Month: November 2019

Siddhi shoot her first film the past Sunday and it was very challenging for her and also for us. We were helping her in the things she needed and, I was suppose to “act”. It was fun, although I am a very bad actress. I think we had a lot of fun and Siddhi was using all these technical terms of film, so you could see she did her homework. At the end we went to have dinner to a Peruvian restaurant called “Ceviche” in soho. I was very happy that everyone liked it.

The other project I am helping in is Jess project. She wants a 70s aesthetic to all her sets and styling. I am helping her with the sets. I did two of them and then we went together to the national theater to take some pictures and talk about her project. I love the location that she has and I would love to be on set those days, but I will be in Perú. She is going to make the sets with my psd and I am also helping her doing the cover of the book, so she can print it out and put it in any book.

Although I love the 70s this is my first time doing something like this. I really like the living room but not so sure about the bedroom. Also there is no budget so is kind of difficult to make changes. Jess said she liked it so at least is a guide for them.

I miss so much filming. I have develop three projects that I want to do in Lima. I already have the half of the team of every project.

The first one is about the women latin body. I already talked to the photographer, the model, makeup and hair. The concept came from an issue in Peru. This photographer is known for doing the 90% of her pictures only to women. They are almost naked and its a way to know your self, love your self and more. She does not like to take pictures to models but to real people. Her Instagram account has been deleted more than 13 times because the Peruvian society hates this. Peruvians are so traditional and close minded that they think this is wrong. She got her last Instagram account the last July and she was more careful with the things she posted. The problem was that she took pictures of her friend one year ago when that friend was 17 years ago and now she is being sue for child pornography by some Peruvian. Her friend is now 18 years old, so she is doing all the paper work for the safety of the photographer. I will interview the photographer, make a fashion story and a video and try to put it in a magazine.

The second one is about subcultures and identity. I really loved the subcultural talk that LCF made. I loved the part when the photographer Olivia Rose talked, also very happy that I got that one for my collaborative unit. There is a post punk culture in Lima (the capital city). In the center of the capital you can still see old cinemas when some persons still play music now. It is a very nostalgic thing, specially in a developing country like mine. That area is really poor and a little bit unsafe but its one of the places when you can still see the mix between post punk and contemporary fashion. I am working with a photographer friend named Paolo.

The third one is also about identity but, Latin-american identity. When someone ask me what is my race I always say mixed. Even when I have to answer digital surveys, there is no option for a Latino race, you have to go to the end for everything and then put “mixed”. I found a book of portraits of Latinoamerica in LCFs library. I am getting my inspiration from that mixing it with contemporary fashion.

first draft – structure

Main subject: “The construction of the self persona through mental heath issues in contemporary women”

1. Summary of the film: What is this film about?, describe it like no one has seen it before, tell the story about the film
2. Research of the film: Feminism and stereotypes, mental health issues, cultural background, identity, rol of clothing in identity,
3. Production of the film: pre production, on set, post production
4. Technique of the film??
5. Conclusions

I am trying to make the structure of my essay, so I can start to write something but I am not sure how to explain put that in an order. I am trying to get a first draft for the next tutorials and also the clips in the correct format.

Draft 1

Ordinary Childhood is my first film in London. It is a film about identity and mental issues in contemporary women in their 20s. I wanted to show the rol of clothing in the exploration of identity and mental health issues.

First, I planned to show the past through a set and the present through styling, but then after reading and attending different seminars I understood that we are all (past and present) and that we can change. We express through clothing but we have a big history behind us. Thats when I understood both things have to be together. I created three fictional characters that talked about my own mental health issues and how they are part of my identity regarding from where I came from. Anxiety, mother issues and stereotypes are my 3 subjects in this film. It is a short fashion film when you can see how different we are and how alike we are at the same time.

Furthermore, the pre-production for this film was a little bit clumsy. I tried to do everything by my self and that´s not the way to do it. It won´t happened again. I was running from one place to another instead of asking for help. I thought I could set up a ronin- actually I did, but we could not put the follow focus into it and we lost a lot of time. At the end we did camera on hand. Some clips are without focus but I will try to do my best to see a way to save those clips in post-production. I have to say I was really happy with the team. Everyone helped me out in so many different ways. I think I had a good time and all the persons that helped me out did too.

In a conclusion, I know that we are a great group of people that support each other and are ready to collaborate. I know I can´t pretend to do everything by my self and I need to ask for help for every single stage I am in. I have to prepare more the camera team. Look for a proper ronin operator and a focus puller as well. I am getting into the post-production in 2 weeks, so that will be fun.

Because IT will be in DNG format 🙁 and its more difficult to process and edit

*Here are some pics of the film

Notes

Issues Discussed:
1. Research (keywords) : Identity/ Women, Mental health, Role of clothing.

*On top of the research + updates the blog regularly + self reflection

2. Essay: Doesn´t have the structure yet but working on it. Need to check the books for holidays (if I can take them with me)
3. Learning journal updated -> form the reflective statement

Action Plan:

-> Post Production/Grading
->Linkedin learnging (free)
->Adobe Premier Tutorials
->time management apps
->wonderlist
->trello + notuin
->Collaborating with my class mates
-> subtitles? yellow?
-> Audio/ voice over
-> Music-> royalty free
->Letterbox

Yesterday we shoot the film Ordinary Childhood (name I am planning to change haha). The day before that was a hard day. First the Art team -Siddhi, Joy and me- went to the national theatre to hire props and to see it for the first time. It was like a dream. I am an Art Director, so when we entered I was overwhelm, in a good way. Everyone was really nice and we went through props and then to costume.

The next step was to test the camera with Laura and Jack. We did that in Lime grove. Everything was perfect. Then I went sourcing the fabrics, I talked to an owner of one of the stores in shepherds bush market, because I wanted to rent a lot of his stuff and he said yes. Then I went back to Lime grove and get the camera, tripod and lenses for next day.

After that I went to get the ronin and the focus follower. So the problem was that Jack didn’t know how to set up the ronin either how to balance it, so I went into youtube and started learning. After an hour I did it.

The problem was that when we arrive Lime Grove it took us 1 hour and 30 minutes to set up the whole camera with the focus and all the things so being 1 hour late for the shooting Jack told me to go back to just the camera on hand and I said yes. We were so late that we needed to make quicker decisions and that one was one fo those.

Here are some photos of the prep day (location scouting, props, and the filming day)

Runner / Jess
Makeup / Jessi
Art Team / Siddhi and Joy
Photography Team / Jack and Laura
Still Photography / Laura
Models / Oli, Firda, Paola
Producer/ Ana
Direction/ Fiorella


FYI we had beers after shooting in the studio.

I made the call sheet for Tuesday and a friend of mine in Peru double check it and help me with the time for each shot. I think I did a pretty good job, but we will run that day.

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The feeling of “finishing” no matter what