Social Media and Website

 Here's the Instagram account: 

@lonelyashortfilmbyjirehstokes

Here's the Website: 
stokes25school.wixsite.com/website

Key Art

Official Poster:
Film Festival Promo Card:

До свидания

Critical Reflection

 Critical Reflection:

The dramatic experimental short film that is “Lonely.” is about the struggle of social anxiety that causes the lonesome of main character Tiren from the Outsiders. Throughout the piece there are themes of loneliness, self-critique, low self esteem as well as the comfort found in nostalgia. Ultimately the piece is hardly developed; the attempt to be something more is there but not expanded on. 

The film pertains to its genre as experimental by the disconnected imagery of the water droplets and the parallel scenes of watching movies. The drama convention is shown by the broad story of Tiren rejecting social interaction with  the Outsider. This distinctive style of editing to be an experimental drama was supported by the research covering the short film Catharsis and the style of Moonlight (2016). Both are examples that were used in the culmination of the film's configuration and its Key Art. Differing in topic and style they both invoke different stories that made them worthy sources. While Moonlight would have moments that represent reality similarly, there were clear titles that moved the story along by acts. “Lonely.” contradicts this by only using shots of running water to move the story. Catharsis, on the other hand, represented tone through the lighting and filters of the main character, which heavily influenced the blue color representing loneliness throughout the film. Although these are both different standards of an experimental film, the beauty that these were each shot with greatly succeeded the camerawork in “Lonely.” Reasonably so, there are mistakes in continuity and confusion of themes that can go unnoticed without the context of the short-film. 

From the research about the genre of experimental film and its history a major theme that was perpetuated was the heart of film; the original intentions of a creator. Instead of presenting a story with a direct focus on the story and its characters, experimental films had been made so that the audience was forced to interpret this. In the extreme case of Andy Warhol’s Empire (1965) this silent film featured nearly eight hours of a still shot of the Empire state building. According to typical film standards this would be considered boring and uninspired but the very community surrounding the film of the Avant-Gard idolizes the expression of the artist rather than the story itself. The research done on the idols of this genre were not as thorough as it could have been, being unfocused and unlearned was the director of this piece considering there isn’t any signs of growth from that understanding what technical techniques and devices were used to make their work notable. 

The community is focused on the truth to the genre and the artist behind it rather than the actual coherence of the film. Thus creatively attracting the niche community for the film itself. To reach said community an Instagram and website were used to promote the film through the engaging nature of being cryptic. By using captions with strange spelling conventions, and hashtags of interest  the target audience of fellow creators are brought to support and engage with the film. Due to limited time and resources there is a lack of engagement in anything other than that. The lack of posts and attempts to reach out were limited because of the size of the producing team itself. Nonetheless the lack of engagement was less than acceptable for such a film that required heavy interaction with the community. 

In the editing of the short film the added tints and vignettes to the images protected the aim for loneliness and subsequently negative emotion. A trait used in Catharsis, is typically done naturally with lighting and team members to aid in the vision the director has set. This short film did no such thing. Instead it artificially crafted an image to fit the theme and used unoriginal methods to film; which is a null reaction to the research that was done beforehand. According to the blog a significant amount of time went into research and navigation for the project but no results about whether the fruits of their labor was even worth it. 

Even with the artificial blue the film doesn’t lack in upholding a set color scheme. Blues, whites, and blacks with the commanding font of Agency FB the film has been marketed (poorly) to show what makes this recognizable. Now whether the truth behind how significant those images are is also sub-par to the image this film could have had. The mask’s use to target an audience of young adults that are more inclined to react to a set symbol is useful but that alone doesn’t support the true meat of the film. 

The image that “Lonely.’s” brand was setting up to portray was that through a common relatability, especially affected by quarantine, would give rise to a community that liked to be mysterious and poetic while still caring for one another. Of course in the wake of its failure the genre has lost its uniqueness of being more accepting than typical avant-garde-groups.  The story itself does defy the typical genre standards by allowing the heavy concepts to be rounded up in a conclusion that doesn’t feature a happy-ending. As well as the striking imagery hinting at something more violent for an issue that is usually seen as docile discomfort. The short film did rely and move to meet the goal of being disorienting but did retain a story like Moonlight while still remaining extremely disorienting. This nature of the film gives way to the other nuances of the film like the main actor. 

With no effect on the story and technical limitations the same person who played the actor was the director, the producer, lighting manager, ie the whole crew (except for that one other actress) The boxes of a woman of color doing all those things could be argued to promote diversity in a wider sphere but standing alone it means nothing and does nothing to add to the discussion and betterment of heavily oppressed groups. 

До свидания

Lonely. (A short film by Jireh Stokes)

Here Ya Go. It's too big to post directly and for the theatrical release I plan to upload it along with all my recent products to my You tube channel  sometime this month. Please let me know what you think I'm eager for some feedback. 

До свидания

The Short Film | Entire Folder

 Here

Distorting Voices| An Outsider’s Call

Something I haven’t really elaborated on the Outsider is their voice. I plan to make this a major point of alienation for the viewer and Tiren; the goal is something scary. Thanks to the feature of the mask that covers the majority of the actor’s mouth a lot of these voices will be recorded separately from the ones on set. This is a lot more helpful especially without specialized equipment and microphones specifically meant for recording 

To help with editing this I found this video which explained how exactly you can make these changes to a voice. I appreciated the really quick edit rather than something longer. With the due date approaching and still with plenty of filming needing to be done, time is of the essence. 

До свидания

Looking Like Moonlight>

Having watched Moonlight (2016) and seen the poster plenty of places before, the color scheme and style is somewhat similar (loosely, I know). Now the color scheme already is quite similar to the key art but without the different stages being shown at the same time. This wouldn’t be ideal for my design because of the story of Lonely. Is an experimental genre it isn’t as drama focused or specifically displaying the storyline of Chiron’s growth as a gay black man. Where as Tiren is more along the lines of being regressive and retreating back within the safety found in familiarity. I just wanted to point this out as the due date comes closer; wanted to keep in touch with what I’m doing for the Key Art.

До свидания

Time To Shake That Groove Thing

While I’m still behind with filming, I do have another thing off my plate. The short film, Trust It, I had previously been trying to finish working on is complete! Although on the surface this may not seem very promising, I’d like to assure that now more than ever I’m going to get working on the actual filming of Lonely. 

The first thing that I’m going to film is the bath scenes: which are supposed to embody a sense of familiarity, like the womb of a mother. For the first appearance of the tub it will be empty, representing the harsh and uncomfortable state that reaches out to the outsiders (people) that Tiren feels. The next part with the bathtub is the later scene; it's meant to show the comfortability that is found within retreating to the safe space. On top of the spur of the moment decision and some left over ketchup from the Psycho scene some images of blood in the water would be acceptable. It still adds that random experimental vibe that has the viewer guessing. 

Now how this is going to be filmed is difficult; this is the same bathroom as where I did the filming for the Psycho parody. The problem with this location is that number 1: it's the only one. Number 2: There is an automatic fan that turns on if you turn on the lights. Number 3: The ways I can get this set up without destroying my phone is limited. Now considering all those issues I will probably spend a little extra time before filming to play around with the area and lighting. Speaking of lighting it might be easier to put a blue filter over everything like I did in Trust It, it's just much easier with the lack of equipment I have. Until then when this is either a success or fail you’ll hopefully hear from me again. 

До свидания

Key Art Ideas!!!!!!!!

Playing in photoshop I found some possible key art for my poster and cards. They are kind of rough but I think it would be a good idea to post the rough drafts first. I don’t have a lot to say other than I am still an absolute novice when it comes to photoshop and these look kind of gross but I think I’ll post them to  Instagram and the website for inclusivity.

До свидания

The Weight Of A Sloth

Come to find on this break that I’ve been allowed to be quite lethargic which is not a good thing with the due date for this project. I’ve found that when I’m not in the rush that school gives me I have plenty more time to dwell on the things in my mind, and unfortunately not the good ones. It seems that the added stress of school and my future overwhelms me to the point where it’s hard to get things done. I don’t believe it's senioritis but something else that haunts me in the alleys of my existence. Nonetheless I know this isn’t beneficial to the project in any regard and is more likely going to spell my doom for the end project. It’s said I’m supposed to write out the obstacles that occur on this assignment and turns out the biggest one now is me.

До свидания

Something I Did Wrong

This video popped up on my Youtube feed and I found myself watching this and realizing exactly what I did wrong on the last duplicate test. By not combining and then using the effect of the mask did the weird cropping of one video over the other that was used last time. Now I certainly don’t expect to be outlining my entire frame but I do think this is going to be what makes the difference about me using a tripod or a person for certain scenes.

До свидания

Editing the Photos

Opening up photoshop to edit these was daunting. Beforehand when I first tried my hand at photoshop it totally eluded me and even when I did understand it I felt I wasn’t really good enough to continue. Feelings aside I had to relearn how to use this and thanks to the glorious expanse of You tube I’ve been able to find Adobe Photoshop Tutorial : The Basics for Beginners.

Honestly sitting through this wasn’t as fun to learn about as some of the other topics. So instead I found myself playing with the interface all by myself. Occasionally confirming things with the video above the hands on approach proved to be the most helpful. 

До свидания

Writing Screenplay/Script =-Hardly

With the script now finished I worry I won’t be able to fill up the required time for seven minutes. A lot of the scenes are meant to be more visually stimulating rather than being chronological in its storyline. Now since the main actor is none other than myself my ability to improvise and shape the way a scene just is, is an option. Future thoughts aside, the way I’ve written the more visual scenes is by giving them a title about what’s happening. While I have the general idea 

The only thing I find questionable in the slightest is the way the script itself looks. More like a playwright rather than a movie script it might just be more energy to interpret my basic writing into the typical font and energy of an official screenplay. With spring break coming up I’ll have to make the decision about whether or not this is the way it should be or If this is something I must invest in further.

До свидания

Mapping Story

So because experimental films don’t always have a set storyline when the editing comes together I don’t intend to give the audience a clear one but for me I need to know what I want to be seen. So I started on a very rough sequencing of events all to evoke the themes I want to emulate. What are those themes? Well of course loneliness, but comfort in escapism and nostalgia. The main focus for this character I've dubbed “Tiren” is for them to fight against their social fears to embrace the world outside of themselves. This plan ultimately fails and they retract back into their comforts and childhood. Now whether or not this is based on anybody real I’ll leave ambiguous but the goal is to connect with people (teens) do the same thing.

До свидания

Beginning of a Brand

I did it! After a long awaited time I’ve got both up and running with one of the experimental photos. I plan to edit what I have to create the brand with these stark colors. There is a photo of a stuffed animal bear with red lighting which may throw off the scheme I’ve lightly built. 

While I want to cultivate this right now I think focusing on the actual bulk of the loosely-fitted story needs to be concrete. Something I hope I’ll have time for by the end of this week or more realistically start but not finish. Here's the Website and here's the Instagram page.

До свидания

Updated! MASK STAUS

Finally decorated this mask!. I stayed true to the No-face markings around the eyes but I added someone so that this mask didn’t seem like a person in disguise kind of deal. I simply took a black sharpie and went to town as shown in the video below. 

I plan to further elaborate the vision in the screenplay. A lot of this will rely on the actual editing of the piece which is definitely not playing into my strengths. Even so, I want to get better at that so this will have to be backed up by practice. 

До свидания

TESTS

While I was testing out the lighting I figured I'd show some actual tests for the scenes that would have more than one version of me. For both clips I tried different ways to add myself. One through opacity and the other by cropping each at at a point. Now this was helpful because not only did this present the concern of lighting but also confronting the image that I'm going for. 

I plan to figure that out when I solidify the script for the piece. If I do end up orchestrating another schedule this will be done this week  I also want to free up time to practice this again. These tests were really rough and I wasn't in love with how they came out. I definitely want to try the cropping option without the major line already messing with the line of thirds.

До свидания

Mask Status

Now I have my mask! The previous picture of no-face depicted the character I want to create quite well. An unknown faceless creature that you can’t really understand which is exactly how the main character sees the Outsiders. There are some changes I’d like to make and it's the inclusion of more marks further distancing the Outsiders from humanity.

When it came to finding this one I went with Party City because of convenience. It just happened to be where I was carrying out errands. I wanted to solidify exactly what I was doing for this one before jumping the gun wasting it. I also have to think about the comfortability of the actors as they may not like the mask situation. 

До свидания

Here They Are

 The photos from the test shoot. I realize now that I might change my hair soon but because of its experimental nature I won’t have to set a clear timeline but I should establish this hairstyle in at least a few shots. 

Something I hadn’t considered until I was filming was makeup. Although I’m not one to spend time doing it myself I think this is an easy way to make my face more exciting and even have experimental elements themselves. 

I also contemplated what the costume design should be and I’m torn. At first I wanted the character to be associated with a blue but I don’t want it to be too light or bright. A more opaque color that stills shows darkness but doesn’t put this character in a monochrome scheme. This would be a good idea to propose to the audience I can build on social media and the website that I have to work to build. Speaking of, hopefully by next post I’ll have gotten at least one of them started and sporting a logo or these photos.

До свидания

The Photo Shoot: How It Went Down

Before Finally getting this photo shoot done is my goal between today and tomorrow morning. The goal is to use the equipment gratefully granted by my teacher to solidify the tones and color scheme for this project. I don’t think I’ll be able to rely on someone to take the photo but the problem with that can be easily fixed by a tripod ,which I have. Before I was worried about not being able to steady it properly but after playing around with it I got it to work. One of the major parts that I wanted to figure out was color. More specifically: how much I could rely on the lighting when it came to giving that blue lighting.

Test 1:

First I tried it with different lights in the house putting blue construction paper in front of them, just to see that the borrowed equipment I had was superior.  

Test 2:

Next For the actual photos I tried to get a hard blue lighting that would obscure the top of my shirt. I found that I liked it most with a level position to the camera and my face; any higher made the shadows on my face far too aggressive and not the lightly enticing look I wanted my first experimental key art to have. A problem that I did come across was the shade of blue, even as I turned on the light to the highest setting and put on the blue plastic filter, this blue that I was getting was just so light. I added a bit of the orange-red filter to help and it did but only a little bit. Now I have to decide whether I want to continue focusing on how to get this light where I want it or leave it up to the photoshop skills I have yet to retouch. I think I’m choosing the latter. 

In the next post I’ll post some of the rough shots and later the edited version. But until then.

До свидания

What’s Happened

Unfortunately the plans I had I will not be able to get done. At. All. While I conceived my scheduled limitations I wasn’t prepared for the curve ball of unscheduled events. ]

Friday, I found that it’d be impossible to do this on my own. This was accounted for but the people that could have done it were occupied or just not in the right frame of mind. By frame of mind I mean balling their eyes out over something that happened or the chemistry just wasn’t there that day. Hopefully in the future when I make independent films of my own there will be incentive to push past their emotion issues.

Saturday I was well aware of the five hours I’d be missing while experiencing the faux-authenticity of the Morikami Gardens. What I did not account for was the extra driving that would have to be done. I was not the driver and doing so I was carted to different gas stations that the driver wanted to test out. After that exhaustion claimed me for the rest of daylight only allowing me to wake once again for sustenance, returning me to a vegetative state right after.

Sunday Similar to Sunday I knew of the plans that I had but not of the ones who control my schedule. When I did get home from church and an activity I had there, what little time I had to not only fulfill my academics was eaten up by a session that I honestly didn’t need to be there for. Even if I had made the argument it would have done me no good because they, the party in question, needed my computer. After that I was carted off to the foreseen dinner and extremely drawn out home session with another adult. 

Overall that’s what my weekend looked like and I worry if the next time I do this I have to plan out every hour.

До свидания

Plans | Thought Process

After the extensive research done on marketing and just everything in general I want to get things posted now. I fight with myself to move from the idea of waiting for the final product to be finished before marketing. I realize now that mindset is extremely counter productive because it's screwing with the potential that my film could have. I plan to start with the easiest to market and that would be the key art because I can be ambiguous with the title and visuals that don’t need to be explained. For that I realize that this mask needs to be created sooner than later and the paper mâché version may be more work than it needs to be so the alternative would be a mask I can decorate. I looked at Party City and the price of $5 doesn't seem too bad but I’d be a fool not to look anywhere else for better prices. Just as I thought Hobby Lobby has a much better price at $3.99. Anything else that was less than that didn’t have the coverage I wanted. 

Masks aside I often have a hard time with deadlines and with time as tight as ever I’d like to make a bona-fide to do list that will map out exactly what needs to be done starting from this weekend. 

Friday	Saturday	Monday
Complete Cover Visuals without the masks and possible ideas with the mask	Start with the script and screenplay Start Blog and Social Media Page Work on “Trust It”	Finish “Trust It”  And continue to work on script and screenplay.  Think about filming

This is just mapping out what needs to be done because it is vital to adhere to some structure when the deadlines are closing in and my time is filled with other work. 

Friday

On Friday I’m dedicating it to art because it will allow me to have enough time to edit and experiment. Now I did think about how I would do this alone but I do have my family. If that doesn’t work I can set a timer or just take a video and then screenshot.

Saturday

I am currently trying to film and finish a short film called “Trust It” while I’ve been trying to incorporate what I’ve learned for the upcoming project. I want to be able to shift my focus as soon as possible to this project entirely. Due to scheduling issues with the other actress I won’t be able to finish entirely this weekend but hopefully end it during next week. Otherwise the visuals I should get done prior can be cleaned up and hopefully postable by then. 

Monday

I  believe here I can focus on the screenplay and script for the film so that this can have enough direction for when I get my actor on board. Again “Trust It” will hopefully be finished or close to that so I can officially shift my focus. From there, another schedule would probably be beneficial perhaps even spilling to the next week as well.

До свидания

The Actual Story Making: What's Happening So Far

With all this research the story I’ve been brewing hasn’t been put to rest. In fact all it takes for me now is to properly script this out. What I’m finding is hard about screen-writing a story for experimental film is not the shots but the order that they're in. Because I’ve chosen to do an experimental film the storyline isn’t supposed to be seen or heard but felt and to invoke feelings I must use the colors and sound to move the audience. 

As convoluted as the story may seem how I decide to edit this puppy will either make or break the film but until then I will share what the film is about. It's about a lonely protagonist who really likes movies and tv who is forced to interact with the unfamiliar. The unfamiliar speak in a strange language that the lonely protagonist attempts to respond to but further confuses them. Unfortunately the ending is that the protagonist never does reach further ground with the unfamiliar but instead retreats to the solace provided by media entertainment. 

From the very beginning I want this love for movies/TV shows to be established; I want it so because this will help the audience connect the screen's importance. The inner voices (the inners) of the protagonist will appear in different scenes; they’ll probably always be negative. Most of what the inners do is provide random comments. The unfamiliar are what I plan to give the mask to add to their alien look and voice. 

До свидания

Marketing Research

A point that I wanted to research and just get better at in general is marketing. This is no surprise to me considering the half-baked sideshow presentation and music video I had to present under said unit. It was a disaster but a disaster that I've learned from and if anything the work I have to get done will hopefully make this project better than anything I've done as well as make it appealing enough to make it to a film festival. 

The First video I watched was incredibly informative and I think this should be feasible in advertising the short film. There is a lot of information and a lot that needs to be done especially with a one woman marketing team. Some of the things it brought up was reaching out to bloggers for reviewing your short film. It also brought up more about the director's statement and the cast list involved. 

This video offered techniques that were a lot simpler and a lot easier to-do. I also never thought of using forums in such a way to not only receive criticism. But to reach a community that can further open up my social- circle of like-minded filmmakers. 

This is such an important part of this film because this makes it a well rounded project.

To be honest I've got high hopes for this and I might just experiment with another short film I'm working on. Marketing is everything in making sure that your film is seen.

До свидания

Props- 👺

I mentioned before how I had plans to use a mask to identify the ‘antagonists’  in this piece. Now I have a number of masks but none that I have in stock fit my vision for what I want so I think I might have to create them. A style that I think inspires the future design would be something like this:

Now of course the little girl isn’t included but the uncomfortable expression on her face is exactly what I want to capture with the main character. 

On my quest to find ways I can make this mask I came across these videos: 1, 2, 3. All that told me is that I must summon and relearn the art of paper-mache. An art long lost from the days of my youth according to video 2 this is definitely the easiest cheapest way for me to do this.

До свидания

Research Key Art

Key Art!!!

This is one of the most important parts of a film in general. Not only is this the first impression, it's what would hypothetically be what associates everyone with this film. Before I commence the actual research I already know one of the colors I want to have a major part in this film is blue. Although it can be the color of serenity and control I want it to demonstrate the feeling of loneliness. I’ll worry about the technical difficulties with that later but for now that's the plan. 

For the first video it wasn’t exactly ‘a how to’ but more so of a ‘what to’. It did give me ideas for the key art and the social media promotional posts in the future. Playing with the lighting and overlapping voices definitely aligns with the film’s experimental nature and can cause people to gain an interest early on. 

The next resource was a school’s website: that mandated that posters must be at least 32" x 44" in size, but no larger than 36" x 48." Other hand, the rest of that stuff was for the students so I figured I’d look for a better guide.

Found it! This website was a lot more direct with their information and had the dimensions I was looking for–more or less. I really want something that will tell me the correct dimensions for the credits and whatnot. But this was probably the most helpful: it offers a template, the dimensions for different social media platforms, and other websites that can work with photoshop.

До свидания