Filming Day 2

Yesterday, I finally filmed the spell-casting scene with the Witch. It was really stressful because of all the homework I had to do, and we filmed for two hours. The process was very meticulous and I took many of the same shots to be safe, but I also forgot a few things.

Here's the breakdown:
We filmed the excerpt of the Witch browsing the web and looking at the article with about the rapist getting off as not guilty. Click here to see the fake website. She prints out the website and looks at it menacingly. 

We then went down to the garage. I moved there for the rest of the scene because we will be dealing with fire and I didn't want to set off the fire alarm. The Witch got her little black box of witchy wares (filmed these at pretty cool angles), then she sat down and spread out here pentagram cloth and turned it upside down (symbol for Satan). She then places the candles, a bowl, hourglass, other stuff and places the picture of the rapist and says a phrase in Latin (my actress knows Latin, by the way). She burns the bowl, the end.

I'm really sad that I forgot about this one vial prop with fake blood inside. I really wanted to film her pouring it into the bowl. Maybe I'll film it later. The bowl on fire came out very nice, it took a while to burn though, but I'm very glad how it turned out.

Now I just need to film the hallucination scene and the bullying inserts.

Postcard Advertising!

I already know for a fact that I want the post-card to be vertical. I've been playing around a lot with this image that I took (and LOVE) and experimented with a variety of titles and fonts and so forth. I'm still very unsure of what I exactly want on the front/back and which side should go where. Should one side be the teaser/message and the other side an official poster? Or perhaps one side is the teaser/message/poster and on the other side just some details about the movie, like cast and crew, where it will be available, when, etc. AHHHH! 

Anyways, here are some concepts I have going for me thus far:

This was the second attempt at a poster (the first had the white text and didn't include the thingies on the bottom). This wasn't even the final version of this poster, as I originally changed the slashes in the date to periods and made it a bit bigger. The reason why the tagline is "You Were Never Here" is for a few reasons. First of all, its a direct line from the Detective character when the Witch asks what is he going to do to her after she admitted her witchcraft curse upon Keith. In fact, its the last spoken word in the film. Another reason is more implicit. This film tackles the bystander effect, and how few people take action when they witness injustice. Even though they were PHYSICALLY there to witness said injustice, they were not actually there, since they did not intervene or do anything to help. As for the red lettering, this is for pure mise-en-scene color psychology, as the red is provocative and gives off horror vibes. All in all, I feel like the poster is quite ambiguous and gauges audience attention, especially with the date on the bottom.

This is a simpler version from the one above. It is much more of a teaser rather than any information-giver on the film. This would probably be the front of the postcard ad, while the back would have more information. This design has literally no text, not even the tagline I chose for this short film. I feel like this could be an effective tool for advertising, as its very provocative and gauges audience curiosity, but I am not 100% sure if many would agree with this strategy and think of it as a cop-out or some form of laziness. Again these are just first drafts, and I still have to come up with a backside (or front if I choose either of these to be the back?). Tomorrow I will be filming and taking pictures with my lead, the Witch. Hopefully, she provides me with some awesome visuals for the postcard. If anything, the unused pictures will go directly to the short film's website!

The Altar Is Complete

What you're seeing here is the official Altar that I'll be using for the short film, Black Candle. As you can see, its quite the setup. A cloth mat with the pentacle and three moons, a book of shadows, five small and one big black candle, small corked bottles with random herbs and spices, a flattened flower, a bowl with leaves and wood, and an hourglass. This collection of items is far from random, as these elements are quite critical to the narrative. Using these items, the witch in my film will be performing the ritual in which the antagonist, Keith, will be haunted by gruesome hallucinations. Not only is the specific placement of each of these items important, but the character will be interacting with each of these elements in a very meticulous manner, not dissimilar to an actual spell.

I took the liberty of taking various pictures of the altar, as well at the infamous black candle. These pictures are going to be essential for the website and postcard advertisement for the short film. I'm glad that figuring out the set up of the altar also allowed me to begin work on my minor tasks of the portfolio project. I already started playing around with potential postcard designs, which I will show in another blog post.

I'm getting a bit nervous in regards to my filming schedule. I need to film the spell-casting and hallucination scenes, I think in this order. I've already started editing but the footage that I've taken thus far is very minimal compared to the rest of the film. The intro/outro make up maybe a total minute, maybe even less. I'm going to need to create the fake news website the character uses soon, as well as get the picture of my actors for the poster/postcard advertisement. I'm getting excited and anxious, but we shall see.

First Day Cancelled, Second Day a Success?

So yesterday we were originally going to film the main scenes which include the Keith and Jane character, in other words, the hallucination scene. However, my actress for Jane cancelled because she couldn't get a ride, something about her mother being a P.I. she was searching for someone, some crazy thing. She still wants to be a part of it, but it will have to be next weekend.

As for today, we successfully filmed the first and last scene with the Detective and the Witch. We filmed in this large room in the Weston Branch library called the Multi-Purpose Room. The interesting part of filming here was that we had to make the scene look small, so we set up three different tables at different parts of the room to be filmed. Each station was either both characters, just the Detective, or just the Witch. Filming like this gave off the illusion that the room was small. When I looked back at the footage, however, the lighting for the shots focused just on the Witch came out brighter and bluer than the other two locations. This could be due to the fact that the area we used for her focus shots were right in front of this door that led outside, a door with windows that let in sunlight. Hopefully, I can fix it in post-production, but if not, we may have to film again :(.

My actors' performances were pretty solid. At first, they were joking about my directing skills and were unsure of what to do exactly, but after some direction, they got the gist of it. Of course we messed around often and got plenty of material for bloopers, but overall I enjoyed working with them and I was confident in their abilities. 

All we need to film now is the ritual scene, the hallucination scenes, and the bullying scenes.

Yayy.

Some Final Thoughts before Filming...

I have finally figured out casting, location, and have most of the props! I was struggling with the casting of the Witch, as I was stuck between this girl who lived far and my close friend whom is much closer. So, I decided they should send an audio recording of one of the main lines, and my friend was much better at the delivery, so I decided to cast her. As for the other girl, I found her facial expressions to be stronger in the role of Jane, which works better since I only need to film her scenes on one day.

I will be filming the hallucination/haunting scene with Keith and Jane this Friday the 24th. I'm not sure how long this will take, but I feel like this is going to be the hardest scenes to film due to the technical horror elements that I will be implementing that can only be enhanced with post-production editing, so it has to come out perfect. I'm excited for these scenes, the only thing I will need is fake blood, which I'm sure there is a recipe somewhere for that. 

On Saturday the 25th, I will be filming the intro and final scenes, which I've been nicknaming the interrogation scene. This includes the Detective and the Witch, whom both are perfectly available for filming. I've scheduled secured a spot to film at the Weston Branch Library in a room called the Multi-Purpose Room. When I walked into this enormous room, the lighting and setup was perfect for what I wanted to film. Perhaps the hardest part is setting up the table and chairs to make sure that the scene from all angles will come out well, as well as the lighting of the room itself. But I am feeling hopeful.

As for the other scenes, the actual witchcraft ritual and the inserts of the Witch witnessing bullying and domestic abuse, I've not set a date to film these yet. I don't want to overload myself and want to focus on these bulk scenes that I will be filming this weekend. 

Right now, I need to figure out the costuming for these characters and make sure my actors will come in the appropriate attire. For the hallucination scene, Keith should be in some sort of pajamas, since it takes place at night (it doesn't have to, but the guy is sleeping...so...). I want Jane to wear a black dress of sorts, something that looks pretty menacing and haunting, but it has to look good when wet, since an excerpt will feature Jane in the tub and walking out of it. As for the interrogation scene, the Detective should wear a white button down tucked in to black pants, with a black tie, and a badge of sorts hanging from his belt. I'm still wondering what the Witch should wear, whether she should be in pajamas to give context that its very late at night when the Detective brought her in for questioning, or some evening wear, or some regular day wear. I feel like we should stick to the motif of nighttime, especially late in the evening, to convey a sense of eeriness and the somber tone that the night brings. It also goes fairly well with the whole witchcraft scene.

I still need to create a fake news website with the article, a website for this film, and the poster/promotion card thing. Thankfully, we have an extra week to fall in just in case editing and the rest takes too long.

PROPS! and Casting

So I am almost done with the pre-production phase of my project. I am in the process of casting my actors right now. My biggest fear is my actors' availability. The girl who I want to play the Witch character lives quite far, and I feel that filming with her will take two different days. As for the boy who plays the Detective, he lives not as far, but he sucks in regards with rides. In addition, I need to scout for a place to do the actual the interrogation scenes. As for Jane and Keith, I think I can film their scene first and it would only take one day. Since these scenes are the bulk of the short, it would help a lot to finish these scenes first.

As for props, I've only been able to acquire a few things. I have an altar of my own in a way with a few odds and ends, but I still need more things:

- Jewelry for the Witch

- Knife thing

- Charcoal

- Reliable lighter

- Bottles?

- Ashes

- Dish

- paint and paint brush?

I should also start creating the article that the Witch prints and cuts out. I will need a picture of two of the characters however, but I can at least get started with it.

The thing I'm most concerned with is the conclusion of my film. I just want it all to make sense, and I'm worried about how I'm going to establish the Witch's "don't-want-to-be-a-bystander" motivation through visuals and (perhaps) Jane being the Detective's daughter through dialogue. But since it seems I will be working on these scenes last, then I have some time to work out the story kinks.

Script Rewrite: Some New Elements to Story

After discussing my film with my teacher, whom objectively pointed out some plot holes and problems with the resolution and some lack of clarity here or there, I decided to change the narrative a bit.

New Character + Scene(s)

I added another two scenes, which the location for both are the same, and the film will open and close in these two scenes. Its like an interrogation room of sorts, with a simple table and two chairs. The film opens up with the witch character sitting at one side of the table. Then a new character comes in, a detective. He brought the Witch in for some questioning, and through context clues within the dialogue, it is clear that perhaps something more happened to the the target of the Witch's curse. Context clues may also refer to the detective knowing the Witch previously. The detective asks her to say everything that happened, then we go into the whole rest of the film where the Witch curses the dude, the dude experiences these hallucinations (its not a dream anymore). We then arrive back to the scene where the detective is stunned, but not too surprised. He asks her why she did it, to which she responds "I was tired of being a bystander." The witch then asks what will happen to her, to which the detective says that she "was never here," to imply that she will suffer no consequences and that she is free to go, which hints at him actually accepting her actions.

The Victim Isn't Related to the Witch in Any Way

I was playing around with the concept that the rapist's victim (named Jane) was actually the witch's lover, which gives her the motivation to do something. However, I decided (for now) that Jane and the Witch are not related or have a relationship of any sorts. The witch did this purely because she did not want to stand by and do nothing when this injustice has occurred. I feel like this resolution/motivation is in a way more pure and less "selfish" in a way. If the victim was related to the witch in any way, it could maybe imply that she wouldn't do the same for other victims.

Some Other Notes

I'm perhaps playing with the idea in my head that the detective is in fact related to Jane in some sort. Perhaps this validates his motivation in letting the witch go without any consequences. My biggest concern is making sure it all connects in some way. The characters, their actions, why they do it, etc.

I started sending out my script to some candidates that are interested in acting in this piece. I want to start filming next week, but I'm still working on props I need, as well as what scene to film first and who to bring. Costuming is another important element of my film, so I will be making my next blog post in regards to the mise-en-scene and art direction of the short film.

"BLACK CANDLE" ---> title_found

I finally came up with a title for my piece: Black Candle.

In researching witchcraft, black magic, and particularly revenge spells, I've found a consistent motif. That's right, the use of Black Candles. It fits well into the scheme of things and what I want to go for, since this is a tale about revenge and whatnot. Below, I have placed two revenge spells I've found that I will be taking inspiration from when I create the black magick ritual scene. The each have their own names too, which is pretty rad.

#1 Tower Spell for Revenge

For this spell you will need the following:

• 3 small boxes the same size

• 3 slips of paper

• A black candle

Light the black candle. On one piece of paper, write your name. On the next, write the name of the person that has wronged you. On the third piece, write what their offense was (just a word or two). Place 1 slip of paper in each of the little boxes.

Put the boxes in pile with your name on top, the purpose in the middle and the other person on the bottom. Set the pile next to the burning candle, and let it burn until it goes out on its own. Leave the boxes sitting until the offender has gotten what they deserve.

#2 In the Dark of Night

Originally, this nightmare spell is part of the selection of real black magic spells from another section. This spell will help bring nightmares to another person. The supplies are:

• One black candle 
• Dried mugwort
• Dragon's blood (a resin incense)
• Charcoal tablet
• Heat-proof dish or tile
• Large piece of white paper or fabric
• Black marker

On the paper or material, drawn 3 concentric circles and an x in the middle of the smallest inside circle. Place the dish with a charcoal tablet right on the x, and the candle outside the circles on the left. Light the charcoal and get it burning, put a pinch or two of dried mugwort on it along with a chunk of Dragon's blood. When they are both smoking nicely, light the black candle.

Watch the smoke rising from the dish and picture it floating through space to your intended target. It brings nightmares and fear into their sleep, so picture that scene for several minutes and focus on the person. Repeat their name in your head as you do.

After a few minutes of this concentration, put out the charcoal and switch the dish and candle so the candle is on the x in the center. Leave it until it fully burns down. The person you're targeting will have bad dreams and nightmares starting the next night and it will last for 3 days.

_________________________

I find the concept of witchcraft, spells, and curses to be so fascinating and how on can actually practice these rituals. Whether or not they actually have an effect on the natural world is another conversation. I hope I don't awaken any demons are bring a thousand years of bad luck to anyone during the making of this film.

Free Witchcraft Spells. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2017

Group Discussion

Today some of my A level Media Studies peers and I got together to demonstrate our initial ideas for our project, giving constructive critiques for each other's concepts. This has been a very helpful, and here are some of the ideas they gave me or the things I should fix:

- Establish that he DID do it - lack of evidence?

- Perhaps the victim pressed charges way too late, statute of limitations

- Her viewing multiple articles, show that this happened recently

- Look up court case rape process

- Should it even be a dream?

- Establish that she can't cause physical harm.

I didn't realize that my simple narrative may not be so simple at all. The idea is so clear in my head, but there are a lot of holes that should be filled, or at least addressed. My group suggested some dialogue, but I want to stray as far away from spoken dialogue as possible. The first draft of the script is almost complete, and once that's done, I'm going to be looking for actors and start acquiring the props I need. Props are very essential in my piece, and I may have to create my own whilst I buy other things. We shall see. In regards to casting, I'm always nervous as to who to ask and if I can trust these actors to be reliable performers. I'll have to make a list of people I know physically can/will do it, but these performances are rough, and I truly hope they can execute it. 

A Plot Synopsis

So I've figured out the complete story. I'm writing the script right now and I'm almost finished, but I want to type the full plot summary on my blog.

It starts out with a girl reading an article on her screen at night. The article is about a man whose rape charges were dropped, and it shows a picture of him and his victim, a young teen.

The girl is angry, but most of all, very sad. She prints the the article and cuts the image of the rapist.

She then goes to her room and takes out her makeshift altar and begins a dark ritual. She gets a pentagram, a bowl, charcoal, four black candles, etc.

At the end of the ritual, the short then goes to the rapist while he is sleeping. He hears a strange noise and wakes up, as he goes back to sleep, these hands appear from under his pillow and start strangling him. He breaks free and begins running into his hallway. As he turns around the hallway corner, he is found in the same hallway, and he can't escape. Other creepy things happen to him throughout the film until the very end, he "wakes up." Everything that has been happening was a nightmare, caused by the witch's ritual. 

Then, we see the witch girl comforting  young teen, the one from the article that was raped. They're siblings, which connects to the whole vengeance aspect. The witch would never harm anyone physically, but she would definitely mess with his dreams.

I want to find a way to show that this nightmare curse will continue to happen for days to come. The main point of this film is to be a sort of letter to victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault. To show that they are not alone, and that those who committed the crime will get what is coming to them.


Freddie. "Pagan Altar." Pagan Altar. Blogger, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 10 Mar. 2017.

Music is Everything

I often find plenty of inspiration through listing to music. Because of the witchcraft concept I'll be tackling in my short film, I decided to experiment with my music-making program with scary, suspenseful, and eerie score and sounds. I played around with this set of mixers dedicated specifically to Halloween (in the Wiccan religion, there is a God and a Goddess. The God dies on Samhain, or Halloween, to be reborn in another holiday known as Yule) and I automatically became inspired with scenes. From suspense-building stings and eerie background music and then the crescendo main scores for the main scares, I could vividly imagine scenes for my short film that could potentially utilize these sounds. I would've loved to place a sample of what I've created thus far, but I'm honestly not quite sure how to do so at the moment. Will continue working with music, and I believe I will start my first draft of the script very soon.

Modern Witchcraft???

So I've decided to do my latter idea regarding witches and revenge, black magic, dark witchcraft, all that good stuff. Upon researching, however, I've found that the concept of witchcraft is actually quite interesting. There are various aspects to this way of spirituality, as some forms of witchcraft are actually considered a religion, whether it be Paganism or the contemporary Wicca, which is actually widely practiced and synonymous with the craft.

The conventions of witches and witchcraft nowadays are considered "evil" or satanic, where one sells their soul to the devil for these abilities and whatnot. But through researching (I've read a 10 page article so far and I've only just scratched the surface of the concept of witchcraft, predominantly Wicca), I've found that witchcraft is actually a very spiritual practice in which one draws energy from the world, the elements, and/or a deity to bless a home, wish for good fortune, healing, love, prosperity, and spiritual enlightenment. In fact, in the Wicca branch of witchcraft, it is looked down upon to use magick for evil reasons, and it is highlighted that if one who casts vexes or curses or bad spells on another will receive a consequence in return, often in threefold.

I'm starting to read on the different spells too, and those are entire different monsters I have to research. But with the concept I mentioned previously that aligns, in a way, with karma, I was thinking about my project. Perhaps the protagonist is aware of these consequences and does this vex or curse because she truly believes in her sense of justice and that what she is doing is right, despite the dire repercussions that may come.

After I'm done researching spells and other elements of witchcraft, I will do another blog post about the key concepts I want to adopt and incorporate into my film.

Brainstorm!!!

I'm still questioning what I want to do. I have two concepts in mind, but I'm not particularly in love with either of them.

The first is titled Out, which is about a queer girl (or boy, but I'm leaning toward a female protagonist) struggling with her sexuality and thinking about a summer fling she had with a member of the same sex. Her parent, possibly a single father, is extremely homophobic, so she is closeted from him. She tries and tries to get with guys, whether it is sleeping with them or going on dates, but it just does not work. I was thinking perhaps the girl she fell in love with over the summer sends her letters and the father perhaps finds them? I just know that I have a vision for the final scene/and frame of the film, which is the main girl waiting on a bench with another girl who is also queer. She's about to turn around and speak to her, perhaps ask her out, and then the title comes on and it ends. Again, I'm not completely in love with this. I was thinking of going a more abstract route, utilizing more visual, representative storytelling and not that much dialogue. I HATE dialogue. If I'm not working with phenomenal actors, I want to stray away from writing a story that has lines of dialogue.

For the my second idea, the title is still pending, but its much more fantastical/horror/thriller. Its about a witch, or perhaps a coven of witches, that go out and kill male rapists, murderers, domestic abusers, etc. A film that inspired this idea for me was the film Only Lovers Left Alive, which took the mythos of vampires and added a modern, sexy twist to the concept. I want this piece to be "realistic," and I don't think it would require that much dialogue to elaborate whats going on, unlike in the other piece? 

I feel like I both ideas can be done easily without dialogue, its just a matter of developing a cohesive, interesting story of maximum 5 minutes. Both have their pros and cons. For Out, I never really created and LGBT related short  film, so it would be nice to tackle a topic so close to my heart. However, I feel like the casting for this piece will be very difficult, and coming up with a story with a beginning, middle, and end to such a vague, universal concept isn't impossible, just a moderate challenge. As for the witch piece, I feel like I can take advantage of my skills in stylistic filming and talents in mise-en-scene and cinematography, I'm just concerned on how I could represent the concept of witchcraft as "realistic."

I'll either make a first draft script or storyboard for both ideas to see which appeals to me the most. However, I'm not married to either short film idea, since last year my short film intro idea materialized just a few weeks before the due date, and I danced back and forth between ideas. Obviously, I don't want this to be the case this year, so I'm tackling each idea head on and working on conceptualization to see if it will work or not.


Feuer, Ben. "The Admit Reality Admissions Consulting Blog." The Admit Reality Blog. Forster-Thomas MBA, Law, Medical, College and MFA Consulting, 3 Feb. 2016. Web. 2 Mar. 2017.