*cue every California song you've ever heard*

Hello pals! I am currently in Anaheim, California for a television production convention! Today, we competed in our Crazy 8 Broadcast News Magazine, where our team had 8 hours to create a news show based on the prompt "Social Justice." NOBODY was expecting that prompt, but I think we came up with a pretty good show!

Yesterday while at the airport, I filmed Carolina a bit by my script. I haven't been able to look at the shots yet, but I figure they're pretty good!! This week I'm going to film a bit more of her just outside and at the exhibit booths at the conference, where there are about 20 different colleges here promoting their media schools! This will help me to tell my story more effectively.
Once the filming is done, next week is all about editing and wrapping up!!

Also, if you're looking for a good laugh, I went shopping with Karla last week and I took this picture.

Irony is hilarious.

Until next time,
Corina

READY TO FLY

ALRIIIIIIIIGHT. Operation "Make a Comedy and Have It Actually Be Okay" is a go!

I talked to Carolina about the script, and we revised it to make it something okay! We'll be filming some in FLL and some in LAX, but if we don't gather enough footage, we have a backup plan to still make it work. I could not be more excited for this trip, because I'm going to be so productive and accomplish so much!

I have to consider some mise-en-scene elements for this opening. I already have Carolina's costume ready - our friend Taylor has a UCLA sweater she's letting us borrow, and Carolina has PERFECT hair for tying up and looking really smart and sophisticated. I'm also thinking that color correcting will be essential to this piece - not any drastic, but making the scene bright and happy will contribute to the overall tone of the opening!

As for my life in general, it's 5:20 pm on Sunday and I fly to Anaheim early tomorrow morning. I haven't packed yet, and I have an essay due for my online English class by 11:59 tonight. This is pretty indicative of how my life is going. But, I could not be more happy with how all of my projects are going so far, so here's to a happy, successful week!

Until next time,

Corina

Scripting or Crying? I can't tell anymore

FINALLY. I AM SCRIPTING.

Most of my peers have decided to storyboard their films, but for me personally, scripting is more beneficial. I would much rather write out my script and know exactly what I mean than spend hours trying to draw in boxes when I am a terrible, terrible artist.

For the scripting process, I am using Adobe Story. I've had an account since my freshman year, but since I'm no filmmaker, I haven't used it too often. I'm glad I can finally put it to some use!

Now, for my first major conflict:

Writing a comedy is impossible.

I am showing you the beginning portion of my script. A rough draft is completed, but I doubt anybody will want to see this film after reading the rest of it.

The protagonists name is Caroline, as you can see. (Yes, the actress's name is Carolina, yes I know I'm not creative.) For this beginning portion, I think I did a really good job of portraying what I want visually; however, the writing is a little weak. I'm hoping and praying that once I get a few people to read it, they'll give me the tips I need to ensure my film isn't too cringeworthy.

I also think this is the perfect amount of airport footage I need in the morning. Since we won't be waiting for an insane amount of time, I can't film an outrageous amount at the airport. So, I'm hoping to break it up between FLL, LAX, and our hotel location, the Hilton Anaheim.

As frustrating as this is, I'm so glad I finally have a major conflict to overcome. I'm really excited to make this opening something worth watching!

Stay tuned, because this next week could either go really well or really poorly (as do most of the events in my life).

Until next time,

Corina

Back to the Drawing Board...only not really

Hello pals! First of all, I'm too excited NOT to talk about how my friend Karla Recio and I have placed statewide for a news package we did on the Cypress Bay Basketball team!

We were given the All-Florida rating, which is the highest rating a segment can get individually. In addition, the top three are considered "Best of the Best" nominees, and at the state convention in April, we'll find out if we had the top score in the state! This is 100% irrelevant to my film opening, but I was so proud of the package we made that I couldn't help but share. (Not to mention the other contenders were on a team of 4 and a whole staff, and Karla and I pulled it off with just two people and it was just as good, hopefully better!!!)

Today, I talked to Mrs. Stoklosa about my scheduling for the rest of this project, and she was concerned that I was putting a lot on myself in the last week before the project was due. I hadn't thought about it like that before, since I thought it was possible to film and edit in the same week, but then I realized a few things:

1. I'm going to Anaheim next week, and I'll basically be putting off my project for an entire 7 days, and

2. With my film opening idea, it wouldn't even make sense to film in Anaheim or at any time, really.

With this in mind, I've decided to rethink my film opening, but not my entire plot. It's very possible for me to have the same or similar plot while just changing the opening; in fact, I think I could film what I need at the airport. I can change the plot to make it "Girl doesn't get into college, so she goes to the college to make them change their mind" rather than "Girl doesn't get into college and has to figure her life out." With this in mind, I can still create everything I want to, just in a different setting!

So my plan:

- Carolina will be coming to Anaheim, so I can still use her as my actress.

- We have to be at FLL at 7 am sharp for a flight that leaves at 9 am. I believe this should be enough time to get what I need, especially knowing it won't all be at FLL.

- If the airport doesn't go as planned, I have a whole week in Anaheim to fix my problem!

Now, onto scripting!

Until next time,

Corina

10/10 Organization

I FEEL SO ORGANIZED.

Not only have I planned out the next 3 weeks, I’ve also found my lead actress and decided how exactly I’m going to do my film opening.

The schedule you see here is my plan for the rest of this project period. (You'll also see it was my mom's birthday two weeks ago, happy birthday Christie!) The next week will be SOLELY developing my film opening in detail, followed by two weeks of filming and editing (and of course, my creative critical reflection). What I have neglected to put in this chart is that I will be traveling to Anaheim, California from March 27th to April 1st. Hopefully, I can sneak in a few shots that would make sense and do some kind of filming while I’m there! Finally, that last week will be dedicated to finishing with my filming and editing my project together. Now that I have a solid plan, I feel so much better about completing this project and doing it well.

Speaking of things done well, my lead actress is none other than one of my closest friends, Carolina Rapp. Cali is a fellow TV production student and one who is much more film-based than I am, so not only will she be good on camera, but her outlook and film background will help me make my opening that much better! She is very bright and bubbly, but also very scatter-brained, so she already embodies much of what I want my main protagonist to be like! (I could have chosen a much more professional picture, but I had just shaped Cali's eyebrows for the first time and she was so happy I had to take pics of her!)

Finally, my film opening. I am going to be breaking the fourth wall in my opening. The main character will be talking the audience through her life up until her senior year - how she’s always had a plan, she’s always been focused and determined, and she would never let anything stand in the way of her goals. Because of this, she hasn’t made many friends or gone out much or done anything that wasn’t a part of her plan, but it’s not important to her. What’s important is she follows her plan...that is, until she gets denied early decision. The title will pop up as she gets denied, and (as you may or may not have noticed in my last blog post) I’ve decided that my film will be titled SCHOOLED.

These are the ideas that I’ll be taking with me to our first peer review meeting on Tuesday. I’m hoping that my ideas are good, but I’m also hoping that I can make it better with some help!

Until next time,

Corina

SCHOOLED

After a long, long thought process, I have developed a synopsis for my entire film. And I must say, I’m pretty happy with it!

So there’s this girl. She’s unnamed as of right now, but she’s definitely a girl! This girl has spent her ENTIRE time growing up a control freak, she’s planned everything out for her entire life, including getting into the school of her dreams, [unnamed school but most likely an Ivy League]. In her senior year of high school, she applies early decision to said school, only to be denied - so, she has to spend the remainder of her senior year going off of her plan and frantically trying to figure out what she’s going to do with her life.

I think that, while a bit cliche, this plot line is extremely relatable and I could make it really funny. I’m imagining the film opening to explain her situation and allude to conflict, where she will be explaining (either in voiceover or on camera, breaking the fourth wall) her situation and how she plans everything out, and then the last shot will be her receiving her rejection letter.

Since the beginning of this project, I imagined myself acting in it, since I am deathly afraid of something not coming out right; however, I’ve decided that I can’t play it safe with this project and I’ll need to venture out and find someone that I know could help me and this project to be the best that it can be.

Before the weekend ends, I will be posting my schedule for the remainder of this project period. Hopefully I’ll also have some actors lined up!

Until next time,

Corina

Plans Composing

I have decided that I am going to make a high school film. Yes, it’s cliche, yes, I know I’m not very creative in doing so. Just hear me out.

What do I know better than high school? What do I know better than the place where I spend 90% of my time? If I’m going to create a film, it should be about what I know.

Even though typical high school coming-of-age films don’t seem very creative, they actually perform pretty well commercially. The Perks of Being a Wallflower grossed a total of $33,384,127 worldwide, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off has grossed approximately  $70,136,369 since its release in 1986 (proving that a comedy film is the best route). Furthermore, Easy A (2010) has grossed $74,952,305, Napoleon Dynamite (2004) grossed  $46,118,097 (which is impressive, given their $400,000 budget), and Mean Girls (2004) has grossed a crazy $129,042,871 worldwide. So, even if I’m a bit uncreative in my setting, at least I’d be making money.

Regardless, I still want to make my film somewhat unique. I’ve taken the week to really think about what my film should be, and I think I’ve come up with a pretty good plot.

It’s my senior year, and while I’ve known where I wanted to go to college since September, everyone else is freaking out right now. Decision Day is in a month and a half and there are still several of my friends who haven’t chosen a school yet. I want to do a film about someone who’s really had their entire life planned out since they were very young, and then once senior year comes around, they don’t get into the school they want, so they have to spend their senior year reevaluating how they’re going to move forward with their life.

Still think I’m being cliche? Maybe I am. But this is something I know I can accomplish well! Why not go for it?

I’m going to take the weekend and start scripting and storyboarding. Hopefully I can develop more of a concrete storyline before our first peer meeting on Tuesday!

Until next time,

Corina

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012). (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2017, from http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=perksofbeingawallflower.htm

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986). (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2017, from http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=ferrisbuellersdayoff.htm

Easy A (2010). (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2017, from http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=easya.htm

Napoleon Dynamite (2004). (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2017, from http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=napoleondynamite.htm

Mean Girls (2004). (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2017, from http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=meangirls.htm