I Still Have Hope... Filmmaking at Home

I was scrolling through twitter when one of the accounts that I follow posted an interesting article. It fits perfectly with the circumstances of this project.
It is a compilation of movies that were made in the home of the filmmaker
Homemade Cinema
(I recommend Coherence)
This made me feel a lot better about the place that I'm in right now and I found a motivation that I can make a great project even if my resources are limited.
Im going to study some of these films in my free time to observe the techniques and learn how can I take advantage of my space!

And so the Filming Begins

Finally
                             Finally
         Finally
            f         i          n          a          l       l             y

I just finished filming a small scene for the opening, it took way more time than I expected but I really want this to be perfect. I'm experimenting a lot with different shots and the lighting... Oh the lighting. I basically have to film everything twice because i'm working with both white and colored lights and unlike I find a way to connect two parallel realities (One where I work with color and one with white) I'm going to have to do everything twice.
Here is my little set up

I filmed this inside of my bathroom since it does not have any windows so it is way easier for me to control the light source with the lamps. I'm also using two lamps because it is easier for me to switch between the one that has color and the one that does not.
Also, ignore everything that is in the background. It is a little cluttered but that is not going to appear on screen, I'm only filming what is inside the sink.

For this scene I used red food coloring to create the appearance of blood... It was really fun to use it but also really messy.







Here is a little sneak peak :)

Playing with Lighting... A Multi-Colored World

I been trying to figure out this whole lighting thing.
Let's go back to one of my earliest post when I talked about neon lighting being incorporated in my opening. I decided that I was not going to buy the lights but instead I'm using the method with the colored papers.
Lucky for me I already own two lamp that are really useful because I can easily move the thing were the light bulb is... I don't know how to explain it but i'll attach a picture later on. I went on a short trip to my local supermarket to buy the cellophane paper, unfortunately there wasn't any available. I still had some hope so I continued to look for something that had a similar texture/transparency so that the light of the lamps could pass through it.

And that's how I found these plastic-like bags!

 




I didn't really knew how these bags would react with the light so I began playing with them. It was fairly easy to get result that I wanted, and I figured that the easiest way to work with them (since i'm doing this alone because of COVID-19) was to tape them to the lamp.

The first picture is how the light usually looks and the other three pictures show the light with the colored plastic in front of it. (And don't worry, the light bulb does not gets hot so the plastic won't melt)
I learned a few things while experimenting.
1- Some of the bags don't have are more transparent than other (blue and yellow) so the color is not as bright. To fix this I simply stacked a few of the sheets and that made the color brighter.
2- I can also put different colors on top of each other to make new colors. Blue on top of yellow make green.


Overall i'm really happy with the result and I definitely will be incorporating this element to the opening.

I Have ~almost~ Everything Ready

I already have the studio of the artist ready, I realized that since a few of the shots I'm included are close ups I don't really need to create a setting. Instead, I'm going to film in a dark location (My bathroom, because 1. It does not have any windows and 2. It's big enough to accommodate the props that I will use) so that I can create a more dramatic lighting.
I also owned most of the stuff that I was going to need to create the artwork, which is one of the things that I will be focusing and updating more next week.

I don't want to spoil anything yet.. See? I'm creating anticipation... So as I begin to film I will insert pictures of the sets. I also have to polish some details so that everything comes together.
I almost forgot to mention that while browsing on the internet I found a makeup kit to create the fake wounds on the victims, it has everything that I need and it's relatively inexpensive so I'm getting it and It should arrive by next week!

This is everything that it includes:

• Four Color Special Effects Wheel (1oz.)
• Nose & Scar Wax (1oz.)
• Stage Blood (0.5oz)
• Spirit Gum (0.25floz)
• Spirit Gum Remover (0.5floz)
• Liquid Latex (1floz.)
• Black Eye Pencil
• Flat Brush
• Sponge Applicator
• Stipple Sponge
• Color Directions   Yields 10-15 Applications Per Kit.

Oh and by the way I also found a mini-tripod (Seriously, is like less than 6 inches) for my phone. It was laying around in my house and apparently my brother bought it a few months ago, and I was informed that it was part of a toy to make slow motion movies... Or something like that.

Some Critical Changes

Good news!

We had an online conference with our teacher and she gave up an update on the due date for this project. Apparently the deadline was extended which means that I'm going to have more time to work on this!

I also took some time to think about some of the changes that I'm going to make.

- Since my friends can not longer appear in the opening I'm planing to appear as the main actor aka the artists. I'm going to use my family as the victims since I don't really have to show much of their face and they don't have any dialogue so I can work around that.

- The scene in the gallery previously showed a person talking with the main character. This is still a key moment in the opening as it triggers the flashback that explains the background of the character so I could not cut this part. Instead, I plan of simply not getting the other person in the frame, either by making it appear as if they are behind the camera or I may be able to show their hands but not their whole body. I'm hoping that it doesn't look awkward so I will have to play a little bit with that specific scene.

-I was debating whether or not to change the location for the Art Store scene since most businesses are closed, but I still want to include that in my opening since it is a key moment for the development of the character. I have two options for this: Either film it in my house with the materials that I already have or I can visit Walmart since they have an art section and they will remain open since they are considered an "essential business". I could also wait until march 31st to see if the stores hopefully open but I don't want to risk not having enough time so I want to have a back up plan.

I Wasn't Expecting This... Help

I'm back with an important and unforeseen update.
So... School was canceled this week and I think that I'm going to have to change my filming schedule. You may be asking yourself (or not) why?

Here enters COVID-19... You know, a global pandemic, the usual :)
Thankfully i'm not in the "critical" age group so even if I get the virus (which I really hope does not happen) it won't be fatal... The recovery process would be extensive but that's not what I'm here to talk about.

This is a big obstacle for the production of my film because I was relying on having some of my friends appear in it. They can no longer do this because all of us are in quarantine (We are fine by the way, it's only to stop the spread of the virus). I may also have to change one of the locations where I was going to film (The art store) because they are closing most of the stores as a precautionary measure.

While I come up with alternatives to overcome this obstacle don't forget to wash your hands and stay indoors.

I'll keep you updated, see you.

~Currently practicing social distancing~

My Career as a Special Effects Makeup Artist will Begin Here

I'm trying to do something different here.
I want to add some shocking factor to the my scene opening, which is why I decided to showcase some of the wounds of the victims. I already have some experience with these types of effects with liquid latex on the skin.
I reached the conclusion that the materials that I'm going to need are:
Toilet paper or paper towels
Either latex or glue (I'm not alergic to latex so I think I'm going to use that)
Makeup that matches the color of the skins of the "victims" and a lot of fake blood.

The process is fairly simple.
1-Apply the latex on the skin and put a piece of paper on top of it
2-Repeat step 1 at least one time
3-Let the latex dry
4-Make a cut in the tissue with a pair of scissor (Be careful) or with tweezers
5-Apply the makeup (Liquid foundation) around the hole that you just made.
4-Apply fake blood and red makeup directly to the "wound"

It should end up looking like this:



I'm going to try to recreate this and tell you how it goes, wish me luck.