CCR

I have reached the end of the line and it is time to reflect! I went through a lot of ups and downs in the midst of creating this short film but in the end I can proudly say I gave it my all. :)

CCR LINK

Final Product!

I finally finished my project!

My Short Film:
Older-An Experimental Film

My Website:
OLDER


My Post Card:

Project Reflection!

Upon the completion of my Aice Media A level project I feel I have learned so much in this process and I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to do so. While it may be unfortunate the hardships that I have faced throughout the process due to the pandemic have honestly taught me to become more resourceful and creative. Starting out this portfolio project I was excited to do even better than I had before but I had no idea what was to come ahead. The pandemic was definitely a surprise but in the end, it pushed me to my creative limits.

I started with an original idea and an original partner and I ended up doing a completely different idea all by myself. Working alone was something that I feared as I was wary about the turnout. However, it has taught me to learn new skills. Last year I worked as part of a group in helping develop the story for the project as well as helping direct the process and plan everything out. I was not really a part of the editing process. Whereas this year the roles completely changed as I had to become involved in all aspects of the project when I decided to work alone. I have found a new appreciation for editing as it is no easy task but I learned to use different software including iMovie and Wevideo. I actually learned the strengths and weaknesses of both but I was grateful that I had access to both because what one did not have the other did.

Having no access to actors also forced to act in my own piece which was also new to me but ended up being less daunting than I thought it would. Learning about experimental films allowed me to develop an idea that I could execute in the comfort of my own home without violating any social distancing rules. I have also never done a project that I have related to so deeply. The whole idea of the nostalgic feeling and anxiety that one sometimes feels when they come closer to adulthood is an experience that I am currently going through and I am excited to share it with others in the hopes that it conjures the same feelings in them. I am however slightly regretful that I chose an experimental film because it places a larger focus on visuals and sound editing rather than dialogue or storytelling. I believe this paired along with some of the complex ideas that I had caused it to be an overwhelming project when I could have done something more simple. Nevertheless, it was a learning experience and I am glad I was able to complete it.

Editing

So today I finished editing and all I can say is that I have a newfound appreciation for the people who can do this for a living. Granted I already knew that I did not have much experience in editing besides the few projects I have made in this class. However, this project required much more skill than I thought it would.

My number one issue was finding copyright-free sound bites and music that fit the tone of my piece. I would literally sit in front of my computer for HOURS literally wanting to spoon my eyes out listening to random tracks that sounded like they came straight out of Harry Potter or Pirates of the Caribbean. Everything I found was either too dramatic or too happy. I looked through several sources including BenSounds and Incompetech and I hated all of them! This is an exaggeration but nonetheless, none of them seemed to fit my piece! The least I could say is that I was FRUSTRATED.

I had this predisposition towards the Youtube Audio library that it was cheesy and only had basic and boring music and sound effects so I never really looked there. But I was so desperate that I decided to check it out. And basically... I owe the Youtube Audio Library and apology now because I found everything I needed there! It was really easy to use and it let me refine my search in a really easy way that let me find music based on the mood and even instrument. I will have to say it was still a nightmare to find music but it definitely made my life a little bit easier. 

YouTube Audio Library search tool

Finding music for the introduction was especially hard since it was a very neutral scene that turned stressful very quickly. Therefore, if I picked calming music it would seem out of place once the stress started to build up. So after a while of sorting though songs, I decided to just go ahead and use ambient noise. I think this was the best decision as it prevented the scene from being too quiet while also avoiding the problem of clashing with the quick build-up of stress. 

As for the video, in general, I decided to edit on iMovie as I have the most experience on this. It also lets me detach the sound which is something that I don't believe I can do on the only other software that I have access to which is Wevideo. Also, I actually had a lot of fun with overlays during the process, that I had never used, so that part of the editing process was fun. However, I had trouble putting together my footage because there were many parts that I had to cut out that made the film look a little choppy but I tried to smooth them out to the best of my ability. Some parts, however, came together very smoothly such as the part where she sees her younger self in the mirror. 

Overall, I had to cut back in forth between several shots and the editing process became very complicated but in the end, I think I put my all into it. It's not perfect but I am definitely learning. I think one of the more interesting parts of editing was definitely the subtitles.  I was scared to even use subtitles because I feared it would be too much work but it ended up working out alright. The only issue was that iMovie does not provide any specific tool for subtitles so I had to export the video and put it into WeVideo. So, in the end, I ended up using TWO editing softwares. So basically I got the best of both worlds. In essence, I think the process taught me many new things.

Filming with mirrors and going back in time!

So today I filmed the next scene! I have been pacing back and forth about how I am going to film this scene because it is kind of a difficult technique to execute: a flashback. So in this scene: The girl is supposed to walk into the bathroom and look into the mirror. Then she is supposed to see herself as a child and reminisce on that time when she was younger. However, I do not have the editing skills to make myself look younger nor do I have the resources to contract a child actor. 

So I had to resort to making myself look like a child! This was honestly the last thing I wanted to do but at this point, it was the best thing I could do with my resources. I made sure to film all the parts of my present self first and then filmed the scenes of my younger self. For this, I completely transformed my bathroom and tried to make it look like that of a 10-year-old little girl. Then I put on some pajamas, put my hair in a braid and put on my old glasses. I also tried to cover up any acne I had to try and make my face slightly more youthful. I definitely looked younger but I just hope it comes across correctly in post-production. 

The other issue was filming with a mirror!!! If I had a small mirror in my bathroom it wouldn't be too big of an issue. However, my mirror covers like the ENTIRE wall. So finding a place to put it without it being seen was a whole ordeal.

This is me trying to see how it would look like above my door:

(didn't work)

This is me trying to put it above the cabinet on the opposite wall:

(again didn't work)

Here is me trying to hide it INSIDE of the cabinet:

(DID NOT work)

So finally I ended up putting the camera at an angle outside of the bathroom. It did not give me a straightforward view of the mirror like I would have wanted to but it worked sufficiently. I'm a little anxious to see how this is going to end up looking but I really hope I am able to successfully portray this flashback and the feeling of nostalgia along with it. 

Filmed the first scene!

Presented with the special circumstances of being limited to resources only available to me in my own home, I am forced to be the main actress in my short film. This does not come as a surprise for me as I knew I was going to have to do so for a long time but it slightly frightens me because I am not a professional actor nor do I have much experience in acting at all. Either way, I put my big girl panties on and I got ready to act! and also film! and everything else in between! 

For the introduction of the film, I took a couple short clips of the interior of the room to slowly set the tone of the film and establish the setting. I filmed outside my window and certain parts of my room and even included a short clip of the college letters that were spread across the desk. By including these shots I hope to try and introduce the idea that the girl is around that age where she is starting to look into college. 

Then I tried to include many different shots and angles of the girl staring at her ceiling. This was especially hard because I wanted to get a top shot of the girl as she laid on her bed. However, all I have is a little tripod and there was no way I was going to film a top shot while I was the actor. So thankfully I was able to get help from my brother to film this part. Then I shot a sequence of shots where the girl seems to feel like the blades of the fan are starting to move faster and faster and the alarm seems to ring louder and louder. 

Coincidentally my fan's high setting is actually dysfunctional and it causes the fan to move so fast that it actually looks like it is going to fly off the wall. Usually, this is a bad thing as I fear it will crush me in my sleep but in this case, it was perfect for the tone I was trying to establish. So I filmed my fan starting on the normal setting and then worked it up to the high setting to try and deliver that sense of building anxiety.

In post-production, while I was editing this sequence and building up the sound my mother was actually fed up because the noise was so annoying. However, I took this as a form of validation for my work because that's exactly the kind of reaction that I'm hoping to deliver. I want to express the girl's sense of anxiety through this scene and I think it ended up working better than expected. 

 

Filmic Pro!

Before I decided on my idea I was recommended by a couple of my peers to look into an app named Filmic Pro. I searched it up on the AppStore to make sure it was something that would be helpful in my project. I saw it provided many features to allow for easier film making on an iPhone. Considering I didn't have a professional camera I thought this was a feasible tool for me to acquire and I thought it would be pretty helpful.

However, before I started to use it I needed to know how to use it! So I watched a tutorial by the name of FiLMic Pro 2019 tutorial where I learned how to use some of the main features on the app. As you can see in the picture I provided there is a small button on the bottom left corner. This is where you can control the temperature and color of the video. I found this very helpful considering the editing software that I work with (iMovie) does not really provide an easy post-production color correcting tool. Then on the left side, you can control the exposure of the video to make it brighter or more toned down. I think this will be very helpful for me when I am trying to take specific shots to establish a mood or express an emotion. Then on the right, you can manage the focus of the video and you can use the zoom feature. I think the zoom feature is really helpful because it lets you zoom in and out in a much smoother way than on the regular phone camera. There is also a square that will appear on the screen that allows you to focus on certain objects or subjects and lock it down to that specific area. In addition to the rectangle, there is a circle that will allow you to manage the exposure on the video that you can also lockdown to certain areas.

I don't have too much experience with the app since I just recently purchased the App but it seems to be pretty easy to use now that I have researched it a little. I am glad I found it because I think it will help make my film slightly more professional. Not only this but I think features like the focus, exposure, and temperature tools will allow me to highlight the feelings I am trying to portray in my short film.

Outline

So today I worked on the outline! It is definitely a rough draft but I am happy it is a starting place. I have felt really pressured to start, considering we had to find an entirely new idea but I am hoping I can stick to this one and make something good out of it.

My Rough Outline

So I have a few concerns, I am scared it might turn out being a little too sequential in a way. However, I plan to prevent this by providing fluid action between each scene. I am also scared about the more technical aspects of my short film like layering sounds and finding the right music because I know that can either make or break the film overall. I'm mostly worried about the scene where she sees herself as a child in the mirror because this might be difficult to shoot but I really hope it will all tie together okay.

The panic of turning 18

So I really wanted to make sure I was well familiarized with this feeling of panic that I wanted to reproduce in my short film. So I decided to dig deep into myself and also into others to see how they felt when they turned 18. With this research, I want to make sure my purpose for this short film is clear so therefore I can make all future decisions with this in mind. So first I started with writing down all the feelings I had and the fears that I felt.

The overdramatic synthesis of my feelings

The only reasonable next step was to look into how others felt. One of my concerns is that I won't be able to use up all the time that is available so I want to make sure I can include as much feeling and power into the short film as I can. I went on Quora and I found some responses from different people. They basically expressed the same fears and went on to say that 18 can feel like a lot of pressure because there are many new responsibilities. One person was able to explain it perfectly through the use of a metaphor by stating "Till now, you've been playing the game at normal mode. Now the difficulty is cranked up to high." I also read many people comment on how they felt terrified and felt extreme nostalgia.

After reading these responses I am able to affirm that it is definitely a feeling many people experience when they are about to turn 18. I have gathered that some of the main feelings I want to express are: fear, anxiousness, and nostalgia. I also found that many people felt no different when they turned 18. Which is probably true as I have felt the same way every time I reach a supposedly large milestone in my life. So possibly I could also express the idea that age is just a number. However, I am not sure if this will take away from the main feeling of panic that I am trying to express.

New possible idea?

So I know that there is no way I am leaving the house anytime soon. Due to this, it has forced me to think of new ideas that are plausible inside my own house. So today is when I had an idea. I remember that one of the suggestions my teacher gave me was to never write about something you have no experience with. So I have had several ideas where I have decided not to go through with because I have no personal experience having any of these feelings and it would be wrong of me to misrepresent them. So I like this particular idea because it is something that I identify with and I am pretty sure many others can too.

This month of April I am going to be turning 18 years old. What that number means universally to almost everyone is adulthood. Legally it means you can buy a lottery ticket and it means you are old enough to buy a hamster but none of that is very important for what I want to focus on. Although, being 18 can give you many freedoms it can also seem like many things are being taken away from you. At least that is the experience that I am going through right now as it comes closer to my birthday. I have also spoken with a couple of my other friends who also have felt this sense of panic as they turned 18 because they felt as if their childhood was being taken away from them and because they felt overwhelmed by new responsibilities.

So as I have recently discovered the art of experimental film I thought maybe I could express this sense of panic in this way. I picture a girl (because I have no real willing actors but myself in my household) waking up on her 18th birthday and experiencing this panic throughout the day. In the beginning, I do not want to outwardly express in any way that it is her birthday but I simply want to put together a representation of her panic through sounds, visuals, and even graphic matches. I want to end the film by showing her blow out candles in the shape of the number 18 to bring the whole film full circle and convey the reason behind her panic. I know that this is something I deeply resonate with so I hope I will be able to express it through my film.

5 films about technology

So today I watched yet another short film! My teacher recommended I watch "5 films about technology". It is very straight forward as it literally is 5 mini-stories that include technology as the main culprit for the conflict. I think the main thing I learned from watching this was really that you do not need to go all out to make a successful piece. I think Peter Huang did an excellent job of just making the most simple and mundane things in our lives into an enjoyable piece of art.

One of the things I thought was very interesting about the short film was the aspect ratio. The entire short film is seen in the square format. At first, I thought it was a very odd choice until I realized it was genius. It is a very simple yet subliminal reference to humanity's reliance on technology. Since many of us use our phones too much he made sure it was easy to watch on a phone by making it square.

I also really liked how each story connected to the next. While each story had a different focus point and comedic effect, each one had to occur before the next in order for the next story to happen. The abrupt stop between each film I also thought added comedic effect as I feel it left the viewer laughing and excited to see what was next. There was no excess film or unnecessary parts that were shown. It was all short and simple and achieved the purpose of just making the audience laugh.

I think what I need to take from this is that whatever my idea maybe it does not have to be a dramatic analysis of the society that we live in. It could just be a portrayal of something that we can all, unfortunately, relate to, as long as it produces a reaction or thought. Because in the end, I feel like that is what makes a film good. If it doesn't make you think, or it doesn't make you laugh, or if it doesn't make you feel SOMETHING then it didn't achieve its purpose.

Wake Up

So today I watched an experimental film named Wake Up. I was really excited to watch it because it is the first actual experimental short film that I have ever watched. So as I try to explain it keep in mind that it is an experimental film so it does not really have a linear narrative. It is basically a film about a woman who is locked up in a hospital and after finally escaping rediscovers her humanity amongst a world consumed by digital devices.

I honestly really loved everything about it. I think seeing this as my first experimental film is a great thing because it really did show me that experimental films are more of an expressive art form than anything else. There was no real structure to it but it all came together super nicely. It didn't need that much dialogue or conventional technical aspects to convey the message that it wanted to convey.

Something that I loved about the piece was the incorporation of sound. I think one of the key aspects of this film was capturing the emotions that the woman was facing as she escapes the hospital. The music that was chosen for her exit from the facility was such a fitting choice as it gave off a feeling of freedom and hope. Then the sounds of the typing on the keyboard and the whispers of the urgent-sounding responsibilities of the mindless people really created a deep commentary on humanity. It created this image of us being so blinded by our responsibilities and our screens that we can't even enjoy life.

They also played beautifully with the sound motif of the voices whispering "wake up". The fact that they introduced it in the beginning and brought it back at the end really brought the piece together and revealed the whole purpose of the short film which was to demonstrate her need and that of humanity to "wake up" and escape the digital reality that we have made for ourselves.

Experimental films

As we continue or project in the rather unfavorable conditions of this pandemic it has become clear to us that we need to branch out and look at all of our options. I realized that many times before our teacher and our fellow peers have suggested that we look into producing an experimental film. To be honest I was not entirely sure what that entailed. So today, I decided to research this genre of sorts and find out what experimental films really are all about.

In my search for information on the topic, I could not find many reliable or lengthy resources, most of what I found were short blurbs that barely served me with any real information. Then there was Wikipedia but according to most educators, Wikipedia is useless so that was not an option. Then I came across an article by the name of  "Experimental Filmmaking for Dummies: Why You Should Be Making Experimental Films". It seemed lengthy yet promising so I read it and I think I really understand what an Experimental film really is now.

First off I learned that me researching the genre in itself was ironic because defining Experimental films basically defeats the entire purpose of what they are. I learned that they are pretty much a type of film where there are absolutely no creative restraints. They are opposite to the more normal narrative films because they generally do not have a story or characters that they rely on.

The purpose of an Experimental film I learned was to express yourself, unlike Narrative films which are often dependent on technical aspects to determine their success. In Experimental films, it does not really matter whether the technical aspects were perfect but it matters whether or not you were able to successfully express whatever you were trying to express whether it has been a feeling an idea or a concept or practically anything.



Experimental film is also "an aesthetic and aural art form". This contrasts from that of narrative and documentary films because they tend to focus on making the narrative become a reality instead of using elements like music, dance, and visuals for the purpose of just creating pure art.

Overall, I think this is a really viable option for our project. In normal films that follow a narrative, there is often at least more than one location through which the characters interact. However, in an experimental piece, there are absolutely no rules! So I think my partner and I will definitely keep this in mind.

Website builders!

So now that we are stuck at home we decided maybe we can try and start building our website. Although we do not have content to put on it yet we thought we might as well start looking at the different websites that we can use in order to build our website.

First, we decided to look at GoDaddy which claimed to be a free and easy to use resource. I looked at the reviews and they all seemed to be pretty good. They stated that it is a trusted and well-known resource and that it is affordable and facilitates the process of building your own website. It also seemed appealing because they seemed to have online employees who are open to helping customers with any issues. This is reassuring because if we have any concerns on how to use GoDaddy we can easily ask. The only issue is that neither my partner nor I have ever used GoDaddy.

GoDaddy templates

Then we looked at Squarespace which was a really user-friendly experience because it provided the option to browse through templates without having made an account. It asked us a few questions on what we were looking to make and then it gave us some options. This was great because it demonstrated that it was a personalized and easy to use tool. However, we realized that Squarespace is not free. It only provides a free 14-day trial. This is a huge negative for us because we don't have a really big budget for this project so we rather use something that is free for us to use that also gives us quality results.

Templates Squarespace recommended we use

Finally, we looked at Wix which is another well-known and trusted website. It is free and also has really good reviews which state that it provides many features in order to personalize your website to the best of your ability. On Wix, we were also able to browse through the templates without making an account and really allowed us to get a feel for the type of results we would get if we used Wix. We thought it also seemed easy to use and was an affordable option. We also liked that it even offered a specific category of templates for film, which is super helpful for what we are planning to do with our website.

Wix Film & TV templates

Overall, we think we are going to go with Wix because it is the easiest and most affordable option. It provides templates specifically for what we are going to do which makes us believe that we will be able to get better results from using Wix. Moreover, I have had previous experience using Wix so I already know how to use it and I have never really had any issues with it. So overall we thought this would be the best fit.

More information!

So today we had a virtual meeting with my teacher to get a little better of an understanding of what the plan is with this project and how we will proceed with the class. Basically, she explained to us that for now our school is closed and until further notice, we won't be going back until April 15th. She also explained to us that our school will be providing free wifi and computers to anyone who needs these resources due to the fact that we will continue classes online on March 30th.

So basically this sent everyone into a frenzy.  All of my fellow classmates explained how this is stressing all of us out because many of us are reliant on other people who are unable to leave their house in order to complete their project. However, while it was a little stressful we were able to help each other out. Our teacher let us know that we do still have a little time to hold out and see if the virus goes away and maybe we don't have to rewrite our entire script. This is a good option because for now, we can just keep doing research and if maybe this virus leaves earlier than expected we can start filming in time to finish by the due date.

It is what it is

We were also given some advice from our fellow peers to look into more experimental films as we might have to dive into more creative ideas in these restricted conditions. Overall, I am glad we had this group meeting because it cleared up a lot of things. I think my partner and I are just going to work on research and other aspects of the project to try and hold off on filming. Having to rewrite the story is not ideal but if that is what we have to do then it is what we will do.

What will we do now?

So as the Coronavirus is getting more serious people are not leaving their homes. As I have explained before, this is starting to get to my parents and I didn't think it was that serious until it was. Basically, I am not allowed to leave the house for any reason unless absolutely necessary. I work at a grocery store and I am not even allowed to go there. I thought that I would at least be able to film with my partner at my house or hers because we know each other and are pretty sure that we have practiced the correct procedures and do not have the virus.

However, I was wrong. While my parents do not have an issue with meeting up as long as we keep a safe distance and obviously don't cough on each other or anything my partner's parents are not ok with this. My partner is not allowed to leave the house or have anyone come over. They fear that even if they know the person they can never be too sure that they have the virus because you don't necessarily show symptoms until about two weeks after you have had the virus.

So basically, we are at a crossroads, we are either going to have to cut the parts where the characters are at school or write an entirely different story. So that's fun and super great and cool I'm not stressed at all!

Hazel's outfit

Since we can't do much outside of the house we decided to choose Hazel's outfit. This is the outfit that she is going to wear for the majority of the short film so we wanted to make sure it was perfect. We guided ourselves with the idea that we knew we wanted it to be "aesthetic" and "quirky". Basically one of those hipster girls that say they have really good taste in music and go do their homework in coffee shops. So we felt that most of the girls that are like this dress in the 80s/ 90s style.

So we pulled out all the clothes that we thought fit in this type of style. We pulled out some light wash mom jeans, a flowy dress, a lot of patterned clothing (stripes, floral, etc.), and some really funky pink corduroy bell-bottoms. However, after looking at all the options we decided we wanted to go for something more toned down that someone would wear on any regular day. After all, we can't have Hazel looking like a try-hard she might frighten Lucas away. So we decided on the yellow shirt with the white sweater and the mom jeans. We also want to incorporate a lot of color into our project and we thought yellow would be perfect. We decided that it would be a perfect symbolization of how happy and excited she is over something so small and meaningless like a group project. Plus, picking all of these clothes out will probably be helpful in the future when we film the scene where she is deciding on what to wear.

The final outfit :)

 

  

Corona Time!

Happy Friday the 13th! So... the United States is currently under a state of national emergency because of the coronavirus. At first, you don't really realize all the things that a pandemic can affect... Until you get a message from your county saying that your school is going to be closed for the following week. THAT'S when it's a problem. This only makes my previous problem infinitely more difficult because now there is no way we can even film at school. My partner and I are going to have to recreate a classroom somewhere else because there is no way that we can do it at school. However, now I am a little bit more stressed because people are starting to panic and among those people include my father.  Therefore, leaving the house to go film this project is going to be its own issue. 

So here is what I think is going to happen, either I convince my father to let me leave the house, or we can try rescheduling everything. We primarily had planned to film this week and edit next week but I think that if it's absolutely necessary, we are going to do everything we said we would do later now. This includes making the website and the postcard advertisement.  It is very important for us to have an idea of what our project will really end up looking like before we make these so we would definitely do this after writing the script and storyboarding but I think it buys me a little time to try and figure out a way to escape my household. Or if anything I'll just make some arrangements so it could all be filmed in my house. I am not entirely sure how this is all going to work out but to be honest with you I wasn't really planning for there to be a pandemic this month. 

Running into problems

So we have been working on this project for a little while now and I feel like we are really behind. We were supposed to finish our script last week and we're just starting to write it this week. Yet, as we were writing the script we realized that we are going to have issues shooting the first scene. We wrote the beginning of our short film so it would be filmed in a classroom. However, we decided early on that we were going to use my partner and her boyfriend as the main actors. This seemed fine but the issue here lies in the fact that her boyfriend does not go to our school. We would need to find a teacher that would be willing to stay after school and we are not really sure if any teacher would be willing to do so. Then we thought that maybe we could sign him in through the office but after asking we realized that this was not an option.

So basically we have a few options. One- we could change the actor to someone who goes to our school so we can film while school is going on. The issue with this is that they may be unreliable and they won't be as easy to direct considering we probably won't know them as well. Two- we could find a teacher to stay after school so we can shoot in their classroom. However, this might also be an issue considering the classroom would be empty and it would be difficult to get background actors. Three- we could recreate a classroom in another place outside of school. The problem with this is that it would be kind of difficult to make this seem realistic. I think our most viable option right now is to ask a teacher because we already have one in mind and if anything we can shoot the scene strategically so that only the two main actors are seen in the shot. Hopefully, the teacher we have in mind is willing to stay but we will see how it goes!

Writing the script

So today we started writing our script! We were able to finish the first scene. During this section, we introduced the main characters and set up the plot for the entire short film. We started in the classroom, and we began with a short explanation of what was first seen on screen. This is when we introduced Lucas. We referenced our character development notes when writing this bit because we wanted to make sure it really captured the essence of the character. We wrote the script envisioning it being used as a tool for the actors. That way when our actor gets the script he can better understand the character of Lucas. We also are still unsure of who the actor will be considering we might have to recast but that is a whole other issue.

Then we went onto establishing the idea that they were going to be working on a project. In class, we had a lesson on scriptwriting and one of thing that my teacher said really stood out to me. She mentioned how we shouldn't "spoon-feed" our audience or have an obvious or technical dialogue. Instead, we should let the actions of the actors and the dialogue speak for themselves. At first, we did have the regular "So today we are going to do a project!" and we continued with the rest of the dialogue. However, this was BORING so we decided to change it up and follow my teacher's advice.

We thought: What is not overly evident but clearly demonstrates that there is a group project? So we thought we could just drop the audience in the middle of the action and have the teacher read off the name of the partners. It turned out much better because in this way we killed two birds with one stone 1. We made the dialogue seem much more natural and realistic 2. We established the fact that the two main characters did not choose who they got to work with. It was perfect! So then, we wanted to establish this idea that Hazel is a pretty distracted person so we wrote the script in a way that demonstrated this side of her. Basically, Lucas turns around to start the project and Hazel is completely confused about what he is talking about and also in awe that he is even speaking to her.

To accentuate her mindless personality and add satire to the piece we thought of a funny misinterpretation for Lucas's dialogue. In this part, Lucas states "Hey, so when do you wanna do it?" which Hazel completely misinterprets as a sexual innuendo. We thought this was a really funny way to establish the awkwardness between them and set the tone for the short film. We continued this tone all throughout the end of the scene as we continued to have Hazel act confused and frazzled to express her nervous reactions to any interaction with Lucas. I'm really happy with what we have I just think we need to write quicker!!!