The Hope of it All

I am so excited to finally share our movie opening with you all. Hannah, Tori, Melanie, and I worked so hard on this project and we are extremity happy and proud of our achievements. With no further ado, here is The Hope of it All! I hope you enjoy!

 

Creative Critical Reflection

Reflecting on our Finished Opening

 Wow, I cannot believe we are finished! It has been a crazy adventure, but a rewarding one as well. Some things have come easier than others, but I have to say it was all worth it.

This all started with an idea months ago. This was before the project was even assigned. Hannah and I had a crazy idea to make our opening on a teenage love triangle, the highs and lows of young love, and the ultimate betrayal. We wanted to explore the life of this innocent, good girl, Betty, and navigate her feeling after being cheated on. We also wanted to dive into the life of James, a confused boy who hurt the girl he loves the most for a moment of temporary bliss. Finally, the most interesting in my opinion, is August, a teenage girl who pretends be tough and perfect, but deep inside, she cares and wants to experience true love as well. 

Then, once the project was assigned, we joined forces with Melanie and Tori and got to work. We fit hours of ideas into a two minute opening that would explain the direction of the whole story. Characters, like Inez, were cut from the opening, and ideas were bounced back and forth. There was even a point in which Melanie suggested cutting August from the opening. I was heavily against this notion because I thought August was extremely important to the story and a dynamic character in her own right. So, there was a lot of touch and go, but we eventually reached a general screenplay that we could all agree on.

Next, was filming. This was probably the hardest part of this entire adventure. What I mean is that finding a day and time when we were all available to film was extremely difficult, especially due to the pandemic. I have mentioned before that were actually had to push back filming an entire week due to everything being too last minute. While planning the filming date and location was rather difficult, the process of actually being there and shooting everything was probably the best part of this experience. We had such a blast going around my neighborhood and finding good spots to film. It was so funny to watch our friends pretend to be someone else and act. We finished the filming pretty quickly and sent all our material to Melanie.

Melanie presided over the next part of this adventure. It was during this time that we had to brainstorm and decide for sure what music, fonts, cuts, and effects we wanted in our film. Melanie then compiled all our decisions into her editing and combined all the shots to make an amazing opening. I truly was surprised at how good it came out while I was watching it for the first time. She did such an amazing job and I loved it!

This has truly been such a rewarding experience and I am so happy to have done it with such a great group of people. I have learned a lot about filming, editing, and the entire movie industry. It isn't always as easy as it looks and I really respect filmmakers a lot more now! I hope I get the chance to this again one day because it was such a blast! The following is a sneak peak into our opening. It shows James walking in the neighborhood and being approached by August.

What Would Happen Next?

 So, this is actually pretty irrelevant to our actual movie opening, but I felt like doing a fun blog post explaining to you all where how the rest of this movie would play it out if it was a full length film. Yes, my group and I did make scenarios in our head about what would happen next and how the movie would end. I feel like we all have different opinions, so I'll focus on what I wanted to happen. 

So, what I imagine would happen right after the opening is that the scene would travel back in time to the end of there last school year when Betty and James were still happily together. They'd be shown going out of school and saying their sad goodbyes as James left town to summer vacation with his family at their beach home while Betty is stuck at her house. 

I imagine this beach town to be the site where many families who live more inland come to vacation. So, August and her family would be there too. That is where August and James would meet and most of this part of the movie would show their illicit, summer romance. Meanwhile, Betty would be seen now and then doing nothing at home and getting anxious as James' texts would come less often.

Next, at the end of summer, James would end things in August, realizing that it was a huge mistake and that he wants Betty back. Unfortunately, news flies fast in these little towns. Word has reached the school gossip and Betty's best friend, Inez, that James had been cuddling up with August all summer. Betty would soon find out and things would end between them in a horrible breakup. 

They would all be seen returning to school sad and frustrated. August must face the reality that James doesn't want her, and that what they had was no more. James has to accept the fact that if Betty doesn't want him back, then that's how it must be. Finally, Betty must learn to cope with this heartbreak and survive on her own. The movie would return to the scene of the opening but this time the audience would know what has happened. I also imagine a scene where Betty throws a party and James shows up trying to win her back.

At the end of the movie, I think James and Betty find each other again and continue their relationship. As for August, I think she matures and learns to be a nicer person as she starts her adult life in college. 

My Favorite Part

 As we reach the end of this project, I was talking to my group members about what they hated and loved about the experience. I realized that it was actually quite easy to pick out my favorite part of this movie making journey. While everyone went through a different experience and has different beliefs, I truly believe that the the best part of this project was filming the scenes in my neighborhood. 

While it was a bit of a struggle to decide on an appropriate film location and time, the outcome was worth the journey. We had so much fun filming everything! There is something so entertaining about watching you friend act and be someone else. We were all cracking up as Tori had to be dramatic with me and slam the door shut or when Ashley and I had to argue about nonsense. It was so comedic! In such hard times like the ones we live in now, it is such a pleasure to be able to have good moments like those. 

Our little gang of four walked and drove around my neighborhood trying to find the perfect spot for filming. It was actually quite embarrassing at times, but that made it even funnier. At one point, we were filming and August and James scene in front of a group of gardeners! They were probably so confused with what we were doing. However, it gave us quite a laugh. We had to drive to so many different places because the sun and shadows of the trees kept getting in the way of the car scene. So, that actually took us on a fun adventure. 

Don't be fooled. This event wasn't all rainbows and sunshine. It was also a little stressful because we had a time limit and Tori's camera was running out of battery, while also overheating under the hot sun. In fact, we had to film one of the scenes on one of our cell phones. Also, I kept telling Hannah how to properly film the shot I was imagining and we had to do a lot of retakes. I think Hannah was getting sick of it, but nothing gets in the way of a good opening! Anyways, most of the day was very fun and we actually finished filming with plenty of time to spare. 

Color in our Opening

 Color can play a big part in expressing certain moods and emotions in films. In fact, each color is usually associated to a certain feeling or thing in someone's mind. For example, the color red may be associated to love, while the color green to envy. While we don't focus too much on color in our film opening, there are a few instances where one can see color symbolizing something greater. 

First off, the biggest, most obvious use of color to express an emotion is definitely thought the first scene in Betty's room. Like I have stated before, Betty's room is relatively dark, with the blinds closed, but it also has a dark blue tone to it, with touches of purple. This is not coincidental! Blue can mean many different things, depending on the shade of the color. However, a deep, dark blue, like the one seen in our opening, can symbolize seriousness and depression. The color in the room is a reflection of the emotions Betty is currently feeling. She has just gone through a horrible breakup, which involved the person she loved betraying her trust and cheating on her. She feels lost, confused, sad, lonely, insecure, hopeless, depressed, and more. A bright yellow room would not coincide with these emotions, so a dark blue color fits perfectly in sync with Betty's emotions. 

One might also see the clothes that each character wear as a symbol of what they represent. For example, Betty wears a light pink top, a color that can symbolize youthfulness, femininity, and first love. All of these definitely represent Betty and the story, since it follows the tragic end to a wonderful, young, first love. So, I do think it makes sense for Betty to wear this color. Furthermore, James wears a red sweater, which could represent love and danger. I also think this fits James well because while he does represent the love that Betty once had, he also can be the danger that will break her heart. 

Finally, one could see August's wardrobe as symbolism too, but I have to say, it is a little bit of a stretch. So, August wears a white top with a green dragon in the center. White is a color that represents perfection, which could represent August since Betty and many other people view her as being this perfect girl who gets everything she wants. However, white could also represent purity and innocence, which isn't what I want August to represent at all! The green dragon has a whole other significance. The green can represent the envy August may feel towards Betty since James wants to be with her, or it may represent the envy other girls feel towards August. While it may not have to do with color, I should also mention that the dragon represents August in the eye's of the viewer. She is the big, bad dragon of the story that ruined something perfect and good. 

Lighting in our Opening

 We didn't really focus too much on lighting in our project. What I mean by this we didn't necessarily intentionally choose certain lighting to represent something deeper. However, there are different lightings throughout our film opening and some may represent something, if the viewer interprets it that way. Also, we did not edit any of the lighting during post-production. All of the lightening one sees during the opening is the lighting that was naturally present at the time. 

I should start with Betty's room scene. The first minute of the opening is spent in this room that Betty calls her own, and it definitely has a significantly unique lighting from the rest of the opening. The lighting in the room is much darker than outside and it actually has a bluish tone. I don't think this is a coincidence. The darker lighting goes along with the dramatic mood we are trying to set, especially with the dramatic piano music playing in the background. Not to mention, Betty has just gone through a horrible heartbreak. The blinds being closed, preventing any outside light from entering her room, makes sense because she just wants to sit in the dark with her feelings. So, Tori may have chosen this route for the lighting on purpose. I definitely think it works well! A very bright room wouldn't exactly go well with the dramatic piano music and slow pan over burned flowers and letters. 

After this, the lighting gets much brighter as Betty nears the front door and opens it, letting in a flash of bright sunlight, to reveal James standing on the other side. Maybe James is the light at the end of the dark tunnel? The rest of the film opening is pretty bright, due to the outdoor, natural sunlight that was present during our day of filming. We actually really did hope it would be bright! We wanted to make sure the sky was a clear, light blue when we tilted up to it, revealing the title. A dark, stormy sky filled with grey clouds would create a mood we didn't want for this portion of the opening. Also, it is supposed to be morning, since Betty is waking up, so the brightness of a new day would make sense, rather than the lighting of a sunset for example. 

An Unexpected Font Change

 So, I have some unexpected news to share. Our team must always be ready to alter some things and adapt if things don't go exactly as planned. Well, that's exactly what happened. The original fonts we decided on and wrote about in a previous blog post are no longer going to be used because of some difficulties. 

Let me elaborate. So, Quita and Kinuta, the fonts we were originally going to use turned out to be really difficult to download into our editing software. As a result, Melanie told us we had to limit our font selection to those in Dafont.com. At first, I was very disappointed to hear this because I was invested in the original fonts we had decided on. However, I soon found out that the new fonts Melanie was suggesting were actually really nice and not too different from our first ones. I am happy to announce that the official fonts we have used in our film are called Sylfaen and Pretty Shine!

Pretty Shine

Sylfaen

Like I said, these fonts are not too different from the original ones and still meet the criteria we were looking for. As a reminder, we wanted an elegant, but more legible font for the credits and a fancy, cursive font for the title. At the end of the day, I am extremely happy with how the fonts turned out and think it looks great. It might've been a long, complicated journey, but the end result makes it all worth it!

Genre in our Opening

 The general genre of our movie opening is a romantic drama, also with elements of coming-of-age. We definitely achieve the mood and tone of a movie of such a genre through several different techniques and methods. Here's a few examples of how my group achieved this throughout our project.

For one, there is the romance element of this film. Obviously, this story centers around the love story between James and Betty. It is about how a boy can break a girl's heart, even if they are madly in love. James' constant attempts at winning Betty back shows his love for her and might be seen as romantic by many. I feel that if this was a full movie, Betty and James would get back together. This just shows how if love is really meant to be, it will find its way back to each other, despite several hardships. On a smaller scale, the relationship between August and James is also quite romantic. It shows the thrill of an illicit summer fling and also the pain of unrequited love. Love and romance is definitely a big theme in this opening. 

Next, there is the most obvious genre, which is drama. If there is one thing this film opening is, it's dramatic. From the intense piano music in a dark room to the over-the-top door slam, Betty and this opening are both pretty dramatic. Which makes sense, since the story centers on the greatest betrayal and heartbreak a teenager in love can go through. The intense arguing between James and August also displays how drama is a genre in the movie. Every single character is going through their own struggle, some dealing with it better than others. Desperation and pain from the protagonists gives the film its dramatic element. 

Finally, there is definitely some coming-of-age in this movie. All of these characters are still teenagers, which can be the most strange, confusing time in a person's life. All of the protagonists are going through their own story arcs, and learning from their experiences and mistakes. It's all part of growing up! For example, James made a horrible mistake due to immaturity and stupidity. He regrets his decisions and wants to do right by Betty. In Betty's case, she is going through a horrible sadness and pain. She must learn to navigate this and decide what is best for her. All of these are common traits seen in a coming-of-age movie. 

Our Group Dynamic

 One of the most rewarding parts of this project has been the ability to work so closely with a set of talented individuals. I am extremely proud of what my group has been able to accomplish with a little bit of teamwork. Everyone has contributed something special to this film opening and I can't imagine having done it with a different group of people. 

Tori is no stranger to working hard for her grade. She delivered an amazing performance as Betty just when we were thinking we would have no one to fill the role. She took time out of her weekend to come join us for filming, and even did extra filming by herself at home. That's star quality! If it wasn't for Tori, we wouldn't have been able to get our hands on a professional camera to make sure our shots were top notch quality.

Hannah has been one of my biggest collaborators. She has helped me in structuring this crazy story and bring our ideas together. In fact, she has been coming up with ideas for the film opening before the project was even assigned. She also took time our of her schedule to come out to filming and direct the entire production. Yes, she was the one behind the camera for almost every single shot! 

Finally, Melanie has been an enormous help. I do not think we would have been able to carry out the editing process of this film without Melanie. She has been learning all about the editing process from friends who know more about it and has applied her new knowledge to our film! I have to say, I am very happy with the result. She is also one of the members who is always offering new ideas for the film. A lot of new things that changed from my original storyline has been due to Melanie's genius thoughts!

I also have to give a special thanks to our friend, Ashley Polo! She didn't have to help us since she wasn't in our group or class, but she still agreed to be August in our film. We couldn't have thought of a better person to fill this role. Thank you Ashley!

At the end of the day, this project has not been carried out without obstacles. I think the hardest thing I've been challenged by in the making of this film opening has been the coronavirus pandemic. Especially since I am working in a group, it has been especially hard to work during this time. For example, our original casting for Betty had to be changed because the previous actress had to stay in quarantine. Also, Tori had to film her Betty scenes separate from the rest of the filming to be safe and not enter someone else's house. In fact, the reason our editor, Melanie, could not come to the filming was because her parents wanted her to stay quarantined. Not to mention, due to COVID procedures, we had to move back our filming date an entire week. So, this pandemic has definitely presented the biggest challenge for this project and many other things in people's lives. Still, through hard work and perseverance, we were able to carry out our movie opening to our best ability!

Close to Finished: A Reflection

I am so thrilled to say that we are finally reaching the end of our project. This has been an interesting journey with lots of ups and downs. In fact, we've had to make so many little edits and changes along the way in order to make everything work. 

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we've had to make several adjustments to make sure everyone stayed safe. For example, originally, Betty was going to be played by my friend, Amber, and the scene would be filmed in her room. Unfortunately, because her parents required her to quarantine, we had to make a last minute casting change and Tori took on the role of Betty. However, we still had no clue where Betty's Room scene would be filmed. We originally thought of my sister's room, but that didn't work. Eventually, we carried out our finished result, in which Tori filmed the scene by herself in her own room.  

We have also has several changes concerning the screenplay. In fact, my original script included a fourth character, Inez, who would've been a gossipy friend of Betty's. Due to a lack of time, we had to cut her from the script. Even the voiceover was something that I hadn't originally intended on doing, but we came up with later. Another change we had to do was the tilt to the sky during James and August's argument. Originally, the scene would've been filmed from the outside of the car, facing the front window, but due to obscured visibility and hearing, we had to open up the sunroof and film the scene from inside the car!

Working with others has definitely contributed to many of these changes. For example, it was team members' idea to include the voiceover, the ripped up letters and photos, and even the POV shot of Betty walking to the door. In fact, my original idea for this opening might be similar to the finished product, but it has gone through a complete evolution ever since I got more opinions and thoughts. Especially since we're in the time of COVID-19, we have to be especially careful working with others. To stay safe, we were actually thinking of making Tori film her conversation scene script off-site, so she wouldn't have to take off her mask with us around her. Realizing this might get complicated, Tori decided to take a risk and film her part at the same time as me. 

There are probably many things I would have done differently. For example, if I had more time, I still would've loved to include Inez in the scene, even though my partners might not agree. I also probably would've tried to make the conversation between James and August a little bit longer. I say this because it kind of cuts from James angrily getting in her car to an intense argument with little context on how things got so intensified. My original script included a short conversation while in the car to explain this heated conflict, but due to time, we had to cut it out.  

My spring break is next week, which means it is our last bit of time to make the finishing touches to our film. We will be making the final changes to our opening that will give us our final result! We will really be focusing on adding all the credits and title sequences, which I described in an earlier post. Tori will also be recording her voiceover and we will be adding it into the film, making sure it lines up with everything. After that, all we really have to do is watch the opening and make sure there are no errors and that everything looks good. Then, just like that, we're done! Stay on the lookout for more blog posts as we reach the finish line!

Representation in our Film

While our group didn't necessarily start this project with the intention of making it super representational, our film actually turned out to have a lot of good representation. All three of our main characters are part of at least one minority group and live normal lives in the suburbs.

I should start with our actress, Tori, who plays Betty in the film. While when you first hear the name Betty, you might picture a caucasian girl from a rural town, Tori completely changed this idea, bringing Betty to life as an African-American teenage girl. This places a black female character as our main protagonist, something that wasn't too common just a few years ago. It also shows a different side to the black experience, placing Betty in a middle-class, suburban family with common teenage girl problems. It is very important to see different black stories, especially when so many films just choose to show the stereotypical qualities and situations. These stories need to be shown more often because they could inspire other young black girls who can look at Betty and see themselves represented. 

James and August, are played by Hispanic actors, Daniel and Ashley. Similar to Betty, we need to see more people from the Hispanic and Latino cultures represented in different ways on the big screen. Often we see the funny Mexican gardener or housekeeper, or the Colombian narcos, or even the Central American illegal immigrant, but we need to see less stereotypes and actual representation. James and August provide this because they live normal lives, as any other teenager would. It is refreshing to see Hispanics represented in a different way that is not super stereotypical because there are so many Latinos that can see themselves in August and James nowadays. 

Finally, I think it can be said that we have a lot of powerful female representation in this film. For example, while August might be a little egotistical, she is definitely very confident and strong. Instead of waiting around for James to come to her, she pursues him. She also drives herself around and doesn't take any stupid behavior from anybody, which is really cool to see. The same can be said about Betty. She is very strong and independent, which can be seen by how she stands by her decision to reject James and not be taking as a fool by any man. This is very respectable and can be inspiring to young girls today, who, as of now, might only see princesses who wait around for a man to save them.

The only change I would make to the characters is allow August and James to speak Spanish. Maybe this is something that could be explored later in the film as more of their character is explored. However, I feel that at least one of the Hispanic characters in the film should be shown speaking in their ancestral language. 

Title Sequence

 While this may not be an entire professional film, the movie opening must still include some type of title sequence that introduces most of the main people or groups involved in the making of the film. The Hope of it All is no different and will feature a title sequence during the Betty's Room scene. We want this title sequence to reflect the overall genre and mood of this film, which is about romance, drama, and coming-of-age. For that reason, we are looking for a more mellow mood, including more delicate fonts and styles. 

To allow you to envision our title sequence the best that you can, I will include the order that the sequence will go in:

1. Production Company Name: Swift Pictures

We decided on this name towards the end of our film production. It represents how we has to swiftly make this movie opening and also our inspiration to create this film.

2. Actors: Tori Ragin as Betty, Daniel Morales as James, Ashley Polo as August

This doesn't require much explanation. We are simply giving credit to the wonderful actors who starred in our film.

3. Producers: Tori Ragin and Melanie Reynoso

    At the end of the day, we all contributed something to the production of this film. We are all technically producers. But, for the sake of this film, we decided to write down Tori and Melanie as our producers.

4. Edited by Melanie Reynoso

Our amazing and talented editor was Melanie Reynoso. She played a big part in the coming together of this film opening and really brought it to life. She was the one who added all the music, sounds, and transitions. So, we must give credits where it's due. 

5. Screenplay by Daniel Morales

Yes, I was indeed the one who sat down one afternoon and wrote the script of our film from beginning to end. I organized the order of the scenes, what would be seen during each shot, and what would be said and heard throughout the film opening. This was a daunting task at first, but once I had gotten into my creative mindset, it was a piece of cake!

6. Directed by Hannah Barnes

We couldn't have created this film without the wonderful help from our director, Hannah. She accompanied all the actors to the filming site and did all the camera work. She was behind every shot and angle in this movie, capturing our acting. 

We want the credits to be visible, but also no impede the view into the film opening. It is because of this that we have decided to put the credits in the bottom left-hand corner and not the middle of the screen. This will ensure that the viewers are focused on Betty and her possessions and not the words of the credits. The title will come later at the end of the opening. Obviously, we want the readers to focus on the name of the film, so the title will be in the center of the screen with the sky as its background.

Now, I should discuss how the fonts and styles of our title sequence will actually look like. We have debated about this decision for quite a while now, but I think we have officially come to a consensus!

Pictured above are the four fonts we liked best for our film. From top to bottom, they are Quita, Kinuta Shin StdN, Bickham Script, and Adorn. Obviously, we couldn't choose all four, so we had to make a decision. 

Eventually we decided on Kinuta shin StdN for the credits and Quita for the actual title, The Hope of it All. We didn't want too much cursive in the credits, but something a little more legible and sensible. This disqualified all the other fonts and left Kinuta standing. When it comes to the font of the title, we wanted something different from the credits to make it stand out. We also wanted something extravagant and fancy, going along with the dramatic component of the film. We ended up choosing Quita because it is definitely extravagant, while also not being too much like Bickham Script might be.

Finally, is the actual colors of the fonts. This is very important because we can't allow the font to blend in with a similar color in the background. To prevent this, we are pretty sure our fonts will be white. This is a simple, elegant, pure color that fits the mood of our film. Not to mention, the lighting of Betty's room is more dark than light, so the white should work perfectly here. However, since the title will be in front of a sky, the white clouds might get in the way of the white font. If this is the case, we might have to switch out the white for a darker color, like black. 

Hopefully, all these fonts work out in the end. We have yet to actually enter it into our opening, so hopefully everything goes smoothly. I'll keep you updated!

Updated Storyboard

 

Film opens with a black screen and silence. Suddenly, an alarm goes off while the screen is still black and there is a cut to an alarm with the time 9:00 AM on it. Betty's hand (Tori) claps down on the alarm, turning off the ringing. There is then a cut to Betty stretching as she wakes up, with a music track starting to play (Reverie (Piano Version) ft. Adarsh PV by Lahar). A voiceover of Betty explaining her situation in a dramatic fashion plays throughout this scene. At the same time, the opening credits are rolling. This is followed by a pan to her desk, where multiple photos, ripped up letters, and flower petals are laid out. 

   Next, there is a cut to an over-the-shoulder shot of Betty opening her closet door and picking out an outfit. The next part of the film consists of several insert shots of Betty's items and objects that were shown on the desk before. During all this, a POV shot of Betty picking up the pieces of a ripped photo and throwing it away in a trash can is shown. 

Following these multiple shots, there is a cut to an over-the-shoulder of Betty putting on makeup and getting ready for the day in front of a mirror. Suddenly, a doorbell rings and the music/voiceover immediately stops playing. Betty glances to the side. This cuts to a POV shot of Betty walking up to the door, opening it, and seeing James on the other side holding flowers. James, with a guilty frown on his face, says, "Hey Betty". This is accompanied by ambient diegetic sound of the wind, birds chirping, and the door creaking. 

There is then a cut to a James' POV, looking at Betty, who says, "James, what are you doing here? What do you want?". Cut back to Betty's POV, and James says, "Bette, I just want to talk to you...about everything". Cut back to James' POV, and Betty says, "I'm sorry James, but what's done is done. I really just can't do this anymore. Go home. Bye". Betty goes to shut the door. Betty's POV shows James on the other side of the door begging her to "talk real quick" as she shuts the door. Cut to medium long shot of Betty on the other side of the door looking upset. She slides down the door and put her face in her hand.

This fades to a medium close up of James walking down the street, which cuts to a shot of his feet walking, and back to his face as he notices August, saying "August?". This cuts to a medium close up of August sitting in the driver's seat of her car, rolling down the window, and saying, "Hey hot stuff. Long time no see huh". 

This cuts to a medium shot of James walking towards the car so he can start talking to August. This shot is constantly panning between August and James depending on who is speaking at the time. The following is their dialogue:

James: August, I told you I'm done with this, so get over it. 

August: James, stop being silly and hop in

James: No. I already hurt the girl I love enough, so I'm not not repeating the same mistake

August: But I'm not going to let you walk all the way home. Just let me drive you.

James: Well, I'm walking.

August: James, just stop being so immature and hop in. 

James opens the car door and gets in the car exclaiming, "fine!". 

This cuts to a medium close up of James and August arguing. At the same time, music begins to play (Token (feat Cloe Sutherland) by Fernweh) This argument consists of James saying he can't go back to last summer and make the same mistake because he loves Betty, not August. August is replying saying that she knows he felt something, that he should give her a chance, and mentioning how he is single now. The camera tilts up to the sky and their arguing comes to a stop, so only the music is heard. As the camera is showing the sky, the title, "The Hope of it All" appears. 

Who are the Supporting Characters: James and August

 James

James is one of the most important supporting characters in the film. He has a big role in affecting Betty's life because they were together for quite some time before their breakup at the beginning of the school year. Which only happened because James acted like the immature, silly teenage boy he is, cheating on Betty with August. 

Physically, James is a Hispanic-American 17-year-old boy who lives in the same town as Betty. He has known Betty since they were very young, but only started dating during high school. I should mention they go to the same school and are in the same grade level. He has my physical appearance since I am the one who plays him. For the entire scene, he wears a red sweater with white and black striped, along with black jeans and white Tommy Hilfiger shoes. He has very dark brown, wavy hair and brown eyes. 

Mentally, James is a bit silly. By this I mean he is a young, immature boy who doesn't fully think before he acts. He completely broke the trust of the girl he loves and cheated on her with another girl during the summer when he was on vacation. Yet, he somehow expects Betty to forgive him and come running back to his arms because he still loves her. He obviously wants Betty back, which can be seen by how he goes to her doorstep with flowers just to win her back. He also feels horrible for what he did, regretting the entire summer with August. James is pretty popular in school. He might not be friends with everybody, but he definitely knows his way around the school. He usually likes to play sports and video games with his friends, along with spending time with Betty (pre-breakup). James will not rest until he finds a way back to win Betty. For he might not know anything, but he knows he misses her. 

James never speaks directly to the audience, but he is actually the only character in the film opening that has a two dialogues with two different characters. He speaks slowly and softly to Betty, as he is trying to win her back. He wants to be on his "best behavior" for Betty and is practically begging her to take him back. On the other hand, he speaks very harshly and direct with August. He has no feelings for her and is actually getting annoyed with her constant attempts at trying to be with him. He wants nothing to do with her anymore and begins to argue with her about the issue.

There aren't many probs associated with James in this opening. The only prop he really interacts with are the flowers that he brings to Betty, obviously representing his desire to be with her again. 

August

August is also a very important character to the story because she is the main cause for the situation in the film. She is the girl that James had a relationship with while still with Betty. While she may seem to be only present in the movie to explain the cause of the end of Betty and James' relationship, I assure you she also has deeper emotions and feelings in this story. 

Physically, August looks like your typical popular girl. She is an 18-year-old Hispanic-American girl that goes to the enemy school of Betty and James's high school. She is the lead cheerleader of the team at her school and is known by many people across the town. She is very confident in herself, wearing a white crop top and ripped jeans. Most consider her to be very pretty and everything a guy would want. She makes other girls very jealous and is known to flirt with a lot of boys. 

Mentally, August is very self-centered and shallow. She is less shy than Betty, but a lot more superficial. She only really cares about herself and sees herself as better than Betty. She did in a way entice James to be with her, even though she was aware of his relationship with Betty. Her maturity, confidence, forwardness, beauty, and fun spirit is what attracted James. But it was her ego, selfishness, attitude, and shallow personality that made him realize that Betty is his one and only. However, while August might seem like this selfish, emotionless soul, she actually surprises herself by falling in love with James. She genuinely wants to be with him and wishes for him to forget about Betty and come back to her. She misses those nights where she'd sneak off with James and just "live for the hope of it all". 

Like James, August also never speaks directly to the audience, but she does have a conversation/argument with James. She seems to be very flirty with her words, and also very insistent. This is ultimately what annoys James and leads to their argument in the car. She mostly just tried to convince James to be with her again.

She also doesn't have many props. She does pull up next to James in her car though. While we thought a sports car would best represent August's personality, unfortunately my father's mini van was the only vehicle available. Still, the point of August driving in her own car is to show her slight maturity and independence.  

Who's the Main Character: Betty

 While you readers might have a general idea of who our main character is, I have yet to really do a deep dive into what makes Betty who she is. She is a very special, smart girl and I feel like if you are going to understand what our film opening is about then you must understand Betty. While I would say we do have three main characters, I think Betty would be the most primary since she is the first character audiences are introduced to and she gives a voiceover.

Physically, Betty is an African-American 17-year-old girl who lives in a small town where news gets around quick. We always knew Betty would be 17, our age, but her ethnic background really depended on who we could get to play the role. For most of the opening, she wears a pretty typical outfit for a teenage girl. This costume features a light pink long-sleeve shirt and a pair of blue jeans. Pretty normal for an all-American girl! She also wears a simple white shirt as her pajama in the beginning of the room scene. 

Mentally, Betty has gone through a lot. While she is a smart, talented girl from a loving family whose life seems perfect, she went through the hardest thing a teenage girl might go through. Heartbreak. Last summer, James cheated on Betty with August and completely ruined their relationship. As a young girl, Betty's mother always told her that men could never be trusted. Betty takes this advice seriously because she wants nothing to do with James and no longer trusts him. She doesn't even try giving him another chance and rejects him at her doorway, not wanting to speak any longer. While Betty isn't the most confident, outgoing, popular girl of the town, she is definitely very strong and who won't let herself be manipulated. 

She speaks to the audience pretty dramatically, but also openly. She wants to tell us the story of what happened almost as if the audience is her friend. On the other hand, she is very closed off with James. They barely speak to each other and when he tries to reach out, Betty rejects him completely. She also speaks in a very annoyed, angry tone.  

There are many props around the scene that correlate with Betty's personality and what she is going through. For one, the memories Betty has with James are scattered around the room (photographs, letters, teddy bears). Obviously, Betty wants nothing to do with James, which can be seen by how the bear is stuffed in a trash can and the love letter is ripped up. It can also be seen that Betty cares about her appearance, since she is shown applying makeup to herself before starting the day. 

I don't think Betty knows what she wants or her intentions. While she has convinced herself that she doesn't want to be with James anymore, she obviously still has feelings for him by how she reacts to James' arrival. She is a little lost, which makes sense because the boy she loved so deeply completely violated her trust and their love. I think this movie, if it were fully completed, would follow Betty's growth and how she reaches some sort of closure, whether it be single or with James. 

Editing Part 2

So, the editing journey continues and I'm sad to say that we haven't made much progress. I blame it on the life of a Junior! We took our SAT today, which required a lot of time and studying from all our parts, including our editor, Melanie. So, since our las blog post was only published a few days ago, we haven't done much. Still, we've made some progress and are on track to finish in the next week.

So far, we have basically combined all the footage into one long video. Pictured above is a shot of Betty (Tori) slamming the door shut after James came to visit. As you can see, it is followed by the car driving up. We are creating a sequence of events! 

We also put in the sound of the alarm clock, like I said we would. It was actually much harder then we thought it would be! Melanie told us how she has to scour the Internet to find one decent alarm clock. It turns out that not alarm clocks are made equal. We also played around with Betty's voiceover and the music during the scene and tried to find the perfect volume amount for each. This is because we wanted to make sure the music didn't overpower the voiceover, since Betty's monologue is important to the story. We still have to institute the sound of the other scenes, like August and James' scene.

 We've also tried to play around with the transitions more. This part hasn't been that complicated because most of our transitions are simple cuts. But we still have to work on a more smooth transition from the back to back dialogue between Betty and James. It is a little choppy right now. 

Melanie spent some time editing last night, but like I said we were very busy with the SAT the last few days. However, not that we have this very important test out of the way, we can dedicate a lot more time to our film opening. We haven't done any additional filming because I think we have our final takes already.

Editing Part 1

        We have officially into our editing journey. While we are far from finished from a complete movie opening, we have made some work when it comes to editing. For example, our chief editor, Melanie Reynoso, has already received all of the footage from Tori and has cut the clips to make sure they sign up correctly in the film. 

Melanie practiced with some more of the editing last Sunday, since we were able to film the final footage for the film the day before. I should mention we changed the actress who is playing Betty to Tori since Amber is no longer available. We were also able to film the infamous August and James car scene last Saturday as well. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to dedicate too much time to the project because of other assignments and our upcoming SAT. However, I'm sure we will be closer to the finish line this upcoming week!

This is Melanie! She will be the person in our group that overlooks everything related to editing. While she was patiently waiting for the rest of us to finish filming, she was setting up the software we will be using to make our opening come to life!

    First, I should mention our preferred method of transition. After some discussion, we came to the conclusion that a simple cut would be the best way for us to transition from shot to shot. This is a fast opening scene, so a slow fade or other transitions wouldn't exactly work out great. In fact, it would feel a little rushed. So, we won't be using these as much, but they are obviously still an option.

Next, I'd like to talk about what audio effects we will use. I have mentioned before that we will have some diegetic sound we will have to enter into the opening during editing. For example, an alarm sound and a doorbell. We will also have to attach a separately recorded voiceover at the beginning of the scene and two different music tracks. One of the more complicated effect we will be using is the fade away from James and August's argument as the second music track fades in. This involves more advanced editing, so Melanie is still trying to figure it out. With a little research, we hope we can achieve this.

Here's a quick photo of one of the editing softwares Melanie is using. Seems like pretty fancy high-tech stuff to me!

I am also very excited to announce the we have chosen the name of our film! It's called The Hope of it All! We feel like this name fits perfectly with the vibe of our movie. These teens are just living for "the hope of it all"! The title will be displayed at the end of the film opening during a shot of the sky. We are thinking of making the font for the title either Great Vibes or Satisfy. Any swirly-styles font will do!

Tori as Betty in The Hope of it All

Daniel as James in The Hope of it All

Ashley as August in The Hope of it All

None of us are very experienced in editing. That has been the hardest part of this portion of the project. We find it much easier to film than edit! So, Melanie is still trying to figure out the works of the editing software and how we can make the opening look the best it can. Honestly, I think that is the factor that is slowing us down the most! Luckily, Melanie has at least a little experience, so she was able to shorten down the clips Tori sent her, like I mentioned before. I'll keep you guys updated as we get deeper into editing and I'm so excited to reveal the finished result. 

 

Starting to Edit

   Low and behold, we have finally reached the editing stage of our project. This portion of our project will focus on connecting all our different shots, adding sound and music, and inputting the credits and other special effects. Like I have said before, Melanie will be the main editor of our film opening. She volunteered herself for this role because she already has some experience in editing and will be receiving guidance and assistance from her friend throughout the process. 

   The rest of us will also be contributing something to the editing process, even though our main role is during the filming portion. Tori will be the one with the film camera and footage, so she will be uploading the files onto her computer and saving them on Google Drive. She will be sending the footage for editing. Hannah and I were the ones that looked through multiple tracks of no copyright music to find the two perfect songs for our film.

   I'm excited to announce that we think we have found our songs! The song that plays during Betty's room scene is called Reverie (Piano Version) ft. Adarsh PV by Lahar. This is a slow, thoughtful piano track that perfectly reflects the mood and drama of our film. The song that plays during the title shot will be Token (feat Cloe Sutherland) by Fernweh. This song actually has vocals and is also very emotional. Our song choices could always change in the future, but for now we think this works for our film.

   Melanie is still trying to figure out the works of our editing softwares, Sony Vegas, Final Cut, and Adobe After Effects, but soon we will finally see our movie all complete! 

Links to Songs: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyRs5liCLgU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77EPJ_BcT98

Our Use of Sound

     Sound will definitely be playing an important role in our movie. Like almost every other film, sound will be doing half the work when it comes to telling the story and allowing for viewer comprehension of what is happening on screen. Right from the start, we plan to use diegetic sound with the sound of the alarm going off in the morning, which will awake Betty. This should be followed by minimal sound as Betty wakes up and gets out of bed. However, as the shot changes to go around her room, music and Betty's voiceover should immediately start to play. We are unsure what this song will be since we have to look into the copyright of our options. We don't want to end up with a song we can't use! The voiceover will be the more important part of this scene, since it involves Betty revealing some of what she has been through and what the story is about. Not only does it help characterize Betty, but it also lets viewers begin to suspect that someone broke her heart. Both of these non-diegetic sounds will play as Betty gets ready for the day, until the doorbell rings and the room scene ends

    We will then transition to the front door scene between Betty and James. We don't think any music should be playing during this intimate scene between the exes. However, audiences will be hearing the intense dialogue as these two converse. They will also hear a loud slam as Betty shuts the door in James' face. All of the sounds during this scene will be diegetic.

    Finally, comes the scene between August and James. As James walks down the street, it will be partially silent, seldom the sounds of the neighborhood and him walking. However, August will pull up blasting music from her car radio. Unlike the music in Betty's room scene, this music will be diegetic. The two will begin to talk and eventually argue. Obviously, the car door will be heard opening and closing as James gets in the car. The last thing I'd like to mention is that as the camera tilts up from August and James to the sky(title shot) the music playing from August's radio will slowly get louder, as their arguing fades out. However,  August will not be turning up the music herself, so the music is only getting louder for audiences, making the music now non-diegetic. This will result in the shot of the sky, which reveals the title, featuring upbeat background music. 

    Last but not least, I think I should mention how we will be editing all of our shots and sounds. We will be using multiple editing softwares to bring our vision to life. These include Sony Vegas, Final Cut, and Adobe After Effects. We might not use all of these or we might use more, but these are our options for now. It really depends on what we find works best for our film opening while editing!