Stubborn Splitscreen During Editing

   We began to edit our music video last class and I have to say, we have definitely been working efficiently. Before we started editing, we all discussed what everyone's jobs were going to be so that we would have everything planned out and we wouldn't have to stress. I was given the job of arranging all of the clips. During this job, I would have to cut clips to an appropriate length and ensure that they were all in the order shown on our storyboard. I would also have to create a split screen. I was the one in charge of making the split screen since I was the only one who had attempted one before this project and I had an idea of what I was supposed to do.

   While the entire time that I was editing, I had my storyboard beside me so that I could use it for reference. Once the clips were imported, I was in charge of selecting which takes would best fit in the video. I determined this by looking at the majority of the clips and seeing if the acting was good and if the scene was done correctly. After selecting all of the clips that I was going to use, I then began to cut them. All the scenes required cutting since my group and I had given specific time measurements to each clips and when they would occur during the song. I began cutting by removing excess seconds where the actor would start a couple seconds after the camera started filming and where the camera would continue to film a couple seconds after the actor finished the scene. I cut the scenes by placing the red line exactly where I want the take to be split and then selecting the razorblade-like figure. This separates the take into two segments, the desireable one and the irrevelant one. Afterwards, I would simply right-click the one that I didn't need and click delete. Once the excess fragments were removed, I began to cut the scenes for each to last approximately six seconds as our storyboard projected. I tryed my best doing this however, because I had already clipped off excess time, some scenes were shorter than six seconds and some were longer. There were also six scenes that I had to make three seconds in order to match it to the storyboard. To remove the occasional blooper, I selected the three dots on the left side of the editing box which would lay out every single scene that was available. This assisted me because some scenes were too short to be visible on the AV track.

   The split screen would be the most difficult part since there were many factors that I had to adjust. This split screen consists of two segments that play at the same time, different than how I made my last split screen. I first had to open effects editer for both scenes by right-clicking the take. This would take me to a new tab where I was able to adjust the size, position, rotation, and transperancy of both clips. The dimensions of both clips were relatively the same except for the horizontal position. This function changes where the take is shown on the screen and I had to alter the values for one take to appear on the right and the other on the left. Afterwards, I added an AV track to place the second part of the scene by right-clicking on AV track 1 and selecting the option that allowed me to add a track below. I then, placed the second half of the split screen above the first part. Finally, I had to adjust the length of both scenes to make sure that they would play at the same time. I first tried to choose the duration time but that did not work so instead, I tried to crop the takes by selecting the razorblade but there was still a small issue occuring where the second scene would remain on the scene for a small amount of time into the next scene. I will continue to work on fixing this problem during my next class.

Finally Finished FIlming

   Since our camera had died on the first day that my group was supposed to film, we had to choose a day that would work for all of us to film the remaing scenes. We got together on December 2nd after ruling out the week days of Thanksgiving as Aitan was going to be out of town. We met up at Amy's house at 2pm but there were already complications present. First, when I arrived, I was informed that the new camera we had gotten before Thanksgiving break had no battery left. Additionally, when Aitan started to ask me about the SD card, I realized that I had left it in my backpack at my house. After waiting thirty minutes, the camera still had no battery but thankfully, my mom brought the SD card that we had to use. We did not want to schedule another filming day to record the takes so we decided that instead, we would film each scene with the camera being charged the entire time.
   The first scene that we filmed was where Aitan would hand Amy a pair of heels and then she would approve of them. I was in charge of filming that scene since my other group members would both be in the scene. I had an idea of how I wanted to to film the scene but it wasn't until around my third try that I finally captured all of the heels and the two-shot with the actors. The next scene would show Amy applying lipstick and an eye line match with a clock. I had come up with the idea to attempt a graphic match where the clock would first be in Amy's room and then mine. How I would try to execute this however, would be pretty tricky. As a group, we determined that the best place to set the clock would be near a brown surface in each room. This way, the transition would be cleaner and more smooth. I had to apply chapstick once Amy's scene was filmed but I had to start off the takes by looking at the clock as Aitan was recording. In the next scene, Amy would be dancing while Aitan recorded. Before they began filming, I adjusted the lights and the amount of lighting that was coming into the room. I also set Amy in front of a white curtain so that she wouldn't be seen with an "amateur" or childish room. The next scene would show me dancing with LED lights and singing to the song. In both this scene and the previous, I came up with the idea that instead of simply dancing, Amy and I should lipsync to the actual lyrics that would correspond with our scene. I pulled up the youtube video of the song and had to start the song a little before Aitan would start filming. When it was my turn to dance and sing, Amy and I switched roles. My scene was very easy since I was allowed to simply be happy and laugh as it was included in the part I had to play.
   We were soon to be concluding our gathering as we only had a couple of scenes left to film. We still had to film the scene where I opened a drawer and pulled out a pair of fuzzy socks to wear. This scene was simple and was recorded fast. Additionally, we filmed two separate scenes that would act as a split screen with Amy on one side and me on another. We both had to dance to the famous lyrics "mix it all together" and move our hands in a circular motion. The last two scenes were each filmed with a total of four takes where Amy would be seen going to sleep and then I would be seen going to sleep in a different bed. Our last takes would be the scene where Aitan arrived at Amy's house as her assistant. This scene had to be filmed outside and the outlet that would be needed to charge the camera was too far for us to connect the camera and film the scene properly, so we had to acquire an extension cord from the garage. I was in charge of filming this scene and it took a few takes since I wanted to ensure that we would have a good scene available for editing.