BTS

Finally.... Filming day!!!

Before I begin I want to thank Maria V. Rodriguez for starring in my film opening and Sammy Klopman for taking time out of her day to help me film today.

Getting Maria's hair ready for the wig cap

Make up time!

Around 1:30 PM, Maria arrived. She already owned a shirt similar to the one in my previous post, but unfortunately we were't able to find a black skirt so we opted for black jeans instead. I immediately gathered her hair up and put the wig on ( it looked AMAZING; super realistic for an inexpensive wig.) Then I proceeded to begin her make up: a bare face, brown shadow and red lipstick around the eyes to emulate the exhaustion. I also coated her lashes with mascara to intensify the look. After hair, make up and costume was set, we had a small photoshoot session to capture the full essence of Pandora. 

For props, I found ordinary, big blue scissors that Maria could use to cut the wig. Then, for the antipsychotic medication, I printed the label I attached to this post and taped it around my dog's old medication container. Furthermore, since using real pills wouldn't have been the best of ideas, I purchased a box of white TicTacs and filled the container to mimic pills.

I think the hardest part about filming in front of a mirror, is trying not to catch your reflection in the shot. Sammy and I contorted our bodies in many different ways in order to catch the perfect shots. Lighting was not an issue as there was only one constant source of light above the mirror. Since Thrillers usually have dark tones, I plan on lowering the brightness and saturation of the clips to better fit that convention. 
One of the funniest things today was the struggle to film the aerial shots. Maria is tall, and I on the other hand, am not. I had climb on top of one of my kitchen stools in order to capture appropriate shots. (No stools were harmed in the making of this video.)


My favorite part to film and witness, was the cutting of the wig. I had anticipated this moment since day one and it felt amazing seeing it happen live. The wig I bought worked perfectly because it looked extremely messy as Maria snipped it, giving the character a more crazy and desperate look. 
While filming the last scenes, the funniest thing happened. The ending scene comprises of Pandora failed on the floor, surrounded by all the loose hair. The wig is made in such a way that it can only be placed on top of the head, and any sudden movements would make it turn and potentially fall off. As Maria was positioning herself on the floor, the wig slipped off her head, and the face she made was absolutely priceless. 



All in all, the filming process ran smoothly. It was fun going along with the storyboard, and seeing how I could change things around to create better content. Directing is hard work, especially when you don't know what you have until you download all the footage and see if it was a successful shooting day, or if you need to go back out there for round two. I personally think it was a successful day and I am excited to see how the editing phase will go!