Jambu Update

Despite the snow this week that’s been keeping us out of class, our crew has been planning and filming when we can.  On monday afternoon, we solved one of our biggest obstacles:  filming with a spider.  We were all ecstatic when we saw it and we ending up getting some really cool shots of it!  Now, we’re planning out when to film the smaller of our two party scenes, which will be a lot of fun, but a bit challenging because there are some complicated shots and we’ll need detailed art direction to create the perfect atmosphere.  We’ve been nervously awaiting the day that we film this for months and there has been a lot of talk as to how we will film and edit it, but when we finally get there, it will hopefully be fun to shoot and it will turn out good.  We don’t have many scenes left to film in school, so scheduling will become more of a problem in the next few weeks, yet the most difficult thing to schedule right now is our next movie night!  Last time we watched “Black Swan,” one of the main inspirations for our movie, so we all learned a lot and had a good time.  I am hoping to start filming more often, but a main priority is getting to the top on music trivs.

-Pontis

Wax Jambeautiful Ladies

Hi, this is Mary and I am marginally excited to play Lacy in Nemesis. My character is the main antagonist to Marley (played by Lauren LoRusso). Lacy is the epitome of everything Marley hates, which even scares Marley a bit.Lauren has really stepped into her role as stuck-up-snob, in fact the role has really come easily to her. As for my role in the production, I have shot a few times with our (wax jam)beautiful crew.

Today our crew is filming a scene with Lauren, and the rest of us are hard at work! As Mr. Alan pointed out, we have been blowing up the twitter game. Also our esteemed directors—Brendan, Jamie, and Pontis—have been working incredibly hard on getting editing done.

Over the weekend we had a movie night for crew-bonding and work on character development. Our movie is loosely based on Edgar Allen Poe’s William Wallace. Therefore, we watched another movie based on this short story. (refer to our twitter for pictures of this miraculous event)

(BTW this is Pontis as Elton John)

It’s Time

Hi, this is Lauren, I’m excited to get our movie started and to play Marley, which is a very interesting role that I will have to do a lot of preparing for.  I have a lot of good expectations for our movie, since we have a lot of good workers on our crew who have a vision for this movie that they will work hard to achieve.  I also can’t wait to act alongside Mary Healy and Caitlyn Cooper who will bring a lot to this movie, and it’ll be a lot of fun to film with them.

Hopefully our crew will get together soon to have a movie night where we are planning to watch “Black Swan” and hopefully one or two other movies that will help us all and provide inspiration for not only my own character, but also for different shots and directing styles that the directors will benefit from seeing.

Our crew so far has gotten really close already and I think we’ll be really great friends by the end of filming, and hopefully we’ll make a great movie along the way!

-Lauren LoRusso

That’s a wrap!

Whelp, it’s finally over folks. It’s been one amazing year, and I think it’s safe to say that we are all unbelievably proud of the finished product. Personally, I was rather nervous about how it would play, but looking back, our showing was top notch and we couldn’t be happier. 

This year was absolutely incredible and I couldn’t be more honored to have worked with this crew throughout this amazing, yet sometimes stressful process. They have taught me so much about what it means to really be a leader. I know how much work it requires, and that a lot of key decisions are something that a director has to make. 

I have been blessed to share this experience with all of them, and I know that every single one of the members of this crew will go on to do absolutely staggering things. Thank you so much Peter, Maria, Jamie, Stacy, Val, and Caitlin. You guys are awesome and I will miss working with you.

El Final

We never thought this day would come, but..

That’s a wrap on The Haunting of Emily White!  All of our hard work and extended nights have finally payed off. Thinking about how close everyone has become over this past year makes it more difficult to say that this is the end. With only X amount of classes left, we’re holding on to the last days we get to spend as a crew.

I want to thank every single member of Wax Jambu for being the most accepting and loving group of people that I had the honor to make a movie with, including Mr. St. Martin and Mr. Alan. The dedication that you two have to your students means to world to us as aspiring artists, film-makers, and friends. Being in the film program is one decision that I will never regret, and I plan to hold on to the memories it has made for me for the rest of my life.

This movie is something that we are so proud of as a crew, group of friends, and family. On behalf of Wax Jambu and I, we thank all of the other crews for the countless support you gave us as extras, bunker buddies, and friends. Also, thank you to Clementine and Strawberry for tolerating our obnoxious dancing to Stevie Nicks, Cher, and the millions of times that we have pierced your ears with all of the “YAAAASSSSS”‘s and “STAAHP RAHN”‘s.

Once again, much love and thank you’s to every single one of you. And to my crew: never stop being the people that you are. The talents that each of you have shape the great individuals that you are. Embrace your gifts and amazing personalities as we all go our separate ways next year. I love you guys!

🙂

-Maria

Almost here

So our deadline is almost here, and we are so pumped.  All of the work is finally being paid off! We have had some set backs, like teachers constantly walking into our shots after school or loosing some of our edited footage that we later had to re-shoot and re-edit but hey, in the end we figured it out.

The dream sequences in the movie are superb, people are going to be anxious in their seats! I cannot wait to see the reactions from everyone.

 

Valerie

18 days

As expected, the Bu sleepover was an absolute success. We got some incredible shots of the very last scene in the movie, and Maria gave her best performance all year that night. We also got to finish up a lot of clips of different dreams and other scenes that we still had to get. But more importantly, Peter’s aunt made us amazing vegan desserts and Maria made us homemade banana peanut butter ice cream, so we had delicious desserts and watched Frozen (!!!!!) for the rest of the night. Even though shooting for almost 5 hours was a lot of work, we also had so much fun goofing off throughout the night. A pancake breakfast in the morning was a perfect end to the sleepover, and we’re already talking about having another one.

Ever since we got our April 16th due date a few weeks ago, the pressure has been on. But despite all the stress, things are finally starting to come together. We’ve been coming after every day after school to film and edit, and over the last two weeks, we’ve got some of our best shots EVER. Last week, we filmed a flashback scene in the woods with Emily, Rachel, and Liz, and everything went exactly as we had hoped. We even found an abandoned swing that Emily swung on. The lighting was perfect (bright but a little shadowy), and even though it was freezing out, we had such a great time getting those shots done. The dream-like feel of the scene allowed John to get really creative with the camera, which resulted in some beautiful shots. After we finished that scene, we moved right along to film a dream that takes place in a graveyard. We tried to get that one done as soon as we could (not only was it freezing, but we also probably weren’t allowed to film there), but even though the shoot was longer, the footage was amazing. The sun was starting to set and it gave the whole scene a hazy, dreamy feel to it, and we’re really proud of how that turned out. Up until now, Pontis hasn’t been in many scenes, but that day let her really show off why she’s the perfect Emily.

Finally, we overcame one of our biggest obstacles today: figuring out how to get the writing on the wall in St. Martin’s room. I suggesting using an overhead projector a few months back, but we put the idea on the back burner. But when our other option (using a long strip of paper) didn’t work out, I suggested it again, and the outcome was amazing. It really looked like someone wrote on the wall, and we’re so proud of how the shots look.

Even though we’re sad things are coming to a close, we’re also so excited to finish this project, and we’re so happy with everything we’ve done so far. Our late nights after school almost every single day are really starting to pay off, and we couldn’t be happier.

Until next time,

Fergie