Progress!

That's right . . . progress! So last night turned into something quite beneficial. I was on my way to my girlfriend's house since I had to drop her off back at home and because I had to sign some forms if I wanted to go to her school's prom with her. Once we reached her house she disappeared for a few minutes to gather some documentation while I fell into that meditative state where I analyze the different options I have to proceed with my film project. Her dad and I started to have a conversation when I remembered that he too had a profound interest in film.

The Tripod

We actually dropped into quite a deep conversation—Senthil Uncle and I. It began when we were confronted with that awkward silence. The type of silence where both of us knew how weird it was that I was even allowed inside the house when just a few months ago Amutha Aunty was crying that her daughter had been spoiled by a sly charming boy (yes that's me) into having a boyfriend. Yet I digress. Anyways that's when I asked him, "So what do you know about tripods?" To my surprise, he actually sparked into intense interest. He obtained all the details of my film from me, from the course which required its submission to my entire history of making movies, to who would be acting in the film. Although the language barrier caused some confusion over what I was trying to create, an affirming nod assured me that he approved of my ideas. He then proceeded to offer me a tripod! But being the particular person I am, I asked if it was a fluid head tripod. And BINGO! It sure was a fluid head tripod :)

Senthil Uncle's Targus TGP60T fuild head tripod

The Microphone

Now I'll be perfectly honest I hadn't even thought of looking into audio equipment for the film. I was simply planning to deal with it on set. But after my experiences with recording through the camera's microphone, I realized that I seriously did need the microphone Senthil Uncle offered me. And similar to the tripod he offered his Blue Yeti USB microphone during our conversation about lavalier mics. We were discussing the practicality of using the discreet clip-on mics but he insisted that I add the voices in post-production instead. I was seriously skeptical about "dubbing" the audio but this morning I filmed a test scene where I reminisced on the difficulties of life with plenty of mumbling to create a challenge for syncing the voiceovers. However, when it actually came to it, the software I used (Wondershare Filmora) played back the audio into my headphones while I recorded the voice, allowing me to easily sync up the audio. I previewed the edited clip to my dad and to my surprise he was unable to realize that the voice was added in post-production. Maybe the months of awkward conversations with my girlfriend's dad were worth it after all.

Blue Yeti USB microphone

Location Scouting

Now for this I actually have a separate post I'll be sharing soon with all the pictures I obtained in my searching. Overall I found that I needed a road with less traffic so that I can portray the secluded environment that my film would take place in. I took along a friend who knew South Florida relatively well to help me look for different locations around and just outside of Weston to film without legal issues.

More pictures coming soon!