Editing blog: The virus

Well this whole project has been crazy for me. I’ve been through ups and down. There have been so many road bumps and things preventing me from progressing. In the latest news, a recent virus named the Corona Virus has had everyone scared. The whole world has been on alert. My family and I have been diligently watching the news to see what our government is telling us. This virus has everyone scared. I haven’t been going out to public places because of this virus. I’m currently sleeping over a family friends house. I want to be careful with who I interact with. Also lack of human interaction isn’t fun either. I’ve been really confused about how life is going to change. They’ve shut down school and other things as well. They even closed down my local gym. When I first heard the news I was shocked. It still feels surreal to me about everything that has occurred. My mom is a nurse so she’s on the front line of this epidemic. I fear for her, I don’t want anything to happen to her. Hopefully everything can come back to normal and we can live out everyday lives. Even if it doesn’t I hope everything works it self out.

Editing blog: Actually editing

Prior to my peer review I had the opportunity to edit my film. After filming I had multiple clips of my scenes. I choose the ones that I thought were the best. I also choose the ones that I thought meshed well together. Editing my movie was not as easy I thought it would be. There are many things you have to take into consideration. Transitions, effects, and sounds are some of these essential parts to editing your film. I wasn’t really familiar with editing, because this was my first time really doing it myself. I utilized the iMovie app to help me edit everything together. If I’m being honest I had to search up how to fully use the program to its full ability. I had to learn to shorten scenes and increase audio. I used multiple transitions, effects, etc. I used fade-in, fade-out, slide, wipe, and other transitions to change from scene to scene. The different transition also helps emphasize the change in time, and smooth change in scenes. I also used a black and white effect to help demonstrate time change. The difference in color resembles a flash back in time that the main character is having. I also increased the sound of most scenes, because of the diegetic sound affecting dialogue. You could barely hear the actors speak, because of all the wind and sound in our vicinity. All in all, editing was very challenging, but I eventually got the result I wanted. There is still more I have to add, but with my first result I’m happy with the outcome.

Filming blog: Actually filming

Days prior to my peer review assignment, I had the opportunity to film my movie. Everything went smoothly and efficiently. I got to the park and began setting everything up. I also found different places to my camera to capture different angles, shots, etc. I couldn’t have asked for a better day to film. The weather was perfect with lots of sun and clear skies. Another great thing was the basketball court was empty. We had a lot of time to get the film done and do everything. I began with my opening scene with a low angle of my feet walking. As I’m walking I begin to dribble the basketball between my legs. The next scene is of me walking on to the basketball court. I have multiple flashbacks with a passed loved one. After each flashback I would come to reality and mimic basketball moves. Keep in mind all of this is before a big basketball game. The main character is just reminiscing on past times. He feels a deep pain and sorrow for the person he loves that’s no longer alive. He’s comforted by his sister as she comes in a later scene. Him and her share a loving sibling moment. In retrospect, the film came together amazingly. There are some things I need to change here and there, but for my first shooting it went better than I expected.

Peer Review

On class this Monday I was ready to with my film to begin peer reviewing with classmates. As I walk in I realize there’s a list on the board to see our peer review partners. I walked to the list and found my partner which was Kayla. When I asked around for Kayla, to my surprise she wasn’t to be founded. She was absent and I had no film to review. Luckily, I was able to have someone review my film. For the most part I had all of the requirements. There are a few things I need to re-shoot and edit to enhance my film. This group of two watched my film for about 5 minutes. They played it over and over again. They did a deep analyze on my movie to give me the best advice. They loved my film, but told me I still needed to get some more work done. I took all of the things they said into consideration. I’ve made a list of things I need to add and improve. I’m trying to organize everything so I can add stuff to my film. It was great that I had the opportunity to get multiple opinions on my film. Without this advice I probably wouldn’t have as good as a film as I would like. This group really helped me and I’m thankful for them. Since I didn’t have any film to review I took a sneak peek at theirs. They had great qualities also that I would like to use.

Filming blog: Days before shooting

The clock is winding down before it’s time to finally film. This is what I’ve been preparing for. I have everything ready to go for the big day. I gathered all my props and supplies that I’m going to utilize. I have clothes, shoes, basketball, etc. I’ll be making the drive up to the set tomorrow after school. It’s going to be about an hour or longer depending on traffic. I’ll be staying over night at family friends house. We’re close, practically family, so I’m with them very often. I plan on staying over night and filming the next day. I’ll go over the plan with them the night before so they’ll be prepared. They also have a couple of lines they have to say so they’ll memorize it by the nights over. The next day we will venture over to the park where we will be filming. We’ve been there plenty of times so I’m familiar with the area. The filming will take place on the basketball court. We will have to find a good time where the court is empty to film. If there’s people there I’ll just improvise and adjust to the situation. I’ll have plenty of people to assist me there and get this film done swiftly, but perfectly. Nothing will be guaranteed but I can just hope for the best. I’m super ecstatic to begin this process and can’t wait till it happens.

Editing blog: Family in town

My filming progress has been the same since last week. I haven’t been able to film anything, because of my family in town. It’s both good and bad that they left just recently a couple days ago. Good, because I can finally focus on my project. Bad, because I won’t see them for some time. To be quite honest I haven’t put in any progress since my last blog. All my time had been going into my family. I’m planning on filming this up coming weekend. My filming set is farther than I would like, but hopefully things will work out. I plan on driving about an hour up north from where I live. This is where I’ll meet my cast. We will then travel to a local park where my film will take place. We have to gather a couple of props that will be featured in my film. I’ve already contacted my cast about meeting together. They agreed to start the process sometime this weekend. Without a doubt I need to begin filming or else I’ll fall far behind. I’m actually excited to work on this, because this is my first time creating a video alone. If everything goes according to plan I’ll be just fine. Of course something’s may change, but I’ll just adjust to the circumstances. I’ll continue to stay organized and be ready to film my movie.

Filming blog: Not Filming

Planning this whole project and everything in it has been extremely time consuming. It took hours and hours to do my storyboard, scripts, etc. Over weeks and weeks I’ve been building a blue print for my final task. With overwhelming work and stress executing has been difficult. I need to find time to begin filming my movie, but it’s been hard. Just a couple days after I finished planning, I was bombarded with a multitude of projects and work from other classes. Not to mention I have family in town so time has been hard to come by. Most of my time has been occupied with my family. If not with family it’s been doing school work. Also, coordinating a certain date to meet with my film members has been hard because of the change of plans. Adapting to changes is one of the most important elements that I have to master. Not everything is going as I planned so I have to be accustomed to the circumstances. I still have to find a new convenient time for my film members. I’m going to text them and figure things out. Since I haven’t been able to film, I’ve just been organizing everything I’m going to do. I’ve planned everything out in my head, so when we finally film, things will be perfect.  I’m continuing to review my notes and everything I’ve planned. Things will stay fresh in my mind and if any new ideas come into mind I can integrate them. All in all, I will begin the filming process soon. After I film I’ll begin editing and continue with the whole process.