Editing Process, Day 5:

Even though we did not have any media lessons today, i went into the imac room period 2 and 5 to re-upload the credits as the ones Nicola created were too slow and faded out too fast.

Software used:

• Live Text
• Final Cut

What have we done today?

• Watched what we had done so far, this enabled us to take a break at watching the opening which allowed us to notice mistakes and also re-freshened our memories before we began editing  
• Added the moving institution logo 'Summit Entertainment' onto the opening which Chloe downloaded the evening before. 
• Chloe began to put to put a few credits onto the opening, which then i individually finished adding them onto the opening during period 5, i rotated the credit, changing the effects, video filters and colour. Then i began cutting certain clips which i felt fitted into the music. Although, i did have to re-create the credits. 

Why did we choose Summit Entertainment as our institutional logo?

• This logo is most famous for the film 'Twilight' which is a mixed between fantasy and thriller that is similar to ours.
• We admired how during the process of the logo, the colours are dull and represent a mysterious vibe. 
• Looking at a photo of Summit Entertainment, it looks extremely successful, powerful and gripping. As you can tell they don't need bright colours to suggest that their films are successful. This could implies that they produce horror, thriller, supernatural films rather then romance etc. 
• There are many reasons why we have chosen this logo but the most important aspect is that we can associate this with our film by the dark lighting. 

Summit Entertainment

What will we do next lesson? 

• We don't have any more lessons till next year, so tomorrow during period 3 we will record the voice over.

Conclusion:

• Even though we didn't have a lesson today, i feel we got an appropriate amount of work done, however, i was hoping we were able to also record the voice over.
• Importing the institution logo was very easy and quick whereas, i thought we would have problems importing the file. In addition, we all admired how Chloe downloaded a institutional title which represented our own film opening.
• During period 5, i was alone and got straight on with creating/importing the credits onto Final Cut, i did it quite quick and found it easy to import each title, however, the software kept unexpectedly closing which wasted a lot of time and also deleted the work i had created. Also, Final Cut had problems rendering certain files which then i had to quit Final Cut, then re-upload the files again. Although, I've finished it under 1 hour. 
• I am happy that i was able to get on and finish the credits which means tomorrow we only have to focus on the voice over. As a group, surprisingly we had no disagreements which made the work process even quicker.    

Editing Process, Day 4:

Even though i spent an hour in the imac room individuals to flip and arrange the clips before the double lesson today, we were unable to add the 'flipped' clip onto Final Cut as the video could not play the correct way, it kept playing back the original version, as we had limited timing, we decided to finish the opening before experimenting with the flipped video.

Software used:

• Live Text
• Final Cut

What have we done today?

• Watched what we had done so far, this enabled us to take a break at watching the opening which allowed us to notice mistakes and also re-freshened our memories before we began editing  
• Chloe and I began to re-connect the animated title and institution logo, then adding the music i found which is entitled 'Dead Silence' onto the opening. Importing this onto Final Cut was quick and easy and in my opinion, defiantly fitted the concept to what we were trying to portray. However, we did have some problems when cutting the music as it did not fit with certain parts of the clips. For example, we wanted the up-tempo, distorted music to come in when the black screen appears and Snow White begins running through the woods as this will also make the audience scared along with the main character, although, as we did cut this, the music did not flow. Fortunately, I was able to slow down the duration of the first half of the music where it will be played during the EST shots to 6 seconds instead of 3 seconds which made a successful impact. In addition, i connected these two pieces of music together by fading them into one another.
• Nicola finished off creating the credits using 'Live Text', however, when we added them to the opening they were too fast and quick for the audience so Nicola made the duration much more slower. Although, while Nicola did this Chloe and I practiced adding a 'Test' title. Firstly, we rotated the title to be in position, change the boldness etc, allowing the title to fade in with the background.We did manage to find out ow to do this easily and quickly, although, we had to keep changing the duration of the text using Live Text which limited our timing. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: During the double media lesson, we ask a student in our media class to watch and honestly comment on our opening and how we can improve. We did this because Nicola, Chloe and I have been watching the opening several times a day and feel we cant notice the good aspects about the opening. Therefore, he suggested that:

• We should cut the scene a couple of seconds where we zoom into the shed as it lasts for too long and does not fit into the music - In order to do this, we agreed that this did not fit in time with the music so we cut the scene quick and easily. In result, this looked much better visually, dynamic and more powerful. 
• We should place the title at the end of the opening as its more dramatic and is something which is usually done in many famous films however, we felt we wanted to be unique and different from the 'famous' openings. 
• Although, we did have some advantages. For example, John said we extremely loved our music and how it fits with every scene and how it even made him want to know the rest of the story.

What will we do next lesson? 

• we will come in the imac's during school hours and finish the opening by adding the voice over, credits and movie institutional logo.
• We will re-watch the opening, ask someone fro advice on how we can improve and apply this. 

Conclusion:

• Today's lesson went very well and feel we have got a huge amount of work done which has made an extravagant impact on the whole opening, making it more intense, thrilling and gripping.  
• We did have some disagreement during the process, however, we did manage to over come this by having discussions and believe it or not, we voted for certain aspects we disagreed to to come to a final decision. Although, i am defiantly happy with the final outcome, even though we still have a few aspects to add. In addition, i did find it was much less stressful than previous editing sessions.
• I am very trilled that we were able to add in the music so quick and easy as it changed the whole emotion and tension of the whole opening which we were hoping to happen which i admire and has defiantly came up with the right song a sits fits the concept perfectly.   

Here we are rendering the video and audio after adding the soundtrack on

Editing Process, Day 3:

Completed by: Me

Today on 11/12/11, we are in the third day of the editing process which is following on from our day 2, editing process.

Software used:

• Live Text
• Final Cut

What did we do today?

• We put the clips into the correct order which i then slowed down the duration of the opening scene (Establising shot)  to 15 seconds, instead on 6, as we thought it was too fast.
• Nicola began looking at the various types of texts using 'Live Text' and eventually found an appropriate style for the title which dissolved into the composition frame, which represent a haunting twist to the original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
• While Nicola was doing this, Chloe and I began tinting each scene into the colour 'Tungsten' to create the atmosphere look more dull, distorted and unwelcoming. This did take some time for me to create, however, it was defiantly worth it because it creates a whole different emotion on the opening which i felt was missing. 
• During the day we have problems rendering relevant clips, however, we did manage to over come this by just rending each clip at a time.

What will we do next lesson:

• Add the music onto the opening
• Add the titles created from Live Text, although, this may need altering during the day. 

Conclusion:
Today, i did think we got a huge amount of work done and feel that we are up-to-date with editing. I am very happy that we were able to identify the rendering problems and get straight on with adding the tint, titles etc. I feel that today, we had got used to using Final Cut, which then this enabled  us to challenge our skills and experiment with the different tools. Today with what we have accomplished in the 2 hours set in lesson and the 1h 30 minutes we stayed behind after school really made a difference. During period 3 tomorrow, I have individually planned to go into the iMac's. My plan is to watch through all the scenes position them in the right areas and using 'iMovie' i will flip a scene which we found continuity editing. On Wednesday, we will begin to add the credits, music, sound effects and voice over onto the movie using Final Cut. So far we are up-to-date with all work and on track.

Me and Chloe had to re-upload the EST shot as it kept constantly jumping and
skipping certain parts. 

Editing Process, Day 2:

Completed by: Me

Today on 6/12/11, we are in the second day of the editing process which is following on from our day one, editing process.

Software used:

• Live Text
• Final Cut
• Downloading site

What did we do today?

• At first, we decided we were going to convert any extra scenes we shot and begin cutting and placing the clips in order, improving the transitions from last lesson, picking the best and more suitable shots taken.
• We then put the extra scenes uploaded into order referring back to the script and storyboard. In this lesson we spent most of our time cutting the individual clips and placing them in order, our aim was to make sure we got this perfect before doing anything else.
• While editing, we did also begin to look on 'Text Live' which we will be using to create our credits, enabling us to use effects and transitions onto the credits, in order to make it unique. 
• ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: A couple of weeks ago i found a sound track which i feel is perfect for this genre of the opening. I did do some research on four other fantasy and thriller movies, analysing the 2 minute opening music. However, i found that this piece was the more daunting, vibrant and really made myself feel trapped and in danger as it has a erring tone to it. The sound track is called 'Dead Silence.' Nicola and I did come to a decision of Nicola downloading it via MP3 which she did in this lesson. 

Screen shot of Nicola downloading the music and converting
it onto SNIPMP3

What will we do next lesson?

• Come to a decision and find an appriopraite stype for the title.
• Tint each scene to make them look more dark and dull, creating an unwelcoming atmosphere.

Conclusion: 

Alternatively, we did have several difficulties with using Final Cut, such as, continuity, cutting and rending the video which became a huge problem during the lesson. For example, our aim was to have the scenes dissolving into one another during the first 20 seconds, which is where the credits will be shown, however, we manage to attach the dissolve effect onto an extra clip we were not using, meaning we had to delete that scene and re-upload it. Nicola, Chloe and I are debating whether to finish the editing using 'iMovie' as this is well known to all 3 of us and has a 'Flip' effect which is what we want to contribute in our opening as there are some continuity mistakes. 

Meanwhile, Nicola didn't have enough space on her log in, meaning this limited the amount we could produce in the lesson. Although, we did manage to cut the clips we had produced and put them in order, meaning we easily moved onto finding suitable text using the software 'LiveText' which allows us to type in the text we want as the credit, and find a effective, efficient and suitable effect for the text which fits into our genre. We began using this for our credits and researching various types of transitions which we are still in process of. In addition, I am happy with the final result we produced in the lesson as we manage to co-operate and got a lot of work done. Although, we will continue with it next lesson.   

Action Plan - Week 10:

Completed by: Me


Here is my tenth week action plan which will structure what i will produce within the tenth week of the set time period. This is our last week for finish EVERYTHING. However we do have a double lesson when we arrive back in the new year. So this week, we have planned to:


We will do individually:

• Write up a conclusion
• Post information about the editing process

As a group:

• Finish editing, by adding audio, voice over and credits. We will finish editing in our own time if needed.

Editing Process, Day 1:

Completed by: Me

On 5/12/11, we began editing! So, Nicola, Chloe and I created a video blog about what we are up to in our media lesson and what our process is during editing. We wanted to try a new type of technology whilst blogging which is why I came up with this idea. Alternatively, we did aim to make it realistic and entertaining, in order for it to not look so plain and script read, meaning had spoken from our own knowledge


This blog gives an update on what we are up to:




Software used:

• Final Cut

What did we do today?

• During today's double lesson, we uploaded the video from the camera onto the imac using a fire wire cable, opening the contents of what we have filmed onto Final Cut Pro which enabled us to cut shots, putting them in the correct order etc
• This followed on to cutting certain parts of the clips which were irrelevant and putting them together. Overall, this is was we did throughout the 2 hour lesson.

What will we do next lesson?

• Finish cutting the scenes
• Download the music 'Dead Silence'
• Begin to create the credits

Conclusion:

I feel this was a very successful way of blogging as its quick, easy and portrays a simply understanding of what we are producing. Believe it or not, it took us 21 times to achieve the final video which was suitable to post, as during the interrupted shots were heavy background noise, we were all too shy in certain shots etc.
Overall, during today's process i feel that it went very well and i enjoyed learning how to use various types of software's, however, it did become stressful during the day because we kept loosing relevant shots, which then we had to re-upload. Although, i feel like this was because it was a new software we started using, and we now know how to use it for next lesson, so we can develop and improve what we have already created, adding, tint, sound effects credits, voice over etc.

Here we are cutting down each scenes.

  

Thanks:

Completed by: Me

Action Plan - Week 9:

Completed by: Me

Here is my ninth week action plan which will structure what I will produce within the ninth week of the set time period.

For week 9, we will complete:

We will do individually:

• Write up a conclusion
• Give you updates with the editing process and upload images and additional information.

As a group:

• Finish editing
• Begin to add audio, sound effects and music.

Additional Information:

Now we have finished filming, we will begin editing on Monday 5th December 2011 using Nicola's mac laptop using the editing software 'Final Cut', 'iMovie' and 'Garage Band'. We plan to: 

• Upload the film onto the mac laptop and watch through it all, picking out our best clips we've filmed.
• Following onto cutting certain parts of clips which are irrelevant and putting them together.
• We will experiment with cutting out background noise and darken and brighten the lighting.
• We will add sound effects and music which are on our Animatics. Creating our own sound effects which are: voice over, biting into a apple and a loud, disturbing scream.
• When we've finalised the sound effects and music we will add them onto our opening.
• Lastly, we will begin to add credits, titles and black screens.

We may not stick to this plan, however it is a estimation of how we've planned to edit.

Action Plan - Week 8:

Completed by: Me

Here is my eight week action plan which will structure what I will produce within the eight week of the set time period.

For week 8, we will complete:

We will do individually:

• Upload images and additional information from filming days

As a group:

• Begin editing.

Filming - Second day:

Completed by: Me

Today (Thursday1st December) was our second day of filming which we filmed the 'indoor (car port)' and 'shed' scene. For this scene the characters consisted was the only main character, Snow White who was played by Annie Lock - a student from school.


People present:

• Annie Lock as Snow White
• Nicola Ho
• Chloe King
• Me.

What scenes did we film?

• 4
• 5

Where?

• My car port and shed

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Annie applied her make up and designed her hair similar to how Ellie Weeks designed Snow Whites hair last Thursday, however more natural.
• Nicola, Chloe and I each set up the scenery and had taken turns in filming.
• I set up the camera and tri-pod
• I had taken photos of evidence.
• We followed the health and safety rules listed in the post from week 6.
• We each prepared emergency phone numbers.

Equipment used and individual brought them to the scene:

• Video camera - Me
• Tri-pod - Me
• camera to take photos for evidence - Me
• Refreshments - Me
• Emergency phone numbers - Me, Nicola and Chloe
• story board - Nicola
• Make up - Me
• Costume - Me and Nicola
• Props: Mirror - Me and Nicola

Filming:

At lunch, Nicola, Chloe walked to my house, making sure Annie's costume, hair and making were ready by 2pm to begin filming, camera was fully charged (which it was), however if it wasn't we were able to charge it and we had all equipment needed ready. Our aim was to film in the afternoon as we didn't want it to be too dark as we were using natural lighting, therefore, we began filming at 2pm and finished at 3pm which was quicker then we thought.

I began to set up the camera while Annie was getting ready, to start off, Annie's make up was light and innocent. We first began to get a MS shot of Snow White looking into the mirror which lasted for 6 seconds, which followed on with capturing an OTS of Snow White looking into the mirror lasting 5 seconds, however the audience can just see her reflection. This lead onto a LS of Snow White screaming in high pitch and throwing the mirror onto the floor which lasted 5 seconds. Our aim was to capture Snow White screaming in fear. Also, for this shot we had to create similar make up we used in the first filming day, therefore, Annie put mascara down her face. Resulting into a  CU of the smashed mirror which gradually zoomed in, lasting 9 seconds. After this we had finished this scene which we then trailed on and filmed a WS of my shed, slowing zooming into the window to a black out, last 10 seconds, however we did re-shoot this 3 times as because of the uneven ground, the came titled slightly. As a group, we decided we wanted to film as soon as possible as Annie had other commitments later that day. Luckily, the temperature was humid and overcast similar to our first filming day which fits into continuity editing. Although, we filmed various shots of the mirror shot and shed, so when it comes to the editing process, we had a more wide range of shots to choose from. We each had taken turns in filming and as it was filmed during school hours, there were not many students and background noise.

Conclusion (similar to first filming day):

• Overall, i feel that Annie did do a brilliant job at portraying a innocent, then a scared Snow White, as she was able to do all directions we gave to her which followed the storyboard very easily.
• Unfortunately, the ground was uneven which made filming a bit difficult, however, we did manage to over come this by practicing the scenes many times before filming in different positions, although it did leave us with limited spacing to film.
• We had a lucky day as it was overcast and humid which didn't delay the filming and enabled us to get on with the filming.
• There was no background noise, however we may have captured some cars driving past in the background. Although, we can edit the sound when we edit the film.
• Most importantly, i feel that today with the filming process went outstandingly as we all had similar ideas and got straight on with filming and Annie followed intuitions easily
• We worked very well as a group as we didn't have any disagreements as a group and simply followed the storyboard. I am now looking forward to filming the rest of the opening and editing as i am extremely happy with what we have produced so far.

Here are some photos taken during filming process:





Annie in costume and on set before filming





Set on before filming





Setting up the camera



Annie doing her make up for the OTS and CU shots
with the mirror



Me filming the 'shed' scene



Me filming the 'shed' scene



Chloe filming the 'shed' scene



Here is the shed we were filming.



Here is the smashed mirror after Snow White threw it on the floor