CCR

Bye blog </3 Will miss you :(

xoxo Irene Triantafyllopoulou

Here she is: It Must Be Love

enjoy!! ---> It Must Be Love Film Opening

Look back at it 

Sorry I had to. Anyway, hello blog, these are some of our last moments together. I really didn't think blogging would have such a big impact on my entire project but it definitely has. I look back at some old postings and I can truly see the journey and vision I had and I'm glad to say that my film opening reflects that. My group and I made what feels like hundreds of changes but at the end of the day we all knew what we wanted and we were always excited and motivated. Even though I would have never thought our girl Rona would hit like this but I think it taught us all a lot of teamwork and compromise. I also feel like each one of us had our strengths that made us work really well together. Sydney with her in-depth research, Valentina with the overall aesthetic and storyline and me with the editing. This project worked out so incredibly well and I truly feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

Hope my girl Lana is doing okay out there. Loved playing her and her quirky lil self.

Happy to say the final product will be posted tomorrow and the CCR as soon as possible. Grateful for this journey and project, really taught me a lot about my ability and that I should really embrace my love for media. Sending everyone lots of love and finally, stay home if you can! <3

xoxo, Irene Triantafyllopoulou

♡

Huge update <33

Making these blogposts is the only thing keeping me going in quarantine. So, I feel like yesterday's blogpost was not the most interesting or informational. Let me break down what's going on during the last week of this project journey. I emailed Mrs. Stoklosa for the rights for two songs so now I really do not have any excuses to not finish editing. After one longgg week of editing, she's complete!! I created these on my computer to put on the video and it brought up the quality and professional look of it so much :) I have noticed that using light colors like pale yellow, light green or white is very common in most coming of age and indie films.

This article and video helped so much with the vision. I really just wanted a typical teen girl movie that also touches upon social issues (of the time period of the revolution but not much has changed today) and has strong representation. I didn't want to make Lana stand out so much because then that makes her appear "different" or "weird", which is not our message at all. I truly tried to show Lana as a normal girl who is questioning her sexuality like most normal people do, no matter the age.

Also will be rewatching my film opening about 500 times and showing it to my entire family several times just in case I missed something or something is off. Ya never know!

I decided to make the actual credits yellow and the title of the film an orange to set the two colors of the 70's. 

Here are some stills from the opening:

Remember that lil flyer I made ;)

And yes, my dad's name is Thanos

I first put the credits on the different corners of the screen rather than right smack in the middle but for some reason it did not look right to me. I think the font just really gives the 70's look and even though I do have a lot of 70's pieces, the font just gives it that complete feel. 

Also, started editing my CCR and absolutely despised it so we're starting it again. The life of a perfectionist is really hard. See ya tomorrow blog with more updates!

-- considering making a little soundtrack because this article just really got me excited. I have never read such an accurate article. However, I do think the twilight soundtrack should be first on the list because it was a cultural reset. In this essay I will

5 Days Left!!!!

Ahhhh stress!!! I have started editing my CCR which is going to include a lottt of 70's pictures that will destroy the storage on my laptop but it will be worth it. Hopefully it will not bore you to death <3 Anyway, I need to email Mrs. Stoklosa for rights to some music but I do not want to overdue it with the emails so I am collecting as much as possible so I can test as many things out. Overall, I really did not expect my group to pull off this entire project. It did go a lot smoother than I anticipated even though we changed the storyboard about 6 times and the script another 18. But, it is all part of the great process and putting all of our ideas into our opening in the best way. Feeling really proud about our opening and teamwork. Hope everyone is happy and healthy and safe!!

Also, remember that typewriter Sydney ordered? We ran into a bit of a problem with that because it's literally the size of a tissue box. My hand just did not look right typing on that and it was too late to order another one, so we just went along with the diary which gives the same feel!! Also, the diary shows that Lana is just a regular teen girl that writes her thoughts in her personal diary, and not that she is necessarily a writer.

Media While Quarantined

Hello blog! While under this amazing, relaxing and extremely boring quarantine, media has been my true only outlet to the outside world. It first began as an endless vortex of Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and TikTok, until I decided to be a little bit more productive and useful with my time or use the information from those 4 apps to benefit myself. So starting off with Instagram:

I follow a bunch of random girly accounts and journal sketch accounts so I decided to put them together and create this little page in my journal and post it to my story to hopefully inspire others:

Some responses I got that keep me connected to friends:

Overall, posting and creating pictures including my favorite things keep me feeling better about my days and in general keeps me connected to people who share the same interests:

                             

Next, Twitter. So, let's be honest. Twitter does not provide the most intellectually stimulating content. But, it does spark some ideas and inspiration for my daily life. Since so many people started talking about this game Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, I wanted to get in on the hype. This was about a week ago, I am now on Level 44. You can say I am a tad bit obsessed and distracted. 

I posted my little character to my Snapchat private story (I will talk about that in a second) and 4 of my friends responded telling me to add them and I had no idea they had the game. I do sound dorky right now but I talked to them about the game for a good hour, showing that under these conditions with no real outside stimulation, we find interesting ways to still feel connected beyond just calling or texting. (Also, in the game you can water each others' plants (that sounded sexual, is not meant to be sexual) and give each other kudos. It's a really cute way to connect I highly recommend this game!!)

Now, Snapchat. Snapchat has the feature of allowing you to put only the people you want on a private story. I have about 30 people on mine, that include people all the way from Greece, New York and of course Florida. This is the best way to stay connected indirectly while still seeing what others are doing without necessarily talking daily. It's just a more private way (not actually private if you think about it) of posting random things that you only want a certain amount of people or specific people to see, does not have to be anything special but it can definitely open up conversations. Through Snapchat, I also ask a bunch of people to send me songs and playlists they have made, so here are two I recommend from my friend Alex and my friend Aldo:

Last but not least, TikTok. Another app with no intellectual stimulation, yet it is very motivating for art and working out in general. On my ForYou page, a bunch of workouts and paintings show up which I get a lot of inspiration from. Also, I send a lot of TikToks to friends which always bring me joy more than it probably does to them because I do spam a lot more than I should.

(Super random but my friend that lives in Texas got famous on TikTok and I messaged her about it and we texted for hours! Media has no limits with communication)

Pushing this even more, I found a thread of youtubers to watch on Twitter and I searched up this one girl that I knew was Greek and next to her name was a really popular show in Greece called "My Style Rocks' so I clicked on it and turns out she was on it to promote sustainability and fast fashion, which I would not have known unless I was in Greece chilling with my grandma on the couch. Anyway, to finish this long blog post, media has helped me with staying connected to people and lifestyle all the way from Greece to people around me in Florida in interesting ways. It has helped me stay motivated and creative, making my own workouts and art through inspiration on TikTok and overall sending funny and inspirational content and ideas to friends and even people in my own home without leaving the comfort of my bed. Of course, FaceTime, Whatsapp and Canvas have kept me sane and the most directly connected to the outside world of friends and school life but other uses of media makes the quarantine a lot more bearable and enjoyable for my daily life.

Finished filming and now we edit!

All shots and voiceovers are done and I could not be more relieved. I'm 80% done with editing it just needs some tweaks here and there. Also, I need to find royalty free music to add in the background because it's tooooo silent and feels more like a clip from a movie rather than an opening. Here is the set-up that I spent hours perfecting and putting in the details.

The editing portion: 

The voiceovers went a lot smoother than I thought, but I had to re-record my full Lana voiceover a good 6 times because I either kept laughing, stuttering or I sounded angry. But, thank god those parts are complete! Only thing is I do not know how to make the workout video audio sound old and coming from a radio, so that will be fun to figure out and research I guess. I also need to plug in the credits, and I think that's why it's not feeling quite right. 

Since it is set in the 70's, I wanted a yellow tint to it so these are the settings I'm putting on each clip (which will take me hours because there's no select all and paste option): 

My current editing right now: Almost there but not quite

I do not want to rush the editing but I also really excited to finish it!!!! Super excited for the final result <33

Setting up the room <3

I have a lot more 70's items than I thought. Here is the aftermath of searching through my house:

Looked through so many books to look at dates, googled 70's _______ too much and ran around my house like  a crazy person. Also, I thought that a phone would make the 70s inspired room ten times better but look at the radio!!! She's perfect!!! I also thought I needed to make a diary cover but I found the brown leather book and it looks legit. Ready to put everything together. (record player, lava lamp and floral bedsheets not shown but will be in the opening!)

+ put together the four outfits and I am getting so excited!!!! Filming all day tomorrow <3 Hopefully my next post I will have finished the filming portion. I also know my editing will take about a day because I get really excited to get things done (but. excluding the three voiceovers). Just ready to see the finished product :)

Storyboard Planning

I am filming on Thursday (officially, I have no excuses) and I have the full storyboard plan. It's a lot, bare with me, but the vision is so clear for me. The script is a little bit different from the storyboard but that can be fixed with editing. Wishing I had a 70s phone but I have to work with what I have :( (which is a lot so I am grateful!)

This storyboard will make no sense to anyone else but me. That's ok I guess?

Inspo for the makeover scene during monologue: 

There are four outfits I need:

- a workout outfit 

- 2 tester outfits (random seventies style)
- official night out outfit

workout outfit!

style!

hair!

Setting up the room tomorrow and recording the audio sooo more to come this week!!! See you soon blog! 

Fixing up the screenplay!!!

This. Right here. Is the hardest part of the entire project.

I have the visuals down, the actors and the idea. But the writing is so difficult. I want it to be unique and overall original without being extremely predictable but still coming-of-age. Do you understand the struggle??? I have been staring at my screen and searching up film openings for way. too. long.

While researching 70s workout videos, I came across this video. That's it. That's all. I'm still laughing. Anyway, here she is. The final screenplay and I am beyond proud of it.

It is a monologue style that I am going for but mixed in will be shots of her getting ready. I also recorded the monologue and it's a minute and 5 seconds long and then with the opening scene it will be 2 minutes exactly which is perfect! Now, I need to record three voiceovers:

1) the workout audio, making it sound "old" like

2) my "mom" yelling

3) the entire voiceover acted out perfectly

Also, I need the storyboard and research of workout outfits from the 70s. Until next time <33 

Quarantine Diaries: Room Decor

The days of quarantine seem to be blending together because I cannot tell which days I did what. This staying at home thing is a lot harder than I thought, especially with a project like this one. Anywayyyyy, today I printed out some pictures of main celebrities from the 70s to add to the walls of my room along with the other posters:

(also realized through this project how cute Mick Jagger was...... much to think about)

(I also created three other posters, using one of my print outs to use as a poster that I found on Pinterest)

BTW if you're curious, here is my pinterest board I created for poster inspiration :-)

(for your satisfaction needs)

Then, with the help of my sister, put all the posters up and some additional pictures to pull everything togethaaaaa:

(A picture of "Harmony and Lana")

It is coming together!!!!! Still waiting on the typewriter and will be fixing up the script along with the storyboard (thank miss corona for changing all my plans!!!!!!!!!!) 

See ya tomorrow ;)