Production Week: Day 1 Behind the Scenes

During the first day of filming, there was a lot of work that went on behind the scenes in order to get a perfect run. Here's a rundown of every technical aspect that went into filming.

For starters, the costume. That day I wore brighter clothes than I usually do to accurately portray Carla's character and brought an extra shirt for the flashback scene. 

-Carla's shirt in the flashback scene. I didn't want Carla to be wearing anything too fancy for this scene since she is technically supposed to be at home.

-Carla's main outfit. Her outfit is very bright because Carla isn't a bad person at all. She's a smart girl who broke under all the pressure.

I also wore fake glasses since Carla is supposed to look smart. The first thing Brandon and I did when we met up during 4th period was check out the settings on the script Jada and I typed up:

-Outside of theater. This setting is where the first few scenes were filmed. This includes the part where Carla checks the grade on her phone. The weather was working in our favor that day since I thought it would be nice for the first few scenes to be bright, before things get dark.

-Inside the theater. This specific location was used for one scene. We wanted to show Carla's fast-pace walking to let the audience know how nervous she was. The lighting of this scene is also the transition from bright to dark.

-This location, otherwise known as Mr. Johnson's desk, was where Carla talked to her teacher and killed him.

 Next thing we did was set up the props, this included:

-Carla's phone. Carla's phone is actually Brandon's phone since we were using my phone to film. The grade used in this film is not mine or Brandon's but my friend's old reading grade. She gave me permission prior to filming to use it in our movie.

-Graded 'F' worksheet. I found this old ACT practice packet in my binder and thought it would be perfect for the film. All I did was use a red marker to draw a big 'F' on the front. I also added some drawings so Emily could say "y dibujitos? no no no" or "and drawings? no no no."

-The Knife. This knife was a prop knife used in the drama club's last play 'CLUE'. I asked Mr. Kean if I could use it to kill him and he said yes, even told me to keep it.

And of course, personal props

-Carla's glasses. The glasses are actually blue light glasses that I already owned. I thought they would be a perfect prop for Carla since she is a smart girl.

-Carla's headphone and bookbag. Carla's headphone added a nice accessory to her costume and the bookbag of course is necessary since that's where all her school items go.

If none of this was set up before filming, the process would've gone a lot slower. Having the costume, location and props set up is what allowed for the filming to be done in under an hour. This is why pre-production planning is just as important as the actual filming. Minor details give the audience hints about the character and allow for personal analyzation of the main character or film.