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Showing posts from February, 2023

Making editing decisions

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 Today I decided what part of the film our group will be editing, once the filming portion of our film is complete. I decided that I would complete the majority of the editing, especially during the end parts of the film. I made this decision because I have the most experience with editing. Furthermore, I also have knowledge of important editing tactics. Methods like split screen, jump cuts, fades and more are common, and I plan to use in our film. I also decided to edit the middle-end section of the film, because this is where the most action will happen. This section of the film is the most technical when it comes to editing. Therefore, it might take someone with more experience in the field. I plan to use Imovie to edit my film. It is also more efficient for me to edit, because I will also be the primary filmer. Its important for clips and shots to have a clean and clear export when transferring from devices. As a result, I decided to film so the clips are on my phone. This means th

Reviewing our film

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 Today was another rainy day, and with the nasty weather it gave me two options. I could film with my team inside, or find another filming location that isn't outside or under cover. Or, we could make use of this day by reviewing our current shots, and coming up with edits of changes that can make what we have better. Our team chose to review our film today. So, we loaded up what we filmed on the laptop and started watching. I caught some errors with our shots immediately. To start, I along with my team noticed glare in the first shot. At first, it wasn't a bother but later the glare started to seem more noticeable. I decided to mask the glare by cutting the top portion of the film where it was. This was a simple editing tactic that saved our group time. Not having to re shoot this shot saved our group time for other shots or other potential roadblocks. Besides the glare, the shot looked perfect. Our group was very happy with how the first shot turned out. Next, our group took

Long day of filming; Overcoming the wind

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 Today marked the first day of filming for me and my team! We gathered all of our props, which consisted of costumes, make up and other supplies. After, we all headed to our filming location, the park. Once we got to the park, the first step we had to do was set up our first scene. We planned our first scene to be an establishing shot of the area. Next, the shot would slowly pan to our main character. The character would be walking through the park, looking down as if they're sad about something. Filming this shot took a couple of takes, this is because it was a public park and often locals would walk through our set-up. Another minor issue when filming this scene was the wind! It was a very windy day, and overcoming the wind took a couple of takes. However, after we were satisfied with the result we started filming the next scene in a different area of the park. This scene would introduce new characters to our short film. This scene was very important because it gives the audience

choosing our editing software

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   It's always very important to plan ahead during the filming process. For today, I decided what editing software I would be using when the filming portion is complete. In order to come to a credible editing software, lots of research had to be conducted. I spent today analyzing various editing softwares and which one would be best for me. The first website I looked at was "CapCut." CapCut is a great tool for editing and does not add a watermark to the finished product. CapCut is also very user friendly, and easy to get the hang of. This appeals to our group especially because we do not have extensive training or courses done in professional editing. CapCut provides all of the basic editing tools and tricks, like split screens, cuts, fades, slow-motion, stabilization and much more. Overall, CapCut is near the top of our list for editing softwares we will use to edit our short film. The second editing software that we looked at was Imovie. Imovie appealed to me the most b

Our actors

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Hey there! So, today has been quite the experience trying to choose the right friends to act in my film. Let me tell you, it's not as easy as it seems! Here are some of the things I've learned along the way:   Firstly, I had to really think about the characters in my story and what kind of personalities, backgrounds, and motivations they had. This helped me to narrow down which friends would fit the roles I needed.   Then, I had to consider the age range of my characters and make sure that the friends I was interested in were in that range. It's important to make sure that the age of the actors fits the story, otherwise it can look a bit weird.   Of course, availability was also a big factor . I had to make sure that the friends I wanted to cast were available during the filming schedule. There's nothing worse than having to recast halfway through because someone can't make it!   To help me find the right friends, I also asked for recommendations from classma

Music

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 Today was dedicated to picking what music we were going to use for our film. Our team were stuck on this crucial factor. I had to decide between suspenseful music or dramatic music. Although the genre of the film is a drama, suspense can also aid towards our goal. Suspenseful tones are universal in the film industry and always intrigue the audience. Also, I looked at adding dramatic, sad classical music in our film. Sad music will appeal to the more emotional side of the audience. This is also what our team wants, through certain scenes only. After Deliberation, I decided that we should add both types of music in our film.  So, I started to decide where to add both types of music in our film. This was a harder task than usual. Deciding where to implement both types of music was difficult because many of our scenes present a different meaning. Many of our scenes also give a different ton to the audience. Picking and choosing where to place music would require an analysis on the scene.

Rainy day!

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  After spending weeks scouting the perfect location for our film we decided to start filming our movie! Thats what we thought, until we woke up in the morning and it was raining! This was very unexpected, as we checked the forecast the day before and it looked like a beautiful day with only a 20 percent chance of rain. Nevertheless, now that we couldn't film we had to improvise. Our team met at my house, and we had to improvise. We could try to film in the rain, but that would risk equipment getting wet and affecting the quality of the film. But, after a while of brainstorming, we came up with an idea. We would watch movies of a similar genre and plots for research purposes. SO, we set up the television and gathered all the movies of similar plots and genres to prepare to watch them. Our plan was to analyze the different shots, sounds, lighting, and props used in similar films. Doing this, we learned a lot about what works and what doesn't work in our genre. We also learned ab

Production: Props

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   Today marks the first day in our production process! Our team gathered everything we needed for the film before we started to shoot. So, in doing so we took a trip to Target to get all the props that we needed for the film! Before we left for the store, I made a list of all the props that we will need for our film. This included costumes, paper, jewelry and other items. Although, most of the costumes we already had, or could find in our closets. The paper would be used in our film for the "Missing" poster, that would be hung up in the park, the jewelry needs to look dated for the Emma, spirit. Furthermore, Our team also needs to find a costume for Emma, the spirit. At target, it took a while to find the necessary make-up that we would use in our film. Appearance is very important to us, for the characters to look as realistic as possible. So, for the makeup we decided to go minimal with the exception of Emma, who would have more of a pale look. I had trouble finding some n

Our storyboard.

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  Scene 1: Establishes the park, where the main character is upset about a recent event in which she got bullied at school. The first scene immediately introduces both main characters, as well as the conflict regarding bullying and mental health.  Scene 2: This scene is still at the park, Aria notices a girl at the park bench, she decides to walk up to her. Scene 3: Aria and this new strange girl at the park start talking, and become friends, at this time Aria is still upset about what had happened at school earlier. Scene 4: Emma, the ghost, questions her and is curious as to what happened, this leads to the backstory, a cut to school, where it is revealed that Aria has been getting bullied, Emma notices this serious situation. Scene 5: Emma talks to Aria, and tries to spark confidence in her, to stand up to the bullies, this creates a long conversation in which they find a bench, to sit and talk. Scene 6: On the bench in the park, Emma brings up more times that she's been getting