Production Blog - Concept to Cut

 Hi-yah! These past few days have been filled with filming. We have officially shifted focus onto filming the “fun” scenes. Some of the shots Janiah and I have filmed include a high school football game, a haunted house night, kayaking, a picnic, and a pool day. Here’s a rundown of each event in specific: 

Some behind the scene pictures when filming. 

• Football Game - In this segment of the video Janiah and I wanted to be sure to include something that this was a high school game and not a larger game. This is why we decided to film the school’s marching band — a very typical part of the American high school football game. To make the authentic perception created via our cinéma vérité approach like in With You by AP Dhillon we keep these shots as realistic as possible by not focusing on the proper leveling of the camera; mishaps like shaking the camera were considered well-suited given the idea of having handheld cameras capturing candid moments. To introduce more characters Janiah filmed a point-of-view shot introducing me as a new character or “friend”. 

• Haunted House - This part of the video further introduces more characters. I attended this event with a different group of friends so the main character Janiah wasn’t present. Considering this factor I made sure to film point-of-view shots and wide shots. The reason is, that a viewer wouldn’t be able to tell who filmed these shots and if Janiah was present, she could just be filming. All of the clips from this day were taken from eye level which is fitting for the documentary style used. 

• Kayaking - This part of the video was also filmed with just me. I did not intend to use any shots kayaking but when I went kayaking with my mother my creative vision emerged. This is why I ended up deciding to film a couple of pans and tilts since I was worried about having very few movement shots. These clips taken are very short and once again are either establishing or point-of-view shots given that Janiah wasn’t there to film. 

• Pool Day - In this part Janiah was present which is why I shifted focus from filming establishing wide shots and filmed pans and tilts where Janiah and another friend were present. The idea of having a lot of our friends present in these scenes shows how we are young teenagers just trying to enjoy life. Meeting up with friends and enjoying life are typically closely linked which is why the pretense of our friends is as important as the piece of the main character, Janiah.  

• Fall Picnic - Once again, this segment of the video was filmed with Janiah and a different friend present. At this moment the angles, movement, and camera setup had left my mind so I didn’t think about what shots I wanted to film. In the moment I was capturing the memory to reflect on later with little thought on camera composition. At first, I thought this would result in a non-thoughtful segment but it adds to the main purpose of the video since it is a group of teenagers authentically enjoying themselves. 

It has been an action-packed few days of filming as you can see! I am so happy with the progress we have made with filming. Quite honestly I think we have enough clips to make this video complete but editing will tell if my verdict is true. Nonetheless, the beach scenes are still vital in filming as well as the “coin” scenes which is why filming must proceed despite having enough content. Though it has been tough filming without Janiah, I am happy with the outcome of the clips taken. Hope you guys enjoy learning about my process and take away how important adaptation is (especially when filming).