Change in Plot/Script

Unfortunately, I was unable to obtain the military general's military fatigue outfit for the General Adil character. After trying to find various solutions, I finally realized that he was not a necessary character for the opening of the film. With this realization, I consulted with my partner and we agreed that we can get rid of the character all together and just adjust the script accordingly. We also had to change the script because after review we realized that we were way to ambitious and creative. We aren't able to pull of most of the things in the original script.

Constumes

 For the costumes, we need two white laboratory coats and one military general's military fatigue. In a previous post I mentioned that my mom was able to sew a the fabric from a few pillow sheets into two lab coats. Unfortunately, the stitches didn't hold up and started falling apart as I was trying them on. So that was bust. For the military general's military fatigue, the most I found on amazon or other costume shores were around $30, way above my budget. I also couldn't find any of the needed costumes at any thrift stores around me. Thankfully, one of my uncles is a retired doctor and had two white lab coats that he said I could borrow. So we got the coats now, but they have stitched in logos that he wants us to cover up. So we plan on using name pins to cover it.

For the military fatigue, I will keep looking at thrift stores to see if I can find one and ask around to see if anybody has one I could borrow.

Monster models

It's time to think of the main attraction to the film, the monster. First, I drew out the general plan for the monster in the tank that I made in the my previous blog post. Then, I made initial models for what the monster will look like. I will finalize what the monster will look like once we determine what the final tank is.

Stage 1:

Monster is still just a liquid in the bottom of the tank. This is before any tests are run on it and is completely docile.

Stage 2:

The pool of liquid sprouts upwards but no features are created yet. The monster still remains completely docile.

Stage 3:

The monsters sprout grows in size and sprouts small stubby arms. No head or any other features are made out. The monster continues to remain docile.

Stage 4:

The monster grows again with the arms getting longer. The monsters head starts to gain shape as the monsters begins to move its arms. The monster shows small signs of aggression at this point.

Stage 5:

The monster is grown once again and the head is complete. The arms and legs gain an eerily long length and the monster is extremely aggressive.

I know the monster doesn't look the best right now and looks just like clay. But once we finalize the rest of the props, I will add more detail. We will also spray the monster with a clear coat of paint to make it shiny, hopefully removing that clay look.

Double-Walled Tank

After mentioning it many times in my previous blog postings, I have finally made the double-walled tank, although a little differently than originally planned. With the first try being a bust and me not have the funds to buy more plastic sheets for more attempts, I had to find objects or materials lying around the house that I could use as substitutions. I looked for a while until I went into the storage closest in the attic. Inside, I found a old vase that had originally been holding a bouquet of tulips two valentines ago and a small clear plastic trash can.

The two objects will serve as substitutes for the two walls. The trash can being bigger with an 8.5 inch diameter, will act as the outer wall with the 6 inch diameter flower vase as the inner wall. The two fit nicely together with about a 1.25 inch space in between the two. Because the inner flower vase displaces water it acted as a boat and wouldn't stay at the bottom of the trash can. It was displacing so much water that I struggled for a while trying to put things inside heavy enough to way it down. I then tried another method of gluing the two together. For the adhesive, I used hot glue because it isn't water soluble. Unfortunately, the glue doesn't stick well to the glass and would separate once water was added. We are going to try to use another adhesive to see if it works better, and if not, we might have to modify the idea. The modified idea is to use dry ice and colored lights to add a cool looking effect inside the tank. This is also cost effective since dry ice is sold for about $1.62/lb. around me and I would only need a pound for this project.

Costumes Plan/Initial Creation

We only need three different consumes, two scientist's white lab coasts, and a military general's uniform. These costumes can be bought at many different stores like, Target, Walmart, and Party City. 

I went on two different occasions to all three different stores but they didn't have them in stock or in our sizes. When I mentioned the annoying circumstances to my parents my mom gained a sudden inspiration. She remembered the days she used to sew face masks for our entire family during the covid days. She was addiment that she was capable of completing the task saying "It can't be that hard." She managed to create the two white lab coat outfits, but they were too small. Thankfully, she had enough fabric to create two more in the correct size. We knew the military general's uniform would be harder to sew but it proved to be even more tricky than we had anticipated. She tried multiple times but ultimately couldn't get it to work. When I gave it a try I also failed.

Since the sewing for the military general's uniform was a bust and the costume stores I went to said they weren't getting any new shipments for a while since costumes were not in season, we were left with one more option. Amazon.com! 

We managed to find a costume for about $28. Although it is a little more expensive than we would've liked, we don't have many other choices. And with that, we have acquired all the costumes we need for our production!

Props

 Props:

• Laptop
• Projector
• Screen
• Lights
• Cups
• Paper
• Pens
• Monster Figure
• Double-walled tank

Acquired:

• Laptop
• Screen
• Cups
• Paper
• Pens

Needed:

• Projector
• Lights
• Monster Figure
• Double-walled tank

Plan

In my earlier blog postings I discussed how I was planning to acquire the missing props. Although the projector is not a necessity and can be replaced by the screen, I have asked my aunt whether we could borrow her projector for our project. The lights can be bought at a hardware store and don't need to be expensive. The monster figure will be made out of aluminum and clay which can be bought at a local arts and crafts shop. The double-walled tank will be made from wood, plastic, and paint. The wood would act as the floor and roof of the tank while the plastic would act as the walls. The paint is used to make the tank look metallic.

Errors 

The materials for the tank had arrived early and I tried to build it alone. Unfortunately, the plastic snapped when I tried bending it into the smaller circle for the interior wall. The outer one didn't break but became cloudy when bent due to the stretching of the plastic. The way I plan to fix this is making the tank bigger so the plastic doesn't need to be bent as sharply. Thankfully, the wooden disks remained unaffected so we don't have to buy more of those.

Planning the Production

Up to this point, we have only planned when we are going to start producing our project's film opening. In this blog post, I will plan how the production process will be carried out. This includes deciding where the filming will occur, building any props, creating or buying any costumes, and acquiring any cameras and microphones we may need.

Location

4 main locations appear in our film opening, the experimentation room, the emergency response room, the hallway, and the forest. For the experimentation room and the emergency response room, the room doesn't need to fit perfectly with our needs as we will make sure these rooms are kept dark only highlighting the important things in the frame. For the hallway, me and my partner have decided on filming in my school's hallway. However, one downside to this is that we can't reserve a hallway in the school so we have to be quick with our shots to ensure we don't get anyone else in frame. For the forest scenes, we will film at a nearby national park. I called ahead to make sure it was ok to film there at night and they said it was fine as long as we don't disturb any of the other guests.

Props Found/Bought

The props we need to find or buy are a laptop, a projector/screen, lights, cups, papers, pens, and clay to form the shape of the monster (we will only be using the silhouette of the monster so it doesn't need to look the best. Thankfully, we have most of the props we need except the projector. I asked one of my aunts who is a professor at a local community college and she said she might be able to lend it to us if she doesn't need it at the time we are going to use it. If we aren't able to obtain a projector, we can just use a screen instead.

Props Built

The props we need to build are the double-walled tank and the monster figure that will go inside. In my previous blog post, I described the plans for a double-walled tank. The materials needed for this are two wooden disks, two layers of pliable plastic walls, and metallic grey paint. I have ordered all the materials that are needed and they are scheduled to arrive in two days. The monster figure that will go inside the tank will be made out of clay and aluminum foil. Thankfully, because the tank will be filled with a murky liquid the figure inside doesn't need to be too defined, just a general shape of the monster will do fine.

Costumes

The costumes we need are two white scientist's coats and a military general's uniform. The costumes can be bought at various stores such as Walmart, Target, and Party City. To add more life to the characters I would like to acquire a pair of fake glasses of the Dr. Nathaniel character.

Recording Equipment

    For the recording process, we need a camera and a microphone. We can either find a high-quality camera for clearer shots or we could just use the cameras on the back of our phones. For the microphones, I bought some wireless clip-on microphones that we can clip on our clothes. Ideally, we clip it underneath our clothes so the audience doesn't see it.