Exersice 1

Our first task for this year is to make a short film of around two minutes with a theme of our choice. However our teacher (Juanvi) told us to focus on a specific aspect for this work; something that perhaps we aren't best at or we can put better effort into, and have that be our main priority in this short. We decided my area to improve was going to be using natural sunlight as a main character and showing how it can create a tone in the story (different shots of the sunlight dressing the scene). 

This task is a bit more of a challenge to me than the ones I was used to from last year. Because in school I am usually told what to do and follow teacher's instructions or have at least a theme to base on. That is also a reason why I like media. It gives us a space where we can use our imagination. But at the same time it is also something I can struggle with. The variety of options are so big, it feels like I have none. Inspiration doesn't always come so easy. So, I am still not sure what to make it about. I am going to Pinamar for Easter holidays, so I thought that I could maybe do something at the beach.

6/4 - After Shooting

Last weekend I filmed the short and it turned out great. As I previously mentioned, I was traveling to Pinamar and wanted to film there, but I didn't know what to do or what actors to pick (I was only going with my parents). But, some days before leaving, I invited my cousin to come with us and that was when I realized she would be perfect for the job. The day after that, I had Media at school and started to come up with ideas. It occurred to me that I could film in the forest (one of Pinamar's most known characteristics) during sunset and play with the sun rays coming through the tree branches. My cousin would interpret a peaceful and nature-lover character who was enjoying and exploring her time at the forest. I did a little collage with some inspiration pictures of how I envisioned my ideas and showed them to my teacher. At the moment I couldn't really tell if he liked it or not but I really did, so I kept on with my plans. 

These are some features I wanted to  convey:

• Forest setting 
• White and flowy costume to portray peace and freedom
• Sense of adventure 
• Natural life
• Capture different angles of the sun

Once already in Pinamar, I decided to start filming right on the first day in case we weren't able to finish, we could go back another time. Luckily, there were no clouds and the temperature was really nice. I had previously checked at what time the sun was going to set, so we could go a little bit earlier and have that beautiful orange light to film. We had the beautiful surprise to find some horses chilling around the tress as we were looking for a location. When I saw them I couldn't believe my eyes because when I made the inspiration collage I had included a picture with a horse since I thought it went great with the aesthetic. But I would have never expected to actually bump into some of them. It was very weird because they were just there, tied to some trees, alone. It was as if the universe had put them in my way.  So that was a  stupendous start. Although, we faced some complications too. I hadn't realized how little the sunset lasts and how much the light changes every second. We found ourselves constantly moving and chasing the sun because it would be just a matter of minutes for the place we were standing to turn dark. Also, the floor was full of leaves and branches so it was impossible to walk without getting our ankles scratched. Mosquitoes didn't help either since millions of them would follow us everywhere, which made it vastly hard for me to keep the camera still and for my cousin to stay in character. 

But, all that effort was worth it because, even though we ended up exhausted, we got some amazing scenes. Unfortunately, once I pasted them all together, I realized the full thing was a little bit shorter than what I was asked to. So, the next day we went once again to the forest to film a couple more shots. However, this time we carried it out a lot simpler and just did close ups of my cousin's face, that way she wouldn't even have to get dressed. We went to film a little bit earlier than we had done the day before, so the lighting was a lot more yellow and didn't have that much of the sunset colour I was looking for. I decided to go on with it anyway since we were both tired and also had some other plans for the day. It turned out quite noticeable, though I don't think it looks terrible.

After adding those last pieces it was time to choose music. I had some ideas in mind but then, as I was editing, the perfect song came into my head; "Can't Catch Me Now" by Olivia Rodrigo. I felt like it gave a great mix of peaceful and adventurous feeling. I  recorded the audio from the Youtube music video as I realized that some scenes were actually really similar to mine. That made me feel  for sure that it had been the right election. So, I joined it with my short, made a couple of adjustments for the scenes to match the music and I finally finished it.

Overall, I am very very happy with how the short came out, my expectations for it were more than fulfilled. Despite the not so enjoyable parts, I had an amazing time throughout the whole process. I like to think that even if I hadn't, there is always a positive thing to point out. And on this particular occasion, I can think of millions. I learned a lot and was able to experience filming in a different type of setting which was very interesting. 

Final Product (click on image)