Connecting The Dots (Editing Blog)

 Today I decided to start editing. I'm usually the main editor of my group anyway, so I decided to take the initiative and start it ahead of time. I've had a long day and would love nothing more than to be asleep right now. Still, I know that if I continue to put it off, I'll wait until the last minute. I didn't want to do too much because my group mates were unavailable. Eden had to go to work. I texted her and we agreed to pick out our favorite scenes in class together. Ash was busy preparing for her candidate campaign speech for the position of student government president. She must create a speech that will be presented tomorrow as to why she is the best fit for the position. I know how important the campaign is to her, so I did not want to further stress her out. I Facetimed her to tell her good luck. While I was on the phone, I had her pick out some scenes that she liked from our filming. I put them into CapCut and linked them with videos I had already picked out. We had already picked all the scenes that we liked from the first day of the filming. I put them in order and split the scenes where half of it needed to be muted, but the other half was to be included in the film. For example, we had countdowns before every scene. We need the actual sound from the scene, but I must split it to mute the countdown. CapCut makes this easy as there is a split button. All you need to do is click the scene that you want, drag it to where you want to split it, and hit the split button. That's pretty much all I did for today. The next time I edit, I'll add all the scenes from filming day two, and that will create the rough draft of the video. Then I'll edit to fix the time and make the transitions nice and smooth. It's going to be amazing!  

Lights...Camera...Action! (Filming Blog)

 Today was the second day of filming. It went amazing! I got to meet Marlo, the girl playing the possessed child. I talked to her while she was getting ready to film, and she was super sweet. We joked about how she was almost taller than her sister, Eden, despite being half her age. She told me that I reminded her of her friend Angela. We spent about an hour doing makeup on her face and arms. It didn't need to take that long, but we were trying to kill time. I got a ride from Ashleigh to go to Eden's house. Despite leaving late and making a stop at Party City to buy fake blood, it was still too early to film because it was so bright out. The second part of filming is the night portion, so we had to get it dark enough where it would look like nighttime with a filter on. Eden's stepmom was going to be an actor in our film. Unfortunately, she had to work really late tonight and it was the only day where everyone was available. The show must go on, and so the script was tweaked. As I've mentioned before, I really wanted there to be a shot-reverse-shot angle. This was going to happen with the dialogue between the husband and wife, but since there was no wife, we changed it to a short conversation between the man and the ghost. The filming went really well. Most of the shots were filmed only once because they turned out perfect. We finished filming around 8pm, so Ash and I went to a nearby diner to get dinner. The food took forever, but they had really good chocolate cake so it made up for it. 

Here are some pictures of Marlo's makeup. She's a ghost/demon. 

Try Not To Laugh (Filming Blog)

Today was the first day of filming. We stuck to my plan of splitting the filming process into two and filmed the second part since our main actors were unavailable. I was surprised we got so much done in one day. Despite sounding like the easiest scene, the scene that took the most time to film was the one where the girl wakes up from a nightmare. There is a big window near the bed where we filmed, so the lighting was perfect. The problem was us. The filming took place at Eden's house, and Eden has three cats. You don't just see cats and not play with them. We spent a solid 10 minutes playing with the cats and admiring Eden's artwork before we began filming. When we did, we couldn't stop laughing. The girl is supposed to bolt up and start panting heavily. The camera is then supposed to zoom in on the face of the actor who looks terrified. When I zoomed in on our actor, she started laughing, which made me laugh. We took a couple of takes before we decided it wouldn't get any better and moved on. The other shots came out well. I filmed most shots from different angles so that we had a variety to choose from when it gets to editing time. Another hard scene to film was the cup dropping with water in it. We were doing test shots first, and when it was time to film the real scene, I thought we were still testing and only caught half of it. I felt bad, but we found a way to work around my mistake. We took separate shots of the cup dropping and the rise from the water on the floor. I can merge them when I start editing. My favorite thing that happened today happened during the zoom-in shot of the doll. The doll plays creepy music if you wind it up. We were filming and the scene was going perfectly until Eden's dad yells out, "what's that creepy music?" There wasn't supposed to be a voiceover for this scene so essentially, he ruined it. Still, it was the funniest thing to happen that day, and Eden's reaction was amazing. I'm looking forward to the next time we film.  

                                          Here's one of our filming fails above.

 

Why am I the only one that's ever free?

The filming delay is still long-standing. This was my biggest fear from the beginning. I was worried that the film was too reliant on one groupmate. The filming would have to be done at her house, and her parents and sister are the main actors, but she assured me that it would not be a problem. I've spent the afternoon solidifying dates because we need to start filming. So far, I've managed to get everyone to agree to this Thursday. Since the scenes aren't too hard to film, we should be able to get at least half of them done. The setup for the film is also easy so it shouldn't take up too much time. The first few seconds of the film should look like a dream, so the lighting needs to be dark enough to look like nighttime but bright enough to be seen. It'll be daytime when we begin filming, but it should be fine if we close the blinds and add the dream-like filter. To make filming easier, we could split it into two segments. One could be the dream segment and the other begins with the girl waking up from the dream up until the end of the opening scene. This way, if something comes up and the couple can't be a part of Thursday's filming, we could still film the other segment and have something to edit. This also makes it easier to film in just two days if that's all we can get for now. I'll worry about reshoots days after I get some scenes filmed. I will still be editing in CapCut so I don't have to worry about learning to use new software. Some of the filters that I've tried, and think will be a good fit are Inception, Dunkirk, VHS II, Warlock, and Vapor. We only need one or two, but I like having some picked out already so when it gets to editing time, I don't freak out about it. I hope filming goes well on Thursday and I get enough content to make this opening scene amazing. The school year is coming to an end, and I really want this project to turn out great. 

Oops (Change of Plans)

Today while I was reviewing, I noticed we made a huge mistake. In the original script for the opening scene, there was to be a roommate who would have a conversation with the main actor regarding how distraught she appeared. Ultimately, the roommate was removed from the script, and instead, the physical doll would be seen and held. I'm not quite sure why we removed the roommate, but I believe it was to cut back on time. The problem with that is the absence of a shot-reverse-shot. One of the most important factors that I wanted was a wide variety of angles. I had a list of angles that were to be included in the opening scene and the effect they would have on the film. I want to incorporate this shot into the film, so I've tweaked the script to allow it. I've also added a name for the woman to make the scene come to life a bit more. Her name is Michelle. When she's in the kitchen, we hear her husband call out, "Michelle, the show's starting." She will then walk into the living room and while she's in there, a conversation will start between her and her husband. He'll ask, "Are you excited for tonight's episode?" She'll respond with, "Yeah, I've been waiting for it all week!" before plopping down on the couch. The camera will pan to each person as they speak, therefore creating the shot-reverse-shot. I'm so happy I caught this mistake before we started filming. It would be a lot harder to have to edit in the dialogue than it is to revise the script. I'm also happy my groupmates didn't get too upset with me since I was in charge of writing the script. They were really understanding and explained that it was okay. Now that I'm positive that everything's in order, I'm super excited to begin filming. This is going to be great! 

A Dream Come True (Picking the music)

 While I have not yet started filming, I did pick out dates with my groupmates. We have to work around the schedule of our actors who have work and school, which prevents us from filming often. Still, we have weekends picked out and early release days to work on. In the meantime, I've been researching different types of music to play throughout the film. The first few seconds of the film depict a dream. I felt it was fitting to include soft harp sounds to give off a dream-like effect. I went on Youtube in an attempt to find non-copyrighted or royalty-free sounds that can be used in our film. If the music is non-copyrighted, we don't have to go through the time-consuming process of requesting permission to use it in the film. I found a few that I like, but nothing is confirmed until I play them for my groupmates. I prefer we make decisions about the film together although everyone has a specific role. By doing so, I don't have to worry about anyone being unhappy with the final product. I also looked for horror music to use for the doll scenes. The actual doll prop has a voice box and is capable of playing creepy singing. Still, I could use the Youtube audio as a backup plan. The last sound I researched was creepy stair creaking sounds. There is one scene where the ghost is standing on the stairs and the camera turns toward the source of the creaking. Since I was already on Youtube, I figured I would look for this audio as well. While I did find some good ones, I think it'll just be easier to record that sound ourselves. It's not hard to get the stairs to creak, and we would not have to go through the permission requesting process for this either. If we go with the easier alternatives, we won't be as stressed as we were with the music video. I want to end the school term on a happy note. That means working smarter, not harder. 

Perfect Picturama

                                                     

This paper shows the first few seconds of the movie. It begins with an establishing shot of the outside of the house. It then pans to a close-up of a woman getting water from the kitchen faucet. Next, a man calls the woman from the living room, telling her the show is starting. A tracking shot then shows her walking towards the living room. Finally, it ends with her plopping down on the couch. 

This sheet shows a close-up of the movie playing on the T.V. It's then an over-the-shoulder shot of the staircase where a little girl is standing with a doll in her hand. We then see the stairs, which emit a creaking sound. Next, the camera pans back to the living room, where the couple is lying on the ground dead. Finally, we see the little girl with the doll in her hand, panning up from their bodies.

This sheet begins in a bedroom where a girl jumps up from a dream. It then zooms in on her face for a close-up where she looks shocked and is panting. Finally, she gets out of bed and walks out of the room.

We then see the girl walking down the starts with heavy footsteps. She goes into the kitchen, where she begins to pour water from her fridge. She notices the doll in the corner of her eye while drinking the water.   This page ends with a high-angle shot of the doll on the floor.

The camera flips back to the girl's face and then to the cup, which falls in slow motion. We see the cup break. The camera pans to the doll on the floor once more, then back to the girl who we see walking towards it. It ends when she picks up the doll.