Project Components

I can't believe we're here. Im so happy.

May I very proudly present to you, 

"TAKEOUT" (Click here or watch below!)

@Takeout.Film INSTAGRAM LINK

Link to FRONT OF POSTCARD

Link to BACK OF POSTCARD

Critical Reflection

    My short film, "Takeout," is a gripping drama that follows a group of six teenagers as they devise a heist plan to steal from a local diner. At its core, the film delves into the complex personalities of Ember and Ben, two members of the group who initially clash over ideas but ultimately collaborate to create a crucial distraction that could make or break the success of their scheme.

    

    Ember's character in "Takeout" challenges traditional gender roles and highlights the struggle for women to assert themselves in male-dominated environments. As one of the only women in the group, she is automatically out of place and met with skepticism from Christian, almost immediately questioning why she is even there. Despite this, Ember emerges as the group's strategist, displaying her logical thinking and creative problem-solving skills when she formulates the idea of a distraction. Her refusal to accept the group's initial plan, and her ultimate leadership in executing her own idea, shows the power of women in positions of authority and the value of diversity in decision-making. By showcasing Ember's transformation from a perceived outsider to the brains of the operation, "Takeout" challenges societal norms and represents the potential of women to excel in leadership roles.

    “Takeout” can be generally categorized as a drama, reeling in a target audience of predominantly young adults. Through advertisement, the film could be perceived as having romantic aspects, through such images of Ben and Ember sitting at the diner together. This genre-perception is still successful in having a young adult audience, but also reels in more females, as they stereotypically gravitate towards emotion-led stories such as in the romance genre. This genre-flip alone is one of the main ways the film engages with its audience. It creates discussion, reaction, and unexpected emotion led through the plot twist of why Ember and Ben are actually sitting in the diner for. Not to mention, anyone who was drawn into viewing the film due to the romantic shots will get a woman-led operation in return, which strategically is a home-run for the same audience of female young adults. 

     The film also has a social media aspect, an instagram account under the username @Takeout.film. On this page, publicity is maximized through the usage of promotional graphics, behind the scene photos, film-clips, character highlights, count-downs, and my personal favorite- a blooper reel. These mostly professional, yet highly entertaining pieces of reality behind making the film is what truly engages the audience, making the content easy to share, and ultimately garnering many comments, likes, and shares on each post.

A post on the instagram (Look at that engagement!)

    A postcard was also created to hypothetically be handed out at film festivals to further promote the film. Visually stunning, the postcard is engaging through displaying ways to consume more “Takeout”. The social media username handle is listed on the left back, whilst the showing dates, times, and location is clearly advertised as well. 

The back of the postcard

    These three aspects work together to create a multi-dimensional brand. On the surface, an enjoyable, classic, and dynamic friend-group is delivered, through the film itself and character highlights on the social media page. Then, you have the deeper dynamic of Ember and Ben, fueling the drama and feeding the appetite of intensity-hungry viewers through the front of the postcard and the opening scene. As a takeaway, you are left with Ember’s dominance and logic, leading the pack to a possibility of success through the building tension in the film, along with the final result of the plan. To improve brand development, Ember could possibly be advertised as the main character rather than one of two in an attempt to emphasize her ultimate authority. However, the way it was executed with Ember as part of a duo protects the plot-twist and in its full secrecy, and aids to stress her come-up as the orchestrator rather than it being expected.

    My research on postmodernism deeply informed the structure and conventions of "Takeout." Prior to starting this project, my class studied the concept of postmodernism and watched the film "Memento," which features a non-linear narrative structure that challenges the traditional notion of a story. This convention of postmodernism, which instills truth through what is understood to be chronological, was a major inspiration behind the structure of "Takeout." In the process of researching the fascinating concept of perceived truth, I learned that a crucial aspect of it is to eventually connect the dots to the viewers. To achieve this, I tied my story together by making the first and last spoken words, "What song should I play," the same. This implies that the opening diner scene was actually the last. 

The opening phone call

The closing phone call

    Furthermore, "Takeout" challenges conventional storytelling in the drama genre by never actually showing the heist in action. While the heist is the central focus of the story, it is only ever being planned, and the audience only gets to see the bit right before it occurs, never actually seeing any robbery. This intentional choice implies that the majority of the "drama" in this piece resulted from planning the heist rather than executing it. This could even be further interpreted to the understanding that Ember’s plan went smoothly, and the heist didn’t involve much “drama” at all. By playing with conventional storytelling techniques and challenging audience expectations, "Takeout" offers a unique and thought-provoking exploration of the drama/heist genre.

    Creating "Takeout" has been a transformative experience for me. Over the past two or so months, I have poured my heart and soul into this project, and it has been a joy to watch it come to life. This is the biggest piece of work I have ever undertaken, and it has required me to carefully consider any and every intricate detail of the story. While there may be minor technical issues that I need to improve upon, I believe I have created an undeniably entertaining and engaging piece that offers a unique perspective on the drama genre. Through the creation of this film, I have discovered new ways of expressing my creativity and have gained valuable insights into the intricacies of filmmaking. Overall, this project has been an eye-opening and soul-nourishing experience, and I cannot wait to see where my passion for storytelling takes me next.

Social Media Update

 It's been a while since we talked about the digital portion of this project.

    Our instagram page is looking great! With an updated username, profile, and many posts, the publicity attention is flowing!

Let's break-down these profile updates real quick...

• The username is simple and clean: takeout.film 
• The name on the account is the tagline, instantly drawing in curiosity.
• We clarified this is a student-made project for school
• Both creators are linked
• The profile picture is a shot from the film, as well as the creators!
• 18 WHOLE PEOPLE FOLLOW US

This is what our feed is looking like. Pretty neat, right? 

    We first started off with a coming soon post, advertising the film with a graphic version of our main postcard picture, minus the characters. It alludes to the intimacy without all the details, which I like. Also, a hidden gem is the coins in the corner. 

    Then, we posted 2 behind-the-scenes pictures of filming, giving viewers insight to the process and further building hype. In-between these two pictures on the second row from the bottom is a 3 second-looped video from the film. It's nothing meaningful, just a little teaser to our piece.

    Lastly (so far), we have our character spotlights! The purpose of these short videos is to introduce our audience to our cast. You don't get much of each character, but you're not supposed to. An introduction that leaves you wanting more, how perfect?

Postcard

There are 3 components to this project...

• The Film: We've discussed this more than a few times.
• Social Media: I've mentioned it! More coming soon.
• The Postcard: Never before talked about...

...UNTIL NOW!

    Jack and I were intentionally holding off on the post card until we filmed our diner scene because we wanted a picture from the booth. We took about 20 so we had options to choose from. Then, we added our selected font, some basic credits, a tagline, and the front of the postcard was DONE!

    I think this shot is absolutely stunning. The dim lighting is intimate, while the profile remains intense. The toned down red also aids for this bold yet possibly emotion-led piece. Not to mention, the tagline!! I love it.

    "We can make this work" is from first glance, a reference to a relationship. The two are seemingly on a date, what else could they be referring to? The tagline is in actuality in reference to the heist happening and Ember's revelation of this COULD work, with a distraction. 

    There are other little details that really make this postcard meaningful. The single glass of water not only is visually appealing as it is in the center, but it has a deeper meaning. There is only one glass rather than two, referencing Ben not knowing what Ember was going to join him for the performance of the distraction, therefore he only ordered one. The water is also of course splashed on Ben as the finale. 

    The back of the postcard is also pretty cool! The visual is the nicely-leveled shot I previously mentioned in another blog post. Not only do you see more characters than just Ember and Ben, but you get to see a little bit into their emotions. I also added a bit of a black transparency over this picture to keep the main focus on the words presented. 

    Then, of course, the instagram handle is available for easy-access. The handle name is simple for a smooth search. 

    Last but not least, the film festival we will be screening at is presented! Jack actually just went to the Miami Film Festival for a piece he was apart of. He talked about the films he saw while he was there and we both thought this piece could realistically be there. So, for genre purposes and location convenience, the Miami Film Festival worked out nicely. 

The Editing Begins

    After both days of filming, my camera had compiled just under 300 individual clips that will make up our 5 minute film. Now, 300 is a crazy large number to sort through, but it's always better to have more than you need than too little.

    Sorting through everything was half the battle and took about 2 hours. Everything was pretty much chronological so importing them into iMovie in the story-order was not a hassle.

Here's where the real work began.

    The clips in chronological order doesn't mean completed. The clips, of course, need to be adjusted to fit the proper timing of conversation. Deeper than that, audio clips might need to be layered over visual clips to keep the film interesting, and maximize understanding of characters and their roles. 

    An example of this is when Ben introduces Humphrey to everyone in the group. He is the only one talking, but the other characters are being spoken about, so being shown makes sense.

Editing audio like this is actually quite simple, just a bit tedious. Not to mention, it happens more often than you'd think. 

    

    Because our story is extremely generalized as a drama, nothing crazy is required for editing. Just will take me a few hours, adjusting clips and audio until the flow is natural.

*  *  *

I'm about halfway done at this current moment and I need a BREAK!

Break time it is. I'll catch you later, blog!

That's a WRAP!!

FILMING DAY #2! Let's go. Yesterday went great, as did tonight!

Breaking it down:

    When Jack and I walked into Lucilles, the manager that we cleared the date with was not there. We were told she left early, which made me panic a bit. Luckily, the other manager there was SO nice. He cleared out an area for us and gave us space to film and even turned the music off for a clear sound in production.

    Jack and I were joined by Gianna for the music scene as well as 3 of our other friends- Mya, Gabbi, and Vicky. They were happy to join us to fulfill the role as onlookers for me and Jack's diner fight.

Vicky, Mya, and Gabbi being customers :)

    Filming went really smoothly. Since this scene of the film is simpler overall, yet more detailed per line, Jack and I got MULTIPLE takes of each line to make sure it's perfect. Jack and I pretty much switched off filming each other until our conversation lines were over and it was time to enter the screaming-match.

Jack filming me! I love this picture.

    As you can see, the set up and lighting are really nice for the diner vibe we are going for, which was just so perfect. Having an actual restaurant to film at is a 5-star game changer. 

Two-take wonder!

    We had one specific bit in this scene that could only be done in one take- the water splash. We practiced multiple times with an empty cup, but now it was time for the real deal. One take only. Here it is-

    Clearly, I missed. I guess if you aim at someones face, you hit their hair. So we had to dry off Jack and wait a bit. Lucky, you can barely tell his shirt and hair is damp because of the dim lightning in the restaurant. May I present to you, the winning clip, in which I aimed at his neck-

*  *  *

And after all of that madness, that's a wrap!!

Im so, so grateful everything went well. 

FILMING DAY 1

Today was the big day! Filming day #1: the much harder, more intricate part of the film to execute. I'm glad we're getting it out of the way first.

Time Frame

    Jack and I blocked out 3 hours to film everything. We told our cast to meet us at 4 and we would be done around 7. We planned 2 hours to film and 1 hour for wiggle room. To our surprise, we needed all 3 hours to almost the very last minute! 

The Process

    When everyone arrived we started with a read-through. A read-through is what we call it in theatre, but I believe in film it is referred to as a "table-read". Either way, we read through the script to clarify any questions and hone in on the specific intentions behind each line to make sure the acting execution was on point.

    After that, we started. We filmed chronologically, which will make it a lot easier for me post-production to sort through all 154 clips we took. 

    One of the hardest parts of the whole filming process was placing everybody. With such trained actors, I didn't have to worry much about building chemistry between characters or giving them much direction with lines. But, I did have to place them. I did so to not only make shots look visually appealing, with different depths and levels, but also fit their character's level of interest and quirks. 

One of the opening shots

    Here, Nicole is on her phone: uninterested. Ember is bored and unenthused: not loving the plan. Ben is strategizing: leader of it all. Christian is standing up: a simple way to show dominance and care. Joshua is throwing an orange in his hand: goofiest and most inattentive. Details like this are often overlooked, but it's what makes the film believable.  

    In addition to this beautiful wide shot of the whole group, we of course had to have shots of each character at many times to hone in on their emotions as individuals rather than a whole.

Behind-the-scenes of Jack shooting a mid shot of just Ember

    The funniest thing to film was Skyler's character, Humphrey, who constantly making the most digs and jokes that made us all laugh. Due to our laughs, we had to re-film a few times in order to get a serious take. I can't wait for everyone to see his spit-take clip, it's seriously amazing. We got it in two takes!

*   *   *

    After 3 long hours, filming was finally wrapped up! We finished at 6:56 which was perfect. Everyone went home satisfied with what we completed, and all full on the pizza we ordered for production purposes and also to feed our actors.