The music video: no scrubs

This is my music video from earlier this school year. This was a very fun project because it allowed a lot of creativity from my group mates and I. The first thing my group and I did was choose a song. We ended going with the song no scrubs! This was a contemporary r&b song so we had to research the conventions of the music videos in that genre. I learned about how much costume, lighting, and location affectS the feeling and atmosphere of a music video. This project also taught me about time management since this was a project to be done out of class. Editing was a little bit more challenging then I’m used to because each clip that was in a different location needed to still match up with one another.

The first project: commercial for vans

This was the first project I did in this media class. My teammates and I had to research a company’s  commercials, and then create our own commercial for that brand. This was the project that taught me how to research the different types of genres for tv shows, movies, and commercials. This commercial project also taught me that there were and the different ways to capture a targeted audience. This was also the first project that I worked with my teammates, Haylie and Kelly. Since this project,  I have furthered my skills in editing. I have learned how to incorporate sound affects and use new kinds of transitions. I feel this was a very good introduction project because it was a beginners version of what the next projects would be like. This personally was my favorite project because it was fun, allowed creativity, and taught me how using conventions could lead to a great outcome that was still uniquely my own.

Editing: New obstacles

     Hello blog! It has been a few days since I’ve last updated you. Since we’ve last spoken, online school has been extended till May. This experience has been very unique so far and is unlike anything I’ve done before. COVID-19 has affected my project quite a few ways. The main thing this virus has affected is my ability to meet up with my team mates. For the safety of everyone’s lives, we must stay inside and practice social distancing. Social distancing has become even more important since the last time I was on blogger. Because of this, my team mates and I cannot edit together. I was to take on the editing process for the remainder of this project (since our project is due before May 1st).
     This process has been a little bit more difficult alone. Haylie and Kelly, my group mates, are unable to work with me and actively participate. The process is also taking longer than it did before because it is just me doing all of the editing. Because I am the only one with the correct editing software I of course would edit the movie. Not only does the movie have to be finished but we also each have to do our reflection questions. As if this situation was not tricky enough, the reflection questions must be answered in a 12-15 minute video, fully edited and filmed individually. I now have to not only edit a two minute video by myself, but I am also responsible for answering very important questions in a 15 minute video that must also be fully edited. This has definitely contributed to my stress. I just have to remind myself that this is very new to the teachers, students, and everyone in my community. Blogging this process is important because this has never happened before and I think it’d be very beneficial to document this process.

Filming: Put on hold

     After a few more editing sessions, my group mates and I noticed a few more mistakes in our footage. We scheduled to film more of our movie today. However, since we had scheduled this day to film, there has been a virus outbreak. The virus is COVID-19. This is a harmful virus (deadly in some cases) that has affected the lives of many people. This virus has caused schools, restaurants, beaches, and much more to shut down. My dad was told to work from home until further notice and my school will be closed until mid-April. Due to the severity of this situation, my group mates and I were not able meet up and film. Going back to our filming location could put us at risk of getting sick. Everyone should be social distancing for the sake of our health.
     Not only is this virus affecting my daily life, it is affecting the entire world. Many TV show and movie productions have been put on hold because of COVID-19. Movies and shows often film in different parts of the world. If filming were to continue, the actors would be at a high risk as well as every other person working on the production. Since this is a pandemic, everyone is at risk no matter where in the world they are. This definitely relates to my group and I. We can’t film, much like the people working on blockbuster movies cannot film right now. Not only has production for blockbuster films stopped, but their release dates are also getting postponed. Our movie’s due date has not changed however, our process is still being affected similarly to major productions. As of this moment, all filming days have been postponed. My group and I will prepare with the fact that we may have to work with what we have.

Re-edit: the next step

      My group and I had to meet up again to reshoot certain scenes. Doing the peer review helped my team and I realize what we needed to improve on. It gave us an audience’s perspective of our film. Since that feedback was given, we filmed again. We now have all of those scenes complete. It’s time to go back into the editing process and put everything together. One worry was that the new footage would not align seamlessly with the other clips because it was taken on a different day. I replaced the footage that had excess noise with the new footage. Luckily, everything fit perfectly! Our reshoot was a success and now the editing process can continue.
      I cropped each of the clips and put them in there correct places. All of the clips were now set in chronological order.  The next thing I did was add the instrumental music. Choosing the right music is important because it creates the mood. An instrumental alone can make the entire audience feel scared, sad, or happy. Finding the perfect instrumental was more difficult than I thought. There were many options however, only a few went with the scenes. After some major searching, we finally found the right instrumental. I added the music over the footage and began evening out the sounds. Sound editing takes time but it is vital.

Reshoot: Making changes

     During each of my editing sessions, I took notes on what needed to be fixed. In the very first inside scene, I noticed you could here faint voices in the background. At the time, the voices did not seem like a problem because the people were so far away. However, once I was looking back at footage, I realized how well the voices carried through the building. In some of the later scenes where there is dialogue, construction from outside can also be heard. This meant that we would have to film those scenes again. Starting this project, my group and I figured we would have to reshoot at some point. Because we were prepared, we were able to schedule a day to film again easily. Earlier this week, my group and I met up at the same filming location to began reshooting the scenes. We came in the same costumes as before and did our make up the same.

      The first scene we decided to film was the very first inside shot. This scene was pretty easy to reshoot because it was a starting scene. A starting scene meant that we did not have to worry about the shot lining up with the scene before it. This made recording that scene less stressful. The next few scenes we had to reshoot were a little more tricky. The next shots were going to include dialogue which meant the characters would be filmed back and fourth using shot reverse shots. It took some time getting each actor into an almost identical position as the first time we filmed. Once the actor was in the correct place, we were able to get those scenes perfect. The process for reshooting was much faster this time. Reshooting these scenes will improve our film and allowed us to fix our mistakes.

Editing: The sound of Mantis

      Right now I am still in the process of editing our film. The next thing I will be focusing on is the sound. Sound is very important in a film, silent or not. In silent movies, the music carries the mood and creates feeling for the audience. In traditional movies, dialogue creates the story and helps create connection while background music can help create mood. Types of sound include dialogue, background music, non-diegetic sound, diegetic sound, etcetera. My film is supposed to have an intense feeling. Sound can help create this intensity with dialogue, which will tell the story and blatantly tell the audience what is happening and how they should feel. Sound can also create this intensity through the background music. Background music can emphasize suspense and help the audience foreshadow something eerie is coming. The reason I am devoting a whole period of editing to sound is because of the importance it holds.
     The dialogue in the film was the first thing my group and I focused on. The actual dialogue was recorded during the filming process however, it needed some tweaking. I began by evening out the sounds. Some scenes were different volumes when the actors spoke at different volumes. Once I evened out all of the dialogue, I moved on to the music part of sound. The music needed to enhance the intensity of the film. My group and I decided that suspenseful background music would best fit the scenes in our film. However, this instrumental will not be played throughout the whole two minutes. The instrumental will be inserted only in the scenes it is needed. Sound is one of the most important elements in a film so it is important my group and i perfect it to the best of our abilities.