Editing The Music

    As it stands now, we are done with editing our music video. Emily and I traded hands working on the editing since she illustrated the storyboard, she took over ordering the footage, while I cut, deleted and pieced together it. Luckily it went a lot smoother than the first time editing. We didn't run into any technical issues until the very end. Even in the end we only ran into a slight hiccup which was easily fixed by a computer reset. Pinnacle Studios had frozen and wasn't allowing any other function on the computer. The window wouldn't close so I decided to shut the computer down, resetting everything, and it worked.

    I, personally am extremely proud of the finished product. I am amazed at the amount we could do with the limited resources we had. It's, not anything ground-breaking, but I do find it visually pleasing. I tried doing a lot more transitions in the music video to reduce the choppy feel between each scene that I felt in the commercial,  and I feel like I accomplished that. I put fades and dissolves in between each scene so that it would feel like a progressing story. I wanted to give the illusion of time and it slowly passing by as the camera focused on the subjects. I'm most proud of the fact that I succeeded in making the film black and white. It wasn't very hard, but the effect it has makes it look astonishing, at least in my opinion. As a group, we all agree the film is the best we can do, but I think this is a massive step in improvement.

    The only part I feel is odd is the music. The song we chose is a little more than two minutes long, and we have a limitation of one minute and fifteen seconds. We had to cut and mess around with the sound to get it to end well. It doesn't end and the end of the song, but instead of right before the chorus, it's a nice end but could be better. Not only does the end of the song bother me, but the start of it does make me ecstatic either. I wanted to start the song the moment Emily presses the button on camera, but we ended up playing the song throughout because of time. We were over-time for a while when we started wrapping up production. We cut some of the "credits" at the end and sped up the beginning and some transition scenes to shorten our time. We went from a minute and twenty I believe to a few milliseconds shy of a minute and fifteen.

My Filming Journey

      Throughout our time filming, I feel that I've learned a lot. Both about myself and the inner workings of what it takes to make a film. Through this class, I was able to look at myself through a more critical lens. And though I never imagined myself in the profession of film making, I was able to critique myself on the basis of the quality of my work as if  I were. I learned my weaknesses and strengths, little as they may be, and found methods to improve. Within this, I also practiced team building and worked my way through co-operating the assignment.
      I was never confident going into making our films but have I experienced a moderate increase. I know now that I 'm not as good at filming as I thought and am much better at editing. Likewise, however, I learned that I am much better at working alone as opposed to working in a group. I ultimately chose to work in a group because of its benefits. Having multiple people meant secured actors, and opportunities like being allowed to film at the middle school were made possible. Without the group, it would be a lot more stressful to produce what we currently have, but with that, we also have conflicting ideals. I wanted to edit because I thought it would give me a chance to work alone, little did I know I wouldn't have that option.
Having critiques is one thing, but having your work and vision disregarded because of convenience and ego is another.
      Throughout filming, I've been tested a multitude of times. Honestly, I feel that I'm learning more social skills than I am technical ones. I personally am not confrontational and tend to let others control and dominate situations in times of disagreement. While this is unfavorable to me when attempting to get information and ideas across, and can sometimes stunt the quality of ou assignments, it is the best method for producing finished works. I realized early on, that working with the group I chose would require relinquishing control and sacrificing the finer details in order to complete tasks and assignments. It was hard at first but nothing beats learning difficult lessons.
      This class also thought me that I am obligated to pull my weight, whether it's in one form or another, and that I must conduct myself in a manner in which to do so. Although this was not a foreign concept, due to the fact that I was unable to participate directly in the filming of the music video, I, in a sense, endangered my grade. I jeopardized my standing in the group and was at the mercy of my peers. I was fortunate enough to have found a way to still contribute.