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Post Shoot Analysis

Day 1

Day 1 of my shoot started off bumpy. We had some people straggling in 10 to 15 minutes late to LMU SFTV where we were meeting to pick up equipment and bring it over to Hannon Parking Lot. The sound people showed up on time, but we pushed them back an hour and a half as they wouldn’t be needed until 5, when the actress was coming. I decided last minute to act in my own film after the actors I was interested in didn’t get back to me, which caused some last minute conversations to be had between my DP, who was very willing and accommodating, and I. We pulled a bad number at the lottery and thereby received the RED One from LMU. My DP was unwilling to shoot on this because of the sheer size and weight of it, as well as the poorer image quality in comparison with newer cameras, so I reached out to a friend whose project I’d been in over the summer and who had access to a RED Dragon.Unfortunately, we found out the day of the shoot that the Dragon kit was incomplete, which made it impossible for us to add the matte box, rods, wireless follow focus, and other accessories to the camera. So, we called LMU Camera Dept. and asked if we could grab the RED One that they had originally issued us. They hesitantly agreed and we were able to mix parts to rig up something that generally worked. That is until we discovered that the Dragon was an EF Mount Camera and we had PL Mount lenses. We spent about two hours trying to figure out how to make things work with camera and ended up using the RED One for the first day of shooting. Aside from that, and the cold, damp weather of the first night of November, Day 1 went smoothly. We wrapped about a half hour later than scheduled because of the difficulties, but I was happy with the performance of the lead actress in the breakup scene. The last scene of the film, which we also shot, I have some issues with. I didn’t plan out the blocking of it well enough to maximize its effectiveness and I regret not giving it more time. The biggest issue of the day came after the shoot, when we tried to offload the footage and found that the RED Mag Reader wasn’t working properly. We were unable to offload and couldn’t find anywhere to rent it until something finally popped up on Sharegrid. I went to bed around 230am.

Day 2

Day 2 started out very hectic. My DP and I had discussed getting a RED PL Mount so that we could use the Zeiss Prime Superspeeds issued to us by LMU on the RED Dragon that we received from my friend. We also needed to grab the new RED Mag Reader as well and I spent from 830 until 1230 picking things  up. I showed up 15 minutes late to set, but my crew had already had most of the equipment at the house where we were shooting as they have agreed to show up early. Once we were at the house, things were great. We shot the bedroom scene which felt very naturalistic and we were able to achieve some beautiful lighting. We had more than enough time to finish the scene and spent the next couple of hours afterwards prepping for all of the party stuff. We contacted people to come be extras, set up lights, did all of our PD, and ate lunch from Rutt’s. Once the extras were there, some people on set started getting stressed because of the noise and how tight everything was. But I was okay. We were able to get through everything, despite the crazy camera rig, by wrap time and things were brought back to LMU to store for our last shot on Sunday.

Day 3

Sunday was very easy. We all showed up late, around 115, and went only until 330, including wrapping all of our equipment in the cage. We had one shot to do, a tracking shot in Seaver, and the actress and I were able to experiment with some fun improv.

I got everything in my shot list, all the coverage I wanted. There were only 20 shots in the entire film. The music from Spectacular Now is inspiring me for my film.

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Moments of Decision

The key moment of decision in my story comes towards the very end, after Dani has made it clear that she has some interest in being with James. James must decide if waiting for Kayla, with the risk of them not getting back together, is worth it in the long run. This moment in the film will be accentuated by holding on the two actors as they look at each other when this point of decision happens. 

Within the party scene, Dani also has to make the decision whether or not to pursue James in any capacity. This happens more progressively, as she speaks with him. She is particularly triggered by moments when he looks away or is connecting with other people. This will be shown by her reactions during awkward pauses in conversation.

Within the breakup scene, there is the moment where Kayla makes the decision to break up now as opposed to later. This is fueled by her intense emotionality at that particular moment. She has started thinking about it and can’t hold it in and therefore lets everything out. This will be shown through performance as she progressively becomes more emotional before James actually asks what’s wrong.

At the end of the film, James has to figure out whether he made the right decision, whatever that may be. This is accentuated by holding on his gaze as he watches Kayla walk back to the party and cutting there.

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Acting and Performance

The key actors in the film are James, Kayla, and Dani.

JAMES

James has three siblings, two brothers and one sister, and a pair of the most supportive parents anyone could ask for. However, his father is an alcoholic which has led to a strain in his relationship with him and ultimately serious attachment issues, which manifested through certain “obsessions” throughout his childhood and even now. He fixates on a topic, a person, etc. and makes that his purpose in life. For most of his childhood it was basketball and, recently, he became that way with film. Outside of Kayla, it consumes his life. He latched onto Kayla when he was 14 and never let go. There was no reason to, and he loved having someone there for him. Lucky for him, she was perfect and he found himself falling in love at a very young age. He struggles with anxiety and depression which have somewhat stunted his emotionality. He is very dry and sarcastic and uses humor to try to get attention and to mask certain feelings. He is a kind-hearted boy. He tends to beat himself up over anything he does wrong, anything he says that could offend someone, etc. There is no getting away with anything. He has always treated Kayla as well as he knows how. He finds great pride in being a great boyfriend even if it is one of the only sources of pride for him. He’s always gotten good grades and tested well, but never put in the work that his peers do. He has attention issues as well, combined with his narrowed interests, and anxiety and depression, which makes school a difficult place for him. He has a core group of friends that he is happy with, but he always has wanted to be more popular, more loved. He doesn’t enjoy parties because he doesn’t drink as a result of his father, but he does love the attention he gets when he shows up sometimes. People do like him, but nothing is ever enough. He is close with his parents and can tell them almost anything, but his primary confidant, his best friend, is Kayla.

James is as happy as he’s ever been with Kayla. She makes him smile, so easily, and unlike anyone else. He loves to mess with her and get a reaction so he does so quite often. Because he is so close with her, he sometimes struggles to keep things in that might upset her. He says almost anything, and doesn’t even think much about it. That said, he is always well-intentioned. Kayla is his world, and he really does have full faith in their future, even when they break up. There’s a weird period, though, where he questions all the time he’d be wasting waiting for her if it didn’t end up working out. When Dani comes along, some of this creeps in. They aren’t together and maybe they never will be again. Still, he ultimately decides to wait for her. He is motivated by Kayla, and by family and friends. He wants to be the best at everything he does, and he tries to find ways to be good at things and do things that other people don’t.

James has dark features, around 6 foot, and in shape.

KAYLA

Kayla is the goody-two-shoes at her high school that everybody loves, except for the people that are jealous of how good she is. She’s intelligent, a talented cheerleader, and is always nice to everyone. She grew up in a small family that was relatively dedicated to the church. They moved around a couple of times and lived in some places where she and her sister didn’t have a ton of friends, which led to her building very strong relationships with her family. She has a deep fear of disappointment, perhaps because of the respect she has for her parents and the way they’ve raised her. When she was a freshman in high school, her family moved to the Dominican Republic briefly to adopt a young girl who would become her sister. Because her other sister is closer in age, she never quite took protection of her the way she does with her adopted sister. Her relationship with her family has always been the most stable and important thing in her life. She cares about school, she cares deeply about friends, and she cares about things such as cheer. She is in love with James, but her commitment and respect for her parents can still lead her to make decisions out of their will.

At the beginning of the story, Kayla is as happy as can be with her life. She is living under the comfort and support of her parents, succeeding in school, has tons of friends, and is dating who she considers to be the most wonderful boy around. There’s a quality about their relationship that seems mature for high schoolers. They’ve been through a lot together. They have dealt with long distance relationships. They know what love is. But there is still an immaturity inside of Kayla as she’s never been forced to run her own world. She has always listened to her parents and not often doubted them. Her peers have little influence but she makes them think they have a lot to keep her friendships strong. She has yet to grow into herself completely, but she doesn’t feel any sort of urgency to do so. She is loving her life, and loving being with James. When  she comes home after being with him one night, her parents decide it’s time to have an important discussion about her future with James given that they’re both going off to college. They essentially tell her she should break up with him so that she can find herself in college and not have attachment to a previous life. She cried all night but agreed to do it for her parents, so that they might accept their relationship if they get back together in the future. Kayla doesn’t fully believe this will be the end. So, she breaks up with him, but tries to make clear that she wants a future together still and that this is temporary. On the night of the party, she had nothing else to do and wanted to hang out with friends. She doesn’t usually go to parties, and would rather be with James or with family, but felt a pressure to be there to basically say goodbye to the people she will be leaving soon for college. She sees James at the party and doesn’t know how to react. Should she talk to him against her parent’s will? How can she let him know that she is still thinking about him?

DANI

Dani grew up in the midwest in a large family with 3 brothers and 2 sisters. Her family is relatively well off. Her dad works a desk job that asked him to travel every so often and her mom stays at home for the most part, taking care of the kids and taking part in different school-related functions and organizations. Her relationship with her parents has never been hostile but she has a much better connection with her siblings, particularly her older sister and younger brothers. She was never strictly disciplined, never really given much attention at all by her parents from a young age, which led to her seeking attention in other ways, from other people. She loves her family and would respect any wishes they might have for the way she lives her life, but they let her do what she wants to do. She became deeply interested in art in middle school, particularly drawing and painting, and invests a lot of time in her friends and boyfriends. When she entered high school, she started trying to build her image as one of the "cool girls" and got more into partying than she maybe really cared to. She was never wild, but she liked being in the environment, feeling like she was a part of something. She started latching onto any boy that showed interest in her, especially if they were part of the "popular crowd." She is always nice to everyone, even those who are shitty to her. She laughs off tasteless jokes because she doesn't want people to dislike her. She isn't super bright, but she works hard enough to make it by. Now a senior in high school, she's scared thinking about what she might do next year. She's going to a school near her hometown but is pursuing a major she doesn't have much interest in and all of her friends are going to different schools.

The night of the party comes at the end of the summer. She has been spending as much time as she can with her friends that will be leaving her in the coming months for their own schools. She can feel a distance beginning to grow between them. Kayla, who was James' girlfriend of 4 years, is one of her better friends, but she's always sort of liked James. Now that they're technically broken up, she sees this as an opportunity to talk to him. She is subtly flirty. Part of her doesn't want to be overt because she knows Kayla wouldn't be okay with it, but she still wants James to know she's interested.

Dani does not look innocent. She isn’t trying to. Dark hair, dark eyes.

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Blocking, Shots, and Visual Design

As discussed in the first post, the film is a love letter. I plan to shoot it handheld, with a lot of close-ups and natural movement. I want to find texture in every shot, specifically with light. The film should feel just a bit dreamy - very grounded, very real, but with a hint of hope and love filtered over the whole thing, whatever that might mean (I have to talk to my DP). One of the things that will be more of a challenge for me with this film is working with actors’ movement. I have written a decent amount of movement and blocking in the script where characters and walking and talking or moving around a bit, such as at the party or walking to the car, etc. I look forward to trying to deal with that in close-ups/inserts as it is something I have less experience with. Overall, the most important thing about this is that the biggest imprint being left on the audience isn’t the choices I made but the performances and the love that the two characters share despite their situation. I want it to feel real, natural, intimate, and I therefore want to work in close-ups and inserts and use natural, textured lighting to bring life to the film.

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Director’s Vision

My film, “Forever and Always” is in a way a love letter to my girlfriend. It’s supposed to be a very intimate, lighthearted portrayal of a break up that isn’t really a break up. I want to shoot with a lot of close ups. I think it’s important that we’re able to read the love in the characters’ eyes. As far as lighting, I don’t envision any sort of stylized looks for this - primarily natural lighting. I want to use a lot of handheld - I think generally handheld feels more natural and intimate, and I want to work in low light towards the second half of the film to shift the tone a bit from the lovey-dovey lightheartedness of the first half. The opening portion will be shot in daylight, the break up scene around sunset, and most of the remaining scenes at night. I want the second half of the story to be about trying to balance the break up, understand it, and what it means for them at this point in time because they don’t have intentions of breaking up. For James, the main character, this is confusing and incredibly difficult, and he spends a lot of time in his own head dealing with these things. In order to make it feel somewhat “like a love letter,” I want to figure out ways with lighting to make scenes feel a bit dreamier than real life. Nothing obvious, I still want natural colors and what-not, but no 3-point lighting system. I don’t want things to look balanced, I want shadows and texture to the shots. I have yet to think much about sound but I don’t anticipate much beyond the diegetic. I will be using a short music sample at the end, but everything else, as of now, will likely be diegetic, natural sound. When I think of my film, movies like “The Big Sick” and “500 Days of Summer” come to mind, mostly because of story. I want to really try to pull some beautiful visuals from this and look forward to trying to find concrete ways to give the film more visual texture than a lot of romances I’ve seen. What will make my film work or not work is performances; so, the thing I look forward to most is trying to get the performances from my actors that I really need. I’m working on trying to distance myself from the material to allow actors the freedom to explore more with the characters on and off set, but I think a full understanding of these characters and their very specific sort of delivery and behavior is very important in making the film work as a whole.