Filming Blog: Final Day Filming

On Tuesday we shot our last scenes of the film. We were able to film in the second location we had planned. We filmed the camera movement and camera shots we were missing. For these scenes, I played one of the friends. I was the one friend who went on a search for information on how to find the missing friend. At first, we considered using the computer as part of the research. The room that we were using was not that big so we would not be able to capture the scene the way we wanted to. There were also a lot of books that we had planned to use as props on the table, but it was better if we did not use them to make the scene look better. We decided to use library books since we were already in the library. The only difficult part of that scene was trying to figure out how I should position myself so Rejoice could get the shot. We did not want to film anyone next to us or make it awkward. We just decided to move to another section. I had to run out the door for that scene to make our action match and it turned out great. The other scene that was filmed was the phone scene. We used my phone since it was the only one that would be able to show the text message without anyone having to touch it. The scene was easy to film because it just involved sending a text and no one had to act. After we finished filming we looked at all the scenes and looked if the sound was okay. We wanted to make sure we did not miss anything. I am happy that we are finally done filming. All we have to do now is edit the movie and then it is done.

Filming Blog: Filming Problems

This weekend we did not film anything. We were waiting for Tuesday, the day we decided that we could meet up. There are three scenes we have agreed that we need to shoot. We want to finish filing and editing most of the film before spring break is over. We planned to film the rest of our scene at Central Broward College's library, but the school is now closed. The school was supposed to be open until March 23rd. We thought we would have enough time until the school closed. It was announced that all schools would be closed starting Monday. Due to the Coronavirus we were are not able to film at the library. Before the Coronavirus outbreak, we were just counting down the days until we could finally film. Now we have to figure out a new plan to film. We were supposed to film around 2:30pm on Tuesday. Now we had to change our plans and find a new location. This pushed us back a little bit because we had to find a place in such short notice. We thought we would have to cancel the whole day and find a new one. There was some time spent looking a new location because we do not know when else we can meet up to film. This is the only day we had planned where everyone could meet up. We have decided to film at the African American Research library because it is open. It is the only big library we could find that had the setting we needed. The props will stay the same since the setting is still like the other one we had planned. We will be filming on Tuesday, but we will filming at 11:30 am instead of the afternoon.

Re-Editing blog: Re-editing the Film

   Today in class we started to re-edit the movie parts we had so far. We decide to focus on the audio part more because we were told it was not loud enough. We need to watch the video back again to find the audio problem, but it was kind of hard because it was loud in class and we could not hear it that well. When we could finally hear the audio we realized that some parts in the sound were louder than the others. When the audio was made clearer I suggested that we fix one part in scene one because it was louder than the rest of the film. We started to edit it and make it lower. It was hard at first because the audio would go back and forth from loud to quiet. We were finally able to balance the audio level. It then got louder in the classroom so we decided that we will edit it somewhere else, where we will be able to hear it perfectly. This will help us to see exactly what is wrong and what needs to be fixed. If the audio cannot be fixed the way we want it, we would do a voice-over. Editing these scenes now will make it easier to edit the scenes we will add in later.
    There are three scenes left to shoot until we can finish the film. There are also some other shots that we need to add to the film. On Tuesday we plan to shoot the remaining scenes. We have started to plan the props needed for the film. The time in the afternoon we chose to film was chosen because we want to make sure we are able to make it to the place. We will think about what the peer view paper said when we are filming this time. This will help us to have all the camera angles and camera movements we are missing. When we finish filming the scenes they will be added in, put in order, and edited.

Re-Shoot Blog: No Reshoots

  Today we did not re-shoot part of our film. We were only given suggestions for the audio during our peer review. However, we do plan on adding in more scenes that we felt were missing. The film was missing three scenes and we will add them so the film flows better. Most of our scenes shot were filmed in our first filling location, so we did not need to refilm them. Before we left the location we checked the clips to make sure they were okay. We did not want to take there to be a chance of them being messed up. Since we all live in different areas and it can be difficult to meet up. There would be a big possibility that one of us could drive back to the location all on the same day. The biggest problem we had for the video was the audio and we plan on fixing it. We were not given any other criticism for a redo of any of the other scenes.
  We did not reshoot, but we talked about what we could or would need to do to make out film better. When looking back one thing we realized was that our pitch did not make sense with our film. The old pitch was ''betrayal is like a bed of thrones... it leaves you bloody". We realized that our film did not have any scenes with blood in them. We wanted the pitch to actually represent what the film is about. It was changed to an explanation of the girl being kidnapped without trying to reveal the entire opening. It was better to change the pitch because it tells a different story then what our movie is actually about. We also talked about what we will need for the next time we film. We wanted to make sure they were no problems leading up to that day.

Peer review blog

  Today we peer reviewed each other's videos in class. My group was assigned to review group five. We started off by getting the paper we needed to fill out and check off what the person has and does not have. This paper included lighting, sound, camera angles and more. The group I reviewed did not fully finish their video. The video was too short and most of the tiles were missing this made it difficult to figure out what the story was. We were unable to understand what the film was trying to convey because it only showed the beginning. The student only showed a person waking up in the morning and going into the bathroom. One thing I really liked about the film was the editing. Even though the film was short and did not last very long I feel that the editing made it flow and brings what they have so far together. The transitions were very smooth and they were not choppy. All the titles that were put in so far were well done. One suggestion I would make is to make it longer so that people are able to understand what is going on. This can be done through any more dialogue, camera angles, and camera shots. Our group was able to give the student advice and feedback on what they have to fix in order to enhance their film.
   When we looked back at our paper that another group peer reviewed we realized that we would have to work on some of the audio to make it more clear. There were some parts in the video that did not have the same volume as the others because of something in the background like the wind. We also need to add more camera angles and camera shots. For our film, we plan to change a few things and shoot some more scenes to make it better. This was a good way to get feedback for our film and to learn the ways we can improve it.

Editing blog: Dumping our Footage

Today we dumped our footage on the computer. We were not able to meet up and film this week. Filming will start again sometime this week or next week. We will be editing the footage we have filmed so far and will add the footage as we film more. This was the best option because when we film again the footage from last time will have already been edited. We can film and we do not have to worry about all the footage we have to edit. iMovie will be used because we have used it from the beginning of the year. This will be easier for me to give input since I know how the program works. I also can help with the transitions a lot better now. I will be able to improve my editing skills even more. The editing process was discussed was, but there was not much done. I made a suggestion about the titles and how the beginning should start, so we could know what to do when we start editing. This will help the film to be organized and the editing will go by a lot faster. We will start to move the clips in order of the film. We did start to edit anything, but we did put all the footage on the computer so we will be ready on Friday. One of my group members had to leave and we use her computer to editing because she has the editing software we use. So we were not able to edit anything else after she left. We will be doing some more editing next time we are together. After this everything will be placed on a flash drive for next time. I plan on bringing the flash drive to put our footage on.

Filming blog: We are Finally Filming

On Saturday, our group met up at the location to start filming. We filmed in the parking lot location first. There was one actor that was not able to make it due to an accident. Since the parking lot scenes were filmed I played one of the kidnappers. The first scene we did was the kidnappers recording their video. I was the kidnapper that had to tie the victim and also film the video. Remembering my lines were not that hard, however, I did forget some of the words sometimes. We ran into some problems along the way because it started to rain, so we could not film my part for a while. Instead, the friend scenes were filmed. I suggested that we have an establishing shot of the building and tilt to the friends. The spot that was picked to film the kidnappers was changed since the rain did not stop for a while and we wanted to continue filming. It was changed to a place with shade in the parking lot. The new spot that was picked turned out to be better because it looked more abandoned and fitted the genre of our film more. Since one of our actors was not able to come have agreed to replace him as one of the friends. These scenes will be filmed later in our other location. The second to last scene was also filmed. In this scene, the kidnappers got a call. This was fairly easy to film, but it needed to film a couple of times because I needed to say my line louder. It was a pretty windy day so if I was not close to the camera I needed to almost yell what I was going to say. These are pictures of us getting ready to film the kidnapper scene. This scene was difficult to get done because people kept walking by and some would make noises that we did not want to end up in the film. I could not stop laughing because every time we started to film people would give us weird looks.