Rough Editing: Cutting and Piecing

To begin editing I had to transfer our groups shared video/photo album to by iPad where I do my rough draft editing. I then had to begin looking through to find the correct shot out of the many teamed we had. I then downloaded those shots on to my iPad. From there I had to download iMovie an Apple application to edit multiple videos. At that moment I got a notification to update my iPhone so I had to wait about 40 minutes to actually began. My group was not available at the moment so I decided to let my phone update and the app while I cleared unnecessary photos to make storage room for the many videos. The next day I decide to began the editing and then show my group because it was easier due to the fact we could not meet in person where we can communicate more efficiently. So I began to insert all the clips which amounted to 2 minutes and 30 seconds, and we we still were missing some scenes. With this issue I had to cut down many shots to just 5 seconds some were 3 just to create a fast pace. Then I had realized that some of our scenes were filmed at night and other in the early afternoon so we decided we are going to refilm those to match the rest. Once I realized I texted my group and we spoke about the issue. Nicole said that she was able to refilm those shots with the help from a friend and she did. We then met up at a public place. We got something to eat and drink before taking on this tedious task. We looked at what we had so far and began going through all the shots again, cutting, replacing some shots in the correct places. I also realized we had many things in the background of our shots so I decided to Photoshop many of the items. These included, candles, artificial plants, and cables. I suggested that in some clips we may need to adjust the speed that the characters are moving yet to create some tension. I thought that in one shot Nicole, who is acting as a main character, needed to speed up, she was walking so increasing the speed of that shot would be best. As a group we have very conflicting views about how we want and wanted to execute this film so it did take us quite a while to rough draft edit of film. I did come up with the story behind the film and I had quite a vision for the film but many of my crewmembers do not share the same vision. So, they wanted to make drastic changes and I let some changes slide because I have to be understanding. At the end of the day, they do realize that what I had in mind was best for the film, like editing roughly on iMovie and then doing more experienced editing on premiere pro to clean all the shots up.

Filming During the Night

I filmed about two out of the two and half scenes we had left to film. We finish filming the rest of our short film. We filmed on a Sunday again, so my mom dropped me off at 6:15. To prepare I had brought the story board once again, my costume, an extra change of clothes, a charger, my iPhone and some extra snacks. I brought my costume for reshooting just incase something was incorrect with original. I let my mom know that Nicole’s mom had bought us food to inform her that I was being feed because I did not get time to eat before going. I was checking in every half hour to hour. Once I arrived everyone except me began changing into their costumes to get straight into filming the missing scene. Nicole spent about 15 minutes doing a bruised make up look in me. While she was doing that I reviewed every scene that we shot and all the takes to make sure that there is nothing incorrect. There was 3 shots that we did not shoot according to the storyboard but we did get it in the end, but I noticed they did not fit when I was editing so now nicole has to film them by herself with the help of a friend from dance. I began shooting outside to capture a three shot and it was almost gonna get dark soon so we had to hurry. I had forgotten that I had to shoot every scene at landscape so we did have to re-shoot a couple times. I put a sticker on the back of my phone that said “remind me about landscape”.  This was because I kept forgetting so, anytime I was filming one of the girls could let me know if I was holding the phone incorrectly. To get good quality out of filming I had to put the camera phone settings to 4K And 60 fps to have a smooth shooting experience. However as it was getting darker I had to re-search the best settings for filming in a dark area. I had found that 4K and 30 fps works the best. This was because any lower fps which stands for “frames per second” light increases so to get better lighting I would have to put it on the lower setting. While I was filming there was rarely any implications my phone did die but I did bring a charger to charge it but,  I ended up using Nicole‘s phone. I used her iPhone because it was a better model and had a better camera. When we finished I uploaded everything to my phone and then my laptop. I reviewed it and we missed a shot reverse shot so we must figure out a way to fix that issue.

 

Clothing Mishap

While my group and I were reviewing our previous takes, I noticed that I honestly did not like the outfits we chose for Brianna and I. My group agreed with me. Due to the fact that I made the role I can also change the roles style. I thought that a full black outfit was good for Brianna and a full white outfit was good for me. With this is that Brianna did not have a black top because it went missing and I did not have white pants. To fix this issue my group, Brianna, and I went to look up where we could get this items close to us. We decided to meet at “The Galleria at Fort Lauderdale” mall to go shopping. My mom drove Brianna and I to that location. When we meet with each other I pulled out my phone to find the stores. I had written down to go to the stores “H & M” and “American Eagle”. At H&M Brianna search for a black top and I tried to find some white jeans. I have a small common size of 2 or 4 and I could not find any white long pants. I did find one pair that was off-white  but I did not like the fitting on me. Brianna only found short sleeve cotton tops and I thought it was best to go with a long sleeve black top. Since we did not find anything what we we looking for I showed the group and Brianna the way to “American Eagle” At that moment my phone died and the group did not want to waste their battery so we looked at a the interactive map provided at the mall which looks like a lager phone stuck to the ground. It showed us directions to “American Eagle” on our way to the store we all got hungry. Before arriving I had not eaten much and got so hungry with the smell of good food coming from the food court. We all eat at the food court together, I some spring rolls. Once we were all satisfied we kept going towards American Eagle. When you got there we were very disappointed because turns out that I had closed down and moved to another mall just a week before. I was especially angered because the direction signs on the ceiling of the mall did not mention it was closed neither did the interactive map. I felt like we had wasted our time so we sat down at a seating area unanimously deciding to just order everything online. At this I decided to order everything off of the Levi’s website because I really like their brands for jeans and we found a black top! The jeans I chose were also made from sustainable fabrics which I like. I ordered them and they should get here in time to our next filming date. 

 

Change of Plans: Advancing Knowledge on Editing

Today since I was sick so, I was not able to film with my group and instead I decided to further my knowledge on video editing. I called my group and settled on a new date to film. I looked over the story board and script with my group making edits. Since I take a course called “Communications Technology II” I have complimentary bundle of Adobe Cloud applications. In that bundle it includes the video editing software called Premiere Pro. I recently used it when editing my music video but I did not have much experience using it so I had a little trouble. I watched two videos of twenty minutes each and I feel like a professional when using Premiere Pro. I know so much about the softwares functions and buttons. I also have a friend who is almost certified in using Premiere Pro who is also willing to aide me if I need anything. The software has color, lighting, and filters to edit videos to one’s liking. In my past project I used one of their film filters and color edited my shots. It also offer typography editing meaning that I can add words to me shots. I will definitely apply this function on my film to do the title designs with the fonts I picked out. It also includes pre-made title designs. I am honestly having an enjoyable time working and learning about this application. The video on YouTube I watched were very informative and educational allowing me to easily understand everything. I tried editing a basic shot to test out some features and it was fairly easy to apply music in the background and trim videos.  I helped me create great video content fast and make interesting transitions. I also used one of their professional templates and customized my own animated graphic. It also worked seamlessly with Adobe Photoshop when I edited a video on Photoshop for a color hue and then imported it to Premiere Pro. Also it will let me edit videos of up to 8K or basic videos with low resolution. I could also use Adobe‘s Premiere Rush application if my laptop is not available. Premier Rush can be access through a phone and iPad, which is great because that means I can work on editing anywhere with my phone.

Music Setbacks

In the making of my pitch for my final task I was listening to a song and it automatically matched with the pitch. It is the song by Tate Mcrae called “happy face.” The song is about a person who is separating themselves from friends and is hiding their emotions. The song is also about a person who is also hurting themselves and acting out, while refusing help from their friends who know them best. So, I proceeded to talk about this with my group. They liked it and contacted Tate Mcrae through Instagram in December. Sadly, by February she did not answers so I contacted her again through Instagram. I told her that I am a student in AICE Media Studies making a project for the course and I would like her permission to use two minutes of her song “happy face.” I and my group members am currently still waiting for a response. While I was waiting response, I got impatient and began research anew a found a song that I used to listen to by Hailee Steinfeld. The song is called “Wrong Direction” about a betrayal and it has a strong creepy tone it. It matches with the film’s title “Conscious Betrayal” and its ominous mood. I also began researching another method I could reach out to her and found her website called “haileesteinfeldoffical.com.” When I went on the website and registered. However, there was nothing on there for contacting so I just digitally messaged her through Instagram. I told her the same thing as Tate Mcrae but explained how it matched with the title and genre of psychological thriller. I mentioned this to my group after because it was not a decision we took together more of a backup plan that I created. She has not answered yet either so to be prepared I was researcher royalty music as a back-up plan. I used a website called “Music Vine” It is a pay-per-use licensing site, but I decided not to use it because it cost money. On the site I wanted to use the son “Hostage” by Richard Bodgers which has a suspenseful tone perfect for the film. Since we do not want to pay, I am going to research music on YouTube. I am going to specifically search for royalty free or non-copyrighted music.   

 

Gloomy Day Filming

So far I have filmed about three and a half of scenes out of six in total with my group. I helped film with at least three scenes. I filmed three due to the fact that I am acting as the role of one of the creepy twins which is not a main role that is seen often. I am still missing the crying, running scene and the ending scene outside. For my group and I to film on Sunday I had to make a schedule and organize everything for our group because we have very busy lives. To make this schedule I also took into consideration our free days and especially the weather, it was perfectly going to be gloomy weather. Since I am aware of everyone’s schedule I decided on 3:00 in the afternoon. I worked for me because especially because I’m totally free after noon time. To prepare for this day I packed water, the storyboard, my white colored costume, and my iPhone to film. My mother drove my sister and I to Nicole’s house. Since I am the story creator and written I had to be sure I brought the storyboard and script. I arrived at Nicole’s house at 3:00 pm, Mila and Nicole started filming my twin sister, Brianna and I for the twin shots. Then Mila and I began filming the solo Grace scenes that featured Nicole, we were waiting on Maria to arrive from a soccer game to allow me to film the additional scenes that Maria was featured in. To film the solo Grace scenes I kept referring to the script during our filming time. When I arrived, Nicole‘s mom had got snacks and refreshments before she left for a little to run some errands and to give us the house empty. She obviously did check in very frequently, I felt very welcome and secure. I filmed outside for the twin shots where there is a tree in front of a window that is part of the house. I wore light colors and my twin wore dark to symbolize different sides of personalities. I kept my head down during the shots to create a weird and suspenseful mood. It was humid outside so I was somewhat uncomfortable throughout the filming of my parts. After, I changed and began filming Mila and Nicole for the shot of them talking together and the character Reese who Mila is playing leaves mid conversation with Grace who Nicole is playing. Later I took a break until Maria came and I called my mom informing her on what we had been doing. Maria arrived and I began filming about thirty minutes later because she had to shower from her game. We got to film a decent amount however it just got too dark to film and I had to wrap it up. The lighting was somewhat difficult to film with because it was a gloomy day so I had to research ways to get the best gloomy and low-key lighting points so that everything was visible.    

 

Storyboard Blog

This sheet introduces and establishes some of the characters who will have a roll in this story. It begins when the girls are exiting their car and entering the main character's (Grace) house. Then the setting is moved to Grace's bedroom and continues there for the rest of the scenes. We do not use props in the first scene, but they will be used in subsequent scenes. The characters would be wearing ordinary day casual attire. Some camara angles and movement present in theses six scenes are wide shots, medium closeup, full shot, eyelevel, and tracking shot. We will also be using editing techniques like zooming in and out to enhance details. There are a total of two title names within these six boxes.  These are the names of the actors, name of the studio and name of the production company.

This sheet will introduce the twins, who are the characters that bring the thriller aspect. The scenes portray on the sheet (scenes 2, 3, 4) take place in many locations inside and outside the house. It begins with an aerial shot of Grace's bedroom. The setting still continues in the same setting, but this time it is a closeup of the window with a view of the twins. The screen is then directed back to a two shot and medium long shot of two of the friends. Following this, comes an extreme closeup of the two girls' hands. The setting still continues in the room, but it is mainly directed towards the mirror with a over the shoulder shot. Lastly, the scene ends with an extreme closeup and canted shot of a pen and clip to create a sense that these objects may be in danger. The props being used are a clip and a pen. The friends and main character are still wearing casual clothing. However, the twins are wearing worn-out clothing. There are four different titles presented in these scenes. They are the last actor, music by, and edited by. The last actor is Briana Reyes. The Music is by Ricardo Bodgers. Lastly, this will be edited by Mila Rakic.

This sheet (scene 4) takes place in the main character’s bedroom, like in previous sheet. This sheet will begin with a medium shot of Grace, jumping on her bed, feeling drained and insecure about herself. Then the camera angle is moved to a bird's eye view of Grace crying and in distress about everything going on within her life. Following that, there is a wide shot at a high angle of Grace's friend steering at her while she is in distress. Then, Grace is shot at a medium long shot while she smiles creepily. At the same shot, Grace angerly falls off her bed and chuckles on the ground. Lastly, at a low medium close up, canted angle, Grace finds a note and starts reading it. The titles in this set of sheet are the editor and who this produced by.  The last editor is Hannah Reyes and the producer is Nicila Mannah. The prop used in these sheet is the note. Costumes stay as casual clothing for Grace.


On this sheet, the focus is trying to capture how the main character is feeling and build up fear and anxiety from the audience for the character. Continuing from the previous scenes, the main character is shot being startled by a screaming noise. The noise seemed to be coming from outside the window. Using different angle shots, the main character is seen walking over to the window and peering out of it. It pans out into a full shot outside of the girl looking out of the window from inside of the house. She appears very panicked. Making our way back into the house, a wide shot will be used to view grace running out of her room into the hallway. Using shots such as tilted and full, we will create a frantic clip of grace hurrying down the hallway. Once she gets to the end, we will close out with an extreme close up of grace’s face which will appear very uneasy and terrified. This sheet includes the title of who the story is written by, which was Hannah Reyes.



This sheet, starts off with a clip of the main character running to an open door in order to go outside. This is in the form of a full shot. To contain the main character just standing outside looking hopeless for her friends. This will be filmed as a wide shot.  The next shot is going to be a POV shot from the main characters perspective of watching her friends walking together outside from far away. She will see them walking away from across the street. This will be an eye-level and wide shot. After this will be a wide shot with a fade on the top and the bottom to resemble a blink. The main character will be blinking and the twins will have disappeared from the set when she opens her eyes. This will be a shot of the same street as the last scene. No cars or other pedestrians will be included in either of these scenes. The next shot will be a medium full shot and tilt of the empty street. This will cause the film to end on a cliffhanger and leave the audience in awe. It will also say the words “ Nicila Manah” on the bottom of the screen in fairly large letters. The size of the letters must be big enough for the audience to see it and be able to clearly read it. The letters will fade in and fade out of this scene. Finally, the last scene will be a close up of one of the friend’s shoes simply on the floor facing right side up with the laces casually untied. Also, the characters will be wearing casual attire throughout all the scenes. There will also be minimal editing, mainly just adding in the name of the producer in the one shot it’s in. The lighting will be pretty bright since this is taking place during the day. The props only include the shoes in this page of shots.