Editing Software and Process

To edit my film opening, I am using Adobe Premiere Pro. 

I have been using this software for years now to the extent of even passing the certification test for it. Because of this useful skill, and I have just completed the first draft of the film opening in a few hours. Zach and I plan to show the project to my Media Studies teacher, and if it needs any tweaks, I will make sure to change it. Here is the first draft:

The first draft of my project as seen in Premiere.

Even though I did it pretty fast, it took longer than usual for a 2 minute video. In fact, I would argue that I put much more effort into this video than I have with many of my other projects. The intro is heavily edited with moving text, smooth wipe transitions, sound effects for the transitions, zoom-ins and outs, masks, and other techniques that I may have forgotten about. A dynamic, fun intro is created as a result.

The story then begins to unfold...

The second to last blog post will showcase the complete film opening.

Final Day Filming !!!

As of Friday evening, Zach and I have officially finished filming our project. Here are some pictures from that day:

Randy driving to work and entering his house at night.

Yes, we filmed during the day and again during the night; it was a busy day, but we got it over with. We couldn't have done it without Kyle and his annoying dog only following whatever will please his tastebuds. 

Our filming process involved filming shots of Zach driving to his dad's office in the daytime (Randy driving to work), and then driving back home at night, only to find one of his other dogs at home. I made sure to get several long shots, medium shots, and close ups this time, making the film more dynamic and natural. We were going to use Eric's drone for a cool establishing shot, but we worked with what we had instead and got some great shots.

Moving forward, we plan to edit and finish the project by the end of next week.

Meet Randy Greggorson

It seems that Zach and I have reached yet another obstacle. Eric, our "rich guy" actor, has, conveniently, left for a trip to the Keys. So we had to get creative.

Randy Greggorson and his glorious convertible.

Randy Greggorson is a version of Mateo Baldwin divided by 2. He is still rich with his marvelous clothing and his beautiful car, and will always be rich for the film. However, in reality, we used his dad's convertible, his sunglasses, and he has no expensive watches. But that is fine because we will use what we have for the shots and they will turn out great. The only issue is the shots for which we will need the dog, but we are expert wingers and will figure it out. Kyle will, again, be our assistant, and we will help him with his project too.

First Day Recording

We had originally planned to record on Wednesday. However, due to incomplete planning and subpar preparation, we could not record that day, and decided to record today, on Thursday. We had also planned to record the entire project in one day, but that was unrealistic, not only because it may have been too much to record, but also because Eric was not available. As a result, we only recorded the scenes where the two "dumb guys" were on screen. Here is a picture:

Jorge Santana and George Washingless having a wonderful exchange.

Although we acted dumb, we decided to include the detail that it was "Casual Friday" as an excuse for our terribly goofy outfits.

Recording was relatively smooth from start to finish, until we completed the last scene and had to take the dog on a walk. Kyle, our recording assistant, owns this dog, so he went with us and offered us drinks for the walk. However, the dog was very stubborn and didn't want to go back home. In fact, he was so resistant to going back home that Kyle had to walk back to get him a treat in order to entice him to return. We were out in 85 degree weather, in our goofy clothes, with cars passing by regularly. It was an interesting experience, but worth doing for the project.

The dog was difficult to work with on camera too. To be frank, I hate that dog, but we needed him for several shots in our project.

We will finish filming our project tomorrow.

Meet Mateo Baldwin

Meet Mateo Baldwin. 

Our friend, Eric Baldwin, will be playing this role, and will be dressed up as the rich guy. We changed his name to Mateo because we think it fits the character we're trying to pull off more accurately. Mateo Baldwin is a hispanic millionaire with a heavily modded sports car, expensive watches, and a huge house. We will see Mateo dressing up in a suit, as he goes to work; a rare occasion. He does most of his work online, but sometimes leaves for meetings or an important day. He also loves his dogs, and as a result, will have his temper tested by the end of the film opening.

Our Main Inspiration: Jim Carrey

Zach already did a blog post about this, but I will make my own since it is very true and Jim Carrey's roles have been our inspiration since the inception of this project.

Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber as Lloyd Christmas.

In Dumb and Dumber, for example, Carrey nails his character and serves as a role model for how we are planning to act in our film opening. Although we might not do it as good and it may be embarassing, part of comedy is to embarass and demean oneself for the sake of a role.

For me, however, this form of acting is not the only reason I respect Jim Carrey. Sure, he has silly roles like Ace Ventura and The Mask, but he can also pull off a more serious character, such as Tadek in Dark Crimes. The movie was not heavily acclaimed by a long shot, but Jim Carrey's versatility is very admirable as an actor, even if it shines brighter in his sillier roles.

Blog Analysis

Last week, my class conducted a blog analysis on some great blogs that have been made by other students in the past. Out of several blogs, we were assigned to choose two which we wanted to analyze, and I chose Wade and Riley's blog. 

I decided to start off with Wade's blog. 

An engaging post contains a description, analysis, and a reflection. Including a bit of personality and obstacles increases how engaging a post could be.

In Wade's "The Rise of Trent Marley" he began with a humorous comment, where instead of calling the main character "Host" and driving himself insane, he would give him a name and call him "Trent Marley". While it wasn't completely in order, he included several descriptions and an analysis of the character, and finishes the blog with the following steps that he needs to take.

In Riley's "One part down, one to go", she begins by describing why she is not done with the film opening and what she needs to do for the CCR. Her humorous twist engages the reader; she says that she is 99% done with the film opening, but not yet, because she needs to complete the CCR. She then includes a video from Vogue as an example of what medium she would like to use for her project. She finishes by mentioning that she likes the idea of Vogue's video and plans to put her own spin on it moving forward.

These blogs taught me a few things. I learned that I need to pay more attention to my humor when writing blogs. Showing personality helps in blogs, and while I also plan to focus more including description, analysis and reflection in my blogs, I keep forgetting that personality is allowed in Media Studies, as it is a class that entails a more artistic and broad approach to writing and expression.

Themes: Carpe Diem

One theme is to be in the present moment.

Jim Carrey's role as "Lloyd Christmas" in Dumb and Dumber.

In Dumb and Dumber, Lloyd Christmas is one of the main characters and lives life in the moment for the most part. In our film, Zach and Martin are very similar to Lloyd as they are spontaneous and always try to have fun because they believe that's the only way to truly live. However, the rich businessman character is always stressed and overworked and rationalizes it by saying it's for his future. 

Another theme is not to change yourself to please others.

Zach (on the left) and Martin (on the right).

If you act a certain way because it's who you are, you shouldn't change to please someone. Zach (George Washingless) and Martin (Jorge Santana) are dumb, yet they don't know or care that other people think they are. They have dreams and ambitions that outweigh any criticisms made by anyone other than themselves.

Role in Another Project

Today, I played a role in Male Ojeda's project. She had scheduled to record it earlier the week before, but we had an important lesson on the CCR. There were other roadblocks, such as having to do a shorter lesson and an assignment the same day that we recorded the project, but the shots ended up pretty good, for the most part. She had to re-do some shots with the main character, though.

My role in this project was a guy going by the name of Caleb Jimenez. I am the boyfriend of Summer Park, and my entire role in this film opening is just to be her boyfriend for a couple of shots.

This is Caleb's color palette. I ended up wearing a long sleeve shit and cargo pants in all black, and it was okay for the role.

The filming process was, to be frank, embarassing. I had to re-do a shot of me hugging a girl from behind about 10 times in the middle of the most public place in my high school, the courtyard. I also had to say "hey babe," and "you ready for class?" Personally, I think I nailed it, but my soul did not. It may have taken some additional damage from the embarassment.

Nonetheless, I'm glad that I worked on this project. Seeing the process and the way Male did her shots served as a sort of a framework for my filming process in the future. While she is skilled and talented at filming, I am not. The whole process was informative and, even through the damage, I'm glad I did it.

Filming Schedule and Filming vs Editing

Scheduling is an important part of filming any piece of media. Today, Zach and I have scheduled when we will record our project. It will be recorded during spring break, and we will try to film it as soon as possible. We have already decided on a possible location: Palm Islands. This is Eric's (the rich guy) neighborhood. However, we have asked Eric and he is still not 100% sure if we can do this.

Eric's car is a modded Subaru, kind of like this:

Our back up plan will be to use Zach's Dad's car instead. It is a convertible, and Zach would end up playing two roles: the rich guy and one of the dumb guys. However, I would end up setting up most of the shots, and also editing in the end, as I always offer to edit.

Although I do not necessarily enjoy filming, it is of course mandatory for editing. I enjoy editing because everything is at your fingertips and you can control where anything goes, unlike filming, where you could think of an amazing shot, but you might not have the facilities to achieve it. I will end up editing this project in one or two days, as I am in TV Production and I edit very quickly. Last project, however, was a little sloppy, and I will make sure to make less mistakes moving forward, as any skill is a constant improvement.

Creative Critical Reflection

On Friday, my class was instructed on the nature of the CCR, or the Creative Critical Reflection. In other words, we were informed on what it is and how to do it. It is the final "post-production" step to our film opening, and I understood its purpose in three categories: to reflect on the production, repond to the questions, and to express personality.

It consists of two media products that should respond to four questions. A variety of media products can be used, and in fact, anything works as long as they creatively address these questions. Here are my notes:

While incorporating info throughout my CCR, I will make sure to answer all four questions in accordance to the rubric I was given and my own creativity.

Film Opening Outline

Yesterday at 7 PM, Zach and I got into a call to discuss our film outline. We discussed the scenes, the possible shots to demonstrate them, how we should act, and their order. As a result, we came up with a rough sequence of eight scenes:

(insert picture when u get home)

Although the scenes are not in visually linear order, we numbered them to clarify their actual order. This is because our thought process was scattered as we figured out how the film opening should encapsulate both comedy, cohesive cutaways, and a shocking ending to entice the viewer.

Next, we plan to make the storyboard. With the scenes to add direction, the storyboard will be much easier to create, as per to the essence of planning: facilitation.

So far, our scenes demonstrate the contrast between the cool rich guy Eric and the two goofy, dumb guys that will, unknowingly, steal his dog. The scenes will end (and we might take the cursing out) with Eric screaming for his dog. This is added as a final "shock" factor to incline viewers to watch the rest of the film.

An Unprecedented Barrier

While I was already receiving larger amounts of work from other classes, an even larger concern has crossed my path. I had forgotten that I signed a contract to stay for Musical Theatre rehearsals. They are rehearsing Legally Blonde, and my role is to be one of the spotlights. I have to stay after school until 5:30 or 6 pm, every day until Thursday, March 9th, the final day of the show. 

Zach and I are doing the storyboard today after my practice anyway, and I will have to stay up late doing other homework for several classes after we are done.

Although school is draining me in addition to increased personal and physical issues, I plan to finish my job in Musical Theatre and push through all my assigned work.

I feel as if in a way, education is useful and I am grateful for it, but there are extremes to every situation. Teens are not meant to sacrifice their sleep for something that very well may not benefit them in the future. Schools need to prioritize more important subjects for students, whether it be finding a job or paying taxes. 

However, one of the defining benefits of school is the fact that out of everything else, it teaches students the ability to think. The benefit of thought-provoking activities like math or certain English assignments assist the brain's development, and schools need to practice this more instead of continuously giving students assignments. To do is not necessarily to think, and if school focused on this idea, while also having shorter hours, students would perform much better than they do now.

Media Studies is a genuinely valuable class, and I wish that I had more time to allocate for this class. But mental fortitude is something that develops as a result of hardship, and knowing myself, I know that I will eventually do all my work, and everything will end up fine.

Moving forward, I expect to have large amounts of work during next week, but I will, like always, push through it and continue to work on this project and my personal life.