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Production Blog: Music ideas

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  The big with this film that we want to capture is the music. With the music, we don't want to overdo it. The music we want to use as a way to bring tension to the story. Something that you can feel it. The issue is that we want to use it at the appropriate time. We would use a song during a high point of the film. The song we are going to use is a song that we found on YouTube. While searching on YouTube we found some other songs that fit the situation. The issue is that most of the music we found happens to be copyrighted. With most of the music being copyrighted, we had to work with the limited resources we had. We eventually found a song that suited the situation. We tried to contact some of the artists to use their songs in the film but out of the 9 we contacted them. None of them got back to use. That's why we went and found one that wasn't licensed and was free to use. Since I have a knowledge on how to make music. I attempted to make a track to get the general vibe...

Production Blog: On the right track

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  We finally got a day where we all could meet up. It was a hassle, but we cleared up our schedule to get this done. The whole redo of us trying to re-record the scenes has us a bit annoyed. But we all knew that we had to follow through with this plan. Since we are reaching the end of the filming process. We are all enjoying each other company as we don't know when we can meet up after this. We are all so busy and whenever we meet up to record it is always so relaxing to be with them. They have a certain energy where it just comes naturally whenever we record and I enjoy it. But the filming that we are doing is within the house. We started by filming a bird's eye view over a box with a flicking light over it. This process took us a while for one simple reason. We couldn't find a way to get the birds-eye view without getting ourselves in the shot. Our shadows kept getting in the frame and it was noticeable to the point where your eyes kept looking at it without realizing. As...

Production Blog: The REDO

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  We went back to start with the recording process since while we started editing the video's audio could have been better. So we decided to rerecord some scenes again. We went to my house to discuss our issues and what we could improve on the mistakes we did before. As a result, we came up with a plan and decided to change the end a little by tweaking a couple of things around. But the first step we had to do was to find a place to record. Where my house is there's a McDonald's that Daniels's friend works at and we decided to test our luck by going there to record the restaurant scene. By chance one of my friends happened to be working at that time and with him being there he also happened to be the manager. I had a talk with him to explain our situation and asked him if we could record within the establishment. After some reconsideration he allowed us to record. While we were there we tried to get everything situated with the audio. I came up with the idea of the voic...

Production Blog: The long haul

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  On the second day of filming, we filmed the rest of the needed scenes that we needed for the final project. For these final scenes, it was straightforward as all we know is that the only way to get these shots was to clash our ideas to make them. To achieve this we had to get creative if we didn't then it wouldn't come out like we would like to. So the part I had to play was once again of the main character and I didn't mind being the lead character again. I truly became invested in the behind-the-scenes filming and the art that comes with that. As for me and the crew it took forever to get a proper shot and not have it shake. We decided it to become an aspect of the film in certain parts of the project to make it semi-shakey to get a certain tone and when we were filming the restaurant scene we decided to make the camera in a prone position by holding it with something besides us holding it. But we are finally over the recording phase and are now going to begin the editi...

Production Blog: Camera readiness

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  The big day finally came. The day we start recording our scenes. We all got together at my house around 6 so we could set up all the necessary things that we needed throughout the shoot. These things consisted of us getting into the proper clothing for the day, and making sure that we had a portable charger for our recording device that being my phone. I ensured I wore some comfortable clothing for the day since the role I was playing was both the director and the cameraman. I got this role by just doing most of the storyboard. Including most of the camera angles that we need to get the proper feel for the task we are doing. The actors involved were my group mates for this assignment and the past assignment that we did. This plays in our favor since we already have chemistry there so we don't have to act a certain way towards each other but can act like we usually do and get the job done. For the first couple of scenes, it went as planned with the lighting that we had and the act...

Production Blog: The Film Location

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  The big day came of us finally deciding where we would film. We know how we want our shots but the location is the current issue. Our main place where most of the shots going to take place is going to be at my house. My house is the most ideal for our group since it's located near our place and has the most space between all of us in the group. Also within my house, is where we recorded the first time around, and personally, I can imagine the different scenes playing out within my house. Most of the storyboard was based on places around my house. The room layout, and the house too. As most of the spots where I want to record are going to be in the dark, we will see whether we should set up the lighting and if it fits the atmosphere we are going for. My house is near the beach. We are going to plan to see if there's a way we can incorporate a restaurant or an alleyway nearby. The moon does hold significance to the plot and want it to show through the filming process. Another t...

Storyboard

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  Shot 1 Micheal sits in his dimly lit apartment. The shot starts from the back. Shot 2 Pan around the couch to get a frontal view of the character. Shot 3 Slow zoom to the character's face showing his sleepless eyes Shot 4 A shadowy figure walks towards a house with a package. Shot 5 The door bell rings and the focus is on the package. Shot 6 The main character opens to see no one is there and notices the package. Shot 7 Picks up the box with the focus on the box. Shot 8 Shot changes to the box on a table with a light over it. Shot 9 Quick cut to the main character thinking. Shot 10 Bird-eye view of the box opening Shot 11 Picks up the envelope to see then cuts to black. Shot 12 Change of setting to an alleyway Shot 13 Goes to an establishing shot of a restaurant. Shot 14 Goes to inside to some seats. Shot 15 Two characters sit down on the seats. Shot 16 Exchange in dialogue about the note. Shot 17 The character gets up and walks out. Shot 18 Wide shot of the restaurant with the c...