AICE Media Studies Blog

Today is a new day. This means it is another day to work. I sat at my desk, on my phone most of the period. This sounds like an unproductive day doesn't it? Well, it very much was not. I had been reviewing each and every clip that my group had filmed. I sorted them all into a folder on my phone. Once I had all the clips I wanted to insert into my film in that folder, I was almost ready to transfer them into my editing software. But before that, I had to cut them up. I went through each and every clip for about an hour. During this hour I shortened every clip by trimming a few seconds at the beginning or the end. This was for a few reasons. First of all, I needed to cut out my group's film slate. My group's film slate word was "GO". So I cut out the film slate from every clip, which was Sofia saying "go". Then at the end of every clip, there were about a few seconds where the film kept rolling after the scene was completed. This also had to be cut out. I ...

Today I and my group are looking to find what music we will insert into our film. I am all done with filming. Everyone in my group has separate goals in class. My goal for this period is to find music to go into the background of my film. In order to remove any hassles with copyright, I searched for royalty-free music. This allows me to use music without worrying about any "heat' about copyright. So I went on google and Youtube and did some searching. I am looking for conspicuous music. This would help with adding suspense to my film. This allows it to fall under the mystery genre. My goal is to leave my audience on the edge of their seats. I want them to wonder what is going to happen next. Music is a great way to achieve this goal. Music and sound are so powerful in a film. Sometimes it is often overlooked. But I will not make that mistake. In my searches, I found a couple of great contenders that could fit into my film. I made sure that they were royalty-free. I saved them ...

Now it is time to film one last time. Well at least hopefully. Today I am at Sofia's house to finish the last part of my filming. Barring any mistakes found in editing, this should be the last time my group films. This filming session may be one of the most important ones yet. The most action and and essential part of my short film occur here. I and Beckett need to throw toilet paper at Sofia's house. While that may sound crazy, it lines up with our story. So, my group got started. Just as previously done before I planned out everything before starting to film. Again a list was made of what will be done in what order. Along with specific details needed for each scene. A costume change was needed for me and Beckett. Both of us wore dark, conspicuous clothing. Also, I decided to film at a later time, so it would be dark enough to fit the genre of my film, mystery. There were not too many scenes to film at Sofia's house so I and my group got it done quickly. I was finally fini...

Now I and my group need to do another round of filming. Today my group is at my house. All the scenes that involve the setting being my house will be shot here. My group once again started with a "game plan" for the day. A list was made of what we will do. This list involved the order we are shooting the scenes. It also included specific details about each shot that I had to get just right. Then I and my group started to review our lines again. My group went over them for about 20 minutes. Everything was looking good and I was about to go outside to prep for the first scene. Then it hit. It started to pour down rain. This was not looking good for my group. So it was decided that we do all the indoor scenes first. This way so when the indoor scenes are done, hopefully, the rain would clear up. The indoor scenes were done almost flawlessly. My group got them done in less than 3 takes every time. The rain started to ease off a bit, which was looking good. But I still had to wait...

Today, Beckett, Sofia, and I had our first filming session. My group and I decided 1 pm was a good time to film. This is because of the lighting at this time. We would film all the scenes inside first. This would take a couple hours and by then it would be dark enough outside to film the other scenes in a bit darker lighting. So, it would be perfect conditions outside by the time we finished the scenes inside the house. I went over to Beckett's house before our scheduled filming time. When I got there I finished setting up some more props. Then I printed out all of our scripts, and any other papers we need to be successful. Once Sofia got here my group got together and started working. The opening scene went great. My group improvised a birds-eye-view shot with Beckett's ceiling fan. We thought it was great until we realized that part of the camera was blocked by the fan blade. So I repositioned my phone and re-shot it. This time our opening scene came out great. We had to impr...

 In order for my film to be successful, good props are needed. That is the case for any film that wants to be at least respectable. So I took it into my own hands to make a variety of props for my short film. I sat down at my desk and started to list what I needed to make. I kept referring to my Storyboard and Script to see every prop that was needed. I came up with a list of about 10 items. The first thing I did was look around my house to see if I had any of these items. If I did not, I asked my groupmates. And lastly, if all else failed, I would go out and spend a few dollars on some items I needed. One thing I needed to buy was envelopes. This was so I could construct my letter. Another activity I did was wash my car. This was so that it would look clean for the camera. This means that it is not attracting the attention of my audience. I want my audience to be focused on the plot itself, but a poor prop could hinder that. I asked my groupmates if they had any of the items neede...

I and my group still have not come up with a concrete name for the Final Task short film. In order to resolve this, I called our group together and brought up the idea. After some discussion, my group came up with a shortlist of what the name of the film could be. One name that I brought was "Wrongdoings". My idea for this was to keep it short and conspicuous. This was in order to keep my Film in line with the mystery genre. A short name that would make the audience wonder could connotate a mystery. That is at least what I believed. My groupmates did not agree. They believed that my idea was not the best. So in response, I asked a question of my one. I asked them what they thought the name of the Film should be. They gave me some ideas. In my honest opinion, I did not quite see their suggestions as fit. I brought up the idea that we can use the internet to our advantage. The internet gave me some good advice that I was able to share with my group. A list of guidelines such as...