Editing Blog: Sorting out the takes

    Today I started the editing process. I have all the editing tools at my house, so at times I just end up editing myself. Which I don't mind. Some days we as a group will work together.  Today I just started by doing simple things. First I put all our footage that we have filmed so far onto my media. Then I had to sort out many of the takes. Like I said in the last blog our group member Derek is not an amazing actor so we took many takes. So when it came to sorting out the takes it took a lot more effort than you might think. I had to watch each individual take. First, I deleted all of the bloopers. I then narrowed it down to all of the clips that could possibly work. I didn't narrow it down based on what I liked either. I narrowed it down to clips that could work in general that way my group members and I can see which clips we like best together. Now, when it comes time to actually put all the clips together we will have options to choose from. After all the sorting of takes, I imported them to "my media". After doing this I decided to stop. Thankfully we have all recovered from the flu situation and have finally got back on track. Now tomorrow in class we will start doing some more serious editing as a group. We plan to get a lot of editing done in class tomorrow that way when we film the rest of our footage we can start editing on that.

Filming Blog: The day of Many Retakes

Today, we finally were able to film. We did have one bump in the road, but it was easily solved. As I have shared in previous blogs I have my own camera so we never have to check one out. Unfortunately, that causes us to forget that we still have to check out a tri-pod. So towards the end of the school day, I realized we forgot the tripod. We thought this would be ok and that we would just be able to go to our teacher once the bell rang and pick up a tripod, but she wasn't there. I then decided just to go buy one from our local Walmart because I had always wanted one for the camera anyway. We thought this might've cut time, but it did not. We ended up having a very productive day.  As the director, I was mainly just filming and figuring out how to make the scene look its best. I would do that by trying out different ways to film the scene and by telling my group member Derek (Main Character) how to act and what to say. Derek was our only reliable actor, but he is not that experienced so it took many... many takes to get the best scene we could. We now have many scenes to look over and many scenes to delete! Overall though, I would say that today was a very efficient day of filming. We got all the scenes done needed for today. This sets us up perfectly for the next time we meet to film. Our goal is to finish filming the next time we meet. We plan to meet one day this weekend. Our goal is to meet earlier in the day so we can knock out all remaining scenes on that day. We are doing this because we want to have as much time to edit and reshoot if needed.

Filming Blog: More Like Catching the Flu Blog :/

This past weekend we had planned to film at my house on Sunday or Monday. We had everything in order. Everyone had a ride to my house and back, we knew what scenes we were going to film, and all the actors were available that day. As the days to film were slowly approaching everything was still fine. Then Saturday night one of my group members Jahzenyah informed us that she was not feeling and that she thinks she might have the flu. At first, I was worried that this might complicate things. Then I thought about it. I am the one who usually films, of course with the assistance of my group members, so technically for the scenes, we plan to film she didn't need to be there. We still decided to move the filming date to Monday just in case she was feeling better by then. So we had a slight bump in the road, but everything was still on track. Well, that was until Sunday night. I get a call from my other group member Derek, the main character of the movie, informing me he caught the flu. So at this point, we had to completely cancel our plans. We were now planning on meeting this Friday after school. Then something happened... I caught the flu. I am currently in bed with a 101.5-degree fever. It was just our luck that two out of the three members caught the flu, but now that they are no longer sick it just had to be that I caught the flu. This is just a series of unfortunate events. We are now aiming for Sunday. That is if I feel better. This is a huge setback in our plans, but I believe we as a team will make it work and catch up.

Planning Blog: Storyboard

Down below is a google slides presentation uploaded. This slide presentation is of the storyboard of our project. The storyboard is only of the first two minutes of the film. In it, we included each of the 20 scenes we have. We also included the titles and names that correspond to the titles within the scenes. For each box that was of a scene, we briefly described what was occurring in the scene. It shows the character(s) and the action(s) they will be doing in each scene. The sound present in each scene was also stated, such as diegetic or non-diegetic. This also includes any dialogue that may occur within the scenes, it was written under the boxes. Creating this storyboard is really beneficial to my group and I as it gives us an exact outline of each scene, and title sequence. When we begin to film, we will film with ease as we film the scenes with a clear plan of what to film. We will do this by continuously referring to our storyboard for guidance.

Planning Blog: Title design in details

      Uploaded below is our google slide presentation. This slide presentation entails a detailed overview of our title design. Within it, we described the fonts we chose, as well as the colors. We also discussed the spacing between the titles and the letters in the titles. Moreover, we expressed what we believe we will name the film, this far into the project. The final title of the film is subject to change but as of now, we have a pretty good general idea. In another slide, we also referred to the ways we will edit the titles entering and leaving the scenes when they appear. We agreed on simple fade-ins and fade-outs for them. Lastly, we touched on the duration that the titles will appear on the screen for when they pop up. The best amount of time would be two to three seconds for each. This will ensure that we fit every required title into the first two minutes. That concluded the overview of our title design.

Planning Blog: Location, Participants, Health, Schedule

Down below is our google slide presentation. We developed an outline of the locations of our film, the participants, how we will remain good health and safety, and the schedule for the rest of the project. For the location slide, we expressed what the two locations are going to be. One will be the home of one of our group members, and the other will be a library. We also uploaded pictures of the locations to give a visual representation of them. On the participant's slide, we listed every character that will appear in the two minutes, and who they will be played by. Next, we detailed the safety precautions we will take throughout the filming process to ensure we remain safe and healthy. A few of these include having constant adult supervision, as well as staying hydrated. Finally, the last slide was of our schedule for filming and the rest of this project. We detailed the first few days of filming and where it will take place. We also included when we will begin to edit the footage, and when we should be submitting the final piece to Cambridge for evaluation.   

Planning Blog: Sound & Dialogue Script

          Down below is our google doc presentation. We developed a sound and dialogue script for our film. In total, there are 7 slides. In this doc, there are multiple scenes combined into slides. Within the slides, we discussed the sound effects and dialogue that will occur in each scene. For scenes with dialogue, we emphasized the exact words the characters will be saying in those scenes. The most common sounds present in these scenes are diegetic and score. The purpose of this slideshow is to give a clear outline of the types of sounds that will be present in each scene. It essentially maps out of the sounds and dialogue in the scenes. Having this will make it easier for us to follow through with creating and implementing those sounds into our footage. The slides simply tell what sounds, music, and dialogue will be occurring in each scene. Nothing else is included in this presentation because every other element was included in the shooting script. 

Planning Blog: Shooting Script

       Down below is our google doc presentation. We developed a shooting script for our film. In total, there are 19 slides. Each slide represents a different scene. Within the slides, we discussed the actions and events that will be taking place in each scene. Moreover, we also expanded on certain elements in the scenes, such as camera angles and movements. The characters that appear in the scenes are also introduced. The purpose of this slideshow is to give a written representation of our storyboard. It essentially maps out of each of our scenes. Having this will make it easier for us to draw out our storyboard because we will have already planned out each scene. The slides simply tell what is going on in each scene. No sounds are included because they will be included in the sounds and dialogue script.