Any spring break plans?

Brief check-in to report that I have an extremely loose shooting schedule.

I’m committing to a spring break shoot, mostly so that I can film during daylight hours. Really, the only complicating factor is that it’s set at my place of employment (the fictional café at which Audrey works will be set as the real café at which I work). That’s a licensed Starbucks location inside a Barnes & Noble bookstore, meaning I have a café manager (from whom I’ve already gotten permission to film) in addition to a whole-store manager. I need to ask the latter whether I’m allowed to be behind the counter if I’m not on the schedule. That means my options are as follows.

If it can/must be while I’m working:

• Tuesday the 22nd (my closing shift w/ J.P.)
• Thursday the 24th (my closing shift w/ J.P.and J.L.)

If it can/must be while I’m not working:

• Sunday the 20th (probably during A.L.R. and A.R.’s closing shift)
• Friday the 25th (based on who’s working that day, any time works)

Given that I started this by saying it’s better to shoot in daylight, Friday the 25th is my preferred option (being the only non-closing shift), but I’ll take what I can get.

That’s all just the café part, though— I want to shoot the car scene as soon as possible to give myself plenty of editing time. Because the set is mobile and the entire cast & crew is one person, it shouldn’t be too hard to coordinate. Somewhat arbitrarily, I’m aiming for Friday the 18th.

Sounds Good

This is going to be another “doing things in a weird order is better than not doing them” moment.

I’ve begun exploring sound elements. Well, really just music-- I can hardly talk about foley before I shoot. I’ve been saving songs that remind me of the tone I’m going for with Matcha, and that turned into a playlist. Before I fell too far in love with any of these concepts, I did poke around YouTube’s free music library to find some wistful soft-pop tracks, matching the sound that came up over and over again when I was doing my genre research (it’s like everyone from 2012-2022 graduated high school to the sound of Grouplove or Bleachers). My “starred” (saved) tracks are shown below-- a pretty even mix of what could work for the car vs. the cafe. I understand that these will be the far likelier contenders for my soundtrack (for copyright reasons), but hey, a girl can dream.

Less realistically… here’s what Matcha sounds like to me.

• “Valentine” by Lala Lala- Audrey and Veda’s first dance together towards the end of a formative night with Veda’s friend group
• “Coffee” by Sylvan Esso- running in the rain together after a kiss
• “​Long Way To Go To Die” by LP- Audrey watching Veda leave for Georgia → end credits
• “Mr. Sellack” by The Roches- stupid, sweet, simple montage of innocous moments (breakfast, walking) → decreasingly content, tensions rise, montage ends with both of them upset
• “Both Sides Now” by Judy Collins- end credits (if not “Long Way to Go to Die”)
• “Tea, Milk & Honey” by Oh Pep!- intimacy
• “I Can’t Tell What the Time is Telling Me” by And The Kids- resolution
• “This Will Be Our Year” by Dear Nora- maybe immediately after fight (Audrey crying), maybe end credits, maybe resolution. Kind of the whole film, in my imagination
• “Eulogy for You and Me” by Tanya Davis- the opening credits, in a world where I’m braver
• “Sexy Villian” by Remi Wolf- casual hangout scene early on
• “Chicago - Live” by The Staves- first kiss

(Lots of lyrics about love and running out of time, lots of sounds like traditional coming-of-age indie pop)

I’m such a scoundrel.

I raided my mom’s closet for props/costume items, and between the fruits of that labor and my own cabinet of curiosities, I’ve got a good deal of design done. I still have to make Audrey’s nametag and find a proper watch, but I have pins for her apron, a couple options for rearview mirror hangies, earrings, and a shirt. I’ve got Veda’s jewelry, tote bag, and books— the classics pictured below match Veda and Audrey’s respective color palettes, vibe, and characters (Kate, the witty and silver-tongued leading lady, and Anne, the meek romantic with Austenian bad luck, are very much V and A), although I know only Veda would actually be shown holding a book.

I want to elaborate on a couple of decisions in these layouts. 1: they’re both wearing watches, a detail through which I’m trying to establish the theme of time (clock on the wrist = physical manifestation of the feeling of being manacled by time, or lack thereof, which is kiiiinda what dooms their relationship). 2: one of Audrey’s pins says “PINK SKIES UP AHEAD.” Aside from the metaphorical resonance of her being pink-coded (explained in previous posts), it's a not-so-subtle expression of her optimism, and foreshadowing* for a later scene in which Audrey and Veda dance under a pink sky. If I’m allowed to show extremely mild gore, I think it would be super meaningful for Audrey to accidentally prick herself when she’s putting the pins on her apron; “pink skies up ahead” literally making you bleed is a hell of a way to say that Audrey’s optimism can slip into naivety and end up hurting her.

Audrey

Veda

*But, you know, the kind of foreshadowing that only makes sense upon a re-watch. I love those details in media.

Mini update...

I was pretty confident that my next post would be a completed storyboard, but alas. You'd think I could accept that drawing is not my strong suit then move on with my life, but boy howdy is this going slowly.

Still, I have a slightly exciting development based on my March 4th entry: a shopping list! Oddities to procure. Items to acquire. Accouterments to collect before shooting day (which is still TBD).

Non-clothing costume elements - Audrey

• “Flair” for her apron
• Nametag- MAKE!
• Wristwatch

Misc items

• Small stickers/things to decorate car
• Something cute to hang from rearview mirror
• Smartphone tripod

Assorted tasks

• Clean car
• Triple check permission to film @ work
• Ask some Proper Ladies if they have a watch I can borrow

"This isn't how storyboards work but okay"

The title of this blog post is what I wrote in my project Doc upon realizing that I don't come up with ideas by trying to draw them. I'm not sure if the chicken came before the egg, but they both definitely came after the first eukaryote, you know? You know.

That's to say, I stepped back to put the opening in words, which I feel more command over than sketches. Here's what I've got:

What about the main character can be established in the opening?

• External
• Works at cafe
• Internal
• Unsatisfied with status quo
• Aesthetically attracted to Veda (at the very least, notices Veda)

What about the main character will be established early on in the exposition (not necessarily the very opening)?

• External
• 18, summer before college
• Internal
• Sweet, sensitive, paddling duck thing going on
• y e a r n i n g.

What are some of the film’s broadest themes/concepts?

• Time
• Young love

How might those be expressed/how might those seeds be planted in the opening?

• It’s repeatedly made clear that Audrey is paying attention to the time, audience is made to be aware of time
• Car clock
• Alarm to go in
• Check watch
• Symbolic representations of Audrey’s personality/mindset
• Decorations in her car (what’s hanging on the rearview mirror, what stickers are on the dash, how she’s decorated her apron)
• Actions
• picking at nails/cuticles

Chunks

• Car
• Asleep
• Getting ready to go in
• *CAMERA STAYS IN CAR, AUDREY LEAVES*
• brooooooo.
• I’d planned on seeing the car from the outside, watching Audrey get out and lock it, but what does that accomplish? “We” the audience staying in the car sets up themes of leaving/moving on/stepping out into the unknown (which is what coming of age is, particularly as Matcha takes place the summer between HS & college)
• Cafe (below are categories, not in order)
• Cashiering
• Drinks/credits
• Personality
• Audrey/Veda interaction

Build on chunks

• Car
• Asleep
• Close-up of something innocuous and human (like where Audrey’s body/arm is pressed up against the door), so tight it’s almost hard to understand what’s being shown
• Tight close up of sleeping face
• Car clock (time must end in 4)
• Whatever’s hanging from rearview mirror
• A’s phone is seen for a moment before the alarm goes off
• (seeing almost full torso, I’m not sure how to categorize medium/close when a character is sitting)
• Startles awake
• Getting ready to go in
• Turns alarm off, rubs eyes
• Turns music down (becomes diegetic, sound perspective babeyy)
• Apron on (had been tied around waist but not hanging around neck)
• Ponytail up
• Checking self in mirror (seen in profile)
• Audrey leaves
• We’re left looking at the seat/door, music kicks back in when door shuts, after a beat the screen goes blank for the title card
• Cafe (below are categories, not in order)
• Cashiering/working
• Misc smiling at unseen customers
• Tapping orders onto screen
• Register closing
• Drink things
• Putting down metal Demitasse cup
• Shaking refresher
• Housekeeping/paperwork
• Time stuff- maybe write note about expiration
• Drinks/credits
• ~7, for each credit
• (last one is iced matcha latte that says “Veda”)
• Personality
• Check watch
• Pick at nails/cuticles
• Push up glasses (they’re important, as explained in “first costume idea” post, so just some little gesture to draw attention to them)
• Fidget with pen
• Audrey/Veda interaction
• Audrey puts latte on the counter, hands touch for a second on the cup, (is a double-take cringey?), eyeline match in shot/CS, Veda smiles at Audrey, Audrey smiles shyly and walks away

Typepoint Fontface

Once again just a wee update— I started to collect fonts for those credits in yesterday’s post. The actual names will be in my handwriting (written on the cups), but I’m still not sure what the title card (name of movie) and credits themselves should look like.

My analysis in that Credits Research post was pretty context-based (what’s happening around the credits, not the text itself), but maybe that’s kind of the point; to an extent, the typeface isn’t meant to be noticed. When it is, it can be a means of developing the film’s personality; I thought something artsy/visibly quirky (highly graphic, maybe vaguely retro) would fit both Audrey and Veda, whose dynamic define the tone of "Matcha."

I'm not sure whether I need the title card and credits to be in the same font, but here's the running list. If I don't, I'll probably look for simpler ones that scale down more nicely, but who knows. Something tells me that meticulously researching typefaces when I don't even have a complete shooting schedule is unwise, but doing things in a weird order is better than not doing them, right?

Credits Design

I didn’t make nearly as much progress as I wanted to with my storyboard today in class, but I did return to my notes and get one key component laid out: credits. According to my notes on what an opening scene must accomplish, I have the following 7 titles:

Director Tess Segal, Producer T. Segal, Written by Tess “the Mess” Segal, Cinematographer Tess J. Segal, Editor T. J. Segal, and for actors, CAMILLE ESIN AS Veda and TESS SEGAL AS Audrey.

It’s kind of a one-man show, so I thought it would be funny to play it off as a bit— using my full name (Tess Jaden Segal) for all it’s worth. I considered throwing my Hebrew name, Tziporah, into the mix, but eventually decided it might water down the joke.

P.S.: It rests better in my soul to send out a blanket apology to the graphic designers, copywriters, and card-carrying pedants who might take issue with this, so I’ll say it once: I know that “typeface” and “font” mean different things, I just can’t bring myself to care, so I will be using them interchangeably.