Cambridge Blog Post #22

 Today, my group members finished filming that final scene that they wanted to get done. Along with us, taking our first steps to edit the project. I have been extremely nervous about the editing process for a long time. If one thing is off, if one thing looks bad, the entire project is ruined. A lot is on the line with this part of our project. So, with that being said, we have to make it the best it can be.

We started off by thinking of what different types of cuts we should make to the scenes. There are some that actually look extremely professional. There are others that could make the film look like it was made by a ton of amateurs. That is something we do not want at all. The want with this film, has always been to make it look professional. To show that we are hard workers.

We have a lot to prove with this short film opening. As we come down to the final weeks, the pressure to make it great only keeps building. My group and I will try to do the absolute best that we can to make this project great. We have planned it all out as best we can. So, I am confident we can get the work done. 

Cambridge Blog Post #21

 Today, my group began the long awaited filming process. Since I was home sick with the Corona Virus, I had to resort to different methods, and get on a zoom call with my group, while they were at the filming location. I must admit, while I wish I could have been there in person, I still felt as if I was able to help adequately throughout the day. I made suggestions on different scenes, told our actors how they could do something better, and was able to watch each scene be filmed. I tried my hardest to make sure I was still being a productive member of the team. I was honestly just glad to see us getting the filming done. It has been such a long road, that it felt as if it would never get to this stage. But we are finally getting it done. From what I understand, about 95% of the filming was done today. One of my partners apparently wanted to film one more scene, but it got too dark to do it. So, they may be going back tomorrow. If they do, I will be right there with them. Helping in whatever way I can.

Cambridge Blog Post #20

I am sad to say that for the next week or so, while my teammates film, I will have to be stuck at home and supervising from behind a screen. I have contracted Covid-19. The second that I received my positive test, I called my team. Now that this was a factor, we had to think quickly on what to do. So, we got on a hour long call, and started to brainstorm a plan.

My teammates would go to the filming location, but this time, they would bring a couple of friends to work as a stand-in for my part of the filming. Meanwhile, on filming days, I will be getting on a face time call with them, so that I can see what will be happening at the location of filming. Even though I cannot be their physically, I can be there virtually. I am saddened that right near the finish line, something like this happens. But, unforeseen issues often do happen.

I will be doing whatever I can from home. This is not the time for me to get lazy, even if I am sick. I will rest, yes. Although, I will also work as hard as ever. I want to make this project the best that it can possibly be. I hope to still be able to accomplish that.

Cambridge Blog Post #19

 Today, me and my group started to put the finishing touches on our script. Throughout the entire process of script writing, we wanted to make sure that we made our script seem as professional as possible. We did not want it to seem like a student film. I think that we have succeeded at that. The process was long, but it was very worth it.

I understand, that some people for this project have not written a script. I think that that is a huge mistake. Writing a script is extremely beneficial to your project. For one, it helps you plan out everything that you are going to shoot. If you don't have an idea of what you are going to shoot, then you cannot do it effectively whatsoever. Planning, especially on a project like this, is a must. When me and my group wrote the script, we found that things were a lot simpler to think about, when we were putting our ideas on paper. This is what every group should be doing.

As for what our next step is, over spring break, I cannot wait to start filming. We have the script, and as of today, we have a set location that we are going to use. I am very excited to start that next step. I know that it will most likely have its own separate challenges to work around, but I am ready for the challenge. I am hoping for the best with everything though.

Cambridge Blog Post #18

 Today in class, me and my group were not able to work on our script. Although, it was for a very good reason. Today we got to talk to other groups about our projects. It was to ask for advice, hear their critiques, and also for us to give advice to them. I thought that it was pretty productive. I did end up asking for more advice than I thought I originally needed.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been concerned about the editing of the film. How after we get our footage, it will end up looking. So, I asked for some tips on different effects and editing techniques I could use, and I ended up getting a couple of good ideas. I also remember asking about how me and my group should go about filming on location. We will be filming in a woods environment, and I was a bit nervous on how that could fit in with our idea, even though I knew we were already going with that direction. So I got some good advice there as well. 

Overall, the meeting was very useful. I was able to get some pretty useful information out of the other groups, and I will integrate that into the film. A lot of my worries have been lessened I would say, after talking to others. Now, next class I just hope we can finish up our script. Because, spring break, we will be filming.

Cambridge Blog Post #17

 Today, me and my group started script writing, away from class. Now, I must admit, that over the years I have written many scripts. Not only for school, but just for fun as well. So, I can confidently say that I was very well versed in how this process works, as well as how long it could take. I am happy to say that my other group members were huge help on this first day of writing, but the work is just beginning. We have a lot more to write, and I am confident that we can get it done this week.

In script-writing, the first thing to do, is define your characters, and their specific motives. So, that was the first thing that we did. We luckily were able to figure it out very fast, and that gave us time to move on to the next important step: scenery. Now, originally we were going to be filming at the beach. Although, after watching the news, and seeing all the spring breakers coming to town, and how dangerous it is getting because they refuse to follow proper Covid protocols, we all decided against it. Instead, we had to give our idea a quick little rewrite. We will now be filming in a woodland area. We all talked about it, and we feel like we can still do our story the exact same amount of justice in the woods, than if we were to film at the beach.

This first day was one of many this week that will be spent on this script. I think we have a good starting point, and I think that this process is going to go extremely well. Coming up with the idea was truly the hardest part. Although there is still a ton of hard work ahead, I am confident that once this script is done, things will hopefully ease up a bit, since we have an extremely good basis on what our project will be. On Tuesday me and my group will be meeting up again, and I hope that tomorrow will be just as successful as today.

Cambridge Blog Post #16

 Today was a good day. We all took the last day like I said in a previous post, and thought about what would be best for the project. So, after a lot of thinking and discussion, we decided that the best thing to do would to be a mix of our two ideas. This way everyone is happy. We talked about how we could incorporate the ideas together, and we found the perfect way to do so.

Over the weekend, the 3 of us are going to call. The next step now that we have the story down, is to write the actual script and storyboard around it. Without this, we have no guidance or anything of the sort while shooting. So we figured the weekend is better to do this, than next school week. Once these are done, the filming can begin. Which I have to say, will be one of the most exciting parts of this specific project, in my opinion at least.

I am excited for all of these next steps if I am being honest. I have always been someone who likes the filming process, and I think it will be great to finally be able to work in that stage. It took a lot of work to get this far, and once we finish the script and storyboard, we will be able to have a lot more fun than we are already having. So I hope that nothing else can derail us off track, but either way we will deal with it. 

Cambridge Blog Post #15

 Today my group and I ran into an unexpected snag. I said in my last blog that one of our group members was not here last class. Well, when we caught up with him today, we told him about all we talked about last class, including some of the changes that we were thinking of making to our film story. We thought he would really enjoy it. As it turns out, he did not like our ideas that much. So, we spent the class going back and forth about what idea would work best for our project.

I mean overall it was a very civil argument. No group member was aggressive with what they were saying. We all said our arguments clear and concisely, and we listened respectfully to the group member on the other side of the coin. I feel as if we made a lot of progress with today. But still, the problem is not solved. Though we did make a ton of progress today with being able to say our thoughts, we still do not 100% agree on the story.

With that in mind, we came up with a plan. We are going to take the next day or so to think, and when we all meet up back in class, we will tell each other what we have decided in terms of which story to go with. I think this is the fair way to do things. It gives us all a chance to think about both projects, and how they could possibly be done. It also allows for even more ideas to be added, which maybe those on the opposing side will enjoy more. On Friday, I hope to write a blogpost about the good news.

Cambridge Blog Post #14

 Today in class, me and my groupmates could sadly not start much of the storyboarding as one of my groupmates was absent. We all agreed that we would not make any decisions without the other, so with that in mind, we really took the period today to completely flesh out our story even more than it already is. I think though today did not go as planned, it was still a very successful meeting that we had with each other. Right now, I am here to tell you all about what we came up with. I have left you all in the dark on the specifics long enough.

In simplest terms, our film opening will compilation of man doing crazy things, where then we pan out to see open pill container. Now, I know what you are thinking, it sounds extremely simple. But trust me when I say that the visuals we have planned, will make this look fantastic. We also wanted to have a commentary about America's drug society, and show that sometimes, the real monster could be within ourselves. What you see in the film will most definitely reflect this.

I think that once the script gets more written, and we are able to talk with our other member, small things will change. But right now, our story is locked in. We are feeling extremely confident about everything we have to do, and I have to say, I think right now we are at a pretty good pace. So far everything we wanted to go right has. I hope it can continue like that in the future.

Cambridge Blog Post #13

 I have been thinking a lot about the storyboarding process that we will soon be doing together as a group. I have some concerns about doing it. They are minor concerns to be fair, but I know how sometimes projects such as these can go wrong if group members do not agree. I would love it if all of us would end up agreeing on every little thing, but I know that that is not realistic.

My first concern is on us all being able to agree on the specific scenes in our storyboard. Over the last few weeks, we have been talking about specific scenes that each of us came up with. Now, to tell you the truth, everyone's ideas are very enjoyable. They are all well fleshed out, and would work perfectly with our overall story. The problem is that there is only so many minutes that we have to tell our story. It is a 2 minute project. Some people's scenes that they came up with, will end up having to be cut. I hope that no one has any hard feelings about it. Like I stated earlier, if we do not all agree, then that could have a detrimental effect for the project.

My other concern is that we did not think enough about the challenges that would come with writing out scenes, and then transferring it to film. Having a good idea is simple, but executing it is hard. If we do not execute our ideas well, then the whole project will be a flop. All of that starts with the storyboarding. It is our chance to make last minute changes, see what truly works and what doesn't. This is why we need to take full advantage of the storyboarding opportunity that we have been given. I hope that next class when we start it, it goes well. I think we can come to a common viewpoint though.

Cambridge Blog Post #12

 Today, me and my group got on a call and talked all about our film openings intro. More specifically, why it is different from most other horror and comedy movies. Our narration aspect, is able to give us a lot more creative freedom than we would normally have in a different situation. We get to tell our audience a bit about the situation that they currently see unfolding on the screen. Most horror films would play the situation being shown as completely serious. Most comedy films would play off the situation as completely funny. With our idea, and the genre we have chosen, we can do both. Which leaves us open to more creative opportunities. Ideas like this have been seen in this genre before. The difference with us, is that we are elevating it. We are bringing it to a place that has almost never been seen before. I cannot wait to see it play out. Especially since next time we meet, we will begin the storyboarding process most likely. I have my own concerns about that, which I will elaborate on in my next post. The challenges of it, the benefits of it, it should be an interesting part in helping to bring this project all together.

Cambridge Blog Post #11

 Today in class, we got critiques on our idea, and gave critiques of our own. From what they all said, they really seemed to enjoy our overall plan. They said they enjoyed the premise that we had given for our film, as well as our plans on how to execute the filming of it. They also liked our idea of using narration, because it plays well into Character vs. Self. I think the call overall was very productive, but that does not mean they necessarily liked all aspects.

The first thing that the group critiqued, was our plan on how to adapt our filming into a real world setting. The idea may be solid, but they were worried that there may not be any type of setting good enough to fit a story like this into. But we went into a bit more detail on how we planned to combat this, and explained which settings we were considering using. After that they felt a little more confident about our idea. Another critique that they had was based on the Covid restrictions. They felt as if with the time we are living in, we may put ourselves at risk by going to these sort of grand areas. So, we had to explain how we would be taking proper precautions during filming, and we feel confident that we will be completely safe during it.

The group we talked with also gave us ideas on our film. For example, they liked our idea on Character vs. Self, but they told us that we could possibly go a lot deeper into the concept. Maybe make it a message on mental health. Which when thinking about it, actually made a lot of sense. My group members and I have been talking, and we hopefully can incorporate an element such as that one into the film. We are currently in the stage of script-writing, and my hope is that we can all agree on most of the things. But I know that sadly it does not always pan out that way. So I expect there to be some arguments, but hopefully nothing that we cannot handle.