Stuck Home Filming...

        Earlier this month, Trump had announced social distancing guidelines until the end March. With it being until the end of March and having my ideas in mind, I made a decision to wait it out a bit and see if I could do my project the day the ban was over. Today, Trump decided to extend these guidelines until April 30. This means that I need to use my backup idea I have been coming up with since I haven't been allowed to leave the house.

New Shot List

Stuck on a puzzle

        Due to social distancing guidelines that have been put into place, I need a backup plan in case my regular plan fails. Since one of the three main scenes I had planned was at home, I can use this previous information to expand on the idea of using my home as a sole destination.

First Scene: Consists of me eating cereal 

COVID-19...

        The novel coronavirus has basically destroyed 2/3 of my project plans due to schools closing, Florida preparing to mandate a stay at home protocol, and my parents not allowing me to see anyone other than them and my girlfriend due to social distancing. This is both a blessing and a curse. Since I can't go to settings such as my school, busses, or crowded areas, I will be forced to work with what I have and possibly make it an outdoor project for social distancing purposes. Though I cannot go many places, I can go and see my girlfriend, which helps so I can have another actor the main character can fall in love with. Heck, I could even make it post- apocalyptic coronavirus themed love story. Just kidding! All jokes aside, this project will prove to be a very challenging one since most of the plans I had made with filming has fallen apart. Some ideas I have thought up of have been to film it at my house and have her pretend to be the nextdoor neighbor and I can fall in love. This can still use my idea of a broken household and take place at/ around my house. All that will need to be changed are the last 2/3 of the scenes. These scenes include the bus scene and the school scene.

Distribution

        Since I am a filmmaker just starting out in the competitive and expensive world, I am looking to distribute this film through cheap streaming services and film festivals. I am looking for the cheapest options due to my budget, and also don't want to lunge myself at large streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu since these are extremely competitive and expensive. The most viable option for me would be YouTube. This option is completely free and could help me get ad revenues if it ever blows up. One way I could distribute it and advertise it to dozens of people are to have my film be at a film festival and this way, I could advertise it to various audiences without many expenses. Along with this, two other platforms I can use to distribute my film on are Vimeo and Dailymotion. These are also extremely easy to use and frequently visited sites.

Romance Technique Conventions

Mise En Scene:

        The location is often surrounded by nature, because it's seen as peaceful and stunning, which are characteristics associated with the romance genre. An example of locations like these are beaches, lakes, small towns in wooded areas, and other locations set in nature.
        On the other hand many romance films are set in college or high/ middle schools as the characters in the film are young adults or teenagers. This appeals largely to audiences within the teenage range as they feel like they can relate to the people in the film and can picture themselves in the actor's situation.
        Some romance films are shot in the city include young adults who meet at work and fall in love. An example of this would be '500 Days of Summer', along with the popular show, 'YOU'.
        Costume design can vary largely in this genre. The most common costume design are regular clothes. This can be as simple as jeans and a shirt. This helps the audience resonate with the characters shown in the film. This may vary due to where the setting is. For example, a country location may have overalls and wife beaters for costume design, while a city location may have characters dressed in suits and ties.

Camera Shots/Edits:

Close up shots are used to show how important things are in the film. These are typically close ups of character's faces or something that is of much importance to the main character which helps the viewers notice it and intrigue them more. This also can emphasize the emotional response of the audience by making the object more important.  

Long/Extreme Long shots are used to show the characters full costume so the audience can make their judgement on the character's personality from this. 

Establishing shots are used to show the setting in which the narrative will be taking place in. Having these shots also help the viewers understand the characters at a deeper level, due to common stereotypes about location. A good example of this is how when people see a college campus, they will expect young adults having fun and/ or learning. This helps establish context and is essential.
Shot/ counter shot edits are used to clearly show a connection or relationship between two characters, most commonly the romantic relationship between the protagonists.

        In terms of planning, I've brainstormed various different filming locations for the scene and have come to terms with three main places.

        For the home, I chose to film at my own house. This would allow me a more flexible filming schedule and allow me to take my time as well. For the bus ride to school, I will board a school bus to my neighborhood that has the perfect mood I want to invoke. This will also need to take place in the morning to invoke more feelings of stress and sadness (exactly what I'm looking to create). The only issue with this would be continuity issues with people getting on/ off during different shots. The solution to this would be to stay on the bus until most of the students have left and the bus won't change much. This would also alleviate any distractions that may occur. 

        The last location needed is a school. My top options were Everglades Elementary, Silver Trail, and Cypress Bay High School. After close consideration, I decided to go with Cypress Bay due to it's close proximity to my house, the fact that I currently go there, and I can also facilitate the filming process by getting it done during class. This made it an obvious choice and completed my filming location list. 

        In short, the three filming locations include: my home, my neighborhood bus, and Cypress Bay High School.

Film Outline

        Due to the recent change of the plot this week, I wanted to include an outline for the film opening. This isn't set in stone and can be subject to changes, but it's a good idea as to what to expect.

        As the film begins, there's a slow zoom out from a tight shot of a boy eating breakfast. Nothing is heard except for some muffled voices. As the camera zooms out, the voices become more distinguished and clearer. At full zoom, the audience is shown the parents of the boy arguing intensely. His mom storms away and slams the door shut. In response, the boy drops his spoon bothered and leaves for school. As he gets on the bus, he sits by himself and begins to listen to music and look out the window. The audience can see he's clearly hurting. The bus then arrives at school and makes a full stop. As the boy gets off, he looks at the school sadly. When the camera is on his face, he blinks and the camera then switches to him blinking in a classroom as school ends. As he begins to walk out of school, he bumps into a girl and stutters to apologize. She makes a small comment flirting with him and walks away. This leaves the viewers feeling as if this small interaction could lead to a big impact.