Genre in Our Film Opening

 This post is dedicated to how our project fits within the conventions of the genre we chose.

First, I should remind you of our genre(s). Mainly, our film is fits between romance and drama, romantic drama if you will. However, it could also be considered somewhat of a coming-of-age film. We made our film fit into these genres in many many ways.

To fit into the romantic portion of the film, we emphasized the relationships between the characters. There is romance between Betty and James, even if it's more of a ghost of a romance after the breakup. Props are used to demonstrate this. Love letters and rose petals are shown in the bedroom scene, symbolizing love, but since they are wilted and ripped, it symbolizes the ending of love. This reinforces the idea of love being a central concern, thus relating the film back to the genre of romance. When Betty opens the door James holds roses for Betty. This is another symbol of love since it relates to James wanting to rekindle Betty's faded feelings for him. On top of props, dialogue is also used to fit our film into the conventions of romance. Betty references love in her voiceover, and James tells August directly that he still loves Betty. This helps fit our film into the romance genre even more.

Lady Bird (2017)

Let's move on to drama. Our film has drama written all over it. It's seen in the disappointed facial expressions of Betty and the pleading expressions of James, the mellow and mysterious lighting and hues, the dramatic piano background music, the mannerisms of the characters, and the dialogue that's full of conflict. After all, this is a love triangle. It would be weird to see happy characters considering Betty got cheated on. Betty, James, and August are all dealing with their individual struggles. The combination of all these elements create a tense-filled and dramatic atmosphere, and this is just what we wanted.

Lastly, there are the hints of coming-of-age in our film. With all three characters being teenagers, they are all in a period of their lives where there is much to learn. Nobody truly has life figured out at age 17. Everyone is still figuring out themselves. For example, James has to live with his decision to cheat on Betty, and he has to learn and figure out how to deal with this "mistake" and learn how to prevent this from happening again. Betty has to live with how much James hurt her, and she'll probably struggle with learning to love someone again. August is a teenager as well, and she probably has her own journey of maturation and grown to take on if the film were to be finished. These qualities are typical for the coming-of-age genre.

Favorite Part

 When reflecting on our film making journey, I definitely note the good and the not-so-good. Luckily, this post is dedicated to my favorite part of it all! Unfortunately, I was not able to be there for filming. Because of this, I don't have the experience of knowing if filming would have been my favorite part. I do love social connection, so I think this probably would have been it. But, what's done is done, so I'd say my favorite part of the process was the aesthetic of it all. 

To put it bluntly, I love pretty things. Whenever I view things as beautiful and exciting, it gets me super motivated and creative. That's exactly what happened here. When I was assigned to make my first moodboard, I ended up loving the process of scrolling through Pinterest to find the loveliest pictures and putting it all together made it even more enjoyable. I felt the same way with the second moodboard I made (the one that actually related to The Hope Of it All). I never thought I would enjoy making something like this, but I did. This process sort of taught me something new that I loved doing. For fun, I ended up editing pictures that had nothing to do with media studies in a collage manner. They turned into playlist covers, so I'm pretty satisfied with how that turned out.

Other aesthetically-pleasing moments came from when Tori sent me the video files. I saw how nice her camera quality was and was in awe. I thought the way everything was recorded was simply lovely. The colors, the angles, everything. It seemed like a genuine film. 

During the editing process, I tried my best to find ways to make the film even more aesthetically-pleasing. This included using a filter (raising the saturation), finding good music with the help of my group, and finding good fonts and transitions. I really love how it turned out!

Although it was hard to pick a favorite thing out of everything, I definitely enjoyed the aesthetics of the process throughout. That being said, I'd say that the aesthetics are my favorite part.

Color in our Opening Scene

 Color is something my group and I definitely considered when making this film opening. Color has the ability to convey emotions, states of minds, and personality without even using words. That being said, color is a powerful tool in film.  It wasn't the factor my group and I focused most on, but it definitely had an impact on certain choices we had to make.

For example, the blue tones in Betty's room conveys mellow and sad emotions despite nothing very sad actually happening. After all, Betty is simply waking up and getting ready for the day. On top of this, the blinds aren't open, preventing any yellow sunshine to counter these blue/indigo tones. This further enhances the mellow moods created. The purpose of these blue and indigo colors is to convey sadness, more specifically, the sadness of Betty due to her recent breakup. What makes this breakup especially hard is the fact that James cheated on her. Betty is feeling all sorts of negative emotions like betrayal, shock, and misery. Blue is probably the best color to symbolize this, so using this color in the lighting definitely helps enhance these feelings. 

Color also affected the wardrobe choices of each of the characters. To show Betty's delicacy, innocence, and femininity, she wears a pink shirt. I think the color of Betty's shirt reinforces her personality in an accurate way, so I think this wardrobe choice works well. 

With James, he wears a red sweater to emphasize common emotions associated with the color red. Although red can mean anger, I think the emotions we hoped to convey with James sweatshirt are those of love, passion, and a bit of warning (like a stop sign or emergency signal). Love, for the feelings he still has for Betty. Passion, for the affair with August. And Warning, for showing that it is probably a dangerous decision for Betty to get back with James since this could potentially break her heart again.

Color and conveying personality could also be seen with August's wardrobe choice. Not as much as with Betty and James, though. August wears a white tank top with a green dragon. White typically is associated with purity and flawlessness, but it can also be associated with emptiness. August can definitely be perceived as flawless as she is a popular girl who lives a "perfect" life from the outside. However, because she willingly wants James to cheat on Betty with her, she is likely empty on the inside and starving for attention. The green can represent the envy she feels for Betty since James still loves her.

Lighting in Our Opening Scene

To be honest, when my group was filming our opening scene, lighting was not our biggest concern. I think we focused more on using mise en scene, framing, and color to convey meaning more than using lighting. I also didn't edit any lighting post-production because I thought it was fine the way it was. If this was a horror film, I probably would have darkened the shots to create a more eerie mood, but this was just a drama so I saw no need to. However, viewers can still feel emotions from the lighting we used even if it wasn't necessarily intended.

Starting with the first few shots in Betty's bedroom, the darker and blue-toned lighting can definitely be noticed. Although the time is in the morning since Betty is just waking up, there are more cool tones present than the typical warm yellow tones expected in the morning time. Because of the lack of happier warm tones, the lighting here can create mellow feelings in the audience. The soft and sad piano music works well with this cool and dark lighting, causing a generally sad mood to be present even without words

Once this half of the opening scene is over, Betty opens the door. This allows the natural sunlight to finally get in, resulting in a much warmer and brighter lighting. At the same time, James appears! This could mean that James has optimism for Betty forgiving him. However, this doesn't happen. Betty closes the door and the bright lighting is gone. Once Betty's done with her sitting, the bright lighting stays consistent with James for the rest of the opening scene since it all takes place outside, and this is good since it reinforces the idea that this all takes place in the morning. Luckily, the weather was nice and sunny (thanks Florida!) so the lighting was as bright as possible rather than being cloudy which could have confused the audience on the time of day.

Group Dynamics

 Starting this course, I truly had barely any knowledge of the true art of film and media, and here I am putting my finishing touches on a film opening that my three friends and I created from scratch. Working together was definitely a great decision, even despite the challenges that occurred because of it. It definitely would have been a hassle to do this all on my own, so I'm extremely grateful for Daniel, Tori, and Hannah for working with me on this project. In this post, I will be discussing the group dynamics between me and the rest of my group mates. 

Tori

All hail the main character!!! Seriously though, without Tori, our opening scene would be very incomplete. Fortunately, she was able to get permission to film with Daniel and Hannah over the weekend despite having rather strict parents like mine. Not only did she do filming that weekend, but she also had her mother film her for the bedroom scene. I could not be more proud of how she made it all work out. Also, we used her camera which had much better quality than even the latest iPhone, and this enhanced our quality even more. Yay for dedication!

Daniel

Daniel was also a massive help in the making of this opening scene. After all, he played the crucial James who was basically the backbone of this love triangle. He was the one who brought up the idea of having a love triangle at all, and this idea can still be seen in the final product. He had a vision, and it sure was executed! Tori and I did have some hesitations regarding time constraints, but we adapted and Daniel was sure we would be alright (which we were).

Hannah

Hannah, the last of my group mates,  also definitely carried her weight throughout the process of making this film opening. After all, she was essentially the director. Although I was not there for the filming process, there was nothing but praise for how she did her job. With a keen attention to detail, she double checked every shot before moving forward with filming the next shots. Since she was the one behind the camera most of the time, most of our wonderful shots are thanks to her! 

Ashley

 Of course, this post could not be complete without Ashley. Although she isn't even in this class, she took the time out of her busy schedule to come film and play August. I am extremely grateful for her decision to volunteer, especially since she didn't have to. Despite the few challenges that arose, she remained cooperative and understanding and continued to persist. A huge thanks to you, Ashley!

Overall, I would say my decision to do go through this entire process as a group has been extremely rewarding. Not only did it save me lots of time and effort from a film-making perspective, but I managed to grow as a person as well. I learned valuable skills like speaking up for my ideas, compromising, and listening to other viewpoints. Although there were some obvious setbacks that were out of our control (I'm talking to you, COVID), I believe this group effort turned out much better than anything I could have done on my own. Because of this, I think our group dynamic was great :)

A

Font Updates

 So I had a little trouble using the fonts that my group originally agreed on using.

The fonts Quita and Kinuta were too much of a hassle to download and apply, so I had to limit my fonts to those found on Dafont.com 

Because of this, I ended up offering other options to my group, and we eventually decided on the fonts called Sylfaen and Pretty Shine:

Sylfaen

Pretty Shine

We chose these fonts since they are pretty similar to the previous fonts we chose. That being said, the effects of these fonts are pretty much identical to those fonts. We wanted an easy-to-read yet elegant vibe for the credits, and we wanted a more extravagant cursive styled font for the title. Overall I am pretty satisfied with these fonts, and I think it provides for a much more cinematic experience than the simple iMovie font. Because of this, I would definitely say that the struggles of figuring out fonts are worth it.

Almost Completed: A Reflection

 We've reached a point in time where I'm able to look back and see how far we've come. Through the difficulties and the challenges, we've pulled through and are very close to finishing. And it feels scary since I didn't think we'd get here so quickly. Time really does pass by quick, so hear me out as I reflect on our journey.

Starting this course, we all knew that COVID-19 was going to impact how we were going to approach this project. We wanted to take careful precautions and keep everyone safe, but at the end of the day, we still needed this film opening to be made. COVID actually affected the location of filming. We were going to film in Amber's bedroom, but her parents didn't want anyone entering their house since they wanted to stay safe. This is understandable, but it meant that we had to adjust our plans. So, what ended up happening was Tori self-filming and having her mother film her for the bedroom waking-up scene. Not gonna lie, I was pretty scared that the quality may turn somewhat bad since the director (Hannah) wasn't there to give filming tips. But, my doubts were quickly proven wrong since I love the way these shots turned out. I think Tori's camera truly made it seem like an actual movie. Through this experience, I learned that even though things may not go completely according to plan, things can still turn out amazing. Also, by working with other people, I learned to trust others more when changes do change. Go Tori!

Another thing we had to change was the plot and therefore the screenplay. Daniel's idea of a fourth character, Inez, was scrapped because of time constraints. Inez would have been the gossipy friend that told Betty that James was cheating on her. Before we decided on scrapping her, Daniel had already written a script that included Inez's lines in it. Of course, we had to then change the script to exclude Inez and her lines. Also, we changed the tilt to the sky. It was supposed to be shot from outside the car facing the front of August and James, but because of visual and auditory problems, this ended up getting switched to being shot from behind August and James in the backseat. The pan to the sky still happened, though. We just had to open the sunroof.

My three friends and I have our own tastes and ideas, and the four of us individually impacted the project because of this. I added the idea of using props to highlight the breakup, and my friends added the idea of a POV shot and the pan to the sky. Tori and I were both concerned about the length of August and James' conversation since we were afraid that this would take up too much time. We had to communicate this with the rest of the group. The combination of all of our ideas created the end result, and it would not be the same should any of us be missing. Another impact of working with others was the fact that we had to constantly keep COVID in mind. In order to stay safe, my family wouldn't let me go to the filming site at all. I would have definitely been allowed to work in person with my group if there weren't a pandemic. But, even Daniel, Tori, and Hannah had to take precaution while filming together. Daniel and Tori considered filming at their respective houses, but this did not work, so they did the best to take precautions while filming mask-less near each other. 

There are a few things that I would do differently if I was able to do this all over again. I would, of course, love to have been there during filming. I could have offered different filming opinions and shots, and could have possibly made the outside-the-car shot of the August and James argument work with recording a separate audio for the dialogue. I also would have liked to have had more, longer shots. This would allow for greater flexibility with editing since I can just crop videos and test a variety of sequences rather than being forced to work with the limited shots we do have. 

Further changes we can make can really only be done with editing at this point. I'm working on the title sequence at the moment, and I will soon work on adding filters so the film opening looks pretty. One of the last things I'll be doing is adding in Betty's voiceover once Tori sends me that audio file. Other than that, I think we should be good :)

Representation in Our Film

 To be honest, my group and I didn't really have representation in the front of our minds when we were brainstorming for this film opening. We were just super focused on finding actors at all! However, it turns out that all of the characters are from minority groups that live pretty standard lives.

Let's talk about Betty. She is the absolute main character in this film. Tori, a Black teenage girl, is the one who plays Betty, who is also a Black teenage girl. This means that my group has a Black female main character, which was not at all common decades ago. The fact that the story in The Hope of it All is not centered on death or life-threatening hardship, a narrative that is often common with Black protagonists, is important. Rather, the story is about a typical love triangle including teenagers with normal teenage problems. And that's perfectly okay. Showing that Black people's lives exist beyond the stereotypes is crucial, especially since this can make young Black girls feel like they are represented and understood for their complexity.

 

Moving on to James and August, we can see that their actors, Daniel and Ashley, are both Hispanic. This shows that this culture is represented with our film opening's cast. Rather than playing into the stereotype of Hispanics being maids or criminals or gardeners, our film shows that there is much more than a stereotype that can be represented with Hispanics. James and August are just like any other high schoolers in their town, with similar interests and hobbies as anyone else. Again, we are able to see how Hispanics can live beyond the stereotype and have "normal" lives, and this is great to see. Other Hispanics and Latinos viewing this film should feel much more represented than a film that merely showed a stereotype, and they may even relate to these typical high school drama-related scenes. 

Regarding female representation, our two female characters, August and Betty, provide good representation of brave and persistent women. August shows confidence and courage, traits that are certainly positive. Even despite her sometimes mischievous behavior, she does not play into the obedient and submissive stereotype that women often get. She knows what she wants (James), and will not wait for it to just be handed to her. So, she pursues what she wants, and this shows her persistence. Similarly, Betty also knows what she wants (peace and separation), and will not back down when James knocks on her door. This also shows Betty's strength and persistence. All of these positive traits about women defy the traits that this male-dominated society attempts to plant on women.

If I could make any changes for representation's sake, I would definitely try to make the film opening longer. That way, we could go more in depth into August's backstory and personality. She doesn't get much dialogue, and I feel like her true complexity could be explored more with more screen time. Also, the individual cultures of all three characters could be explored more, such as having August or James speak Spanish. Unfortunately, this is just a two minute film opening, so this cannot happen. If we were making an actual film, we would definitely incorporate more cultural elements.

 

Making of the Title Sequence

My group's title sequence should remind viewers of any typical title sequence they've seen in other films. In order to keep the genre and overall aesthetic of the film consistent, our title sequence will have a mellow mood as shown by delicate fonts and styles.

The title sequence will go as follows: 

Production Company Name (Swift Pictures) 

We came up with this name for a company and just stuck with it

Actors (Tori Ragin as Betty, Daniel Morales as James, Ashley Polo as August) 

This is because they were the ones that acted.

Producers (Tori Ragin, Melanie Reynoso)

This is partially because we needed names for producers, so Tori and volunteered our names.

Edited by (Melanie Reynoso) 

 This is, of course, because I am editing the film opening.

Screenplay by (Daniel Morales)

 This is because Daniel came up with the screenplay.

Directed by (Hannah Barnes).

This is because Hannah decided upon the camera shots and angles. She even recorded most shots herself, and she generally did most of the behind-the-scenes camerawork.

Regarding fonts, my group and I were pretty undecided for a while. I eventually narrowed down our options to four fonts, and I let the group decide which ones they liked best. Here are the four fonts:

From top to bottom, these four fonts are called Quita, Kinuta Shin StdN, Bickham Script, and Adorn.

My group chose Kinuta Shin StdN for the credits, and they chose Quita for the title. They chose Kinuta Shin StdN because they wanted a gentle delicate font for the credits, but they didn't want it to be cursive and risk it being too difficult to read. The more extravagant and cursive font, Quita, is therefore used for the title since it keeps the moody delicate feelings consistent while still being readable since the audience's attention will be drawn to it. I am happy with this decision since I was leaning towards these fonts anyway.

The credits will be shown in a somewhat small size on the bottom left corner in order to keep the audience's focus on Betty and the ripped props.The actual title, though, will be large and centered once the camera pans to the sky since we want everyone to pay attention to the title of the film. Titles are pretty important!

Regarding colors, we're pretty sure the fonts will be white. This color is simple, typical, and it prevents anything from getting too messy. Most of our shots have dark enough lighting so that white will still be easily visible. However, when the pan to the sky happens, we might have some trouble with the white font blending in with the white clouds. I may have to use another color, like black, if this becomes an issue. I am also considering designing a title of my own if I think black looks too unnatural.

Storyboard: Updated

 Since we already filmed and understand our shots much better now, my group and I made a new storyboard. This updated storyboard shows our edits made to our film opening.

Without further ado, here is the new and improved storyboard:

In the beginning, there will be a fade from a black screen into the shot of Betty turning off her alarm. Sound-wise, the alarm sound will be playing while the screen is still black, continuing until Betty turns the alarm off. Then, there is a medium wide shot of Betty waking up. While this happens, the soft piano music (Reverie) will be playing in the background and Betty's voice over will start. After, there will be a cut to the various shots of ripped photos and love letters on Betty's desk.

Changes that were made include the people filming. Because of many issues regarding the state of the world, Tori and her mother filmed this portion of the opening scene in Tori's bedroom rather than having anyone enter her house. Also, the panning of the ripped items was quicker than anticipated because of the limited time constraints.

Next, the shot will dissolve into a medium close up over-the-shoulder shot of Betty putting makeup on while the non-diegetic piano music continues. The non-diegetic voiceover also continues but it stops when the sound of the doorbell ringing plays. After this, there is a cut to a POV shot of Betty opening her front door where she will then greet James. After this, there is a medium close up of James holding flowers asking for forgiveness, but this is still in a POV form. 

This portion of the opening scene remained rather consistent with what we imagined. However, rather than having over-the-shoulder shots for Betty and James' conversation, we chose to have POV shots so the scene can be more consistent and less of a hassle to film. This allowed for a smoother viewing of the conversation.

 Then, there is a cut to a POV of Betty slamming the door in front of James since she rejects his apology. James continues to apologize and ask for a second chance, but this is unsuccessful. Then, there is a fade to a medium close up of James while he walks away from Betty's house. After, there is another cut to just James' feet while he continues walking away. Afterwards, there is a cut to James as he sees August rolling her window down to lure him into her car.

Changes made include the decision to put in a shot of James' feet. Originally this was not planned, but it turned out to be a good idea once my group experimented with this type of shot since it adds to variation. Also, we decided on using a fade rather than a dissolve to transition between the shots of James walking away. This was because it made the scene look cleaner and it felt more natural for this situation. Also, we chose to use MCUs rather than medium shots. This is a drama cenetered film, so characters and dialogue are generally more important than the overall background of any shots that were taken. Thus, there was not much of a need to emphasize backgrounds.

Finally, there is a cut to the shot of James as he walks to August's car. They have a heated conversation and the camera pans to follow James' movement as he eventually enters her car. Then, there is a cut to a shot showing James and August continuing to argue. This shots is taken in the perspective of a backseat driver, allowing the audience to feel as if there were witnessing this argument for themselves. Afterwards, there is a tilt to the sky and the title (The Hope of it All) is shown while the argument audio fades into the next song (Token).

Changes made include the adding of the backseat-perspective shot. Originally, this argument was going to be shot through the windshield from outside, but weather made it hard to get a good glimpse of what was taking place inside. So, we went with a backseat perspective and it turned out well.

While changes were definitely made, my group managed to pull through and adapt very well. We stuck with the original plan for the majority of the opening scene, though, so that was good. Despite these changes, I am very proud of how far we have come so far and can still not wait until the final editing touches are made!

Supporting Characters

 Today I will be discussing the supporting characters for The Hope of it All (the film's title): James and August.

 James

Actor: Daniel Morales

 James is 17 year old Hispanic-American boy. He has been childhood friends with Betty since elementary school, and still goes to the same school as Betty. He wears a red sweater and jeans throughout the opening scene. Although they've been friends for so long, he and Betty only started dating in high school. Mentally, he is not the best at relationships. After all, he did cheat on Betty with August in the summer because of sheer confusion. The prop he uses to win back Betty is a flower, but this still wasn't enough. He feels terrible about his actions, but they still happened and they can never truly be reversed. He is relatively popular, but definitely not as popular as August. He is relatively shy, but not as shy as Betty. This results in him speaking with a somewhat soft and regretful tone to Betty (showing his quiet side), yet speaking with an assertive and angry tone to August (showing his popular extrovert side)

His role in the film is crucial. Without him, there is no love triangle!

 August 

Actress: Ashley Polo

August is an 18-year old girl that lives in the same city as Betty and James. She is a year older than them and is a grade ahead of them. However, she goes to their rival school She is captain of the cheer team at her school, and has the personality of any typical popular girl: outgoing, flirty, extroverted, talkative, and stuck-up. She wears a white tank top and ripped jeans to show her trendy side, and she exposes her skin to fit in with the rest of the girls in her friend group. The only prop she really has is her car, and she uses the car to confidently pull up to James and attempt to "win him back". She doesn't really care about the situation between Betty and James or how hurt James is; she only cares about getting James back. She believes she is in love with James, and she will not simply let him slip away. Her resilience allows her to continue time and time again, despite James rejecting her repeatedly.

This film is meant to be complex without any true "bad guy". It is meant to show the flaws in the characters, while allowing the audience to feel a sense of pity for every character and the consequences of their actions.

The Main Character

 The main character for our film opening is Betty, and I will be describing her today. Knowing Betty's true self is crucial to understanding the film opening, so pay close attention!

Physically, Betty is a 17-year old tall black girl. She has black, long hair that extends to her waist. Her facial expressions should make her seem approachable at most times, but she may seem a bit more angry than usual in the film opening because of her recent heartbreak.

 The costume Betty wears resembles any basic outfit a teenager would be seen in today. In our film opening, she wears a light pink long sleeve shirt with blue jeans. Although most teenagers wear clothes like this anyways, we thought it would be nice for Betty to wear pastel pink since it can subtly depict her innocence.

The props Betty has include the teddy bear that James gave her. This teddy bear is shown in the trash, showing that Betty now rejects any of the love that James once gave her. Other props are ripped love letters, ripped photos of James and Betty, and wilted flowers. This also has the same effect, since Betty demonstrates her heartbreak and disapproval with her previous relationship.

Mentally and personality-wise, Betty is a smart, kind, and caring girl. She sometimes can care too much about things, like her makeup for instance. She was neither bullied nor a bully in school, since she was kind to everyone no matter who they were. Everyone at school likes her, but she was by no means the stereotypical "popular" girl. She is also very strong and picks herself up whenever life gets tough. This is because she is highly motivated to be the best version of herself, even if it means cutting people out of her life for her own healing.

Betty's communication style would have to be on the timid side most of the time. She was normally a shy girl that didn't speak up for herself. This results in a somewhat soft and quiet sounding voice. But, this breakup turned her into a girl who stands her ground and knows what she wants, delivering her thoughts quickly and concisely. Despite this change, she still has hints of that sweet shyness she once had before the breakup.

Although Betty may say she definitely knows what she wants in her life, she can still feel a bit conflicted at times. She may say that she doesn't want anything to do with James anymore, but the thought of him with another girl (August) still secretly hurts her. Betty surely still has some feelings for James since they loved each other so deeply, and if this film were to be a complete film, it would probably show her growth and final realization that there are other fish in the sea.

Editing Part 2

 So the SAT happened today.

This meant that I hardly had time to edit recently, but I still managed to make some progress, so that's a good thing. I am still in the process of editing, of course, but I should be done relatively soon.

Like I've said before, since I couldn't visit on filming day, I'm the main editor for my group. I initially struggled with adding in the music but I've been looking at different tutorials in my free time and that has surely helped me. I learned to just cut the audio rather than cut the footage since there's really no way to film anything again.

Here's a picture of me editing:

The songs Reverie and Token are probably going to remain the songs used for the opening scene. This is fine since they're not copyrighted. Audio effects that I added is the sound of the alarm clock and the sound of the doorbell ringing. To be honest, I've been really picky with the effects I choose, since I want this opening scene to turn out as best as possible. The reason for adding this during editing is because it is easier to do and it would also have a clearer sound than recording the actual sounds ourselves. The voice over of Betty will surely be added soon, but Tori may have to rerecord since there's a chance that her recording is too long or too short for the scene she shot. We'll have to see what happens. Video effects that I'll be adding include filters and color correcting, and I am actually very excited about this because I've been playing around with filters since the age of 8.

Also, it's a good thing that this opening scene mainly uses cuts. Fades, dissolves, and other transitions may not even be used. Well, actually there can be fades here and there but it depends on what my group likes best. My editing of the dialogue between Betty and James still feels a bit unnatural, but I can fix this with a little more time.

Here's pictures of what I have so far:

Balancing this editing job and my other classes is definitely a challenge, but so far I've been able to squeeze time here and there to get this thing done on time.

The SAT is over now, so I can at least look forward to the greater freedom that comes with that.

Editing Time!

 The editing has begun! Now, the film opening is surely nowhere near completion. All the editing I have done is simply cut the clips that Tori sent me. However, I would like to show both the editor and the computer used for editing, as well as note a few tricks and challenges I have faced.

Here is the editor (me):

Here is my computer screen and software used for editing:

 

 One of the main video transitions I will be using is the simple cut. Also, I may be using fades, as this is also an option on the software. There will likely be an auditory fade while August and James argue, but I need to learn how to do this. Learning new editing tricks will be a problem, but I consider this more of a challenge than a problem. It only took a few minutes to shorten the clips down, and I didn't need the software for this since my phone worked for shortening the clips. 

As of right now, I remain the main editor, but I have the rest of my group available to potentially send me edited clips in the near future if that is needed.

I am excited to see how this turns out!