First Day of Fliming

ta daaaa... introducing our first Filming Day!

I'm so excited to talk about my group's first day of filming..spoiler alert... It was a blast! I had so much fun tipping my toe into the world of film!

Our first day of filming was Friday, Feburary11th and overall it was a very fun and successful day! The challenges, retakes, giggles, and everything in between resulted in smiles all around, and half of our film opening complete!

Today we were filming at Alexa's house and once Lucia, Desiree, and I arrived we were ready to go! Until... we realized we were missing a crucial prop! THE LIPGLOSS! The lipgloss was a necessary component of our film, but luckily I live relatively close so, I drove back home to get any lipgloss I could find (thanks mom for lending me yours!). When I got back, Lucia, Alexa, and Desiree were already in Alexa's bathroom getting everything ready to begin filming! Alexa provided the equipment for the actual filming process, including a tripod and camera which we were more than thankful to have because the quality was amazing, but turns out setting up and maneuvering a camera isn't the easiest thing to do. The three and a half hours we spent filming makes a lot of sense once you include not only the challenges with getting the perfect shot but also with handling the camera

Here is Lucia, Alexa and I trying to figure out how to set up the camera and find the best placement and angles

One specific angle/movement that was challenging to film was a whip pan. We were trying to encorporate a whip pan in order to add intensity and drama to the scene but ran into some roadblocks. Initially we tried to use to the tripod to film the whip pan to ensure stability and smoothness, but the tripod just wasnt at the ideal height or position. To solve this issue Alexa held the camera in her had and proceeded to record the pan this way with had its own issues such as her finger getting caught in the shot by mistake or an unwanted shadow being present. It took what felt like 100000 tries to get this whip pan, but eventually we were satisfied with the product.

Personally, the acting was my favorite aspect of the whole experience. Desiree was our actress for the day and seeing her embrace her inner movie star was a blast. Being behind the scene was hilarious as we not only struggled but laughed as a group! At one point Desiree's character had to cry, so it was really time for Desiree to win that Oscar. No matter how hard she tried she just could not get those water works to come! To solve this challenge she began to not blink while simaltaneously fanning her eyes with a piece of paper and boom TEARS! Once the tears were falling we began to film right away! But another issue or minor inconvience was that everytime we wanted to refilm the shot Desiree had to make herself cry again! She really took one for the team, putting her blood, sweat and TEARS into our film opening(quite literally).

The imfamous countertop shot. This one was a doosy. Lucia has a really good idea for the opening which was to get a shot of the title "The Art of Smiling" plastered across" the main character's eyes. Although it was an idea that we all loved, it proved to be very dificult to film! (The best things are sometimes hard to do). Alexa had to sit on her bathroom counter top inorder to get this shot and if she wasn't almost falling off, her arm was uncomfotable or she was positioned in a way that couldnt possibloy be safe. She was dedicated enough to try and get the perfect shot!

Above and below is featuring our beautiful camera woman!!! We could not have done this without her. 

Just look at those angles!!!!!

I am so greatful for my group! We all contribute and added huge and personal value to our project and i couldnt be happier! I can't wait for filming day 2!