Sydney's Filming Diary Month 2: Q&A!

For my Rebelle filming diary this month, a few people on the AG Club asked me some questions about my filming process for me to answer! Here you guys go:

1. About how many hours of filming do you do on an average week?- I normally film about 90 minutes to 2 hours a day, so that amounts to 14 hours a week.

2. Did you write about the different characters with certain dolls in mind, or did you cast after you created the characters?- I casted after creating the characters, since it wasn't supposed to be with dolls until I realized that it would be more fun to do it now than save it for when I'm a pro.

3. Do you listen to or say the dialog while filming, or do you film and try to sync all of the voices after (or maybe some of both)?- I actually take the script pages I'm filming with, time myself saying the line, do a math formula I figured out to find out how many frames I need to film for a part, and write the answer down on the script. Then, I repeat for the rest of the scene!

4. How long have you been working on Rebelle?- It's almost been a year since I first thought of it and started writing, but I started filming two months ago!

5. How long are you exactly hoping for it to be?- The script is 91 pages, so I'm hoping for it to be 70-90 minutes. One of my goals with this project was to make the first feature-length AGSM movie, so I hope it turns out that way!

6. What's your inspiration for Rebelle?- The dystopian unit in school. We read a few books with the same ending- "our society isn't cool. Let's run away now!" I always thought, "why don't you just overthrow the government if your society isn't cool?", but one night, I thought about it some more and came up with the basic story idea. I saw a terrible movie a few days later, and I realized that the idea would most likely be a better one- and the rest is history!

7. Is filming mostly indoors or outdoors?- Indoors, thank goodness. Greenscreens help a lot, especially considering that it's really cold out right now!

8. Is the project stressful at times?- I'd be lying if I said no. I sometimes get hard on myself if I miss a day of filming, and it's sometimes hard when I make a mistake and have to start a scene all over again.

9. How often do you film Rebelle?- I've tried to film every day, and I've mostly succeeded! I have taken breaks, but I always either fit them in to my film schedule or doubled my filming output the day I went back to work.

10. What's the hardest and the easiest part of this project?- The hardest parts of filming are getting their own diary entry next month... there's fight scenes, which are tough because it's hard not to make the dolls fall and not to show my hand. The protest scenes are hard, too, because if one doll falls, the others will, too, and that will get pretty tricky when there's 100 dolls in one shot. And right now I'm filming a car chase- pretty fun, but hard! The easiest part is probably filming in itself, because it's fun to just get my scoliosis brace on and do what I love after a long day of school.

11. What do you use to film and edit?- I'm filming on a Canon Rebel T7i (perfect camera for the movie, lol!), and I'm using Stop Motion Studio Pro, Movavi and Vegas Pro to edit.

12. Does Rebelle somehow stop you from filming other videos?- Other stopmotions? Yes. I've really wanted to film a video of Joss surfing since she released, but I'll eventually get to it. But videos in general- I've been filling my channel with opening videos and filming vlogs, so it hasn't stopped my channel forever!

13. What are you the most excited for people to see when they watch Rebelle?- There's so much that I love about this project... if I went into detail, I'd spoil a lot. I'm just excited for everyone to finally get to watch what I've been working on for a long time!

14. What do you think everyone's reaction to this whole movie will be?- I don't really know, to be honest. I put in a few plot twists and stuff, so I know everyone will be pretty shocked at those, but I just really hope everyone enjoys the movie!

15. Are you enjoying this project?- One word: YES. It's the most fun I've had filming a stopmotion in years, to be honest.

If you guys are wondering anything else, you can comment below and I'll answer your questions! Thanks for being so supportive of me during this journey so far, and I can't wait for you guys to see the trailer (hopefully releasing soon!) and the actual movie on June 14!

P.S: I set up a website for Rebelle last week! It's on the new tab I made, 'Sydney's Stuff', with Special Dolls. Or you can just go to rebellemovie.com.