Editing: Day One

 After filming on the second day we all got together to clean up the mess we created from filming. After we went outside to start editing our film. We gathered all of the clips that we filmed and imported them into the editing platform. Adrian put all of the clips in order of which we filmed and waited for it load as the connection was very slow. I then viewed all of the clips to decide which ones I should eliminate and keep. Fortunately most of the clips came out very clear and the lightning was great. If the clips came out bad, we had our backup film that we took just in case of issues like those. Next, I began to decided which font I wanted to include on our title design scene. We all had drafted an idea earlier in the month but we needed to make a final decision. I decided to incorporate the original font that the title design provided to continue the spooky theme that we had. Additionally we needed to have the titles for the title sequence. So as Adrian continued to work on the project, Adriana and I began constructing some ideas for our titles. First I put Adriana's last name for the production name and then put my name under who was starring. We then decided to add our friends Kameron and Dru as the additional starring actors. Since Adrian was doing most of the editing we implemented his name under the editing by section. Since Adriana who had the original idea for this film I put her name under the Story by and Written by section. Since I was not sure which name to include for guest starring I put a random name, Bob Hickens. However, Adriana wanted to make changes to that and include another name cause it sounded a little weird. We then chose the name Virginia Marvel and then I inserted that name into the title design. We placed Adrian's name as the director so Adriana's name would not show up multiple times on the video. I then reviewed the storyboard that we created earlier in the month to make sure it matched with the film. This review ensured that we did not miss any essential clips that we wanted to originally include. Although we only did a few things that day, it set us up in a great position to be productive on the next editing day. 

Filming Day: Part Two

Today Adrian and I went to Adriana's house to continue our film. Our goal today was to start filming the kitchen scenes. We first ate some biscuits that Adriana's mom made and had something to drink. Then I changed into the dress I had on the previous day we were together. We then began prepping the kitchen to film by removing decorations that we did not want in our shot and adding all of our props. We gathered all of the dolls and sat them on the chairs around the table.  In order for them to be sat up right we had to place books under them. We then placed all of the plates in front of the dolls and began searching for some tea cups. At first we could not find any that we wanted to incorporate in our film so we were going to head to Walmart to purchase some. However we were able to utilize some Disney themed cups that Adriana had gotten when she went to Orlando. Unfortunately I did forget to bring fake blood so we had to make some. We used pancake syrup and red food coloring from Adriana's pantry. Once we settled all of the issues it was time to film. Adrian first taped me walking towards the table. During the silent scenes it was difficult to contain my laugh because the awkward silence was very funny to me. As I sat at the table I began to talk to the dolls while Adriana took a point of view shot from the doll's perspective. Adrian and Adriana then attempted to film a point of view shot from my perspective, but they were unable to capture all of the dolls at a steady pace. I then tried to film this scene as it might of been easier while I was sitting in the chair facing the dolls. This still unfortunately did not come out good so we decided to take the best out of the three scenes. After completely all of the kitchen scenes we noticed that we missed one of the bedroom scenes. As Adriana took an urgent call I changed into slumber attire and filmed with Adrian. In this scene I had to get up out of bed and scream. It took a couple of attempts because it was difficult for me to keep a serious face. However, to conquer this I just imagined myself waking up from a very frightening dream and this action helped us to get a perfect shot. Once we finished the filming for the day we went outside to review all of the clips. 

Filming Day: Part One

 Today Adrian and I went to Adriana's house to begin our first day of filming. Although I had to get up pretty early I was very excited to began this journey. The original plan was to have Adriana act, Adrian film, and for me to direct. However, plans changed and Adriana and I switched roles. Adriana has done many on stage performances as she been in the theater industry for some time now. She has been acting since she was in middle school and this would be a breeze for her however we believed directing would be a better fit for her. At first I was nervous to perform because I have no acting experience and I did not want to embarrass myself. However I broke out of that nervousness and performed the best that I could. I first changed into a night gown and we began filming me entering the room. I first slowly walked toward the bed room dresser mirror. Adrian recorded me and the room at a pan angle to capture the settings. Once I arrived at the mirror I began acting as if I was getting ready for the day. I started putting my hair in a side braid graciously so that I would portray the spooky mood of the film. After this we went to the closet to film me getting and choosing my daily attire. For this scene I ran my hand along Adriana's clothes in her closet to show the process of me picking my garments. I made sure to keep a very spooky and straight face so that I could depict a very creepy individual. It was very difficult to keep in my laugh when Adriana was sitting in the closet to film me. After this I then changed into a black dress to begin the beauty routine. For this scene Adrian and Adriana struggled to film me getting ready when I was in front of the mirror. It was difficult for them to capture me while not getting themselves inside the shot. The best approach from here was for me to film. In order for me to film myself I had to place the phone on the dresser in front of me and then look into the mirror and camera while the video was rolling. From this angle it made me look very scary and creepy. At a downward angle the features of my ghostly face made it more dark and scary. To wrap up for the day we reviewed the scenes that we shot and rerecorded any scenes that had issues. The major problem we had was the lighting from outside hitting certain scenes and not making it spooky. To make these lighting changes I consistently moved the blinds into certain positions. To finish off the day we began to plan for our next filming day while we enjoyed the nice cool breeze outside. I am very proud of all the progress we have made so far.

Making Blood

Today I had to make fake blood as one of our props. The reason we are making fake blood is because we could not find the appropriate fake blood in any store prior. We each went to stores near us and couldn't find any. The blood would be used in my mouth so it needed to be safe for consumption. The closest store that had something similar was too far to get. We could have placed a delivery order for it but it wouldn't have come in time for the filming. It was a little hard to find the ingredients for it. The hardest ingredient to find was the red coloring. This was surprising that it was hard to find because it seemed like something common to every grocery or department store. I had to go to a couple of different stores to find what i needed. I also went to buy the ingredients the day before we have to use it, tomorrow, because i expected the materials to be easy to find. However, it made it even more tedious to buy all of the things because i had to find a store that had what i needed before the end of the day. When i went to the first store, Walmart, and couldn't find what we needed, i talked to my partners first. at first, we contemplated not using blood at all or just using ketchup. We then came to an agreement to use that as a backup plan if i still didn't find the coloring after looking through a couple more stores. I ended up finding some after about 4 stores. I was lucky that i have a lot of stores in the area where i live. Otherwise, it would be difficult driving far away just to buy one item. I had to buy the coloring in a pack that came with other colors. This was a little unfortunate because i don't see myself using the other colors for anything any time soon. In the end, i was able to make the blood, and stored it in my fridge.

Music

For our music we wanted to include something that was very eerie and scary. We desired to have this because we wanted to match the horror theme of our film. However, we did not want to ask permission to use anyone's music for a variety of reasons. One reason was that many artists take a long time to reply and give permission to utilize their music. We did not want to be set back in any way so we decided to find an artist on YouTube. At first I began to look for songs but I had a hard time finding a song. Then Adriana found a great creepy song called Melancholia. Adrian and I listened then listened to it on our own time. I listened to it when I was on break at work. However, Adrian listened to it at school with Adriana. We both really enjoyed the song for a variety of aspects. First, we liked how long the song was because it gave us options on which song segments we wanted to include. Next, the artist gave us permission to use there song in the comments of the YouTube video. This advantage took off an additional task that we needed to did if we needed to get permission to use the music. Lastly, having the song on YouTube made it easy to download compared to other platforms like Apple Music or Spotify. Having this option will allow Adrian to easily transfer the music onto the film that we do. As I viewed the comments of the song on YouTube I saw that the audience really felt the scary tone from the music. Reading these reflections from them made me really want to select this song as that tone was what we were trying to go for. I also really enjoyed the name of the song, Meloncholia. This name is actually the name of one of my favorite movies. Relating to the song made me want to include it more because I was comfortable with it. Overall Adriana made a great call and we will be incorporating it into our film. 

Cancelled Plans

This weekend we planned to film on Saturday and Sunday at Adriana's house. Unfortunately with everyones busy schedule we were not able to do so. Adrian has to catch up on school work, Adriana has to attend a band parade, and I have to work. Adrian has been working a very tough schedule at his job. Due to the fact of this work schedule he has had a difficult time getting his schoolwork done. Adriana just joined the auxiliary at our school so she has been very busy on weekends with attending parades. I have been busy at work as I have picked up more hours in order to save money for a car. In order for all of us to be together to film we would need to film over spring break. After consulting with my group they all agreed that spring break would be the perfect time to film. We then all got together to find the perfect date and time for everyone to film. As we reviewed our schedules everyone was avaliable on March 23rd and March 26th. On the 23rd we would need to film in the morning because Adriana has an important event in the evening. The plan was to meet at Adriana's house at 8:30 and finish up by 1 o'clock so that she could attend her event. In the case that we were not able to finish all of the filming that day we would utilize March 26th for editing and filming. We then planned on how we were going to get all of our props.