film opening

This is it, its over, this is insane.

FALLEN

https://youtu.be/RbUtiJhuuzA

creative critical reflection

 ITS DONE

CCR #1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upqVJaVtU1c&feature=youtu.be

CCR #2

https://youtu.be/JhkEreIDMew

final countdown

ITS TIME. Today’s the day, but before I officially release my film opening and post the CCR’s I just wanted to reflect on the past 9 weeks (sappy ik but I actually learned a lot and I wanna talk about it).

These 2 months of nonstop work have been intense and insane and quite frankly I’m surprised I was able to complete this project without procrastinating (ok I procrastinated a little bit, refer to last post, but that wasn’t my fault :/). My time management skills have improved SO MUCH, like before I started this project I did not think I would be able to work on this project step by step. I greatly prefer just sitting down and grinding on a project or assignment, but for this huge project, I knew I had to change things up. This project really required the entire 9 weeks to fully complete the project in a way that made my opening the best it could be.

I also learned a lot about the time and effort that goes into a film. It took me 9 weeks to do a 2 minute video, I can only imagine what it would take to make a full length feature film (I would die). Planning is such a huge part of the filmmaking process, and honestly the most important part, as I learned throughout this project. Actually filming is the easy stuff, because once you have it all planned out, it’s just a matter of putting your vision onto the screen.

Oh, and I also wanted to talk about something cool I did with the CCR, so sidebar real quick cause I wanna talk about it. For my second CCR, as I said before, I did a WIRED autocomplete interview style video, and in those videos there is a little animation that plays while the actor introduces themselves. 

[like this]

So, I thought it would be cool if I did a similar thing, so here’s what I was able to create. It literally took me like 20 minutes to make for like a 2 second thing, but it looks cool so it was worth it. 

[look at how many layers are in this timeline to get that effect]

Anyways, sorry about that little rant, but back to this project. Yeah, I thought it was really cool and I learned a lot about the process of filmmaking and how to organize myself, which will be useful in really any aspect of my life. 

Next post will be the film opening and the CCR’s. 

It was a pleasure, 

Rat, signing out

i hate editing (kinda)

I have decided that I hate editing. Yes, I used to like it before, and don’t get me wrong it’s still really fun to do, but not when you have to push out two CCR’s in a couple of days because I just love to procrastinate. I tried to get some editing done over break, but with the craziness of my trip (I threw up and then my mom got really sick and now I have an ear infection (fun!)) I just really didn’t have that much time. I was, however, able to get a lot of the first one done once I got back. 

[what the timeline looks like so far]

The most annoying part of editing everything together is not the actual editing part, but rather figuring out what I want to show instead of my face. It’s easy when I specifically reference a piece of text of film, but not so much when it’s just me talking about random things (they’re not random they do pertain to the topic, but whatever) and there isn’t really anything to show. But, to make my CCR a little more entertaining and not just a video of me talking (cause that’s boring), I have to include clips or really anything other than my face. 

So, I’ve decided that during the periods where there’s just a little bit too much of me just talking to the screen, I would add in some clips from my actual film, content that kinda relates to the topic that I’m talking about so it’s not as awkward and just boring. 

The title of this blog is a little misleading, I don’t hate editing, I actually quite like it and it’s really not that bad, it’s the figuring out what I actually want to edit where I struggle. But, creating these CCR’s are definitely going to help me with this weakness that I have, so I’m grateful for that (kinda). 

I still have to film the second CCR (ik ik, the project is due tomorrow, I’ll be fine…hopefully) and I HAVE TO GET IT DONE TOMORROW. Right when I get home from school, I’m filming that and getting it over with so I can edit that one together. I’m going to finish editing tomorrow during study hall, well hopefully I finish, and then film after school and finish editing everything. Not too bad (it’s pretty bad).

See you tomorrow, submission day :000.

[me too spider-man, me too]

finished filming + editing part 2

Filming weekend Part 2 :000.

This weekend was filled with filming, AGAIN. It’s like deja vu. On Saturday (the 23rd, sorry for the late update, there has been a lot going on), I, once again, acted in another one of my friend’s projects for A Level. She’s doing a short story as well and asked me to be in and I, of course, said yes. What can I say, everyone wants me, watch out Hollywood. But ya, I had a great time, her project is awesome.  

[me playing the character ;)]

Like I said in my last post, I did actually finish filming the re-do clips on Saturday, so even more filming that day. YAYYYYY!!!! FILMING IS OVER and the shots actually look good this time. WE DID IT. 

Quick comparison of the shots from before and the shots now:

LOOKING AT SHARPIE

[before]

[after]

LOOKING INTO BOX

[before]

[after]

FLIPPING PEN CAP OFF

[before]

[after]

That’s a few of the shots that I had to re-do cause of lighting, and they turned out SO MUCH BETTER. I’m glad I re-did them, even if it was annoying. 

Ok, now that filming is actually over, I can get back to editing. Flashback to a while ago, after editing the first 40 seconds of the opening, I went back in the next day [the 21st, so before finishing filming] and finished up the rest of the opening, without the new shots that I filmed on Saturday. I included the bad shots to again act as a place holder like I did for the beginning part like I said in my last editing post. But, it’s not at all close to being done. I was having SERIOUS trouble with figuring out what kind of music to put in for the second portion of the opening. For context, after Iris gets the text message from Helen, the music from before stops as she responds, but then I want to have music again cause it’s just so awkward without it. But finding the right fit for music SUCKS. So, I just skipped over that and just went on with editing everything together, not worrying about music (cause it doesn't really need to be matched up to the music like the beginning portion does). The sounds that I did include, however, were the environmental sounds, which I used the same platforms I did before (Youtube Audio Library and Pixabay!!).

Flash forward back to today, now that I have all the re-done shots, I can go back in and replace them. So that’s what I did. Oh, and I did in fact find a decent piece of music to have for this part of the opening, once again from the wonderful Purple Planet. 

Now that I have the entire opening edited together (that’s insane) I have to go back in and add in all the credits and whatnot. I, of course, had to credit Purple Planet, but other than that most of the credits were just going to be to me. However, for the actors, since most opening scenes to a film include all the major actors, I had to make up a couple of names for the rest of the main cast, who I would say to be the mom, Helen, and the guy who befriends Iris after everything, and of course Iris. So I just had to come up with three random names, pretty easy. 

Anyways, here’s the beginning of the opening with all the credits edited together (no spoilers, you don’t get to see the entire thing just yet):

title brainstorm and fonts

If you’ve been paying close attention to my blog posts, then you might already know that I’ve had an idea for the title of my film for a while now. But here is a necessary post about how I actually got to this name.

 

Keeping the theme of greek mythology, I figured my title should allude to this in some way. I want it to relate to the myth of Icarus, which would work well since the beginning of the opening is about Iris working on a project about this myth. I don’t want it to be obvious thought, I want those who know the myth be the ones who can point out where I got the title from so during a rewatch they can notice the similarities between Iris and Icarus. So, after some intense brainstorm I came up with the title: Fallen. I choose this because Icarus falls from the sky, just like how Iris falls from what she is expected to be. Her parents want her to be the perfect angel and her friends want her to be more normal, but her coming out acts as a catalyst for her fall. However, unlike Icarus, she survives the fall and finds a life that is better than before. She meets new friends, those who accept her for who she is and won’t criticize her for being herself. She falls, but she gets back up again, and I want that to be the most important part of the film, so by having Fallen be my title, I can show this. 

Now onto fonts. On my editing platform, there are options for different variations of title fonts, so as I was looking at them, I came across one that was called JITTER. This title style was an animation of the title one letter at a time, with a slight wobble effect. I choose this style because I feel like it embodies the mysterious nature of the film, and also aligns well with the coming of age genre (at least in my eyes). The font that I chose was one called Open Sans Condensed, which is very simple and again I feel like it just captures the title perfectly. This font is also the one that I’m going to use for the credits that are placed throughout the beginning of the opening.

[the title sequence, with a cool sound effect of a typewriter cause I thought it was cool]

[picture of the font that I used for the credits]

Oh yeah, and I decided the order that I would put the credits in, which is:

1. Major actors

2. music producer

3. writer

4. editor

5. cinematographer

6. director

7. producer

[basically how I feel right about now]

ccr #2

I know, I know, you guys want to hear all about what I’m up to with editing, and I promise I’ll get to that, but I’ve still gotta plan out the second CCR. I’m leaving for a trip today, so I’m gonna have to film once I get back, which will be cutting it extremely close to the deadline, but I’ve got no other choice. 

Anyways, for my second CCR, I’m going to do a video similar to the WIRED Autocomplete Interviews that a ton of celebrities do. Here’s an example:

Instead of WIRED, I’m going to call it BIRED, just cause I thought it would be funny and would be a good way to kinda hint at where I got my idea from. So, here’s my script for that:

My name is Ayami Ratnayake and this is my BIRED autocomplete interview. 

[offscreen]

Here are some questions about your upcoming film Fallen.

Ok! I excited!

First up: What is Fallen’s target audience?

Fallen’s target audience consists of teenagers, typically ages 15-18, since it is a coming-of-age film. More specifically, however, the film is targeted towards teenagers that are a part of the LGBT+ community, as that is a major plot point that many can relate to. 

How does Fallen engage with this audience?

Through the content of the film, Fallen engages with it’s audience as the struggles that Iris, the main character, goes through is very relatable for many queer teens out there. They can see themselves in this character, which is something that hasn’t been available to them before. Queer characters, especially as the main character, are extremely rare to come up on, so with Iris and Fallen I hope to change this for the better.

How is Fallen going to be distributed?

My film will be available to audiences on free to use online streaming platforms, such as YouTube and Vimeo. I’m an amateur film maker, so it is unreasonable to think that my film’s would be made available on paid streaming platforms, such as Netflix, or in theaters. I will be posting the film on YouTube and Vimeo to gain traction and to start off my film career. 

What did Ayami Ratnayake research and plan her film opening?

The first thing I did, before even thinking about plot or anything, was research all about genre. Through my research I was able to find the coming of age genre, and I got sucked in. The coming of age genre is characterized by the main character’s journey through their life, mostly focusing on middle or high school years. I knew that I wanted to do a story about a queer kid, so I started to research about queer stories in the media and how they are most commonly portrayed. 

After research came planning. I created a Notion calendar, which allowed me to stay on track with my schedule. Then, I got to work on writing up a script, drawing a storyboard, and developing a shot list. All these preliminary steps allowed me to visualize and plan out how I wanted my opening to look. 

How did Ayami Ratnayake approach production of Fallen?

After finalizing my script, storyboard, and shot list, the next thing that I had to do was actually film the opening. But, before I could do this, however, I created a list of all the necessities I would need for filming day. This includes all the props I would need to have, my phone, tripod, and lights. Planning it all out beforehand really allowed me to stay organized on actual filming day. 

How has Ayami Ratnayake’s process evolved throughout her project?

In the beginning I didn’t really know what I even wanted to make my film about, so researching was really helpful. But, one day I sat down for the entirety of the class period and just wrote down every idea that popped into my head. This really helped me to figure out the actual plot of my film. I might’ve gone a little overboard, but at least I had an idea now. Planning took up a majority of the time, but I feel like I definitely could have planned a bit more, so that way during production, everything could’ve gone a lot smoother. The very first production day was a relative success, except, me being the dummy that I am, forgot to change the lighting for some of my shots, so a couple of them looked really bad. So, I had to set up another filming day to re-shoot these shots, which was annoying, but I’m glad I did it. Definitely for next time, I’m going to make sure to remember to set up the lights for every shot and not make that mistake again. 

Thank you BIRED for having me. I just wanted to end this by saying that in the beginning of this project I didn’t really know what I was doing. In class we had done a bunch of projects to get us ready for this huge portfolio project, the biggest one being the Music Marketing Project where we had to create a brand new artist and create a marketing plan for them. This project really helped me with how to approach this project and not just take it head on. It helped me understand that for such a big project you need to approach it step by step. The Music Marketing Project and all the other projects we had done throughout the school year we’re a HUGE help for this project. I feel like I’ve gotten so much better at all things filmmaking, especially the planning and production stages. I now understand that planning and brainstorming and just as important as filming and editing. 

CCR #2 script is done!