Why Hues of Blue

I am not a fan of painting my nails. My fingers are so tiny and I am very dangerous with manicure tools, whenever I try to do my nails I always end up bleeding or with no nails at all. Also, finding the time to go to a salon is a real challenge because of all my other activities concerning more important things other than sitting with useless hands for two hours. I spend most of my days drawing with charcoal and dipping my hands in paint, so getting a manicure it is not really worth it. However, for some strange reason, every year on my birthday I find myself at a salon painting my nails blue. I don't think anyone notices, though my mom and my friends sometimes mention that they love how the blue contrasts with my pale skin, or that they like how it combines with my what I am wearing, but no one has ever mentioned the fact that I only do this on my birthday. I enjoy how the ritual has become my own secret tradition, it is like my own rite of passage, a very personal symbol of coming of age that I share solely with myself. There is definitely something about the color blue.

My nails today, yesterday was my birthday

I think blue is a very ambiguous color. In color psychology blue has multiple connotations and effects on people. To me however, blue symbolizes growing older and wiser. Blue is the color of the sky, and the ocean, blue is where I choose to go when I need an escape, where Veronica goes in search for herself.

I want to explore the ocean and its visual significance in this film. When I meditate about the ocean I always come to conclusion that the ocean is symbolic of a very important transition in my life. The time I first came to Miami to spend Summer vacation I loved to go to the beach and spend time by the sea in Key Biscayne, yet when my parents decided we were going to stay here to live in the United States, my feelings towards the beach were completely alternated. Did I hate the ocean? Did I hate paradise? Why did I have to detach from the polluted and congested valley of Mexico City, the place that had become my home for the last seven years? What was the purpose of starting all over again? Surrounded in blues my life completely changed. And escorted by blues I was to find my own colors, grow up, and accept change.

The irony that compasses me is that I have always had a very hard time accepting change, yet it seems that I am always looking for it. I am constantly craving something different, but when something different comes to me I suffer through change. So do I really want to change? Or am I scared of change? Is my adventurous side just an act? Do I really want to escape?

I am highly reminded of Picasso's Blue Period when I reflect on the importance of the color blue. The monochromatic series of pieces created by Picasso during this time period usually depicted the desolation of social outsiders, whether they be prisoners, beggars, circus people or poor or despairing people.

The Blue Room, Pablo Picasso

La Femme aux Bras Croises, Pablo Picasso

La Vie, Pablo Picasso

I think that blue holds so much feeling and sentiment in general, it is such a mellow yet powerful color. There is a Peter Bjorn and John song inspired by Picasso's Blue Period that says:

I'm a blue period Picasso stuck on a wall 

In the middle of a hall in Barcelona

Trying to figure out how to get down

Cause this solitude is bringing me down

All just a part of what I am

It's just a part of my beating heart,

beating for you

I enjoy this song very much, maybe it doesn't talk exactly about how Picasso felt during this period, but it does reflect on how the singers interpret his artwork. The Blue Period reminds them of how it feels to have your heart "kindly stolen" by somebody but then being left alone, empty, with no heart. Maybe this sounds completely detached from my topic about coming-of-age and development. But solitude and emptiness are aspects that will be explored in this film as well, those themes are directly connected with growing older and accepting change, along with the unsatisfactory bits of life that come upon us.

Production day 2; desk

Shooting the desk Scene

The desk scene is a very important image in Hues of Bl(u)e, as I mentioned before, the purpose of this scene is to establish the main character through objects. There were many objects added to this scene that were elements of a self portrait. I particularly loved the atlas in the back wall, telling us right away the importance travelling for Veronica. The boxes surrounded her making her looked trapped in "emptiness" as it was mentioned in a previous post. I also added some hidden personal journals on her desk. I added two bossanova books as well (bossa nova sounds have a huge presence in my music library, in another life I am pretty sure I was a bossa nova singer in Rio de Janeiro). I also added a book about Salvador Dali (I am passionate about the Surrealist art movement). And finally I also added a mannequin with a red dress that I am planning Veronica to wear in another scene, the mannequin is one of my personal belongings, I've had it since I was in middle school in the hopes of becoming a fashion designer one day, but in only became a piece of decoration and a place to hang other things, I give it its correct purpose on this scene laughing at myself basically, making one of my personal wishes real through Veronica's character. Veronica's costume is very important and I will dedicate another post to talk entirely about her appearance. 

Here is a time lapse video of the scenes shot from above. (Wes Anderson inspired)

Especial Thanks to Ariana, Maru, and my aunt Magly.

Production day 1; stills

Starting to produce the film is a bit scary, and to be completely frank Spring Break is being a big obstacle for the film. The due date is getting closer and closer, plus whenever I'm doing something that matters this much to me I tend to overthink and end up doing nothing. It is not really about my grade or passing the AICE class, I just really want to be satisfied with my production... It is very certain that we are the hardest judges on ourselves.

However, today I started to record footage and I am very happy with what I came home with. I decided to begin with the still shots of the ocean that are basically in the middle of the story board. As of now I am planning to place these shots after the desk scene. The still shots I created were mainly inspired by the opening scenes of "Submarine," the film I discussed on my second post. 

Submarine, Richard Ayoade

Submarine starts with Oliver in his room, his most intimate space, then he tells us one of his bizarre insights, something that he'll repeatedly do as the film progresses. Then BAM! he looks straight into the lens breaking the fourth wall right at the beginning of the movie. I absolutely love that director took this decision so early in the film, he definitely sets the overly dramatic, and awkward tone right away. As I mentioned before, I am considering to do this with my character in the desk scene as well. After all this, we see the beautiful still shots of a Welsh sunset. I think these still shots are very important for "Submarine" to establish the setting, Wales, which is a very important aspect of the film. On the other hand, I want to add the still shots in my movie for other reasons. 

Hues of Bl(u)e is about an escape, about leaving home, and ultimately about being lonely. The still shots of the ocean are in essence negative space and emptiness. With them I want to illustrate feelings of nostalgia and solitude right away, I want the audience to look at the nothingness, to look at the absence of existence. I am not necessarily stating that this is how Veronica feels right now, but perhaps she is going to feel that way throughout her journey. Yes, escaping is thrilling and exciting, but it is also full of solitude and meditation with oneself. 

Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris"

Moreover, I think the ocean is a very important symbol during an escape, the ocean is the outlet to the rest of the world. If I were to escape, I would go in direction of the ocean. The sea just feels right

Here are some stills of the shots taken today:

Wrapping boxes

Today I am working on creating the set for the desk scene. I want Veronica to be seating on the desk sewing the map. However this place in particular is very important because this is where the audience will learn the most about who Veronica is. Her obsession with maps, her deep feelings towards the color blue, and her wish to leave. I am very inspired by this scene from Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel.

I want Veronica's desk to be surrounded in blue boxes. As I spoke to my peer Kiara on our first group discussion the imagery of the boxes around her can create the feeling of being trapped and stuck, but the boxes are empty, so in essence being trapped by emptiness. The empty boxes are also symbolic of all the unopened experiences that are to be opened, all of the things that Veronica is anxiously waiting to encounter in her journey. 

Special thanks to mom, dad, Maria, Cesar and Karif who came over to help me wrap empty boxes.

First story board

After an explosion of images in my mind and something that felt like a midnight epiphany two nights ago, I think I have finally come up with a sequence of my film opening that makes sense. I drew it on a piece of paper and I guess I could call this the fist rough draft of my story board. There are some shots that I think will be challenging, and I will definitely have to get very creative due to my lack of equipment, but if I obtain these images on my mind I think the scenes will look beautiful.  

As of now, the first image is going to be a very symmetrical, a Wes Anderson-type shot of the main character (Veronica) sitting on her desk. I want this shot to establish her. The design of the set on this scene is extremely important, I want to be very careful choosing all of the objects that will be placed around her. Her desk is going to be crowded but at the same time very organized. There will be a map of the world behind her handing on a wall, I want it to be pinned and threaded, showing that she has been studying her geography for quite some time. I think it would be interesting if she looked straight at the camera braking the fourth wall. Oliver Tate does this in "Submarine," and he creates intimacy with the viewer since the beginning on the film. I still have to meditate more about this decision. 

I think her desk and her work space are very important symbols. Veronica is allowing us inside her world, inside her most intimate space, the space where she plans he escape and daydreams about her life elsewhere. Objects like journals and coffee mugs will also be shown in this sequence. As I said in a previous scene I want to establish her with objects, with her most precious belongings. And for that I want a series of shots from above, like Wes Anderson does in my previous post (Objects) showing a journal, a book, the inside of a box, pictures, postcards, and finally the map, her most precious belonging.

I will continue to explain the rest of the story board in future posts. 

Maps take you to other places

About a month ago, I watched a beautiful film called "Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter." The story is about a Japanese woman, Kumiko, who has certainly lost herself, slowly detaching from reality, she embarks on a trip to North Dakota. Her life in Tokyo is very lonely, she abhors her job in a tedious office, and has a terrible relationship with her mother, Kumiko has deep obsession with an American movie called "Fargo" she goes home every night and watches it during supper, she even has a room filled with old cassettes of previous Fargo tapes. For some reason she has come to the conclusion that Fargo is some sort of documentary of a true story. she is later convinced that she must go to North Dakota in the middle of  the winter and dig up the ground to find a treasure that is buried in the movie. 

“I am like a Spanish conquistador,” she tells the security guard at a library where she tries to learn more about North Dakota. - Neil Genzlinger, New York Times

What I love most about Kumiko is the photography and the art direction of the film, Japan is portrayed beautifully, her office, her home, and the library everything is so symmetrical and gleaming. The images are shot so meticulously as if every shot was a piece of art. Then when she arrives to North Dakota, the colors of her costume in contrast with the white snow adds up to the artwork sense of the film. I think that it is so beautiful to such an extent because the director is slowly trying to detach from reality as the film progresses.

still shots from Kumiko, David Zellner

There is something that I want to steal from Kumiko, her map. In the beginning of the movie when she is planning her escape, she sews her own map, with threads and needles and a piece of white fabric. This decision adds so much meaning to her escape from reality and from her insipid life in Tokyo. It feels like her desire essentially her need to flee is so vital and significant. I think the map is a crucial symbol in the film, and I want a sewn map in my film too, to emphasize the significance of my character's escape as well.

Kumiko's map

"Going off on a journey to uncharted territories can not only be terrifying but also dangerous, so why do we yearn to take a trip that could potentially be our last?" - Stacie Sells, The Mary Sue.

References:
Genzlinger, Neil. "Review: ‘Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter,’ Inspired by an Urban Legend." The New York 
Times. The New York Times, 17 Mar. 2015. Web. 16 Mar. 2016.
Sells, Stacie. "The Heroine’s Journey: Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter." The Mary Sue The Heroines Journey Kumiko the Treasure Hunter Comments. The Mary Sue, 09 Aug. 2015. Web. 16 Mar. 2016.

Romanticizing other places

One of my favorite films, Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, develops around the idea of nostalgia and the idealization of the past. The story talks about the constant thought that living in a previous time is much better than living in the present. Protagonist, Gil, travels back in time to 1920 Paris where he delves into a non stop Golden Age party with cultural icons like Picasso, Hemingway, The Fitzgeralds, Salvador Dali, and Gertrude Stein. However, when he falls in love with one of Picasso's mistresses, Adriana, she wants to travel even further back in time to the Belle Epoque of the late 1800s. Thus, no one is satisfied with life in their corresponding present, and there is always this deep sentimentality towards the past.

"Isn’t that always how it goes? The past seems so much more vivid, more substantial, than the present, and then it evaporates with the cold touch of reality. The good old days are so alluring because we were not around, however much we wish we were."- A.O. Scott, New York Times. 

Images from Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris

Like Gil and Adriana, I think that I have always romanticized living somewhere else. Not necessarily in a previous time but instead in another place. I have always idealized living in picturesque cities like Amsterdam, Bordeaux, and Verona. But when I meditate about it, it is not really the idea of living in those cities that inspires me the most. It is actually the idea of escaping, of leaving everything behind, and of being on my own, that thrills me the most. 

The conversations that I have with my friends tend to be about other places. We often find ourselves talking about life in Europe or Asia, making bucket lists of mountains we want to hike, dishes we want to try, oases we want to dive in. I even have an Airbnb wish list of astronomical campsites and lodges in Chile. Who knows if I'll ever be able to visit. Our hunger to escape and explore is palpable, our calendars are marked and our travel journals are filled, we want to get lost in wanderlust.

For this reason I have decided to make a coming-of-age movie about an escape. About a girl (me) who carefully plans to leave home without a specific destination. However I want to approach this story the way Woody Allen does in Midnight in Paris, I don't want her to leave home as an "ambition toward immortality," Like A.O. Scott says in his film review for the Times. Instead, I want her to leave for memorabilia, or art, as if an inner force solicits her to wander and experience loneliness in order for her character to develop and ultimately understand the purpose of life, as of now at least.

Like Gil I want my main character's travels to connect her to the present, in this case to connect her to her home and her daily life, however monotonous or ennui it might be. In Midnight in Paris, Gil's adventures ultimately help him forge a connection with the present, and fall in love with a French girl in 21st Century Paris, while Adriana from the 1920s can not control her feelings and decides to stay further back in the Belle Epoque. 

I have been taking French classes since 8th grade. Last fall I applied to study my senior year abroad in the city of Rennes in Northern France. I was accepted two weeks ago, and I will start the school year in September. I guess that now I am officially going to "escape" from home. Now that this is part of reality I can't deny that I have doubts about my decision. I hate having mixed feelings, but I have always been a mixed-feelings kind of person throughout my life. There has never been a decision that I haven't considered more than twice, the uncertainty cloud is always raining above me, it is just a thing I have always had to deal with. I keep telling my mom that I don't want to escape home, and that I love home.

I wonder what my real adventures will bring next year. I hope this film can work as an illustration of how I feel right now. 

References: Scott, A. O. "The Old Ennui and the Lost Generation." The New York Times. The New York Times, 19 May 2011. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.

Wes Anderson (objects) ; research

Wes Anderson; Objects

As I briefly mentioned on my precious post, I absolutely love how director Wes Anderson makes objects the protagonists of several of his images on film. Wes Anderson is definitely a very peculiar director, his aesthetic is very specific and unique. Once one familiarizes with his style, his pieces are recognized instantly.

Here is a video that shows a compilation of Wes Anderson's scenes taken from above, giving objects a very significant role in his stories, which I think is a very interesting element in his work. I think this will serve as inspiration later on when I have a clear story to tell.

I want the objects in my film to be very representational and symbolic. Wes Anderson shows us that we can tell a lot about someone based on their things. I want to introduce my character with objects that tell us who she is just by observing her belongings and how she interacts with them.

anatomy of a scene; research

The Anatomy of a Scene

Insight from director Richard Ayoade 

As I mentioned in my first post, Submarine, directed by Richard Ayodae is a very special film to me. I have decided to make some research on Ayoade's composition of one of my favorite scenes. 

I truly love the overly dramatic tone that Ayoade's adds to this scene. The camera movements following Oliver while approaching Jordana under the bridge makes the scene feel very secretive. The fact that he chooses to show the viewer the complete process of approaching somebody is what puts us (the viewers) in Oliver's shoes. As I watch it, it makes me feel the same anticipation and anxiousness that Oliver seems to experience while approaching his love, Jordana. I especially love the zoom-ins to their faces once their eyes meet, making it even more dramatic and symbolic. I feel like it detaches from romance and becomes more of a goofy/awkward situation.

Not to mention I find the symmetry of the shots fascinating. I love how Oliver and Jordana are both placed exactly between the two train platforms, making the visual composition a lot more interesting and choreographed. This meticulous decision disconnects the characters and the viewers from reality, taking us to a surreal and dreamlike setting in the world of Submarine.

Finally the sequence where the characters finally kiss and the flashing polaroid camera documents the awkward scene is magnificent. As Ayodae mentions, this scene is filmed like a murder instead of a conventional romantic kiss. This is what I absolutely love about this film, I believe that the overdramatic twists ironically make it even more real and crude. This is what a first kiss feels like, uncomfortable, uneasy, and gut-wrenching, just like a murder.

I would also like to share another one of my favorites scenes from Submarine. This part of the film, right after Jordana and Oliver decide to be together, is a perfect representation of real teenage love. Young love is beautiful and dreamy, but it is also futile and ephemeral. Ayodae's choices are very effective in conveying this idea of ephemeral love. He even chooses to depict some of it through Super 8 footage, as if it was seen through Oliver's eyes, submerging us into their experience of these beautiful and ethereal instances.

In terms of art direction, I love the beginning, it reminds me of Wes Anderson and his obsession with making ordinary objects the protagonists of shots. I think that the kaleidoscope, the fog, and the contrasting colors of the whole sequence are beautiful. But what I absolutely adore is the red lights and the obstructed panoramic shot of the couple running across the deserted fair. These are images that I will consider when creating my own footage.

References: 
"Alex Turner - Hiding Tonight (Submarine)." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2016.
Scott, A. O. "Coming of Age, and Then to Terms." The New York Times. The New York Times, 02 June 2011. Web. 10 Mar. 2016.

My first post

Self Portraiture in Film

My Purpose

I am the kind of girl that highlights phrases in books, rereads chapters, and jots down notes on the margin. One of my latest reads, Still Writing, by Dani Shapiro, talks about the perils and the pleasures of living a creative life. The most insightful chapter about creative experiences mentions the brilliant tenets of writing, by poet Jane Kenyon:

"Be a good steward of your gifts. Protect your time. Feed your inner life. Avoid too much noise. Read good books, have good sentences in your ears. Be by yourself as often as you can. Walk. Take the phone off the hook. Work regular hours."

The purpose of this blog is to escort me through the creative process of creating the opening a short film for the AICE Media Studies AS level course. I add these words by Jane Kenyon because I think that following her principles is the the first logical step I must take for this project to be meaningful and fruitful.

First I should briefly introduce myself. My name is Veronica, I am a junior in high school and in short, everything about film, creating visuals, especially when it comes to art direction, is of high appeal to me and it is definitely what I aspire to do in the future.

My class has been aware of this project since the first week of school back in August, and I have been excited about it since day one. However, to be completely frank, I had a million ideas back in August and November and January... But now that the time has finally come I feel very overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with the images I want to show and with the messages I want to come across. It is difficult to know where and how to begin.

As a first step, I have made the decision that my film must be a self portrait, perhaps self portrait is not the correct term, but what I mean is that I want the film to be personal. I want my own experiences and my daily life to be the main source of inspiration. I could think of a thousand stories happening in remote parts of the globe, with people of peculiar nationalities, ages, and ethnicities. I could think of stories from other time periods, past, present, future, maybe even from outer space. But I think the real challenge would be to create something honest and substantial. Something about me that appeals to others, something worth sharing. I want my film to be genuine, and my ultimate goal is make the audience feel, and for that, the director (me) must feel as well.

When I think of films that have made me feel, there is few of them on the list, but they are definitely the most memorable and meaningful pieces.

Richard Ayoade's Submarine, for instance is one of the films that I have watched several times, and still find absolutely splendid. The peculiar characters, the secluded setting, the awkward love story, the overly dramatic tone, and Alex Turner's voice.... Everything works together so cohesively, coming together to create magic. In essence a surreal collection of images and sounds that make you feel something deep inside. 

                                                                                                                Still shots from Richard Ayoade's Submarine


That is exactly why I want to make movies.

Now, when I think about me, my voice, my movie, I know that I want to nurture this piece as if it was my own baby. But I am still not quite sure what I have to say. What can I share that is genuine and special and meaningful?

Mrs. Kenyon, I hope your advice helps me.