AICE Media Studies Blog

Hello, blog! The fact that this project is coming to an end is both heartbreaking and reassuring. My groupmates and I are pleased with the results as the filming process comes to a close, and all that remains is to rewatch for any errors and edit any rough footage or sound we may come across at the last minute. I'm very excited to show you the finished product, and I've learned a lot along the way. While this was the most difficult project, it was also the most enjoyable. It had its ups and downs because the workload was significantly increased and the testing season was approaching, but it was one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had. There isn't much editing left to do at this point; it's mostly about wrapping up the transitions and audio, as well as reviewing the film's quality. I'm ensuring that the film can be watched smoothly by watching the entire film without pausing to get the full effect of the product. I asked the rest of the group to d...

Hello, blog! My groupmates and I agreed on a date that worked for everyone's schedules, and we decided to reshoot the park scenes because they were the most difficult to edit. This time, I made sure to film the scenes correctly because we were running out of production time. I made sure that the lighting was consistent, the camera angles were as steady as possible, and the actors were creating the best mood for the film. The park scenes included not only one specific location but also multiple crossings of the road. The crossing-the-road scene took the longest to film because we had to make sure we got the shot right the first time or we'd have to do it again. Waiting for the pedestrian light and then shooting the actor crossing the road was the most difficult because we had to work quickly to get across the road safely. Often times when we shoot the crossing scenes and rewatched the footage, the camera was shaky from walking too fast, and the entire scene had to be redone. I d...

Hello, blog! Today is another editing blog, and I'm back with some disappointing news. With editing still in progress and soon to be completed, important decisions had to be made. Some scenes that had been established in the storyboard had to be cut from the final product of the film because they either made the film too long or made the transition with the other scene too awkward. Most of the time the reason was that the running time of the film was too long and needed to be reduced, so I deleted the scenes that weren't a necessity to the film. These scenes had to be cut to save the film's face and make the final product acceptable. The parts of the film that were cut weren't too bad because they didn't significantly alter the plot. The essential elements remained, however, the deleted scenes served the purpose of adding excitement and more character to the film. Some scenes, however, definitely had to be cut from the film because it prevented the narrative from fl...

 Hey, blog! Today is all about quality. Quality isn't really a main focus of editing for this film since I already filmed the the scenes on the highest setting which is 4k at 60 frames, however, there is some light editing to be done such as making sure the lighting is consistent throughout the film, that the lighting sets the right tone for the scene and is'nt dramatic to the point that it sticks out awkwardly between transitions. High quality helps the film to blend light and color better and the high frame rates helps the film flow smoother in comparison to a quality that is lower. Besides lighting there is also some quality tweaking that goes into film, such as making the film appear sharper and more professional like. Any special effects added is to enhance the film, making sure it corelates with music for that inspiring feeling left in the audience. Becuase this film is placed in the coming of age genre, the quality can not be too heavy our else the film will lack realism...

Hey, blog! Today is all about film audio in editing, specifically the dialogue between the actors. In the previous blogs, I have mentioned that in some scenes audio is clear and in others there are background noises that interfere that prevent the audience from hearing the dialogue. I have used and researched multiple methods on how to fix the issue such as noise reduction tools, audio filters, and equalizers, and even used different audios to mute other audio, but some clips cannot be fixed. I also mentioned that our last resort as a group was to do a voice-over. I do not like the voice-over because it would stick out in the film too much and seem very inconsistent, however, it is effective as last resort. With a few production days left I asked my group for one more filming day to get the shots that had unclear audio redone. With all four of us having different schedules and issues, there is often a problem getting us in one place at the same time. We are still trying to plan a day a...

Hey, blog! There isn't much to report on today's editing, it's the same as last time involving sound, transitions, and quality. As for transitions between clips, it's a little less choppy. I tried cutting some of the scenes to a specific beginning and end so that way when all the clips are stitched together the transition isn't so awkward between them and appears more smooth. There's a lot of footage that was recorded that still hasn't been reviewed yet but is stitched to another clip for editing. So far transitions are inconsistent throughout the film but it is getting better as we progress with editing. I'm trying to use fewer fade-ins and outs for each transition because I want the film to appear more realistic, the cut-to-transition seems too harsh in between clips, and I'm still searching for a different and professional way of doing a transition. Since transitions play a vital role in the film, it was one of the most important factors to focus ...

Hey, blog! for editing today it's mostly sound since we have everything filmed already. I'm using youtube and other websites to find free copyrighted music that fits our theme and there has been a couple problems. There are certain music I want to use since the film is a coming of age theme. I'm looking for something that uplifts and maybe even a score to bring out the film. I have stitched together some sounds but that might be removed later if I find something better. As for the film itself, i have also stiched all the clips together and realized that I needed to add a lot of fades since the the transition between cuts was choppy. I have managed to make it look somewhat decent to watch and it turned out fine. Some of the sounds in the clips are still too low or have background noise interfering in it so I tried my best to lower the background noise and amplify the audio of the actors. There are still some clips that the editing has done nothing for and as a last resort, w...

 Hey, blog! today the group went back to the mall to refilm most of the scenes since the last time we got sidetracked and the result wasn't enough for the overall film. On my way to the mall, I grabbed my tripod and extra bags as props. When everyone got to the mall the first thing we did was scope for quieter areas than last time even if it isn't the exact setting we were looking for, we really wanted the dialogue to come through in the audio as clearly as possible so the editing wouldn't be so hard on us. Most of the scenes were going according to plan and others weren't. For example scene with the characters Julie and Natalie had to be completely changed because every store we went into had copyrighted music and we didn't want to get that in the film. The waiting scene of the character Neveah was also changed because the location we planned was too loud. Because of these changes, some lines had to be improvised but not to the point that the storyline is changed. ...

Hey, blog! Today is editing day, and I finally get to connect the first and second halves of the film. I'm in charge of making the transitions between each scene as clean and as clear as possible, as well as the lighting. I'm also in charge of quality control, ensuring that it remains consistent throughout the film. My groupmates are responsible for sound editing, which includes sound effects, background music, and audio quality. I'm using multiple apps right now for quality editing such as iMovie, video leap, and capcut but my main editing software is video star because of its clean transition tools. I'm comparing the quality of the film on each app to see which one produces the best results. I placed a black screen with an estimated length of how long that scene should be for scenes that have not yet been recorded. Just to make sure we don't go over or under 5 minutes, and it also serves as a reminder of what still needs to be done for the film. My groupmates are ...

  Hey, Blog! Finally, the group decided on a location for the neighborhood scenes. We were only a short distance apart, so we had no trouble getting there. We walked around the neighborhood first to find the best location, then began assembling the tripod for filming. We talked about how each scene would play out and rehearsed the lines and shots. We had wind interfering with the audio of the actors during filming, so we had to retake the scenes or wait until the breeze died down. Fortunately, we had my AirPods and used them as a microphone to overcome the wind, and the audio sounded much clearer and of higher quality when we rewatched the scenes.  Everything was going swimmingly, including the weather, and the only issue we encountered was when we had to film scenes on the road. Sometimes cars would drive by and we would have to stop production to give way, forcing us to restart some of the scenes most of the time. We also had a driving scene in the film that caused issu...

 Hey, blog! Since the last filming day, it was only a short time until the group decided to start editing. We discussed who gets to edit which part, and I was assigned to most of the editing since most of the filming was done on my phone. However, it was also decided that the rest of the group oversee what I was doing and add their input wherever they saw necessary to make sure that our film had the best quality and results. With that being done, I went straight into editing and started to add each scene that I thought was good for the film and began cutting and filtering any part of the scene that didn't belong. Though I had to start editing in the middle of the film, I made sure to leave room for the beginning and end, making sure the film was as long as we needed. After several cutaways, fades, dissolves, and matching, I notice that there was a lot of background noise interfering with the audio in the film and it made it hard to hear what the actors were saying. I did some resea...