record the noise it emits. Tonight i will start setting my house for when I wake up tomorrow, everything will be ready. 

Citations:

Nield, David. “How to Record Better Audio on Your Phone.” Popular Science, 30 Sept. 2018, www.popsci.com/record-better-smartphone-audio/.

Webb, Adam, director. EXTREMELY Painful Sound. Youtube, Mostannoyingsounds, 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEy_7dAFlqk.

Creating props and costume design for my short film

 The weekend is coming close, needing to have everything ready to completely go to record and shot what I have set myself to film, i have decided to have my props ready, an important aspect to my mise-en-scene. In my genre, the psychological genre, it concentrates a lot into the psyche's of the character and more of internal struggles than external struggles. However, to have a more visual way of expressing those concerns, the mise-en-scene can show the mental state's of a character in an external way, low lighting or messy ways, encouraging messages. Another way of doing it was how it brings parts of the story by signaling them out, without having to have a character have to explicitly explain it and not overlay in the dialogue, "showing, not telling". As explained in an article i found, it is a way of helping through the drama, making it into what the atmosphere inside the set will be, not the same as what the normal location is, in this case, my house. It all belongs to the world inside of the movie, a fictional setting, that have deeper meaning inside it. 

For now, I created about two props for my sets, a note from the therapist and the Happy Birthday sign, I will probably
 create multiple of each and make sure that they match on the edit:

I made the note saying "try PB next, -your therapist". This comes a change from the script from "try crunchy PB", since I realized I do not have a tub of crunchy Peanut Butter and i do not plan to buy it because I figured that if I already have regular PB I could use that instead, do not want to wasted food. The type of writer may not be seen as informal as what a note from a therapist in real life may look like. I choose this type of writing for it to be seen more clearly in the camera and in the lighting I plan to shot it, a regular note with regular pen would be too faint to see in camera and not great to focus on. This is also of importance in the film itself, bringing Mariposa's problem with food and the foreshadowing for the final scene of the film, Mariposa taking a spoonful of Peanut Butter, a whole circle in the story. 

 The Birthday sign sets what time in the film we are, since it means that her Birthday already came, being foreshadowed by the first conversation between her Dad and Mariposa, as well as the days being marked in the calendar and the birthday in the calendar. I will probably decorate it more for the next days, but I think the color and the arrangement can be seen through the camera. It is also will help me have a second purpose, my sister's birthday is this weekend as well, helps me prepare something with double meaning. 

Now, another important setting of the film that also contains mise-en-scene is the costume of each of the characters. It brings so much into knowing how the characters look to themselves and what they want to present to the rest of the world. It is also to bring the actors into characters, specially since the protagonist goes to many mental changes and stages, which shows also through the outfits. My Dad will not need many outfit changes and I think his way of dressing already is good enough, if he wears something unexpected on the weekend, I will ask him to change. However, for Mariposa, I look through my clothes to finally have an idea of what outfits do I have and what alteration I had made from my original idea:

 

I though i had a yellow dress inside my wardrobe, yellow is a very "happy" looking color, but i probably donate it or gave it away, since i cannot find it. I am not a person that has a lot of dresses, 2 in fact, and i did not find that buying a new dress that i will probably only use for this film and then keeping it inside my wardrobe. Either way, i am able to find one that is flowery and has a design, can also be seen as "cheerful" and how Mariposa is trying to fit it and inside her mind. 

Now, for the next day of the montage, Mariposa will change into this outfit, showing the passage of time and how her mental state is changing, taking less time into taking care of herself and instead changing into more "comfortable" clothes. I envision for her to be the kind of person who usually dresses as the first outfit presented, but since she is less feeling like herself, she turns inside herself and uses clothes to exemplify that. 

Now, for the last outfit, i decided to use the inspiration that i had at the beginning, and i was able to recreate it pretty close, the first that i did not majorly change. Now, I am the type of person who will usually dress like this in a regular day, but like I mentioned earlier, Mariposa is different in the way of being more colorful with her clothes, "chic" in a way, so this would be a major change in her character. As the last day of the montage
, this would be the last straw before Mariposa experiences a breakdown and her Dad comes to help her. 

I still need to search for the selfie stick that my Dad said he had, to start practicing and not completely be new to it while i come to filming. Also, tomorrow i will receive conformation if the person i had for Mariposa will help me or not, the changes i will have depending on that. For now, i will take some dummy footage, meaning, how i will want my shot to look, a test shoot. 

Citations:

Vaux, Robert. “Makeup & Costumes in Movie Production.” Our Pastimes, 10 Jan. 2019, ourpastimes.com/makeup-costumes-in-movie-production-12157365.html. 

Setting up the sets and practicing camera

It already came, the nightlight felt on me, and the realization of the start of me actually shooting footage will start. While I feel more tired than anxious, i still have some lingering fears on what to do in terms of setting my camera stable and if I'm going to be able to shot everything on time, since i do not plan to take any time during the week to record, i get home from school later an the lighting is different to the time i want to represent on the film, mostly morning and early afternoon, to show Mariposa eating. Since i am not confident enough with me using only mt hands for recording, i do not consider my hands to be that stable, I choose to find a selfie stick that my Dad had for his own phone. However, I still want to see if i can achieve a stable movement without using it, i still do not feel as confident using it and do not want my phone to fall as i advance with my tracking or stable shots, for example. For that, i made a test video for the path that i will take tomorrow, not exactly as i will do it, but the similar movement and pace, to see how it looks. Here is the result:

It actually looks better than what i expected, there is not much shakiness and the pace seems reasonable. I will probably change it to 60 frames per second either way, since i feel like that way it will look more smooth than if i was recording it and seems to be slowed. Overall, i will try using my own hands to be stable and record the shots, but i still need to find an alternative when i am going to be recording myself, using something as a stabilizer to stay put without having someone else holding it. I had though of using a book to hold it for me or just straight up tapping it into the wall, but I'm sure there must be some people with advice over in the internet of DIY alternatives to tripods and such. The following video that i found, while short, still brings a lot of great advice that i will sure take tomorrow. 

It is so much simpler to cut a plastic cup up, I'm sure to have at least one somewhere, setting up with the books i have. The mirror, to see how the frame looks, it's really creative and very useful, will see if i at least own a small mirror i can position to see myself. Lastly, the rule of thirds, which i have heard and studied before but tried to not mentioned it as much because i thought it would have overwhelmed me, it is fairly simple to adapt into the iPhone and see how the frame is turning out. 

With most of the camera use now being understood by me, i set up my sets for tomorrow, so that i can wake up, take breakfast and start shooting immediately. Also, i heard about this technique in a podcast of my favorite series, how the producers and set designers will take phots of how the sets look like to then match it on editing and if things are moved, another reason for the photos, so that i can match the design over the 2 days of filming. 

Int. Mariposa's house-table:

Int. Dad's Car: 

Tomorrow, starts the beginning of my recording, which I am still nervous about and frustrated about how things are developing. Hope that everything goes smoothly and according to plan.

Citations:

Michael, Collin, director. How to Film Yourself on IPhone or Android. Youtube, 14 July 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8Isv8XqBBU.

What I noticed that i have gotten wrong while wanting to shot

 Since this marks the beginning of the overall shooting process, i wanted to get a feeling of what exactly to do before starting to shot. So far, i have not receive any contact with the person who i asked to act as Mariposa, I'm not sure yet if she would be able to make it to me back on time by the weekend. If that is not the case, then i will have to reorganize certain parts of my schedule as well as having to search for another person or have to act the part myself. This will bring many other adjustments to my shooting schedule and how i will shot, since there is not any certainty that i will be able to find anyone else in such a short time, now having to set up my camera in a way where i can record without it being seen as that i am recording myself. I needed some ideas and information about that last part, technical tricks with my camera and some other information that i will need. 

While searching for some help, I searched for advice with my specific camera of choice, my iPhone SE, since I do not have any other type of recording gear nor I plan to buy any in the period I will be recording. The shooting exposure, lighting into my camera and shot, i do not plan to touch on unless extremely necessary, getting the natural lighting effect and may be changing it when Mariposa's is getting worse with her psychological situation, as well as in the shots of food, saturating the shot, and then reverting back to normal when the Dad appears. Anyway, I did find some information that showed me how i was wrong about certain things. For example, the video explains how the 4k 24fps is a good framing to give the shot more of a cinematic feel and tone, and i agree, since i tried around with my own camera and it showed the difference in the shooting range and speed, while the other looked more like a home video. For that, i changed the size frame and speed on my shot list, to match with the energy and speed of the shot. This was the result:

Now, all of the scenes that I considered to be of faster pace are set at 60fps and the other more steady shots are at 4fps. The total quality of the video is 4K. The other advice on the video was helpful, however, most of the other advice needs a monetary investment, one that i do not currently have, so I have to do with the regular settings on the iPhone camera and change anything else in post. I do not know if I'm going to edit on my phone directly or export all of the raw footage into my computer and get a external app to edit. All of those decisions are going to be made by the end of the week or possibly in the middle of next week. Overall, it was really helpful to see someone explaining how to shot with my camera, it brought some of my worries that I had about my shots looking too "amateur" or not good enough. I have recorded with my camera before, but for mock-up commercials for my classes or family videos, but I think that I can now achieve a more professional look and have all of my mise-en-scene on place.

I still need to figure out some other techniques to position my camera while recording, waiting until tomorrow for the ultimatum if anyone responds to wanting to act as Mariposa in my film, but i will either way start searching for different ideas to put my camera in such a way to record myself without needing someone to hold the camera for me. Also, yesterday, i acquired the different materials for my props, they are big factors into my mise-en-scene and the story overall, carrying a lot of weight in the plot and even could be considered as one factor into my climax, the psychological dilemma within Mariposa and seeing how her problems and insecurities can be externalized through objects. This afternoon, i will try to assemble them and have them ready, i have some time after school to do it and its better to do it with time instead of rushing Friday afternoon or Sunday morning.

Citations:

Chang, Chris, director. How to Shoot Cinematic Video on IPhone SE, Apple's Cheapest IPhone! Youtube, Abacus News, 28 June 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=tImA3mpYd6w&t=430s.

Shooting schedule

 While currently being in stand by with the person that i had to perform as Mariposa, i will list exactly what the shooting schedule would look like for the coming weeks. I now find it more exciting than nerve-racking the prospect of starting to shot my short film, since i feel more confident about my abilities and what I will need when the day comes. I have done some additional research with more of the specifics about how to use the camera that i have, and doing a list of the props that I have already and ones that i will have to make or buy.  

Now, for shooting, since i plan to do the bulk of the majority of my scenes on the following weekend, since that way i do not have to be worrying about it over the week and go back and revise any shots that will need reshooting or a complete change altogether, this is the schedule that I have come up with:

10:00 AM-Shooting Scene 1- using all of the daylight that will naturally come into the house, realistically showing a morning lighting without having to do or alter filters and such

11:00 AM-Shooting Final Scene(6)- since the final scene is also supposed to be set in the morning, inside the house, i saw it fitting that i shot it after the first scene. Another thing for why I'm planning to shot them back to back is that the only time my Dad has available is on the weekends, so i plan to do most of his scenes

1:00 PM- Shooting Scene 4- Now that the lighting will be changed for the afternoon, as well as taking a break in between scenes, i will use this time to film inside my Dad's car. I hope that he is able to cooperate, since he is a little stubborn, but i think by that time i would have probably convince him to speak more. Another thing for the time difference is to give him time to practice, since he sometimes has difficulty pronouncing certain words, but i think with the dialogue i gave him in this scene, it should be easy to continue

2:00 PM- Shooting partly of the Montage (Scene 3)- I want to not overstress myself over the amount of shots i'm going to be taking in a single day, but it is good to take advantage of my time, so i will just take some shots to be part of my montage, so i can also show a realistic passage of time and not have to worry about constant outfit changes

Then, for Sunday:

1:00 PM-Shooting scene 5- This day i will start shooting a little later, due to lighting in the house and how it is not as intense as it would be in the morning, since I have to take some shots of the outside of the house, needs to look like it is afternoon already, and it would be more difficult to fake that with the multiple factors that are in the outside. Coming into the house should not be as difficult, it is also very emotionally charged and with dialogue for my Dad, needs some time to practice

2:00 Pm- Finishing the Montage (Scene 3)- Since i already started with the montage the day before, now changing between only two outfits should be easier and not as tedious as having to change three times. The shots are all similar, each increasing in audio sensitive and the shakiness of the camera, so it should be easier to record them together

Sometime in the afternoon or night- Scene 4- Leaving this scene for last, the lighting inside of the grocery store does not change much with the time of the day, gives me more opportunity to take a break and do other work that i have before finishing. Would probably use this time also to do real shopping with my Dad, reducing the time we will have to go out in the week. 

Now, all of the items that i need and i already have are:

• A calendar (calendar from 2020)
• My camera (Iphone SE)
• A stick to balance my camera in tracking or steady scenes
• Clothes for different outfits (dress, hoodie, jeans, shirt, etc.)
• Hair gel (to change hairstyles)
• Plates of food (my actual food that i will probably eat after shooting is over)
• Pill bottles 
• Trash bags 

What I need but i still not have (or need to search for):

• Hand written notes
• Positive stickers or posters
• Happy Birthday sign

Those last three, i will probably take some time to create them myself, saving some money and improvising with the materials i already have. I do not want my perfectionism to get in the way, but i still do not want them to look too "bad", meaning that i want them to look more professionally done than improvised, since i feel that fits more with the tone and my genre. Next, i will take some sample shots and search for other tricks for my camera, as well as any changes if notice of someone for my protagonist comes or not.