Costume Creation

 I'm back with another mise-en-scene post!

A few days ago, I wrote a blog describing my set design plans and what aspects I incorporated into my first day of filming. As I continue my filming process, I have dedicated increased focus to my character's wardrobe as well. In the beginning of my film opening the character is rarely seen, which is why I had mainly focused on her setting. After a certain point, however, the focus is entirely on her. As a result, I am transitioning from set design building to costume design. 

As depicted in my mood board, which I posted on a blog last week, I hope for the main colors surrounding my character to be light blue, symbolizing her sadness, and black/gray, representing the blandness of her life and daily routine. Consequently, I wish for her wardrobe to be composed of these colors, for the most part. In my opening, the audience follows the character's schedule for three days. Obviously, she must wear different outfits in those shots in order to hint at the change in days. Therefore, I have crafted three main costumes for my opening scene. 

Here are those costumes:

Due to this process, I have developed a new admiration for mise-en-scene in the film world. It is amazing how much of a story these small aspects can tell. I am extremely content with how everything is coming along. 

Defining my Shooting Process

As I posted on my blog, two days ago was my first day of filming for my two minute opening scene project. Due to the time consuming mise-en-scene aspects I needed to consider, I was only able to shoot a couple parts of my story, provoking me to wonder how I would be able to complete my shooting process this week, as I had planned. Consequently, I concluded that I needed a filming schedule. Although I was a little late to the realization due to the fact that I had already commenced, I decided that the rest of my filming procedure would flow much better, allowing me to perfect my story in a coherent, necessary manner. 

The following list elicits this schedule, following the sequence of my storyboard (posted on a previous blog):

2/27/2023: Film waking up/ going to sleep scenes.

3/1/2023: Film bathroom and homework scenes. 

3/2/2023: Film therapy office scene. 

3/3/2023: Film school/classroom scenes. 

As I have explained in previous blog posts, my opening follows a repetitive pattern. As a result, I have allotted days fully to, for example, shooting a wake up/go to sleep scene, as there are roughly 4 of each I must capture. These shots are time consuming as mise-en-scene elements, such as costume design, must change each time, resulting in my day-by-day scheduling decision. 

I am excited to dive back into my filming process later today; however, in a much organized, paced manner. 

First Day of Filming; Set Design

Today I began filming my two minute film opening. Last week, I posted my storyboard and my elaboration to it. It has proven very helpful! It truly facilitated my filming process for today and laid a very necessary backbone for the sequence of my scene. One aspect I had brushed over on my storyboard post was the mise-en-scene I had planned for my opening. I mentioned the set design techniques I planned on incorporating to further represent my character and her story. Today, before I began shooting, I was tasked with actually carrying out my vision and building the set planned. 

Here are some pictures of the mise-en-scene I plan on eliciting in my film opening:

As I stated on both my storyboard and mood board posts, I hope to encapsulate the chaos within my character's mind mainly through mise-en-scene. As a result, I decided that her room, the main setting of the piece, would be characterized by disorganization, representing the anarchy of her mental state. Consequently, today, I had to create a mess in my own room in order to film. As can be seen in the pictures, I included shots of clothes thrown on the floor as well as one of a tumultuous desk. The last picture, however, is one of a dead rose, a prop I had not planned in my storyboard. As I was setting up the desk shot, I realized that I happened to have a dying flower in my room. "Perfect!," I thought. I concluded that the rose would lay on the desk amongst the mess, symbolizing my character's lifeless spirit within the disorderly fashion of her life. 

I am very excited about this aspect of my project; I feel the essence of my character has been captured effectively. Now, time to clean my room!

Filming Schedule

As I have officially completed my storyboard and planning process, I aim to begin filming my opening scene soon. However, before I do so, I hope to ensure that I have a set, functioning schedule for the remaining time I have on this project's journey. Here is what I came up with:

I decided I would organize myself through actual dates as opposed to, for example, writing "week 1, week 2," because I know I would lose track of time and fail to abide by my plan. As can be seen, next week I will dedicate my time completely to filming my opening. I hope to do so successfully; however, just in case, I have allotted a week to re-shoot and make edits in my filming if necessary. As for spring break, I will be out of the country. Consequently, I decided that I would dedicate that week to focus primarily on my blogs, ensuring that I complete them on time. However, of course, throughout all of these time periods, I will remain consistent on here and plan on documenting my process in a detailed, insightful manner. 

I cannot wait to continue this journey and to watch as everything unfolds!

Storyboarding

After gaining more in-depth knowledge on not only my character but sequence of the opening as well, a journey I documented in previous blogs, I decided it was time to begin my storyboard. The pictures linked below presents all four pages of the storyboard I have completed. 

In my storyboard, while focusing on how visual elements will construct my plot and translate my message effectively, I also attempted to demonstrate the editing, sound, and mise-en-scene aspects that I will incorporate. For example, I illustrated transitions that I will add from one shot to another, establishing my character's routine in a coherent manner and also allowing for my time to be less consumed, permitting that I get through everything I hope to. Moreover, I demonstrated shots depicting the character's chaotic room, embracing the mise-en-scene in my opening. Throughout the storyboard, I also attempted to speed up the routine illustrated. As can be seen, the first cycle includes more specific shots, including the character walking through the door. As the loop continues, however, the shots become less detailed, capturing more general moments. For instance, a single shot of the character simply sitting in the classroom as opposed to the previous close up of the notebook along with it. 

I feel this storyboard has really helped me visualize my concept and film in a more productive manner. I now feel more secure that I am prepared to commence my filming journey, making my project come to life at last.

Outlining the Sequence

In previous blog posts, I have discussed the story I wish to represent in my two minute film opening. Recapping, this consisted of a teenage girl who becomes so emerged in her brain-numbing everyday schedule that she feels as though her days repeat, leaving her life with no meaning. With this in mind, along with my further character building done in previous blogs, I have began planning how the story/intro would unfold. I plan on completing a storyboard, going in depth on technical aspects I will use to illustrate the plot. However, before I do so, I decided it would be best to create an outline of what sequence the intro will follow, focusing primarily on the content aspect of my project. Here is what I have come up with:

1. Girl wakes up.

2. Brushes teeth/completes morning routine.

3. Goes to school.

4. Sits in class, staring into space. 

5. Comes home, does homework. 

6. Changes and goes to sleep. 

7. Repeat.

8. Short clip in therapist's office. 

In the beginning of my opening, this will be the routine followed. As I had planned, it would then repeat, eliciting the idea that the character's life feels repetitive and meaningless. As can be seen on the outline, I did include one extra scene beyond the schedule. I felt this was important as an indicator of where the movie will go beyond the intro. It also would assist in the conclusion of how this repetitiveness impacts the character; she would be in a therapist's office due to her lack of a beneficial mental state. 

In addition to understanding my content further, this outline helped me determine my filming locations. This will consist primarily of my room, my school, and a therapist's office. Luckily, my aunt is a therapist, therefore I will be able to film at her job when she is available. The visualization of my piece has been facilitated by this outline and I feel ready to begin my storyboard. 

Understanding the Character

As I began to dive deeper into my production process, I felt it was important that I take a step back and truly focus on the character I wish to represent. Although I had an overall idea, I do not think I was familiar enough with her to build her life and story, therefore compromising my ability to successfully develop my opening scene. As a result, I concluded that constructing a mood board would facilitate my perception of this character. In addition, I felt the mood board was important for me to visualize mise-en-scene aspects on a deeper, more technical level. 

Here is the mood board I created:

My first major decision was the color palette. For this, I decided that blue would be a major part of the mise-en-scene for this piece as it characterizes sadness, an aspect I hope elicit in my character. I also decided that neutral colors, such as black and gray, would be fitting given the situation the character finds herself in. This character seems stuck in a bland meaningless life, a theme I feel what many consider "boring" colors would portray effectively. Next, I felt depicting the major settings would assist in further building the mood and theme of the scene. In the mood board, I included a few pictures eliciting a messy room. More specifically, a messy teenage girl room. I feel that the chaos within her room could represent her mental state, one distinguished by melancholy and confusion. In addition, I included pictures of both a therapist office and a classroom, simply to demonstrate the two other major locations this character attends. Lastly, I included pictures of teenage girls with a similar demographic to the character. One of the pictures elicits a girl laying on top of her school books, exhausted. I felt images such as this capture the same essence that I plan for my character to evoke, prompting me to include them within this storyboard. 

Now that I have more of a background on the teenager I am developing, I feel more prepared and confident to begin more in depth storyline planning.