Short Film
Project
For this project, everyone in my class had to write a script to possibly make into a short film that would be 3-5 minutes long. After hearing everyone's script and ideas, the class voted for the top five scripts, and then we were assigned onto teams based on the type of story we wanted to do. I wanted to do a mystery story, so I was put on a team that was doing a mystery story.Challenges and roles
It took my team and I two weeks to complete. Some challenges we face were our director and one of our actors being gone due to illness. We filmed what we could with me being mostly behind the camera. Another team member, Maleah, helped me behind the camera and helped choreograph scenes. She and I filled in as director when our director was gone. The rest of my team, including Maleah, was acting in the short film, so I had a lot of time behind the camera and recording.I was also the editor for my team. I really wanted to edit because it's my favorite part of the filmmaking process. I had to sharpen some shots in Adobe Premier Pro, which is an amazing video editor, as well as color correct some shots, which was fun. Two shots were originally very, very orange, so I tried my best to tone that down and make it more natural. I could have done better with those two shots if i spent more time on them, but sadly, I didn't. I also had to color correct the shots in the chase scene. When were filming outside, it was dark and overcast, making the shots more blue looking rather than a sunny, natural, outside look. I also had to mess around with sound because I forgot to check out a mic. The camera was great at picking up sound, but when I was editing the restaurant shots, it was hard to get rid of the music in the background. I tried my best.
What I learned and Feedback
I learned how to direct people and makes lines were down and memorized for the next shot, color correct, and edit audio. Some feedback I was given was to make sure the set is clear and to mic the actors when filming in a loud setting. The original script had two more scenes we were going to film, but due to time constraints and actors goofing off, we couldn't film those scenes. We had half of one of the original scenes filmed, but due to scheduling and people getting sick, we couldn't film the other half. However, the ending to this piece still makes sense and works for what we have. In the end, the final product was around 4 and a half minutes long, so i fit the criteria when editing. I really like this piece despite the bad jokes that were thrown in.Music Video
The goal of this project was to recreate a music video. My group chose to do Pompeii by Bastille. I loved this song, but because I had to listen to it so much while filming, I'd rather skip it on my Spotify playlist. It took us several weeks to film this due to very bad winter weather. Weather was a major challenge when filming due to filming in winter and filming in Kansas. Another challenge we faced was people showing up on time. Our main actor was always late despite the fact that we had communicated in our group chat several times when and where we were filming. I learned to be patient and deal with people when I was in a bad mood. Some feedback my group was given was how good the eyes turned out halfway through the video, but the eyes at the end could be worked on a bit more. If I could change anything about this project I'd change the actor. He wasn't very reliable when it came to scheduling and showing up, so if i could find anyone else that was reliable, I would and replace the original actor in an instant. Overall, my director was great and so was our editor. The film itself is the best it could have been due to many conflicts.
Class Time
If I was the editor, I spent majority or all of my time editing the film. I really enjoy editing, so it was no problem for me if I was assigned to editor. I usually took a back seat and filled in any roll needed, but if the director was gone, I filled in that roll and took over. For the short film, we were lucky enough to be able to film during class, which is a rarity for entertainment filming. If i wasn't filming or editing, I worked on my graphic design work and practiced my Illustrator and Photoshop skills. I don't do much outside of class unless my group plans to film. I try to make it to filming, and majority of the time, I do show up.Strengths and Weaknesses
I am really good at editing and enjoy perfecting projects. I have improved a lot when it comes to color correction and editing clips. I've also learned where to cut a clip to get it to be more natural when put together with other clips.
While I am good at editing, I need to work on sound. I have a basic understanding of how to edit sound, but need to practice more.
Summary and Final Thoughts
I loved editing the short film. Overall, I wish I did more editing. I learned how to use equipment properly, how to edit to enhance projects, and how to be a team player on projects like these. One goal for next year, even though I won't continuing Video, is to continue to practice editing and maybe make a few videos in the future.There are a lot of good students in my video class that will go on to do great things. I really enjoyed working with my group for the high school movie trailer and wished we could have filmed more to finish our project. I have made a lot of good memories with this class and I hope everyone goes on to do great things and to do what they love. At times, there was a lot of stress, but eased up towards the end.
