Decision of the Pitch

Maya and my first pitch is "On the way to the party of her dreams, Rose faces a setback that makes her wish she never went out that night." We like this pitch because we like the backstory it has behind it. It is about a girl that likes to party a lot, and has a partying problem. One night when she is going to the party that is said to be "the best party of the year", her car breaks down. It leaves the audience wondering, did someone do something to her car? Or was she just having car problems? Besides that, there is no signal in the area, so she is stranded. A van stops next to her, and while she thinks they are there to help her, they end up taking her. The introduction of the film will end with her being put into the van. This leaves the viewers wondering who took her, why her car broke down, and who would want to kidnap her. It also leaves them wondering if it is someone who has a personal vendetta against her, or a complete stranger.

Our second pitch is "The plan is almost completed when Blake hitches a ride in Rose's car, yet her dreams are crushed through his actions." This is our other pitch, and we like it because it will show both perspectives. The hitchhiker, Blake, and the main character, Rose, who likes to party a lot. Our first and second pitch are sort of similar, but both lead to completely different endings. This pitch allows for us to film Rose's perspective. Her point of view would be her getting ready for the party, and on the way to the party she encounters a hitchhiker. She allows him to ride with her, as he would like to go to the local Walmart. Or so she thought. From Blake's point of view, we will be able to view all of his thoughts. Before he asked Rose for a ride, he was planning his way to kidnap her. He had a very thought out process. Through this introduction, we will be able to see both perspectives, giving the viewers a peek at both sides of the characters.

Finally, Maya and I decided on a pitch. We chose pitch 1 due to many reasons. One of them is because it has a better and more detailed backstory. There is more information added to this introduction. We believe it is also easier to film. The second pitch may be too complicated to film, and the first pitch seems easier. However, we are not only choosing pitch 1 because it is easier. We are also choosing it because pitch 2 would become confusing. Between switching back and forth with both perspectives, the view may get lost in the process. Pitch 1 has a more flowing plot line, resulting in a smoother film.

Start of Final Task

I have worked with Maya for every assignment I have been given. I believe we are a good team. We work efficiently together, and we learn together. We plan on working together for the final project as well. Due to this, we have already began deciding what we are doing. Thankfully, we pretty much have the same viewpoints. This makes it easier to work with her. The reason for this is because we get along well, and we are able to come to conclusions and make decisions much easier. Maya is a very well organized person. I'm glad I've worked with her throughout this year.


Over the time period of this course, I have learned so much. Whether it be about editing, filming, or creating a storyboard, there are so many new things I have been introduced to. There are many talents that I am excited to use for the final task. Filming is a very tiring task, as there are many ways to angle your take. However, through all of the struggles, you are presented with your film. When you put a lot of work into a film, it turns out great. I'm very happy that Maya and I have made our films flowing and good. Editing is another amazing aspect of this class. I love piecing together our project, and seeing what we make it into. It is great to see our creation after putting hours of work into it.

A pitch is a Hollywood term used to describe an idea where a film is encapsulated in 25 words or less. It is usually with one sentence, and it gets the viewers wanting to hear more. Maya and I came up with three pitch ideas. The first one is "On the way to the party of her dreams, Rose faces a setback that makes her wish she never went out that night." The second one is "The plan is almost completed when Blake hitches a ride in Rose's car, yet her dreams are crushed through his actions." The last pitch is "A party turns bad with a simple text which leads to the fifth killing in Pinksville, a city that has never faced crime."

Editing for Music Video

Today in class Maya and I got a lot done. We successfully edited the first half of our music video. We are glad we get part of next class to edit. However, there were some complications with the program. The program was quite slow. Even though we knew what we wanted, it did take quite a while to load. But that did not stop us. While things were loading, we were able to say again what we wanted to do. We wanted slow motion for one part of the video but it was not working. So, we had to improvise and try something else.

When we started editing, we first imported all of the takes we had. From here, we looked through them. But we did it part by part. We started off with the first clip we had to do. It was 5 seconds according to our storyboard.  So we took the best 5 seconds from the take we liked the most. When we did this, we also had to think of transitions. The transitions take up time from the film. Due to this, we had to put in a clip, do the transition, and then put in the next clip. We only realized this when we had 30 minutes left of class, so we had to fix everything.

When we were done fixing the clips, we were quite proud of the beginning of our film. We have about one fourth left to do. Next class we will have about an hour to put together everything finally. We just need to add some of the end clips that are mentioned in our storyboard. Also, we need to perfect our transitions. Along with this, we need to make sure each clip lines up with the lyrics from the music. But, with the amount of work Maya and I put in, it will be a breeze. I am only worried about how long it will take to export the film and send it in to Mr. Katz.  Maya and I are learning a lot from Pinnacle Studios, and believe we are doing a great job so far.

Filming for Music Video - Future

Maya and I filmed before the break occurred. Therefore, we did not have to film for Thanksgiving break. We did it this way, because Maya was going out of town over the break. So we knew we had to film beforehand. It still turned out okay. We believe our music video will piece together perfectly. Since we did not film this weekend, we did other things. We planned out how we would fix our clips to make them into the music video. I communicated with Maya using my cell phone. While she was enjoying her break, we got to discuss our music video so we could make it as good as possible.

We did this so that we did not completely waste the break. Since we got so many days off of school we wanted to make use of it. So we planned out how we were going to do everything from this point. We get two full class days to edit our music video. It is due by the end of the second day. We think we will be done in about one class day and a half. We think this because we have it envisioned in our head what we want. Maya and I will be very focused to achieve our goals. If we finish early, it will give us more time to export the video. The exporting process can vary in length, so it is best if we get it done with spare time rather than have it done with no spare time.

All in all, I believe Maya and I are ready for the editing process. Not filming this weekend gave us time to think about what we need to do to reach our deadlines. We are very efficient workers so I believe we can finish before the deadline. Also, our editing skills have improved since last time. We now know how to properly work Pinnacle Studios. Because of this, I believe our editing process will be shorter than last time. The only thing we have to do is make sure our transitions make sense. Also, our song has to be on key with the film itself. I feel like that will be a challenge. But with a lot of perseverance, I believe we can get it done.

Filming for Music Video - Finished

Today, Maya and I finished filming our music video. While it was a pretty tiring process, I feel like we got good clips. Maya and I believe our music video will turn out great. We have to edit it after break. As for the filming process, I mainly filmed while Maya acted. I was in some clips, but it was mainly Maya. We didn't like the idea of switching characters in a music video, but we also wanted to include each other. We mainly filmed at Maya's house.  Another location we had was the beach. We used Maya's road, bedroom, and kitchen.

We started off filming in the kitchen even though our first part of the video is on the beach. We did this so that we didn't have to keep going back and forth. We also planned to go to the beach at sunrise so we could not film that part at 8:00 P.M. In the kitchen we made the setting look like we were making cookies. We laid out eggs, flour, sprinkles, cookie dough, and a bowl to hold it all. We took a couple of takes. They varied from me alone, Maya alone, and both of us together. We did this so we could see which we liked better and if there should be another individual in this scene. From here we messed around with the dough to make it look like we were rolling the dough into balls to form cookies. 

After this we took shots containing me placing the pan in the oven, checking on it, and me taking it out of the oven. From here we decided I would be in these shots so it stays even for this scene. After the cookies cooled down, I ate one and threw the Santa hat at the screen so i could use it for transition. In the next shot I took the the hat and put it on. After this, Maya and I took the shots at the beach before sunrise. We took a couple of Maya walking towards the water and back. When the sun was rising, we took some more, and we placed the hearts in the water and let it wash away. We picked up the hearts after because we did not want to pollute the water. From here, we went home and took shots of Maya in her bed. She cuddled with her dog as a "true lover". Then she "woke up" and the dog was not there anymore, indicating she was alone. This concluded our filming process.

Storyboard for Music Video

For the music video our costumes will consist of Santa hats and red/white clothing to represent Santa Clause and bring the Christmas Spirit. For lighting, we are going outside during the sunrise to introduce the beginning of the day. We are also going to film close to midnight when it is darker. This portrays happiness versus loneliness. As for the actors, Maya and I will have to be joyful and high spirited at times, but at other times we will be sad as loneliness takes over. We would also have to keep cozy and make it look like we are having a great time. For makeup, Maya and I will wear red lipstick, since on Christmas that is what females wear. We might put on light gold eye shadow along with bold eyeliner and mascara. To get in the Christmas spirit, we will include stockings, a Christmas tree, ornaments, a gingerbread house, milk and cookies, and candy canes for the props. Lastly, for the scene, it will take place on the boardwalk leading to the beach, signifying a lonely path. We will also film on the road outside of her house as another lonely path. Finally, we will film in her living room by a fire pit to keep warm and her couch.

For the editing, I do not think it will be that difficult. Maya and I practiced on the last project together. From this we are more educated on the application Pinnacle Studios. For the editing process, we will need to cut out many clips. For instance, if we are both in a scene, we will need to cut out the part where we place the camera down on the tripod. While editing, we also need to look at the time. Our music video has to be 1:05-1:15 minutes long. We are not allowed to go under or above that time. For this, our storyboard has to have about 5-6 seconds per box. Lastly, we will need to add transitions to make our video more smooth.

For the sounds, Maya and I will not speak at all. As it is a music video, the music will be the only thing playing in the background. The only thing I am worried about is actually being on beat with the music. As it may be a challenge, Maya and I will still succeed and do our best to stay on key. We will not use any additional sound effects. We decided to use the time frame of 1:00-2:10. The reason for this is because from 0:00-0:59, there wasn't enough detail. We felt that 1:00-2:10 had the most detail in the lyrics, and it was perfect for our music video. 

Planning for Music Video

Maya and I plan to film the music video for "Santa Tell Me" by Ariana Grande at Maya's house. We plan to utilize her backyard with a bridge to the beach, inside of her house by the chimney, her kitchen, and the road outside of her house. A problem we may face is rainy weather. Since we live in Florida, it tends to be rainy during this time of the year. Due to this, our solution would be to look at the weather forecast in advance to predict when we would be able to film that part of the music video. Part of our music video consists of the following hazards: a fire in the chimney, usage of a vehicle, and bridges. These are dangerous to come across, but I think that Maya and I are responsible enough to not mess around when coming into contact with that. As for the props we are using, they are mainly Christmas related. These consist of candy canes, hot chocolate, a mistletoe, gingerbread cookies, stockings, and lastly milk with cookies. We are also going to use a calendar to mark of the days until Christmas and New Year's in the video. Along with this we are using Maya's dog to represent our "true love". For our costumes, we plan on using a Santa hat along with red and white clothing, or any Christmas related clothing, to fully bring the Christmas spirit into the video. During this class, we are working on story-boarding as well as this blog. Next class, we plan to finish story-boarding as well as blogging for the storyboard. To add on, this weekend Maya and I plan to complete our filming process. Although it has not started yet, I plan to spend the night at her house so we can get night shots as well as day shots. Because of this, we can use future classes after this weekend to edit our video. We can also write the blogs needed.