Target Audience

    Our film's genre is romantic comedy. Specifically, a teen romantic comedy. Due to this, the film would be primarily targeted at teens, 13 to 20 years of age. Women tend to like romantic comedies because of their light-hearted nature. Additionally, many teenage girls are in a time in their lives were they are seeking romance. 

    Teen romantic comedies usually have relatable and semi-realistic plot lines. They usually contain realistic characters and character arcs although sometimes many movies can be repetitive of each other when considering the characters' issues and the main plot line. We would be targeting this film at primarily teenagers ages 13 to about 20 or 25. 

    Teenage movies usually have age ranges recommended when they are rated. For example, The Kissing Booth was rated TV-14 while Tall Girl was rated TV-PG and The F**k It List is rated TV-MA. What this means is that there are perhaps some scenes or lines that inappropriate for younger than 13 or 14 (PG-13 or TV-14), younger than 18 (R or TV-MA), or parental guidance is recommended (PG or TV-PG). When taking this into consideration, our film would most likely be in the pG-13/TV-14 rating category as a result of it being aimed towards teenagers and may perhaps use some words that those younger than 13 should not be exposed to.

https://www.slideshare.net/mrawal123/target-audience-for-romcoms

https://mesnedalmisned.com/2020/04/11/audiences-for-different-genres/

http://slides.co\\m/shannonlogan/target-audience 

    Well, that's all for today! Write to you more later :)

    Isa

Shooting Process

    Sophie and I have been friends for years so we were really comfortable with each other and had a great time filming. I had to get creative when I was filming as the only equipment I had was a tripod. Some of the shots were on the storyboard, such as April on her bed, while others were improvised. Sophie was an excellent worker and since she's known me for years, she was not afraid to input her suggestions and opinions while we were filming. 

    The next step in the shooting process would be the beach scenes. Our plan is to go sometime in the near future to the beach with our actors. Near future is most likely going to be this upcoming weekend or the next. I would take Sophie and since our actor for Ricky is Sabrina's brother, it only makes sense that she would take him. In the meantime, I will begin editing the scenes we already have done this week, when I get back from Spring Break.

    That's all for now, write to you later :)

        Isa

Props - Ricky's room

    Sabrina was able to film Ricky's scenes in the last few days and was able to acquire a ton of vinyls, posters, and other props that fit the 80s aesthetic we were aiming towards. She bought a red rotary dial phone so that she could film our actor on the phone. The set design of Ricky's room succeeded in looking like a room straight out of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. 

    She put of posters around the room. Such posters were of movies such as Rocky, Jurassic Park, and Star Wars. She also grabbed books that were published in the 1980s and used them as props around the room. In accordance with Ricky's mood board that we made, Sabrina included skateboards, a desk, and clutter around the room. This worked to support the idea that Ricky maintained a messy room. 

Well, that is all for today! Write to you guys later! 

    Isa :)

Set Process

    One of my best friends was the actress for our film making everything easier. I bike home with her after school. I asked her to film last Monday and she said yes. In case she said no, I had a back up actress in mind but luckily I didn't have to go through the travel of replanning everything. On Tuesday, March 15th, I biked home after school with Sophie (the actress) and told her to come over to my house in about 40 minutes. In those 40 minutes, I had to "unmodernize" my room if you will. By that I mean I had to take out everything that I had in my room that was too modern to fit in with the time period in which our film introduction is set, in other words, the 1980s. 

    While I took stuff out of my room to shoot in it, I also put stuff in my room such as my record player and my vinyls that were of bands and artists that my dad listened to when he was a young adult in the 1980s. Those records are 80s vinyls so they fit in with the aesthetic I was going for. I also had my keyboard in the room as April, the character played the acoustic guitar (which sadly I was not able to acquire to film with) and the keyboard. I took my large collection of scrunchies that I have from a couple years ago (when that trend came back for like a year) and we threw those around the room, basically everywhere. 

  The only piece of furniture that I didn't completely "unmodernize" was my bookshelf because practically every single book on that bookshelf (and it's a tall bookshelf) was published after the year 2000 and I didn't think it would be really realistic for there to be an almost empty bookshelf in the background. 

    Well, that is all for today! Write to you guys later! 

    Isa :)

Fonts

    While I'm away, Sabrina is in charge of filming Ricky's scenes. In the meantime, I will start researching fonts to use for our credits. Since we are starting our introduction with a black screen stating the production company's or main producer's name, (such as "Steven Spielberg Presents" as can be seen in the very beginning of Back to the Future) we need to figure out fonts to use for that, the actors' names, director's name, and the title. We are unsure of if we are going to be using different fonts for all of the different categories of credits in our intro or if we will stick one (which is most likely).

    I was thinking of perhaps using a font that is "beach" themed but also easy to read. This eliminated a lot of options. Additionally, I wanted to use a font that had 80s vibes, something that screamed retro. This would be a great addition to the aesthetic we were going for. When considering these 3 things, I found two or three fonts that I thought could work but I would still need Sabrina's approval before officially declaring them the font for our film introduction.

    The first font is one that I personally love as it gives me vintage vibes as well as it is simple to read and it is smooth and clean which to me fits the beach aesthetic dictated on the checklist. Let me know what you think!

The next one is SUPER retro, SUPER 80s. It's easy to read but it doesn't really give off the beachy vibes I would like. It's still super cool and I do really like it. It fits the idea of this film being an 80s film though. Opinions?

Lastly, this one is kind of like the keys of a typewriter or an old keyboard. I actually really like this one but am not sure if it fits our theme and aesthetic. I think it does because of the keys being kind of 80s looking but the beach vibes are no where to be found. Write your thoughts in the comments!

    Well, that is all for today! Write to you guys later! 

    Isa :)

Filming

    Three days ago, Tuesday afternoon, my actress and I worked on the April scenes at my house. We were able to get a lot completed. I let her know that I may need her for reshoots down the road. Luckily, she lives right down the street from me. 

    When we filmed, I told her to wear 80s style attire so she came with jeans, Converse high tops (inspiration from Back to the Future), and a Pink Floyd graphic t-shirt. She also did her make up with purple eyeshadow and used a purple scrunchie in her hair to create a very 80s half-down half-up look. 

    She had the idea to do a shot that I ended up loving that was super creative and fit the time frame we were going for perfectly. She suggested that I record a close up/medium shot of her hanging upside down on the side of the bed. I loved the idea and will definitely be using it in the film intro. 

Well, that is all for today! Write to you guys later! 

    Isa :)

April scenes

    I filmed the scenes of April in her bedroom yesterday (3/15)! It was actually so much fun. One of my best friends is my actress, she's playing April. I had to clean my room before she came, taking out everything that was too modern and shouldn't be in the piece at it was set in the 80s. I spent about 40 minutes "80fying" my room, finding scrunchies to throw around, clothes to have on the chair, and other 80s style decorations.

    I used my Queen shirt to be hung on my door so it looks like her outfit for the next day. I brought my record player from downstairs, in the living room, to upstairs and took a bunch of old pieces of vinyl that Pink Floyd shirt, jeans, purple eyeshadow, and wore a purple scrunchie in her hair. We used an old black landline for the phone!

Well, that is all for today! Write to you guys later! 

    Isa :)

Updated Script

    We have officially finished the second draft of our script. This could be considered our final draft unless we may have to cut lines if we are in a time crunch for the 2-minutes that we need for the film introduction. Sabrina cleaned up our script and made it really professional-looking. Click here to view!

    Something that we definitely need to work on is the shot list. Although we have the storyboard and the script done, we need to figure out how we're going to film this while we're both on vacation. I think that during Spring Break, Sabrina and I will be working on our own things. I will be trying to film the parts of April talking on the phone in her room this week before I leave and Sabrina is going to film the Ricky portions. Immediately once we both get back from our vacations, we need to film the last couple of scenes and begin editing. I think we have a solid plan outlined for right now. I'll keep you updated! 

Well, that is all for today! Write to you guys later! 

    Isa :)

March 11 Updates!

    We have finished our script! This is just a rough draft as I think we may have to cut some lines because as it is, it may be too long. Additionally, we wrote it more like a script for a play than for a movie because we weren't sure how to format it so it looked professional. We'll work on that. Just click on the photo below of the first page of our rough draft to view!

    Sabrina and I are both going to start filming this weekend and next week before I leave for spring break. I will be out of town so we are going to try to work as much as we can over spring break without being able to film together. 

    In other news, we sent The B-52s management team an email asking if we can use their song, Love Shack, in our project. Once they respond, that will be a separate post detailing what our plan will be based on their response. 

 

Well, that is all for today! Write to you guys later! 

    Isa :)

Storyboard!

    We finally finished our storyboard! It's so satisfying to see our vision come alive on paper. Though we already had our story written down and our shot list ready, our storyboard helps us see exactly what we need to film and how to edit it all together to get the best result. Our film introduction starts with a black screen that says "A ________ Production" (we have yet to determine what our producing company's name will be) and opens to a split-screen of April and Ricky on their phones. Since our film will be set in the 1980s, we want to make it as authentic to our chosen era as possible. In doing so, we will try our best to acquire wired phones that give off the 80s vibe. 

    The concept is that the screen will take turns showing April and Ricky's rooms, going from a split-screen to alternate which room and character are being pictured. I really enjoy our idea and hopefully, you do too! We tried our best to demonstrate our idea as clearly as possible in our storyboard. We have the idea of filming April on her bike, biking to the beach, and Ricky skateboarding to the beach where they are to interact for the first time. And here, as promised, is our storyboard! Just click on the link to access it!

Storyboard!

Well, that is all for today! Write to you guys later! 

    Isa :)

Sets, props, and costumes

    Before we begin filming, which is going to be very soon, I want to make sure I have all the sets, props, and costumes ready. I have one of my friends in mind to act as the eccentric, artsy, and introverted April but I have yet to find an appropriate guy to act as Ricky. Besides that, I think we are pretty much on track with our sets and our props. For costumes, I was thinking of giving our actress some funky-looking earrings and other 80s jewelry such as scrunchies and chunky bracelets. Ricky, our male lead, could have band t-shirts all over his room and band posters everywhere. 

Here are some examples of the potential costume pieces as well as jewelry.

    We're planning to use my room as the set for April's room. My room is painted turquoise and white which, as previously seen, are the main colors associated with April's character. We're going to put a guitar, an easel, a keyboard, and anything that could be associated with her artsy aesthetic. Our storyboard will be done really soon and will probably be my next post! 

Well, that is all for today! Write to you guys later! 

    Isa :)

The Love Shack?

    Since the idea is that our two main characters will be seen interacting at a snack shack at the beach during our film introduction, I had the idea of calling our film The Love Shack. I think this is a very 80s themed name and since there is a song by the B-52s by the same name, I was wondering whether or not I should e-mail their management team to see if we could use it in our film introduction. 

    Though this is a very cheesy title, I think it fits with the aesthetic as we have planned to film at a snack shack and maybe even hide the words love and shack around the 2-minute intro's setting. I really love this idea and I think I may e-mail the management to see if we could utilize a bit of their song. Let me know what you think!!

Well, that is all for today! Write to you guys later! 

    Isa :)

Planning

    We have developed an outline for our film intro and the storyboard is in progress. The overall idea is for a romantic comedy film introduction set in the 1980s. We have decided to take inspiration from various 80s, 90s, and 2000s romcoms for our shooting and editing techniques. I got inspiration from the movie Mean Girls for a split-screen. 

   

    The idea is that the two main characters share the screen in the beginning and then the screen takes turns showing each of their perspectives and lives.  

• Black screen (A something something production)

Examples: 

• Split-screen of Ricky and April talking to their friends on the phone “no I don't want you to set me up w someone”
• The guy's screen takes over to show stuff in his room
• Split-screen
• Girl Screen takes over “okay bye” at the same time
• Tracking shot showing boy walking out of the room and taking skateboard w him

Examples: 

             

• POV shot of girl getting ready to get on her bike
• Tracking shot of girl biking
• Shot of boy skating and he is getting closer to the camera as shot continues
• Girl with a friend reading on sand or getting in the water
• Boy dabbing up friends
• Split-screen “I am going to go get some drinks.” ; “I am getting some snacks, do you?”
• Walk past each other
• Name of production
• "Oh wait wrong way" and he runs back in her direction
• Bump into each other? At the snack shack? (We might call the film The Love Shack)

Examples: 

                

Well, that is all for today! Write to you guys later! 

    Isa :)