Editing blog: Fixing Any Mistakes

Today I started wrapping up my editing. I had some issues with my title sequence. For one, I could not figure out how to move the text, so I was not able to display more than one title at a time. Another issue was that I could not make them any longer than 2 seconds each, even though I wanted to. I think that because of this it looks rushed. I was also thinking about getting rid of the portion in my film where they are in the garage after she kidnaps him. I feel like because of how short our films are supposed to be, I can't develop the story well enough to add the garage scene. I need more specifics when it comes to the parts leading up to his kidnapping. I'm not entirely sure yet if I will delete this part or not. I'm going to finish editing completely, watch it over a few times, and decide at that point if I should get rid of the footage. I began to clean up the editing more today. I had cut a lot of unnecessary footage yesterday and spent my time today going into detail of where clips start and end. I started adding some transitions like fades and crosses. I wanted to keep transitions to a minimum though. I feel like it looks more raw and authentic with hard cuts than the other transitions. I also worked on my action match. This was more difficult than I thought because I had to time it perfectly so that it looked smooth and cohesive. I also got rid of a few clips that seemed random and unorganized. One of them was just a clip of me driving in the dark, but I had another one and I felt that two would be overkill and boring. Another was in my room where I am moving to the other side of my bed. To me this looked sloppy so I scrapped it. The third was a close up of the bag that I put over his head with a dumbbell in it. I got rid of this because I felt it was, again, unnecessary and I also decided to not use a weapon to knock him out, so it would not make sense to show a weapon.

Editing blog: Getting My Footage Ready

Today I took all of the footage from my camera and my phone and dumped it onto my computer. I created a folder specifically for the footage and managed to transfer it all with no difficulty. I opened iMovie and I began creating my film. I went through each clip I had and arranged them in the correct order. Because I filmed out of order, this was pretty difficult and time consuming. I then decided to tackle any lighting issues I had. I was able to make the scenes I filmed on my phone brighter. Now we can actually see what's happening. I also made the garage scenes darker. This was great because I feel like it would not have felt scary without it. I also made up my title sequence. In my storyboard, I had it so that each title would have its own screen and would be on their own. However, because my film was already over 6 minutes once I dumped, I decided to go with my original idea. I had the first 5 titles on their own with a black background. After the title of the movie appeared, I put a fade into the first shot. I then added each additional 6 titles one by one, after each other. They each last about 2 seconds and have half a second in between. As my original plan directed, as one title faded out, a new one would fade in. I really like how my title sequence is looking. I think it gives off a very professional feeling and I hope when I add more effects and music, it will only get better.

Filming blog: Filming My Movie- Second Day

Today I filmed the second part of my movie. This time I filmed the parts that only I was in. I was able to do this on my own because my camera has a tripod, so I did not need anyone to hold it. My process was fairly easy. I only filmed for about 30 to 45 minutes and finished all the scenes left in my storyboard. There were some parts that were difficult to set up. For example, my over the shoulder shot was a hit or miss, and I had to redo it a few times. Also, I realized that when I was filming on Sunday, I forgot to film the other half of my action match: the car door closing. I did it today, even though it was still light out, and I hope I can make it look a little darker. I am definitely worried about the lighting in my film. The issues with the garage lighting may make the movie less creepy if I cannot fix it, as well as the lighting for the action match. Another difficulty I faced was that my family was home. I think they were quiet enough that I should not have to detach the audio when I'm editing. I should be able to just play over it. These were pretty minor issues and nothing I couldn't easily overcome. Luckily, I was able to film everything at home and didn't have to go anywhere. This saved a lot of time and energy. I actually really enjoyed my filming process today. It was definitely easier than Sunday, when I started filming my own movie after being in another movie for almost 5 hours. Based on how today went, I feel pretty confident in the other aspects of my film. Once I add background music and edit, I think it will be a really good horror/thriller film.

This is one insert I am going to put in the movie to make the conversation between the two characters easier to read. These were fabricated for the film specifically. 

Filming blog: Filming My Movie- First day

Due to timing conflict, I have to film my movie on two separate days. The other actor was unable to film on Saturday and cannot film during the week. We decided to film his parts yesterday, the 23rd. We began at 5 PM and finished around 7:15 PM. The reason we started so late was my actor had to film his movie first. I was also a part of his movie, and we decided that it would be smart to film both of our movies in my house. We filmed his movie for about 4 hours and we had to recharge my camera a few times. It wasn't dark outside yet, so we decided to film the inside portion of my film first. The part that we filmed first was the main male character getting ready for his date with "Amber". I used elements like pan, close up, over the shoulder, and many more. I wanted the viewers to feel like they were in the room with him and could feel his nervousness. I also wanted to create a fun, upbeat montage of him getting ready because I feel like it will add depth to the movie and show that it is not just a scary movie. After this we moved into the garage. Here we filmed the part that showed him after he was kidnapped and being held. Here there was an issue with light. I could not turn off the lights in the garage completely because the camera would not be able to pick anything up; it was pitch black. I decided to leave the lights on, and hopefully I can fix the lighting in editing to make it darker. This part was also very easy, except that my camera's battery died right when we finished. Because of this we had to film the outside portion with my phone. For the outside part, it showed me creeping up on him, knocking him out, and putting him in my trunk. This part was difficult to figure out because of lighting and we didn't know whether or not we should use the flash. We decided to not use the flash, and again I hope I can fix it in editing.

^ Screenshot of me closing the trunk using a low angle, point of view shot from what would be the victim's perspective.

Filming blog: Why I Didn't Film

This past weekend I was very busy and I could not film; I was very upset. I went out of town for our 4-day break and was unable to bring any equipment or actors. Also, I did not have my settings or props seeing as how I was not home. I plan on filming next weekend. Hopefully I can finish all of it in one day. I wish I could have filmed this weekend because I am now worried that I am behind. I created a schedule for myself that will hopefully let me manage my time so that I am not behind. If I do not get all of my filming done next weekend, I will have to continue during the week. I hope I can pull this off because I do have school this week. It will be difficult and time consuming but I think I can manage. If I do finish all of my filming in time, I can begin my editing process earlier than scheduled. The hardest week for me will be next week. I plan to write a blog every day. I also have to edit my film every day and/or film anything additional. After I finished my story board, I made some minor changes. During my title sequence, I had the titles coming in through a black screen. When going over this sequence, I realized that if I do it this way, I will go over my time limit. Because of this, I decided that I am going to have my titles going in and out of the screen after my movie has started. This will save me almost 30 seconds of film and I can make my film even better by adding more footage. This was my original plan that I changed, but I have now reverted back to.

Planning Blog: Storyboard

This week, I worked on my storyboard. Storyboards are the written version of your shooting and sound scripts combined. Here we can see the story coming into shape. When I began drawing my storyboard, I realized that I wanted to have my titles on their own, not playing in the background of the shot. I am still not fully sure if this is how I want it to stay forever, but once I get to editing my footage, I will figure it out. An issue I ran into was that when I finished my storyboard, I realized I missed a lot of details that I shouldn't have. To solve this, I decided to label each box with a number. My titles and my footage are separate so one goes from 1 to 12 while the other goes from 1 to 48. I did this because I wanted to get the full effect and show the potential I believe my film has. The numbers are a little scattered, but they are all together so it should not be hard to follow.

Planning Blog: Title Design

This presentation will explain my titles for my film. The first slide is about font to set tone. I decided to use a creepy font in order to make the film look scary. Next was about color. I decided to use a black background with white writing. The next slide was about spacing. I decided to do one space in between letters and two in between words. My working title is "catfished." I also spoke about my editing and how the titles will come in and out. My last slide is about how long the titles will stay in screen. Typically, titles last 2-3 seconds, so I decided the working title will last 3 seconds and the rest of them will last 2.

Planning Blog: Schedule, location, participation, and health and safety

In this presentation I am outlining these 4 aspects of planning. The first few slides contain my timeline. These are subject to change as nothing can be set in place this far back. The next few contain my locations. These are also subject to change because there may be an unpredictable occurrence to prevent us from filming there. Next is participation. For my film I only have two actors but three characters. The main female character is posing as another girl online but she only appears in pictures. As for health and safety, I only had two major concerns, which I explained in the slide. The purpose of this presentation is to prepare myself and plan accordingly.

Planning Blog: Sound Script

This is my sound script. This is how I will convey the other elements of my film. These include diegetic sound, non-diegetic sound, score, dialogue, and ambient sound. This part is extremely important. A thriller movie must have elements of sound, seeing as how sound is what scares the viewers. Creepy tones can show the viewer who the "bad guy" is. More upbeat, calm tones can show the viewer who the main character, and usually victim, is. I found that this was much easier to write than the shooting script. The dialogue in the last few scenes is very important, especially since there was none until scene 10. I feel like my dialogue can really help keep viewers on the edge of their seats, creating the want for more of the movie.

Planning Blog: Shooting Script

This is my shooting script. I created this as a way to see camera angles, shots, and movements at the same time as the storyline. This could be interpreted as the written version of my storyboard. I plan to create my storyboard based off of the details I described here. My script has a total of 13 scenes. Hopefully this will be enough to reach the threshold of 2 minutes for the opening of my movie. I wanted my movie to be dramatic. I decided to go more towards the thriller side of horror than the gore side. This means my film will be psychologically twisted, with a lot of shocking elements. The colors i will include in the opening title sequence will be black and white.