group meetings #3!

hi everyone ! We had our last group meeting today which is kind of scary because that means the project is due soon ! Maybe because it’s my senior year, or because last year the pandemic began mid-project, but this years portfolio project went by muchhhhh quicker. Little bit overwhelming.

So, today we had our group meetings! Like the last couple meetings, I heard a lot of super cool ideas. I can’t wait for this project to be over so I can see what everyone else did. It’s super exciting!

I got a couple of suggestions for my project.

Somebody suggested that maybe the story closes with the goalie becoming afraid of the goal. She becomes so hyper fixated on soccer that she begins to dread it, and every time she is in goal she feels this anxiety that takes over her.

Another idea that I liked is that instead of everything leading up to her college decision, she could be rejected halfway through the piece. I think that would give it some nice structure as well. Following her rejection, she kind of falls apart and has to reevaluate her desire for the sport and her passion for life, as soccer has been the only thing she knows.

Additionally, someone said my piece reminded them of Black Swan. I really like this comparison because personally, I like to be inspired by other art when I create. I think it helps new ideas come to mind. Something I really loved about Black Swan was the use of mirrors to represent self reflection, so maybe I’ll use that.

Obviously, I wouldn't be utilizing the whole aggressive lipstick thing, but you get the gist. 

Bye for now ! :)

costume choices

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!

So today I will be discussing costume choices. It is a lot easier in my case because goalies and all soccer teams wear uniforms.

My goalkeeper's shirt is a bright neon green long sleeve, that contrasts the dull green of the field. Her jersey sticks out a lot, which is good because I want her to have a powerful presence. Additionally, she will wear black soccer shorts and black soccer socks. 

( I don't have the long sleeve picture so you will have to VISUALIZE!!! ) 

In the scenes in which she does not wear her uniform, (at home, etc) she will also be wearing soccer clothes, just not her goalie unfirom. I'll have her wear some tournament shirts, keeping her hair up in a ponytail and soccer shorts for her casual, off-the-field look. This will show that she does not care much about her appearance at all, as the only clothes she wears are related to soccer. She makes her whole life about soccer. She won't look too well put together as a person.

Wait oh my god this looks so mean Alex if you read this I THINK YOU LOOK GREAT HERE!! Your character will look like this but not in cute jeans, and with a much more messy ponytail and sweaty look. I think you look pretty here please don't hate me. Just picture like the soccer jersey and some shorts. 

If I include other character shots, they will be wearing plain clothing to contrast Alex. I want her to standout in the piece.

SPRING BREAK YUUUUP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In order to enjoy this post at full capacity, you need to play the jersey shore music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFskSht2MD8

Okay good, I'm glad you listened. This song is so fun it puts me in such a hyper mood. If you didn't, you're missing out and you will NOT match the vibe of this post. 

HAPPY SPRING BREAK!!!!!!!!!!! MY LAST SPRING BREAK OF HIGH SCHOOL!!!!!!!

MUCH NEEDED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This past quarter beat the living h e double hockey sticks out of me. If I'm being honest, I definitely relaxed wayyyy too much once I got accepted to college because I really forgot how hectic and brutal the third quarter can be. BUT ITS SMOOTH SAILING NOW!!!!!!!!! Everything now is reviews and light work. This is probably the only class I have to put in genuine work for. But I am so excited for my spring break!!!! 

Also, this is my last break before I graduate?? What?? That's literally so weird I don't know to process it. I AM JUST KIDDING I CAN'T WAIT TO LEAVEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am not a stupid idiot and I still remember that covid exists, however I am still going to have fun!!! Lots of beach days for me. 

Okay so one small problem, though. I was PLANNING on shooting over break just because it seemed like the smartest thing to do. No school means more time to plan and prepare, more hours in the daylight, etc. However I did not realize that everyone but me apparently on my soccer team would be vacationing throughout the break, so all of our practices for the week got canceled.

Why does this matter, you ask??? Have you not been paying attention at all?? I JUST explained in a very recent blog post that I would have to film on nights where I practice so that the field is reserved for my team and I have ensured time and space to shoot. ALSO the star of my short is going out of town for a little bit BUT she needs to get tested before I see her since she traveled, which means I am NOT shooting over break. 

                        I guess I will just

wait.

This sucks a LOT but I will work through it. In a way, I can use this break to plan out my shooting even more and recharge, so I can be prepared following my 10 days of bliss. 

I just thought I would update you all on this minor setback. I plan on shooting either the week after break, or worst case the following. I would rather get it done sooner so I have more time to edit though. 

character background

Hi guys!

So for my goalie character, I wanted to keep it fairly simple when it comes to her background.

Since it is a short film and not a movie or episodic documentary, I feel like it is important to develop a character with an implied background that is easy for viewers to figure out on their own. It is a short film, so I want to spend most of it developing her character rather than just explaining her past. 

I want to make it evident that this is a girl who has been taking soccer extremely seriously for the majority of her life. She has been playing travel soccer for years now and is clearly very good.

Because she is so good, I think I'll have her be cocky on the outside; maybe she has problems with controlling her anger when she lets a goal in, etc. But deep down, this is rooted from the insecurity that she is not good enough. This fear will be explained through voiceovers probably, as we hear others from her life telling her. Perhaps it'll be coaches or her parents. That way, the audience can see the pressure put on her without having to delve too deep into her past. It's quick.

Additionally, I want to make sure my audience can see that socially, soccer has been a setback for her. This can be more implied than anything, as the goalkeeping will be a sort of metaphor for the way she acts with her relationships- she doesn't let anyone in. 

Oh my goddddddddddddddd this girl seems like a total DRAG totally the life of the party!!!

By the end of the film hopefully, SOMEONE will tolerate her because as I create her character even I want to punch her.

target audience

Hey everyone!

I've kind of been struggling with my blogs, to be honest. It's hard for me with this whole blog thing. It's hard to remember a lot. But I set reminders on my phone, so hopefully, that helps. Also, I struggle with coming up with ideas to write about. Thankfully, my super amazing and helpful teacher has put up a file with a bunch of blog topics, so that comes in handy.

Now, time to clarify my target audience:

I definitely want to gear my short film to athletes. Not just casual athletes though; people who take their sport seriously. Who see it as a lifestyle and are passionate about their sport. The whole point of my short film will be that the goalkeeper almost takes it TOO seriously, so even though anybody could enjoy it, serious athletes are more likely to genuinely understand it. 

Additionally, I'd like to have the target age range be upperclassmen in high school. This is very specific, but for good reason: sports are different once you are my age. Whether it is your intention or not, you have to consider it as a future now. A lot of people play competitively just for their youth; they don't want to go pro. Or some people know since they're 5 years old that they want to be on their national team. It's weird. But you start seeing scouts, and your teammates start sending colleges their highlights. It's hard not to avoid the subject. The goalie will be a senior in high school who wants to play for a college, so she definitely takes it much more seriously than someone who isn't playing with the intention of making a career out of it. 

As for the social class, there is no target. Anyone can enjoy this because soccer is a sport that is played anywhere; from dirt roads with a ball of made of paper to the nicest fields in rich American neighborhoods. Many of the most famous players in the world came from poverty. For example, Dani Alves from the Brazillian national was dirt poor and now he is playing for one of the best teams in the world. If the talent and commitment are there, you can make it anywhere. 

I thought about targeting the film towards girls since the soccer experience is very different for us. (We are taken less seriously, the wage gap, do I need to go on?) But I didn't really want to make this a feminist piece, so it's targeted to any gender.

group meetings #2

 hi!!!!!!!!!!!!

So we had our second group meeting today! This one went drastically better than our previous one considering I actually had an idea to talk about this time. I listened to everyone else's ideas first because I get a little shy. It was super cool to hear how creative my classmates are! I'm genuinely really looking forward to seeing everyone's project, especially since we have more of a variety of projects to choose from this year. It's also intimidating though because I feel like everyone's projects are so original. Oh well, I'm probably just overthinking. Or maybe I'm unoriginal and boring and I suck. I do not know.

So I had some help with guiding my story along.

My main problem right now is figuring out an ending to my story. I know what I want it to be about, but what will my goalie do? What solves, or doesn't solve, her conflict? How am I tying this together? 

Like I said, she becomes to project her goalie lifestyle into her life; she keeps everyone out and "blocks" everyone, only focusing on the game. 

Someone suggested that maybe she has a big tournament coming up, and to take the story in that route. As in her preparing, and then going. However, I feel like I would want to include the tournament in that case, and I can't because due to Covid, we have no tournaments right now. So it would be unrealistic because I couldn't recreate that environment without many people.

An idea I liked was her preparing for college decisions. Like maybe she wants to go to UNC for soccer, and she spends days coming up freaking out, and then in the end she doesn't get in. OR maybe she does? That'd be kind of lame though.

ORRRRRRRRRR another idea that I liked was that she decides to quit soccer. She is so obsessed with it and I can portray it in such a negative light that in the end, she decides it isn't even fun for her anymore. That could be cool. Like even though she's crazy talented, she just loses interest.

So I have to consider those last two more, I think. Time's running out though.

A classmate also suggested an editing software called davinciresolve, which I might use if I don't understand my program. But to be honest, I might end up sticking with iMovie.

That's all I have to share right now. We did all get to just chat a little, which was nice because I honestly never get to do that. Since most of us are online, we never just talk to each other randomly like this, you know? I barely get into breakout rooms and most of them are for a short assignment. We just talked about being seniors and stuff. It was nice. 

Alright, well I will be thinking lots. Many decisions to make. Ciao !

Location scouting

 Hey everyone!

SO I have been doing some super crazy and so exciting location scouting ! :/

I need to shoot at a soccer field, obviously.

I want to stay local since I do not have a car. I considered some of the fields near me, like Vista Park, right next to my highschool. Those are really well kept, but they get pretty crowded and I don't live nearby, so it would be hard to find a time where I would have consistent field space.

I also thought about Amelia Earhart park, which is beautiful. I play there a lot for tournaments and it's just such a nice park, so I'd love to shoot there. But unfortunately, I have the same issues. This one is much further, and how would I ensure the space?

The best answer was staring at me right in my stupid face. Weston Regional Park! My team practices there Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. On Thursdays, we practice at the rinks. But that is not as visually remarkable as a soccer field. I want the classic look, ya know? That would give off a much more practice vibe. Not cool.

So this is my beautiful park:

I'm probably going to shoot at field 2, as seen in the first picture. Those are turf fields, so they're better kept and have better-drawn field lines. But mostly because we already practice on those fields, so I have space ensured. Also, I don't have to make anyone drive anywhere in their free time! We'll already be there for practice anyways. Very convenient this way.

Look at me, figuring things out. How resourceful of me. What a college-ready woman! UCF is not ready.

SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Hi guys! Hope you are all happy and healthy!

So I have been thinking about the aesthetic of my movie. I want it to have some superrrrrr dope shots. Since I'm working with a lot of action scenes, I want to incorporate a lot of camera movement too!

Here's some ideas for shots I have:

• Close up of the goalkeeper's hands, saving a shot
• Close up of her feet, right as she jumps to save a shot
• Close up of her eyes with a concentrated look
• A shot of her blocking a shot, but shot from inside the goal
• Maybe shots from a low angle of my teammates shooting on her?

Please don't mind my drawing skills. I tried my hardest. Believe it or not, those are actually cleats planted on the ground, not a ballet dancer in pointe shoes. 

Those would be very fast-paced, with a lot of vivid colors, so maybe I'll work with some filtering. As you can tell, I want there to be a lot of detailed, close-up shots. I think they'd be good to set the tone of a successful goalie.

I also want shots of her messing up. Shots of her letting in goals, shots of her messing up punts. I think I will also make those fast-paced, but with either black and white or a red tint. I really want to play on her frustration and insecurities, as her self-worth will be determined by her performance in goal. I want her to have an obsession with the game. An unhealthy relationship, with her having unrealistic expectations of herself to be perfect. 

Though I am yet to develop the script, I want my film to have minimal dialogue. I want to mostly rely on the footage to develop the plot. I also want to find a really good soundtrack to back the piece. And I also think it would be cool if I recorded audio of her during a game because she is very loud and aggressive. 

Casting

 Good news!! 

So I really wanted my short film to have a really natural feel to it. I have a good amount of friends who are comfortable/good at acting that I could have asked to play my goalie. But honestly, I wanted my goalie to be played by my goalie. Pretty shocking cast right?

Her name is Alexandra Jones and she is a senior as well. We have been on the same team for like six years now, and we are super good friends. She plays for the varsity team at Cypress too! I've seen a lot of really good goalkeepers in my time playing soccer, but she takes the crown. Not because she plays for my team; we have played against some teams that are far better than we are. But she has a really raw, natural talent.

Now I'm not ranting about how amazing Alex is for the sake of you all being as in love and in awe of her as I am. I wanted to cast her for a few reasons:

1. It will feel natural- she knows what she's doing.
2. She's super talented, so I can get some amazing shots of her saves.
3. She is a good friend of mine! It's easier to ask friends for favors than strangers 
4. We are on the same team, so it won't be hard to find the time. 
• We practice on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays (Thursdays we practice in a soccer rink rather than on the field, so I don't think I'll be utilizing any footage from those nights.  I like the look of a soccer field better.) We can either stay after practice to record some or come early. If not, there are always weekends.

When I approached Alex with the idea, she was super open to it!!! It was so relieving because it helps to know that I don't have to stress about finding someone else. She told me she has no problem with me recording action shots of her whatsoever, and that she'd actually love to see them shot in an ~aesthetic~ manner. Her only concern, however, was that she is not a trained actress and never really does anything like this. 

Perhaps with a different film, this would concern me, but I think it might work in my favor. I want her character to be closed off and shy, so her discomfort with acting might be exactly what I want to portray. I  told her that since I don't have too
many details with the plot yet, and more just an idea of it, that I would let her know when I have a script so she can practice a little bit. 

Anyways, this is her! She's the super perfect amazing beautiful stunning one in the middle with the insane blue eyes: 

I plan on keeping her name as Alex. I think Alex is such a soccer name. It's perfect. 

I'll keep you guys updated!

BIG CHANGES

Hi guys.... 

So as you all know, my project hasn't been developing as much as it should be. The whole tooth idea was a bust. I never liked it, but it was the first and only bit of inspiration I had, so I ran with it. 

I reached out to my teacher, Mrs. Stoklosa, for help. We normally get most of the class to work privately on our projects, as we would in real-life class in a non-covid world. I stuck around after the meeting ended because I am in desperate need of help. I told her my idea, and addressed my concerns that it was not that interesting, would be better animated, I couldn't develop a genuine story around it, etc. She agreed with me that the tooth route was not the way to go. 

So, after some crazy rambling after about how stressed I was, she helped guide me towards a new idea. She reminded me of something I needed to be reminded about: talk about what you know. It would be much easier for me to come up with a story revolving around things I am passionate and knowledgable about. She asked me about things I am interested in, and as you might have guessed from my blogs, my response was scattered. So, we honed in on my biggest interest, soccer. I've been playing travel soccer for about 6 years now, and recreationally for even longer. It is super important to me, so it wasn't a bad idea. I had avoided soccer as a subject because I had been viewing it only from a documentary perspective. But Stoklosa reminded me that a story can come from anywhere. 

Now it was just brainstorming what I could draw from soccer. I really liked the idea of sticking with something I'm familiar with, so now its just finding a story to tell. We discussed the choice of taking an artistic route with the piece, which I think I will do. Regardless of what I do with it, I think that I could get some beautiful action shots and super cool movement shots that would really make my piece stand out. I could play with color a lot as well! I started to get excited as a lot of ideas started running through my brain. As Stoklosa continued to give me amazing advice, I felt a lot like this:

But in a good way! Like positive chaos. There's so many routes I could take this, now it's just a matter of refining it. I am planning on speaking with my teammates and seeing which would be comfortable enough to act/be filmed in my film, and additionally working to develop a solid storyline as soon as possible. I left my meeting with Stoklosa feeling inspired, which was so nice. And not to be all gross and emotional, but it was really nice seeing that some teachers actually care about their students' success and pay attention to them. Its comforting. Mrs. Stoklosa when you read this, you are super awesome and my favorite teacher ever I love you!! Okay for the rest you, I love you too, don't worry. I will be back with more awesome ideas! Things are changing for the better! Ciao <3 

 

I have run into trouble.

 Hello. 

That was a more somber greeting than normal, I hope you noticed. It's because I am in a horrible mood, to be honest. So that idea I had, about the teeth? That wasn't even an idea really, just a bunch of small possible concepts I could work with? But it was all I had? You guys know what I'm talking about??

IT DOESN'T EVEN MATTER!!! AT ALL!!!! BECAUSE GUESS WHAT???? IT SUCKS!!! SO BAD!!!!!!!!!!

I have come to some realizations. There are a lot of possible obstacles with this whole quirky tooth concept I had:

1. I do not have A CHILD!!! How am I supposed to create a cute little short film about losing teeth when the people who lose teeth are CHILDREN?? I am the youngest sibling. I do not necessarily have the resources to cast a child either. Most of my friends don't even have little siblings that I could even work with. 
2. How am I supposed to produce this? A tooth is SO SMALL. Like it's minuscule. What was I planning on doing? A voiceover for the super tiny tooth? Working with the distance of objects from the camera like they did in The Hobbit/ Lord of the Rings? Who do I think I am??? Also, how is it going to move? Stop motion? A little string? Come on Juli. 
3. Following #2, this piece would really only work well if it were animated. Here's the thing, though: I do not have the time, NOR the talent, to animate. So there goes that. 

So, what have we learned here? 

This is a horrible idea and I need to trash it. I would say that I overestimated my time and skill set, but that isn't even the case. It wasn't blissful ignorance or confidence in my abilities. I was honestly just thrilled at the fact that I had somewhat of an idea, finally. 

Now, I must find another idea, soon. This is me right now:

Fun fact: This can be applied to this project AND my life in general! How super hilarious is that! 

It'll be okay though. I'm gonna figure this out. I promised you all a very cool project, and a very cool project you will get. 

Goodbye. 

brainstorming !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi blog! I have to say, things are looking slightly better but still not good enough. I can't help but think that my frustration due to the lack of a solid idea for my short film is not helping me. I just feel mad that I haven't struck a pot of gold in my brain and pulled out this incredible idea out of nowhere. Lots of self-doubt going on right now but trying to push past it because my entire blog cannot consist of self-deprecating humor. That would be mildly concerning for my audience.

Anyways, I've been doing some brainstorming! Yay! It's a stressful process, but I know only good things come out of it. I was talking to my dad about this project. He is a director, and unlike me, comes up with a lot of ideas for short stories in his free time. He just normally does nothing with them, as he can't execute every idea that pops into his head. (Luckily, my integrity is intact as I have forced myself to come up with an original idea.) I told my dad about my lead into the whole tooth idea, and we began bouncing ideas off of each other. I've always liked to brainstorm with other people, as I think that other people's ideas can always provide inspiration. 

So, something I really liked was the idea of shooting from the point of view of the tooth. This could be done with a lot of shots from a low angle, maybe including parents comforting a crying child, or a pillow being lifted off the bed as someone checks to see whether the tooth is still there. I think that could be cute. 

Or, I could go in the direction of the tooth fairy. Maybe the tooth fairy is this totally unconventional character (Think "Tooth Fairy" featuring Dwayne the Rock Johnson, 2010) 

I could also do a tooth waiting room! I also really liked this idea. Say the tooth is waiting to be accepted into whatever tooth database, and the receptionist is all like "Sorry, we have no records of blah blah" and the tooth goes into a total crisis because he suddenly apparently doesn't exist. I don't know, saying it aloud makes it sound a little dumb.

Maybe the tooth character is broken, and he is running around, trying to find the other pieces of him? Maybe this tooth is in a zoom call because the waiting room is not functioning mid-pandemic? Honestly, scratch that. I'm sick of pandemic humor. Those Progressive commercials are getting on my last nerve. 

The tooth in zoom call mid-pandemic.

My mom also kept all my teeth that I lost as a child. She insists this is not a creepy thing to do because "baby teeth are cute and she is my mom and wants to keep memories of my childhood," but it's giving me some weird vibes. But I could include a shot with that at some point! My dad suggested that sometimes it is easier to develop a story starting with its ending, but with all these possible ideas, it is hard for me to picture an ending.

I swear I'm trying you guys. Bear with me, please.

 

I have somewhat of an idea!

 Hello everyone!! I bring good news! I have been inspired slightly!

Okay so the past weeks have consisted of me racking my brain for any sort of creativity. Multiple times a day, I've tried drawing inspiration from the most random things, in the hopes that one would create at least a semi-decent premise for my short film. While I am not convinced this will be my final idea, I think I will just have to run with it because I have a deadline and I am getting way too far into this project without even having a plot.

So, my brother came down for the weekend to celebrate mine and my dad's birthdays. We were looking for some documents of his for his university when we found a bunch of old drawings from when we were kids and other old items to reminisce about. We found a letter he had written to the tooth fairy the first time he had ever lost a tooth. 

This led me to think about creating a short story about the tooth fairy. I think it would be super cute if I took this in a childish direction. Maybe "Toy Story" inspired, as in what happens with the teeth when humans aren't watching. I know this is not the most solid idea yet, but it is the closest to an idea that I have gotten. Any inspiration at this point has to be pushed along. I will be back when this idea is further developed. So far this blog is not as awesome as it could be, so my apologies.