Bittersweet End

And here's the last part: my CCR! Sad to wish this project goodbye, but I'll be back next year!

Here's My Movie!

I hope you enjoy our COVID-sponsored art piece. Robert and I had a blast (more like a lot of tension headaches but that's ok) and I'm excited to upload my CCR!

In retrospect, this project could've benefitted a LOT from extra time and extra planning. However, due to COVID-19, that was a huge constraint. You can't plan for a pandemic to completely wipe out all of the plans you had. This project could've been better, but regardless, it's the result of the best efforts considering our situation. I'm proud of it, but I know there's much to improve, particularly with the rushed audio.

Project Reflection

I'm relatively satisfied with my project, but I do admit that there is a lot that could've been done better. However, I will be gentle with myself because a lot of the things I'm unsatisfied with were due to COVID-19 and outside of my control.

I wish I weren't the main actress so I could've been behind the camera. While I'm satisfied with almost all the shots we got, I feel like there are some things that you just can't satisfactorily (is that even a correct use of this word?) explain to another person. I wish there was more movement but also it wasn't fully possible given what we were trying to convey and my lack of editing prowess to animate multiple scenes (one is far more than enough).

Looking back, my costume didn't really convey the sci-fi feel that I wanted it to. I wish I leaned harder into the retro aspect of it, but I did have literally just one day to put it together and I feel that, given the restraints that I had, I handled it pretty well.

I do regret the holograms, sadly. While it looks really cool, it caused a major headache with our opening scene because of the editing. I wish we took another route while simultaneously being really proud of what we did.

I really enjoyed keeping up with the blog, but as the world essentially crashed and I started working 20ish hours a week, it started feeling like a chore and that feeling extended to my project as well. I learned that I should have only one big commitment when doing a media project like this. I don't think I want to stretch myself this thin again.


I enjoyed working with Robert. I think we had a good partnership and I'm glad I chose someone who had a similar creative vision. I think we'll be proud of the finished work once this is all done.

More Color Grading

So I don't have any clips to share, however, I did want to share my color grading and hologram creating processes!

So I used these two tutorials to help me out:

So I essentially just make the whites whiter, the blacks blacker, the highlights more highlighty, and the shadows shadowier! It ends up with a more intense color that gets rid of the washed-out look one can have, especially when filming on a phone camera. Then, I white balance to make sure the scene isn't too warm. This is especially important since I'm going to add a blue tint and it won't look right unless there's a bit of an equal balance with everything.

Then, I add a filter! I'm using Adobe Premiere Pro, so I use the SL BLUE MOON filter. I find that the blue doesn't wash out the scene while also making it look, well, blue!

If there's no hologram in the scene... I'm done! If there is, I follow the hologram tutorial. 

It's not very complicated but it is time consuming.

Crying in My Bed Because I Made a Hologram and I Feel So Accomplished

Hi this was really difficult even though it's the simplest hologram but I'm literally so proud of myself so I'm sharing more progress!

Anyways so that's just what it looks like with one hologram. I added in Donna's hologram and it looks cluttered but in a good way because the restaurant is really plain otherwise.

Color Grading

So I've decided that color grading and putting everything together before tackling the hologram would be a lot easier for me because the hologram feels so intimidating.

I decided to have it be relatively high contrast and have blue be a very prominent color. This is going to be a short post, but do enjoy this short scene showing off our colors!

Media During Quarantine

Media has helped me feel less alone. While I do have the benefit of still working during the quarantine, which is really nice in the "I actually get to see other people in person" aspect, it's still really lonely to not see my classmates on a day to day basis.

I've avoided the news like the plague (ironic, I suppose) because I know that that will only make me feel worse. Instead, I've been watching a lot of kind of old movies (I rewatched Gnomeo and Juliette and The Muppets) and YouTube videos. Children's movies have been quite nice because they're lighthearted and while they may tackle serious issues, they stray away from being distressing. It also just generally makes me feel better since they're usually comedies and I definitely could use a laugh.

In addition, YouTube has been quite helpful because of the faux sense of connection. While I know it's not the most healthy way to take in media, especially considering the negative effects it has on creators when it comes to fan interactions (ex. fans feeling like creators are literally their friends). But I'm indulging myself. I'll take any human interaction that isn't an Amazon return that literally could have waited until May.


Besides media, technology, in general, has been useful. My phone usage has gone way up because I'm basically always video calling someone (well, just one person really, but my point still stands). It both helps me feel connected because who loves being with their family for literally 24/7. Sometimes you need a break. Ultimately, I'm probably ruining my eyes and I've run out of YouTube videos to watch (not literally) but having media and technology makes it a less lonely time.

I'm Stuck

So I stabilized all of my footage and cut it all to length. I sent the opening shot to Robert for him to sound engineer but there's been a disturbing amount of silence from his end.

But I'm stuck. I can't bring myself to edit in the hologram. It's a task that seems so daunting that it's stopping me from even starting.

To avoid confronting it, I'm going to skip to color grading the footage. I quite enjoy this step because I love pretty colors. Remember:

cinematography is when you have pretty colors and the more pretty colors you have the better the cinematography is

— massachusetts senator ed malarkey (@jacobisanadult) February 5, 2020

(It's a joke, obviously, don't judge me too harsh)

Anyways. Due to coronavirus

I've been watching a lot more YouTube videos and I've definitely expanded my scope. I was actually really pleasantly surprised by this because I found a video that might just get me through creating holograms.

It's by YouTuber Cody Ko but he did a lot of cool techy special effects and if he can do it, I literally can do it too. We'll just avoid the huge gaps in video editing experience.

Anyways, a short update, but I don't have much to say. Bye!

Filming With Danna (She Plays Donna!)

So I had Danna come over to play Donna. Yes, I did choose her because they have similar names. How much do I care? Not one bit because I feel she fits the role quite well. Considering there's going to be no background, makeup and hair will be a considerably important part of the mise en scene. So I spent way too much time on it. And because I love Danna so very much, none of these pictures of her will be flattering.

So we started with orange eyeshadow because it seemed bright and fun and funky! But it really didn't work out because when compared to the black eyeshadow I utilized on myself for the main part of the film, it was much more medium toned. I felt that if I didn't use a dark shadow like I did on myself, it wouldn't look consistent or like a trend that people in the future do.

So here's Danna doing her hair after we finished up the makeup! I used dark blue, black, and decided to put a silver stripe going through the middle. We applied glitter to her cheeks and she's using the same lipgloss that I used in the main part of the film because of its green shift (albeit not a noticeable one)

Here's a closer look at what I did. I apologize to Danna who was blind-sighted by my picture.

And so we filmed it! I let Danna keep her jewelry on and the shirt wouldn't be very visible in the shots, so it was fine. While I preferred a collared shirt, she did not have one, we're not the same size, and it's corona time! This is what our setup looked like. I did my best to have high key lighting so that the glitter wouldn't look bad so my window was open, my room rights were on, and I had lamps on both sides of her. Admittedly, I was hoping to borrow lights, but a similar effect was achieved.

It went really well! The actual filming didn't take too long because the composition was easy and Danna didn't have many lines. One step closer!

YouTube Videos I'm Watching Instead of Editing

Ok, so, I definitely started editing. But I hate this and I know if I force myself to keep looking at my own footage I'll only hate it even more.

So I'm taking a break after stabilizing all of the footage we shot.

This is what I decided to do with my time: go deep into the YouTube rabbit hole. Enjoy what I've been watching to cure my editor's block and to cleanse my palette of my own footage.

Practicing Self-Love

So, seeing as I'll be staring at my face for a lot of the editing process, I'm going to force myself to love that face! So today I'm not going to touch my footage. I'm gonna practice self-care and self-love. 

The first thing I decided to do was to do skincare! I do it every day regardless, but today I was going to do it with intention. I was going to actually take a good look at my face and appreciate the little things that I find beautiful in myself. Instead of picking at flaws, I wanted to look at the things I love about myself. Hopefully it will help me look at these features and not my perceived flaws while editing my movie.

Next, I spent time outside. I know it's taboo in these times considering coronavirus, but I just sat in my backyard and let myself take in some sun. I'm like 90% sure I'm vitamin D deficient, so this was a lovely time. I didn't think about much, just about how nice the warmth of the sun felt on my skin. Cue the desperately needed serotonin.

The last thing I plan on doing for myself is making a milkshake. It's simple, easy, and it tastes good. I often shy away from foods because I'm not the most comfortable in my body, especially considering how my weight fluctuates pretty easily. But I want to allow myself the opportunity to just enjoy food and not think about how I'll look when I'm done eating it. That's not the point of eating, after all.

A short post, but I hope you enjoyed this section on how I'm preparing to edit, even if it's not by honing my technical skills.

We Filmed! Ah!

I woke up at 7:30 AM because of this little monster. To be fair, he was very hungry and just wanted his food. I can't be mad because he's cute.

This is my kitty Pikachu

After anxiously lying in bed for an hour, I got up and decided to actually give myself time to do my makeup. In all honestly, I had a bit of a complete turnaround after seeing myself in different lighting. The silver was way too blue-based and it just didn't go with the outfit. I decided a new approach was needed.

I wanted the makeup to convey that my character was empowered, so I thought that a more "sultry" look would be fitting. So I packed on black eyeshadow!

My costume!

The final makeup look!

The outfit read a bit more mod than 1950s, but I didn't really mind so much as the implication that it's vintage is still very present. The exact decade that we decide to imitate isn't as important as the feeling that we're trying to imitate the past.

This is what we ended up using as our futuristic device! It's a scrabble game that forced me to inhale a lot of acetone fumes to get clean. But regardless, it ended up looking perfect once I was able to clean it up for its part!

When you're making a movie but you're kinda shy

Onto how the shoot went! It went alright. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. We found out pretty soon that we'll have to completely redo the sound ourselves because of the amount of background noise that would 1) make it feel inconsistent because we cannot film in realtime so the music would not match up 2) break the feeling that this is a futuristic dinner because Sirius XM kept on telling us we were on Elvis Presley Radio

So yeah. That's a circumstance I really didn't see coming.

I had to confront the fact that I was really really uncomfortable on camera. It's just not something I liked and I'm ashamed of the number of times I forced a reshoot because I thought I looked ugly. It was really frustrating being the one mainly on camera. I especially don't like it going forward because I know the editing process is going to be really rough. I'm very critical of my face. Editing this short film is going to involve looking at my face a lot.

A bit of a shoutout to my boyfriend, Gus Lanz, who came with us to help with camera work. I did most of the shots that didn't have me in them and Robert had a very very heavy influence on how the shots were actually composed. He was mostly there to press the record button but regardless, a massive help, especially with the scenes where both Robert and I are shown.

Right after shooting I went to work and then finally got home. I haven't looked at any of the footage again because honestly?

Pikachu shleeping

This is what I want to do right now. I'm looking forward to finally finishing this project. At least I'll have Pikachu to keep me company as I edit.

40 Unedited Minutes of Me Figuring Out What Makeup I'm Going To Be Doing

Ok so it's slightly edited... but that's because I hated the ending so I cut it out. Full disclosure that I thought I'd edit it when I originally filmed and then I realized that it was way beyond late and I still had work for the next two days so I decided against it. Enjoy!