Editing Blog: Making the right Duration

Once all the scenes were aligned in the order they needed to be, I had to make sure the timing was right. This included both editing the time and speeding up the time. Some scenes were not included in the film because it dragged out the time. To begin with, the first editing was done on the school laptop. What had to be done was run the entire film. Once I did that, I saw that the duration went a little over 2 minutes. So, I had to go back and check and see which scenes to cut down even more. I first cut down the first opening scene by a couple seconds. Then I cut down one of the interaction scenes so there wasn’t a conversation anymore. This gave me less time which was good for the film. Then the phone call scene was cut, in a way that it looked like a jump cut. The phone convo was cut very short. Then the scene were I discovered the bodies was also cut so that I wasn’t walking too much from scene to scene. Then more editing came into play. The scene where I discover the bodies is where I sped up the time. Even more so, I added a lighter contrast color and some shadows in the back to really bring out the blood and gory of the scene. Speeding up the scene allowed the music in the background to nicely correspond with the scene overall. The next few scenes that followed were also cut down. I made sure to show my group members so that it made sense and didn’t look too choppy. By doing all this, I achieved a time of 1 minute and 58 seconds.

Filming Blog: Checking Scenes

Before I could engage in filming more, I had to dissect all the scenes. Some scenes did not go well so more filming was to be done. This includes both fixing scenes and adding scenes. However, when the new scenes were added which were not in the storyboard they were used for a specific reason. I didn’t know if the film was going to have enough time/ correct length. What I did was stage in some extra scenes, which were not used in the film. This included a lengthier running scene of me, trying to run away from the killer. The other scene that was shot is of just the killer, walking in the direction of me running away, the victim. What I used to ensure good lighting for this was the flashlight of the cell phone. By doing this, it created a great contrast of the killer from the pitch black background. Although this scene was great, mysterious and horror, it took up too much time. If I had included this scene then I would have had to delete others, which would of not made sense for the film. Even more so, the main reason was that is was just going to add too much time, making the film way over the limited length. Upon checking the scenes, I had to do better in the screams and horror-like faces I made. At times I was laughing so I did re-do some scenes. Although not everything was perfect as I continued to smile in some of the scenes. The lighting was my main concern because the rest of the film was filmed in the night time. The phone flash lights however really aided in this product overall. Some scenes will still be looked over though. Any adjustments will be covered in editing.

Editing Blog: Adding soundtrack

I had to find the right music to along with this film. Some editing was done both at home and school. First, I had to do some research for which music sounded more like a horror. Both elements of horror and suspense was added into the film through the music. To ensure I captured the right sound, I asked others what they thought of the music choice. I displayed a variety of songs for them to listen to. I went through about 4 songs in total. Out of the 4 songs, I picked 2 to use for the sound track. The song/music I used were completely free and royalty free as well. None of the sounds were copyrighted. I downloaded the songs and converted them to mp3. Once this was completed, I transferred the music into my film. I started the first soundtrack at the very beginning of the film. Then I learned to taper down the chorus in the film. I didn’t want the sound to abruptly end out of nowhere. So what I did in editing was to drag the music out and slowly cut it of towards the end. The music ended as soon as the dialogue began between two of the actors. Then, a different soundtrack began for different scenes. The music in this case was more suspenseful. It added to the theme of horror for the film overall, but the music is still subject to change. 

Filming Blog: Working on lighting and sound

Continuing the film, March 16th, there was a few things that needed to be changed. The lighting needed to be corrected through filming because editing did not suffice. Some scenes had lighting fixed through the use of a phone camera. For example the killer scene. Since it was really dark outside, you couldn’t see the killer standing over me. So, another participant had to put their flash on their phone and shine it on the killer in an angle. The phone was not visible but the lighting was much better. It created a black shadow in the back so only the killer was visible. This really added to the scary theme of the film. Even more so, since the filming happened on different days, a few factors changed lighting. This was due to both the weather and the time of day. Some days were cloudy and then also the time difference was a role in the lighting.  Additionally, the sound had to be arranged. I had decided to ring the home phone to create a creepy feeling in the film. The phone continuously ringing added an element of suspense. However, we had to reshoot this scene a few times to get the phone call on point. The heavy breathing on the other line did not pick up in the audio so I decided to remove that part of the scene. The sound of the bottles dropping came out really clear and was effective for the scene. Most scenes were fine with lighting and sound overall. Sound could be fixed later on with editing.

Re-Edit Blog: Importing more scenes, adding titles

During re-editing, a few scenes needed to be added into the final product. All the re-shooting scenes were saved into a flash drive and uploaded into the computer. I then dumped all the footage into my desktop folder and began importing the scenes. Since there were quite a few scenes, this process took about 10 minutes. Once the scenes were successfully imported, I began placing the scenes in their correct location. The first scene that had to be re-edited was the tracking shot. This was due to the fact that the last scene was too shaky. Therefore in this scene, the tracking was smoother as it was filmed in a car. I cut the scene into a perfect time so that the transition was clean for following the scene. Once that was completed, I edited the lighting during one of the scenes. This was called the “killing” scene. I had to speed up this scene because it too long and added too much time to the film. When that was completed, the lighting was changed to a brighter light because there was some unappealing dark shadows that didn’t merge well with this scene. After that, some title were included such as the studio name and the film. I had to change the color and font size of the titles as well. The color chosen was a dark green color for the last names of the actors, directors etc. This color was also chosen for the title. The title I used was “bloodlust” which gave a very eerie look to the film. When everything was included, the time came to 1:58. There is still more editing to be done for the film. 

Re-Shoot Blog: Tracking and Adding Scenes

Due to some scenes, there was some reshooting that needed to be done. For one, the beginning scene of me running needed to be done. The running was shaky as the cameraman was following me. To revise this error, the cameraman got into his car to film the running scene. As I reviewed the footage, we had to re-shoot this scene about 3 times. This was due to cars trying to drive down the road and the camera getting caught in the shot. Finally, we got the final scene done for that specific scene. The next scenes that had to be re-shot was me entering the home for the party. The lightning was off and the audio wasn’t captured. This was reshot about two times until we got it right. After that, I had to get the following scenes set up. I had to get the glass again for the lights out scene because the other glass was too hazardous. As a result, we used plastic cups to resemble glass breaking or shattering. This alternative was safer and more practical for when the glass “drops”. The running away scene had to be redone as well. The lighting was not good nor was the audio in the previous shot. So, I reshot this scene of me running again with a louder audio and better running. The lighting improved as well. Overall, re-shooting went well and we managed to complete all scenes. The advice was put to good use from the peer review. 

Peer Review Blog

The group I peer-reviewed was Leila and Hannah, group number 14. The film itself was only 39 seconds but the filming was not yet completed. A few notes were made based off the film that the group already had. For one, they have yet to reach the 2 minute maximum time. The premise of the movie seemed to be a spy-like film from what I can tell so far. The overall lighting was good as well, just a note to add a darker light in the "spy room" to appear more mysterious. The sound was also pretty decent as well, however the dialogue needs to be adjusted so it can be heard clearer. The sound choice was fitting and sounded clear. Even more so, the group did well to not show any tripods or cameras or anyone else filming. 

One thing I really liked about the film was the opening scene. The establishing shot was very clear and lighting was nice. The camera was not shaky at all. The transition was very clean as well from the establishing shot to the front door. What I liked from this scene was the way the camera "entered" the home. The camera was as if someone was entering, like almost a POV. It went into a black screen to nicely transition into the following scene. 

One suggestion I would make to the film is to adjust the sound and some of the lighting. The lighting was nice but the spy scene could be darker. Also, dialogue needs to be clearer. Even more so, the actors should not look like they are being filmed right away. The filming should look like they were caught in the middle of doing the act, rather than waiting for the camera to roll. This would help the acting not look so "staged".