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Showing posts from March, 2021

Production Blog: Continuing the Editing Process

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Production Blog After the 22nd of March, all of the video footage that would be put into my movie was shot. Shooting was very successful. Thanks to planning as well as trial and error, we already knew exactly what needed to be improved upon so we could be very efficient. Since there was not much left for us to shoot on that day, my friends and I ended up staying at the park longer for a bit of fun, but I digress. Now that all the proper footage was at my disposal, I could further my editing process. I had already laid down a solid foundation with my preparation described in the last blog. All that is left is for me to adjust the key elements (audio, lighting, etc.) and also play with the minor aesthetic elements (transitions, certain video effects, etc.). As of this entry, I have just begun this continuation of what I had already done. With the usage of the plug-ins mentioned in the last entry, I created transitions that matched each scene. Specifically in scenes containing action, I w

Production Blog: Beginning the Editing Process

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 Production Blog: Beginning the Editing Process  Though my participating actor's relative has recovered fully, we have all agreed that it would be in our best interest to wait until the week of Monday the 22nd to meet up to shoot. Spring Break for us begins on Friday, the 19th until the end of that week. We agreed that it would be easier for us to just wait until it was spring break, for convenience's sake. We would have more time to film in general, and we could meet up at more reasonable times. With that being said, I decided to go a bit further with the editing for the film. Majority of the footage is finalized so I can edit a large portion of the film. I built on what I had began, which I described in my previous entry. One thing that I forgot to do was to add in my usual plug-ins into Sony Vegas. I have recently gotten a new computer and I forgot to install my editing essentials, so the version of Vegas that I have on it is very vanilla. The plug-in packs that I use contai

Production Blog: Finalizing a Date, Waiting on Confirmation, and Preparing to Edit

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 Production Blog: I was very adamant on completing all the shooting for my film as quickly as possible, but this wont be the case. Unfortunately, a close relative of one of my actors contracted Coivd-19. He contracted it just prior to the second film session, but was released from the hospital recently. My actor can't film the retakes at this time. I definitely understand the circumstance and will be working around the issue. I expected to have some more active time while I wait for some email confirmations to be sent, but I can still manage. Fortunately, I have more than enough footage to begin the editing process. At the very least, I cam create a layout for the major editing I will have to do in the future. The scenes I have may not be finalized but the incomplete ones can still serve as placeholders for the perfected shots. I will be using Sony Vegas Pro 15 to edit my film. Though I am currently in a class learning to use Adobe Premiere Pro, I am not yet comfortable enough with

Production Blog: Filming Continues/Music Search Continues

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  Production Blog: Shooting for my film continued on the 10th of March. At this session, we re-shot a few scenes which included Carl, and we got to shoot scenes with the college scout. The actor who was supposed to play the college scout was now available so the scenes which included his character were able to be filmed. Most of the shots that we took a second take of were dialogue shots as well as closeups. The initial shots weren't bad, per say, but I thought they definitely could have been improved upon. Capturing the proper tone of voice as well as the correct facial expression for each scene was harder that I had anticipated it would be. The scene where Carl receives the phone call from the college scout gave me the most trouble. On this filming date, I didn't have to do much as a director because the scenes with the college scout went unexpectedly well. I believe my actor is a good physical actor and the scout has limited dialogue so he was comfortable in that role. Due t

Production Blog: Beginning Filming

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 Beginning Filming Shooting for my film began on March 7th, a bit later than expected. Filming went smoothly, however the actor playing the college scout could not make it, so I could only film scenes involving Carl and his friend. Luckily, the scenes the make up majority of the film are the films which include either only Carl, or Carl and his friend. The initial scenes went quite smoothly; all the actions until Carl leaving his friend for the first time went well. However, we had to skip out on shooting the establishing shot of the basketball court that day because we could not get it the shot to look as good as we'd expected. We'll attempt to get that shot at the 2nd filming session (or 3rd if needed). As the primary actor, most of the burden was on me to progress filming along. I am on camera for majority of the film, so many mistakes from my end would lengthen filming by a substantial amount. We had to re-shoot some of the closeup scenes due to inaccurate facial expression

Planning for Final Task: Title Planning

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 Titles The opening credits of my film will appear in an "Oswald"-esque font. They will conform to match the action within a scene. For example, their transitions will be quicker and sharper during the basketball playing scenes, but will become slower and simpler during the dialogue. Most, if not all, of the titles will be on the bottom left corner of the viewer's screen.  Working Title: The title of this film is likely to be "Overtime".  It will be Bold Face Oswald Font and in all Caps: SOMETHING ALONG THIS STYLE. The titles' transitions will vary. In slower scenes, such as ones which contain dialogue, they will most likely just fade in. However, in faster scenes, such as the one where Carl is practicing for his private workout, they my slide or bounce onto the screen quickly.  Titles will disappear after 2 or 3 seconds. The size of the fonts will be uniform, and the colors will simply be white. There may be a drop shadow on the text to create a more pleasi

Final Task Filming/Editing: Adjusting to Schedules and Identifying Music

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 Adjusting to Schedules and Identifying Music      Filming did not go as I'd previously scheduled. 11th graders at our school had to take the SAT on March 3rd, 2021. I had planned for filming to begin on March 3rd  and continue into March 4th, however my other participants did not feel that they could come out to film after taking the test. This is understandable, and I respect the fact that they may need some down time after being tested for 5 hours. In the meantime, I began research on possible music choices that I could use in my film. I'm going to need three different types of background music in my film: upbeat hip hop music, casual hip-hop music, and dramatic music. For the hip-hop instrumentals, I looked into Homage Beats, who is a beat producer who makes a wide variety of hip hop beats. I am familiar with Homage's work because I have used some of it in past videos (personal). I have identified 6 different beats which I think fit my film very well, and I have contact

Planning for Final Task: Location, Health, Schedule and More

Planning for Final Task: Location, Health, Schedule and More        In this PowerPoint I discuss the location that I will be filming my final task. I also discuss health & safety concerns that I will be dealing with during filming, as well my film schedule. Expected participants that will be aiding in the production of my film are also listed, sorted by the role they play in the film's creation.

Planning for Final Task: Storyboard

  Storyboard    This PowerPoint contains the storyboard for my Final Task.

Planning for FInal Task: Sound Script & Shooting Script

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Shooting Script  Scene 1  - Establishing shot of basketball court -  Fades into young man tying his shoes on a basketball court, with a basketball next to him.  - Young man's friend tells him something in a joking manner. - Young man responds back to his friend in a similarly joking manner.  - The young man begins to get up when his cellphone rings.  - Camera zoom in on the cellphone, as well as medium shots of the young man and his friend; eyeline match as he looks at his phone - Diagetic Sound: Cellphone ringing.  - Non-diagetic sound: Upbeat hip hop song fades in.  - Lighting: Sunny, with slight shade.  Scene 2  - Young man picks up his cellphone with a lingering smile on his face.  - His smile fades as the person on the opposite end of the line speaks to him.  - He quickly stands up and responds to the mysterious caller's apparent question.  - The young man hangs up on the mysterious caller. - Close up shot of the young man  - Lighting: Sunny, with slight shade.    - Dia