Editing for my film

     Ever since I finished filming for my short film I have been editing every single day on IMovie to make my movie reach perfection. I have come so far from the last time I have edited as now I feel that the movie is coming much more together. My sister actually really enjoyed the film and liked the way I edited it as it is now less choppy and has a smooth transition between each cut. I finally was able to include free copyright free music and sounds into my film from a free website that I have found. I still have little touch ups to do to make sure my film is perfect. Over the weekend I am going to finish up editing my film and get it peer reviewed from my friend Allison and ask opinions from my parents as well. I am also going to work on my post card over the weekend and focus on uploading lots of pictures on my social media page. I never got the chance to upload them and I will hopefully upload tomorrow or Sunday. I will probably spend most of my time on Saturday editing and working on my post card. I will also have another blog uploaded tomorrow with a social media update hopefully.

    I can't wait to present to you my film package as I am super proud of it right now. I also have my website presented for you to see and read about my film and getting to know the cast. I am also kinda sad that we are near the end of the filming project but I am excited to move forward and work on the essays which is the second portion of this class. Although my film is not the same quality as that of a typical Hollywood film, I am still proud of the work I have done and super grateful that I got the chance to learn and experience something new. I am also grateful to my sister and friends that helped me out and were a part of the film, I had so much fun and enjoyed filming. I still have to edit a couple of more scenes on IMovie and then I also have to cut some out as it is kinda too long right now. I know that the film has to be five minutes long but so far my film is 7 minutes long and I have to either cut some scenes out or shorten them out. Originally I knew that was going to happen as in my screenplay I believe I had about 13 pages of dialogue and explanation of what is going on in each scene. I wanted my film to be detailed as possible but I tried to keep it simple with one goal throughout the film which I believe you will be able to catch up on. I know for sure that I will get everything done by the deadline of January 12 of next Tuesday. 

Editing Time!

     In conclusion of filming yesterday I am going to be editing from here on forward on my movie. I am going to be posting tomorrow on my social media sites since I have finished editing all the photos which are ready to be uploaded. Today was a very relaxing day as I spent most of the time editing with music in my headphones as I found a quiet spot to do so in my balcony. I exported all of the recordings from yesterday's filming onto my sister's macbook so that I can continue editing on IMovie. IMovie so far has been very responsive and has been so far the best when I edit my film. Today I worked on organizing and trimming the newly imported shots and placing them in the correct order based on my storyboard. I am going to upload soon on a separate blog my screenplay so that you can follow along and understand what I was trying to show through my film. I worked on fixing the lighting's of some scenes in case it was too dark or too bright which there wasn't much to fix on that part. Lastly I worked on the sound and background sounds making sure that you can hear everyone clearly and muted or even lowered any diegetic background noises. I didn't work much on the cut scenes of each shot or scene as I am going to work on that over the weekend. 

    The main task I did today in editing was researching and finding different websites that provided copyright free music that I can easily download onto my computer to use for my film. I found a couple of websites but they turned out to be click-bait as in the end I had to sign up or download their app in order to use their sounds or music which I didn't want. I found two useful websites to use that I saved onto the bookmark of my laptop for easy access. I found a couple of free songs and sounds to use in my film but I am not too sure of which one to use. I also thought about using multiple different musics as the score in some of the scenes but I have to make sure it fits with what is going on with that specific part. When i finished editing for the day I got my sister to review or look over what I already had so far. She said that it still needed a lot of work to be completer but that so far it looked good taking away all that I still haven't finished. Looking back at it I do agree with Sabrina that there is a lot still needed to be done in order for it to be perfect. I am wishing everyone to have a Happy New Year and hopefully I will be done with editing soon enough and the film will be complete. 

Editing pictures for social media

     Today I worked on editing the pictures I took from the last three days of filming so that I can post this week. I also logged in all of my social media websites and accepted any requests and followed back any other person that I didn't form the list our teacher provided us. In my previous blog I said that I wouldn't start editing the film until I completely finish filming all the scenes. Today I worked on editing the pictures that I will be posting on all of my social media sites. I also came up with some captions that I will write underneath each post. I did start editing that I wrote about in the previous blogs but it was mainly trimming and organizing it to fit my storyboard. We are going to film this Thursday all the scenes we have left so I can be officially done with the filming process. This whole winter break I was super productive and working on my schoolwork, volunteering, and filming for my movie. In today's teen society it is very important to edit and appeal people and your audience with appealing posts. I want my social media sites to be aesthetically pleasing to the eyes and a page that will have the audience coming back for more. 

    I am trying out a bunch of different editing apps especially for pictures and videos so I can make my posts appealing. I even watched YouTube videos of how to edit posts and make it look all fancy and pretty. Today was mainly a fun break day from all the work I have left to finish my film, since social media for me is like a break for my mind from work. To be honest I don't really know how to work social media as much as most of my friends do since I only really use Instagram to check updates on my family, friends, and even news with celebrities. The second most social media app I use is Snapchat so I really don't know how to work Facebook since I never had one and not even Twitter. I am learning and always asking my friends how to work it especially Amy since she is like the queen of social media based on my friend group. I am going to do most of my updates and posts through my Chromebook as it is much easier to just login in through here than it is on my phone. I hope through this experience that I learn a lot more techniques and new features to use. I can't wait to other students from my class to post so it can really feel like our movies are real one's. Although this isn't much of an update I will be back with a filming blog in the next one. 

Editing for the first time this year!

     All day today I have been working on editing everything that I have so far for my short movie film. I also have been packing what I need to bring for tomorrow's filming since we will film at a clubhouse near Allison's apartment and won't have easy access to the things we need if I were to forget them. I had so much fun editing today especially when I started after going shopping with my mom as a little break. I have two different laptops one is my new one I got for the holidays for school since my old computer is really old and slow. I decided to edit on my sisters computer as my Chromebook doesn't feel equipped to edit in a way. I got permission from Sabrina to use her computer since she has a mac-book and has the app IMovie that I can use to edit my film. I already exported the shots from the SD card onto her computer and I already sorted out between the clips I will use and which one's I saved for the bloopers. On IMovie I played around with some of the features and messed around a little before I actually started working on editing my film. I have worked before with IMovie so for me it was very simple to get the handling of it rather quickly. I popped on my headphones and played some music while I was editing it because I just focused on cutting or trimming some shots that were too long or needed to be. I also focused on organizing the shots I already have so that when I import the new one's after filming tomorrow it will be easy to organize it like my storyboard.

    After an hour of just moving and organizing my scenes and trimming it I also focused on the lighting making sure that it was clean and visible. I also practiced making a split screen as there will be multiple split screens regarding the scenes where the three main female characters are talking on the phone. I really want to show how much I have improved on my editing skills as I never liked sitting and editing it as most software's were so confusing and hard to use. I want this movie for be perfect and really show case my potential and hard work. My sister Sabrina also has requested to give me critique's and ways that I can improve some scenes, but for now my goal is to finish filming completely and be done with that section so I don't to constantly think about getting it done. I am also working on the pictures for the social media links as I have been taking pictures every time we film so I can have updates for my followers. I have the pictures that I want to post in a separate folder on my phone so some time this week I will be uploading them. Once I finish filming I also will have the time to work on my social media pages and really make it lively and active since I haven't been on it recently because of filming. I can't wait to see how my followers will react and can't wait to full throttle ahead and edit completely my film. I am super excited for tomorrow and can't wait to finally finish filming and focus my mind on one thing which is to continue editing. 

Filming for short film 📸

    This winter break I needed to film for my short film as I wasn't able to during the Thanksgiving break. In my last blog I stated that I was going to have my friend Amy to play the Assistant and maybe ask Ben my other friend to play Itai in my movie. Plans changed and I decided that Sabrina is going to play the Assistant as she was begging me to cast her and I am going to play Itai based on my dads suggestion as he didn't want to be filmed.  On the first day of filming we filmed mainly the scenes that required us to be inside the apartment such as the meeting in one of the scenes and multiple mini phone call scenes. Allison came to our apartment around 3 in the afternoon and after eating lunch we right away went into my room to prepare our outfits and start doing hair and makeup. The first thing I did was put the camera to charge while we figured out the outfits for each scene and when we needed an outfit change. Allison brought a whole box full of different outfits, jewelry, makeup, and even a hand held steamer for the clothes. We went through each scene and tried on the outfits and labeled them and placed them in my closet so we know each outfit and who they belong to. Once we finished the whole clothing ordeal I sat everyone down and we did a run through of the script and made any changes along the way to make it more comfortable when speaking and acting. Once we finished the run through it was time to get everyone ready which I am thankful for Allison who I made makeup artist for our film for getting us looking good in less than an hour. I also was in charge of doing my sister's hair as she didn't know how to style it.

    We ended up finishing filming around 8 in the night which I was very proud of what we accomplished in the time we had to film. After we finished filming we quickly discussed what scenes we were going to film on the second day of filming. I want to get every other scene completed except for the office scene which we will film on Monday next week. Our filming location for the first day of filming was in my apartment and so is the second day of filming. The third day of filming will be at the location near Allison's apartment since they have a clubhouse that she believes will be perfect for the office break-in. In the outfits when you see I wanted them to be bold, fashionable, and completely different than what we normally would wear. Rish, Ice-T, and Ace all have a different style and personality that will be captured in the film. There is also an important message near the end of the film that I wanted to bring to light especially with empowering woman. I can't wait to edit the film and bring the film into light and actually make this into a 5 minute short movie. I also will be updating my social media sites which can be located on the film's website https://hiddenbehindawoman.wixsite.com/mysite

Music for the film

     Throughout my film I plan to have a lot of dialogue and score music. I also want to use as much diegetic sound as well to make the scenes and movie feel even more realistic and more movie like. Yesterday I was able to find a free download link converter that I placed in a bookmark of my laptop so I can convert any links. I plan to use copyright free instrumental music throughout my film as I find it easier than contacting the actual producer or singer for permission. I also find that some copyright free music are better than going through the hassle of getting a copyrighted song approved and then working it into your film. I still need to research safe websites that are legit that I can download non-copyrighted music for free. I also want to research and see if the editing software I am using have free music that I can use that comes with the software. For music I am not that specific or picky about because my movie revolves around a lot of dialogue from the characters. The main plot of the movie is conveyed through the dialogue. Originally I wanted to use a copyrighted song for my movie, but because I wasn't able to film this week and have been really busy this Thanksgiving I had to change my plans and now I will be using non-copyrighted music.

    My plan is to find an instrumental background music that can easily be amplified in scenes when there is no dialogue and played lightly in the background when characters are speaking. There will also be scenes when the score music will be cut out and diegetic sound will be heard in some shots. I want to improve on the sound of my film as last year for my introductory film project, wind and lots of background noises could be heard which is distracting from the actual dialogue. I want the dialogue to be clear and the main focus for the movie to progress in the plot. So far I have one website for music which I used last year but I wasn't a fan of how confusing it was to download the music so I am going to look for a new one. I want the music to start of calmly as we are first introduced to the characters. Once the movie progresses and the audience finds out what is going on in the movie I want to put music that will be suspenseful to create the mood. I do think it is important that the music conveys the mood throughout the film so that the audience knows how to feel in that certain situation. For me, music and sound is an important factor for a film and I want to be able to show that through my film. I will do lots of research and put in work to make it happen. 

Why we did not film

     Over the long Thanksgiving break I planned to have filmed at least half of the shots that I needed, but plans changed when I found out that one of the participants from my movie wasn't going to be back in Florida for Thanksgiving. I found this out right on that Friday when we started our week long break from school. It wasn't until Wednesday I found out she is actually going to come today from New York. Amy who was supposed to play the Assistant in the film will be added to the website under the cast as she will be able to be in the film now. I plan to finish filming before Christmas break as I want to use that time to edit my film and then do a peer review with my friends for any changes that need to be done. This week I have been talking with Allison one of the cast about costumes, makeup, and hair that needs to be done for each member. I also was reviewing to see if I needed to go and buy any props this week for the film so that we have once we start filming. I also have another friend I have to ask if he wants to play the role of Itai the main male role in the film. Once I get the chance to speak to him and hear his decision I will add him to the website as well if he says he wants to be in the movie. This week I also used the time to speak with my friends about their schedule so I know what dates specifically we can film on since most of them have a job or in college. In my mind I feel like I am behind and that I have a lot to do, but then again I can't control what life brings to me on a daily basis and I can only take one day at a time. I know that my friends and I are super excited to actually film as it feels like childhood when we would make skits when we were younger. 

    Starting Monday I am going to have everything planned out even though I had a rough sketch of how our schedule was going to be like earlier in November I have to make rearrangements. By December I will have the website updated of any new casts added and I will have a set date of when we will be filming. When we do start filming I had this plan of filming all day from morning until the evening and I also planned to order pizza for everyone for working hard filming the movie. I want the filming experience to be fun for all of us and something we can enjoy together. I don't want any of us to feel irritated and annoyed because the filming process can be long and sometimes tedious. I want to make this film something my friends and I can look back at and be proud of what we were a part of. The only person I am not set on for the movie is my guy best friend as I haven't spoken to him in a long time and don't know if he would agree to be in the movie. I hope he says yes because it is a short part he will be playing and probably will only take 1 hour or even 30 minutes to film his part. If he says no most likely one of us will try to play the male role. I can't wait to actually start filming and I will be using my storyboard as a guideline and I know we will have fun and content to share.