Re-editing Journey

   This past week has been a real chaos for me since everything I planned and scheduled got moved around or even canceled. For me it is extremely hard since I didn't get a text or even a call from my partner but I will still inform her of what is going to happen with our project. For now I plan to edit our film with a new software I found and downloaded for free with no watermarks because I don't know if my partner will even edit at all. Even though I have Pinnacle Studios I still downloaded this new software, ever since using this new software it has been extremely easy to edit meaning I feel like I am in control because it is really easy to use and get started and isn't complicated like Pinnacle Studios. The first thing I did was test out the software and get it scanned to ensure it wasn't a virus or a scam since it was for free to download. I was able to insert the files from our recordings and start editing. I tested all the different features it had to offer so I can see and get a feel of how it works. Once I knew how everything worked I started by adding all the scenes together and just edit each one at a time. I trimmed each scene and fixed the sound whether it needed to be muted or amplified. So far I got half of it done since I had to redo it since my partner Jeannie did not edit.
    By tomorrow I wanna have all the scenes trimmed and the sound fixed so I can do my magic and add in any inserts or transitions to make the flow of the film seem clean and not choppy. I also plan to add the music in the background after I do some searching for a non-copyrighted song on Google. I want to leave the titles for last and once I finish what I have planned for tomorrow I am going to text my partner again to inform her of what I have been doing. I am also going to tell her the announcements our teacher made on canvas regarding school and the project. For the most part everything is still on track for the final project to be due on April 9th and even though I do not have the teachers to remind me physically to focus and work on my blogs I make sure I do them on time. Once I finish editing the opening I am going to start recording my CCR and start editing it since we need inserts or a split screen showing our process from before up until now. What I want to do is once I finish all my 12 blogs that we needed to do by April 9th I also want to include separate blogs that have the video or link to my projects from the beginning of the year up until now to show my true progress and so you can all enjoy. I am mainly doing this because I don't know whats going to happen after April 15th whether we are gonna go all online for our classes and I don't know what is going to happen with our Cambridge exams for not just for our AICE Media Studies class but for our other AICE classes.I have been reading all the announcements and updates my teachers texts whether it is through Canvas, Email, Remind, or Social Media and so far all I know is that we have to continue working on this project which I am 100 percent going to do.

Filming the Main Plot

  Finally my partner and I were able to meet up and film the main story or plot of our opening movie. My sister and I were preparing all the props needed and extra clothing for the two characters I play in the film. We planned to meet up in front of Five and Below and walk to the back of the stores to the parking lot and set up the tripod and camera. We planned to meet up at 11:00 in the morning but due to my partner being stuck in traffic we meet up at 11:35. Once she arrived we went straight into the store to buy red paint to look like blood from the stab scene. To be honest we were completely unprepared we didn't have no water, napkins, or the fake knife for the movie so we substituted it for scissors. We decided to film in the morning because we had to do our homework and study for the SAT that was coming up on Wednesday. Jeannie bought the paint and when we arrived at the location in the parking lot that was when I realized I forgotten to take the SD card and put it into the camera. We had to wait additionally for my parents to drop off the SD card before we could start filming. Once we had all our supplies (sort of) we started to set up the tripod and the camera so we can start.
    I forgot to bring our storyboard so my partner and I had to explain to my sister about each scene and what we wanted her to act out and say. Once we were half-way into our filming my partner Jeannie realized that we had 25 minutes of filming left on the camera before the battery dies, even though I charged it the night before. The best part was we got all the walking and close up scenes done and now we had to focus on the stabbing scene and the boy running to his mother scene. The stabbing scene was fairly quick and we did 10 shots of that scene and once we finished we only had 15 minutes left so we had to rush. We shut off the camera so we can get the props ready with paint. My partner Jeannie painted the scissors while I put on my hoodie and paint my sisters face with the red paint along with her hands and my hands. Once Jeannie the director finished filming my sister dead on the floor we quickly had to film the scenes with the boy running up to his mom before the camera dies since we had 5 minutes left. We filmed that scene up until we had 1 minute left. After filming for the day we were such a mess we had paint all over ourselves while we waited for Jeannie mom to arrive to pick her up. Once I got home I immediately took out the SD card and dumped all the footage onto my laptop in a folder I have dedicated for AICE Media Studies. My partner and I discussed recently to re-shoot some scenes this weekend before spring break and this time we will have all our props ready and actually be prepared by having the camera fully charged so we have more time to edit.

Planning Blog: Storyboard

My partner and I were able to story-board the scenes and ideas that came to us during the planning process shown below in the presentation. I was able to convey the main story from the shooting script onto paper through drawings. I wanted our storyboard to be detailed yet still simple enough so we don't over complicate ourselves when filming our movie. I was able to stretch our all the scenes we created in the shooting script onto the storyboard paper however, honestly we did not have 10 pages of story-boarding done. I did not want to add to the story-line that I knew wasn't true and because I did not have the chance to talk it over with my group member so I story-boarded all the vital scenes that is crucial for our first two minutes of the movie. We wanted to keep the opening of the movie suspenseful and not give away the main plot of the movie which is summarized through our pitch. The opening scenes of the two minute film will allow the audience to get to know and see the memories and personality of the characters before actually finding out more as they watch deeper into the movie. This is why we gave no names to our characters or actors because the opening allows you to make a judgement based on looks and dialogue said but we wanted to keep the name disclosed until later in the movie just like some movies do today. Although it is not our best drawings we still wanted to put effort into our storyboard so when it comes to filming we already have a visual of how the movie will turn out but in better quality and color. Presented below is our storyboard we hope that the drawings allow you to visualize our two minute opening but just to keep in mind this is is our planning and will be better on camera and once it is completely done.

Planning Blog: Title Design

When my partner and I first started discussing our Title design, we were completely stumped on how we wanted our titles to look like in the first two minutes of our movie. Since the genre of our movie is Action and Thriller we wanted to include the colors, fonts, and sizes that is typically seen in that specific movie genre. After our title research blogs we have done in the past we had somewhat of an idea. In the end we were finally able to agree on the Title design that best suited our movie. In the presentation below you will see examples and the design we decided on for our title which honestly with the lighting and theme behind our film will draw the audience to feel the action and thriller feel by looking at the titles. By adding the red colors in our titles along with the black we can create a suspenseful feeling toward the murder that will come in the first two minutes. The red mimics the blood of the victim in our movie which adds to the thriller part of our genre. The lowercase and uppercase spelling reminds us of the writings seen in most murder movies such as that on a type-writer or on TV and newspaper. The red color in our title also represents the revenge the main lead actor feels towards his mother murderer in the movie. In the presentation below you will have a closer look at our Title design that we agreed on but can change if needed.  

Planning Blog: Location, Health, Participants, and Scheduling

In today's planning I was able to breakdown all the details that will effect our movie but also guide us on how we should run our filming process by narrowing down our location, participants, scheduling and safety crew. I was able to do this blog mainly because I knew the location and knew that I could get a picture or video to show in the presentation below. The rest of the presentation was easy to assemble together because my partner and I already discussed all the details way back in the beginning when we were creating the pitches for the different movie ideas. We wanted to keep our cast simple mainly because we felt like if we had a lot of cast members we would not be able to focus on filming and because the film doesn't call for more than three actors. In our movie we have one male lead role which is an important character in our movie because the story-line revolves around him. But my partner and I decided that I can play both roles even though I am a female and will be playing the lead role of the wealthy woman. Because our movie revolves around a murder we had to ensure that we discussed about the safety measures that will be implemented during our filming time outside of school.In the presentation below we go into further details on what our safety crew will be doing to ensure the safety of our cast and director/editor. For scheduling I narrowed down our goal of hopefully finishing filming and editing before spring break starts. Although it is a far stretch we want to try and reach this goal so we can have time to look back and re-edit if necessary. All of the location, participants, health, and schedule is presented below.

Planning Blog: Sound and Dialogue Script

In this set of Google Slides we incorporated all of the sound whether it is any dialogue and any music that will be used in the first two minute beginning of the movie. We put in details so that when I start story-boarding I can include all the Camera angles, movements, and shots and all the sound that will be used for each scene and each six seconds if any. In our Google Slide presented below we go in specific detail about what to add in our scenes. We have to make sure that any of the music we incorporate in our final movie is not copyrighted or else we have to send an email to get the song approved to be in our movie. Which is honestly a lot of work and majority of the time we will most likely not get a response back. Me and my partner made sure to start thinking about free non-copyrighted music to add into our different scenes. My partner and I are researching different websites that will give us free music that will be useful in the two minutes of the movie to build the Thriller/Action genre which will be carried out. We did not include any of the Camera angles, movements, and shots because this presentation will solely focus on sound and dialogue. Sound and Dialogue script will help us see any of our mistakes which we can easily change it and fix and will also help benefit us when we need to film so we know which specific scenes will have any sound or music. The Google Slide presented below is the planning my partner and I did for all the sound and dialogue of our movie.

Planning Blog: Shooting Script

Today me and my partner discussed and broke down each of the scenes that will be used in the final task of the movie which will include all our actors, camera angles, movement, and shots. It will also include specific actions that will be done in the first two minutes of the movie that will make it into the Thriller/Action movie we envisioned it to be. My partner and I made sure to include parts into the movie that left the ending suspenseful making you want to watch it more and more of it and to make sure our movie had an interesting story-line. In our shooting script of the movie we had to include every detail since I am going to be story-boarding the scenes we wrote down on the Google Slides. Even though we were not supposed to include any sound we added the type of music we wanted in the that specific scene so we could be prepared when editing our final movie which you will see in the presentation. The shooting script we discussed and will soon be brought to life which will help us during the filming process and get done filming quickly and efficiently so we could start editing and adding in all our titles and music for each scene. Overall our movie is on the right track and we are super excited to officially start filming the movie since we are both proud of our story we created when coming up with our pitches. We wanted to keep our movie simple and not too over complicated with lots of props and actors which we will stick with during this planning process. Honestly my partner and I all week in school and in class focused on finishing our Google Slides in which accomplished. The Shooting Script is presented below and hopefully you enjoy reading about the different scenes (plus extra) that will be played out in our final movie.