Editing Blog: Why we haven’t edited yet

Me and my partner finished our filming process a couple of days ago. We are very happy with all the footage we got and we hope it will look even better when we finish everything. Me and my partner Xavier haven’t started filming yet because we had some small problems during the process. In the beginning of the week on Monday we had class time to edit our movie. We had our SD card with us but the computer that the school provided us was really slow and some of the footage was not opening. We tried many times and in many different apps to open our video but nothing was working. On that day we decided to take a break and just talk about what we were going to do when we had to edit our video, what editing software we were going to use and etc. After a long discussion me and my partner decided to edit our video on iMovie since we are more familiar with that website. We chose iMovie because we edited both of our last projects, the music video and the commercial using the iMovie software. It is a really good software and it is also really easy to understand it and use it.  The following class our plan was to edit our video during the class time our teachers provided us. When we came to class Xavier told me he forgot he’s computer at home so we couldn’t edit again that day. It was really frustrating because I was really hoping to get things done and see how our movie looked before the peer review so we could make some adjustments in time. We tried to use one of our friend’s computer that supported iMovie but he was using it to edit his video the whole class period. Due to all of these events me and my partner were not able to start our editing process. We are planning on getting together this weekend to start editing at my house. Hopefully everything will go the way it should and we will be done with our movie by the end of this weekend. I am really excited to see the final result of our movie. I believe our movie is going to look amazing. I can’t wait for the peer review, it will be really fun to show all my classmates my movie and get some feedback from them for future changes if necessary.

Filming Blog: My day of filming

This past Sunday February 23, my partner and I got together and filmed our movie. We woke up at around 9 am because we wanted to be at our friends house to start filming at 10. When we got there we revised our storyboard and looked at all the camera angles, shots, sounds, and editing that were required to be in our movie. After that we set the camera that the school provided for us up, and started filming our first scene. It was a rainy day but luckily most of our scenes had to be filmed inside the house and some in the car so that was not a problem for us. After we filmed the first 4 scenes we noticed there was a problem with the camera the school gave us. The camera would stop recording by itself when we tried to film the next scenes and an error message would pop up on the screen. Luckily for us our friend Maya that was helping us film had a really good camera at her house  and we were able to use it to finish filming our movie. The only problem was that when we transferred the SD card to the new camera we noticed that the scenes we filmed were not saved, so we had to film the same scenes over again. About 2 hours after we changed cameras we had half of our footage filmed. We noticed that the camera battery was about to die so we decided to take a break, let the camera charge and eat since it was already 1PM. We waited for about 1 hour for the camera battery to charge and we continued to film our movie. There was only one scene left to film before we had to go film at the Airport. The last scene we had to film at the house was the hardest one in my opinion. Since our movie genre is drama, that last scene required very good acting because it was a sad scene and I’m not a very good actor. I did my best and my friend Maya did really good and we felt like the scene looked good. Me and my partner Xavier left with Maya to go to the airport and film there. The airport scene was really short but the problem filming there was that there was a lot of people moving everywhere, but we ended up being able to get really good footage there and in a fast time so we didn’t bother anyone that had a flight. We went back home after finishing the last scene at the airport and finished the day by helping our friend Maya film her movie. I am glad we were able to get everything done by last weekend because that gives us an extra week to edit our video and make sure it is ready for grading.

Filming Blog: Why my group didn’t film

This is my first filming blog. Our final project is due in about 2 weeks from now, on March 3rd. My group and I haven’t started filming yet because we have been really busy with extracurricular activities in the past weekends. Thankfully we will be able to film the whole day this weekend on Sunday since we will be both free. We have already spoken to our friend that is not part of our group but will be in our movie and she will be available too. We will be filming at her house because it is very close to the Fort Lauderdale - Hollywood International Airport where we will be filming some of our scenes too. We needed permission to film there so we emailed them (picture of the email below). The airport administration was really fast answering us. They asked for more details about our movie and we replied giving all the detail they need and we are currently waiting for a reply. I believe that they will be fine with us filming there since we are not doing anything crazy and the scene will only be around 10 to 20 seconds. Our original plan was to film in a different airport closer to our houses. We emailed them twice but never got a response back. It is a private airport so maybe their staff is smaller and they weren’t able to pen our emails on time. I also believe that they wouldn’t allow us to film there since it is a private airport. I believe that it worked out for the best since the Hollywood airport is closer to the place we are filming and it is bigger and more crowded making the scene more realistic. When we get there we will also be helping our friend film her video too. She is taking the same class but she is a different period. She will also be filming at the airport so this will be good for both of us. Me and my partner are really excited to film this weekend. It is a really fun experience and we always have a lot of fun filming.

planning blog: storyboard

The storyboard is one of the most important things a studio needs to do before filming their movie. It is a process that needs to happen, and to be done with care and attention because what is on that paper should be what will happen in the movie. Making this story board was quite difficult. Me and my partner are not very good at drawing but I believe that what we have down on the paper can be easily understood. This was a very long story board, I took us about 10 pages to complete it. That was one of the hardest parts because we needed to capture every detail that we had memorized in our heads and try to put everything down into the paper. The storyboard will help me and my partner a lot during our filming because we will probably forget some essential details and looking at the storyboard will help us remember to film them. I really enjoy storyboarding because it gives you a feel that your whole movie is coming together and it is actually happening. Me and my partner will try to film as soon as possible to avoid any inconveniences. I am really excited to start filming to see how it will look in the camera.

planning blog: title design

This is my presentation. It talks about the exact placement of each of the titles. It also talks about eh font, size, color, and insertion of each of these titles. These titles can be the silent killers of the project because if there is a poor transition, then it could break the flow of the movie. The viewer never notices how well the titles are inserted, they only focus on it if it obstructed their viewing ability. In this presentation I talk about how and when the transitions will be inputed. One example of this is when Recruit gets out of his car and opens the mailbox, this is a common title insertion as it is introducing the setting. This is probably the most important portion of the whole project, the titles.

planning blog: schedule, location, participants, and health and safety

This is my presentation. It talks about many steps we have to take before we are completely done with our movie project. This presentation has all the information that we need to finish our project. It contains all the due dates for every part of our project including blogs. Some of the last due dates are estimated because we don’t have a correct one yet but most of them are accurate. I have tried to capture the best picture I could to show more of the location me and my partner will be filming on. For Participants we will be using the help of a friend that is not in our group but she will be playing a role in our movie. Me and my partner are both males and we needed someone to play a female and she offered to help us. We will also be playing a role in her movie as well. At the health and safety section we tried to write everything that could be dangerous in our filming process. It quite hard because we will be filming mainly indoors but we figured it out eventually.

planning blog: shooting script

This is my Shooting script. This script plays a very large role in the way we plan and execute the movie. this is essentially the ground work of our entire clip. The selection of each of the shots can make or break your entire movie. I decided to choose certain shots that really make sure that the viewer can connect emotionally. Like when the sad music is playing and he sits down his parents to tell them about the letter. Or when he first sees the letter and the is a close up on his eyes to show his true emotion. In the script you can see how we also have a few shots that introduce you to who Recruit is and his position in the world. Recruit is a caring student that was devastated when being drafted to the war. These shots can tell you who the character is, how he is affected by his surroundings, and his emotions. 

Planning blog: sound script

This is my sound script. Sound is a really important part when it comes to a drama genre movie. Me and my partner made sure to have in this movie as many different types of sounds as possible because a movie like ours that involves war and drama needs to have good sound effects and sounds in general like music for example. Depending on what type of sound you choose and in what scene they come can change a viewers entire perspective in a movie. This movie will have Diegetic Sounds, Non-Diegetic sounds, voice overs, dialogues and a background music. Our group will be very careful when selecting sounds and music because most of the time they get copyrighted. I realized that writing a sound script is not hard and it is really fun to create ideas and implement them in your movie. I have also learned that you can’t write a sound script before you write your shooting script. Me and my partner will meet up tomorrow and email some music companies to ask their permission for the use of their music. Hopefully we will be getting a positive response and be able to add a good song to the background of our movie without getting copyrighted.