Editing Blog: Once Again

   Once again, when I got into class the next day, Pinnacle Studios did not work. No one in my group knew if this was a recurring issue with just us or if the program was down. What was weird though was that the program was working for everybody else. Additionally, I made sure that the issue was not on only one computer. Like last time, I grabbed a couple more computers to check if they worked. A group member suggested that we log in the computer with a different account. He gave us permission to use his login and when he selected Pinnacle Studios, it loaded. I immediately began importing all of the takes and videos that we would need to film. I only had about twenty minutes but I figured that I would be able to edit the next day and grab the same computer. When I arrived, the computer had no battery at all. I plugged in the computer and decided to log in with other computers. I began signing in with both usernames until I came across computer 9. I had completely forgotten that that was the computer that I used for my last project where I needed to edit. Pinnacle Studios worked and I used the remaining time to import all of the files. I had to do this process twice since I was editing on a different computer. Since the majority of the class period was taken up by trying to find a suitable computer, I really was only able to cut some takes.
   I came into the class during study hall the next day to try to advance. I knew that I would have to respect the students' work in this class meaning that if a group needed to edit on computer 9, I would have to give it to them. I had logged on to the computer about 8 minutes before the bell rang so that gave me several minutes to see if anyone used computer 9. Unfortunately, I only edited for about 15 minutes before a group came up to me and asked for the computer. For the remainder of the class period, I decided that at home I could edit on IMovie. To do this, I had to email myself every single take so that I would be able to access the videos on my phone.

Filming Blog: Scary Atmosphere

   Continued from my last blog, my group and I were more than halfway done with our time together and we still had several scenes to get done. I set the proper lighting in the kitchen with a control that made the light get really dim. One issue that I noticed as we were in the kitchen is that the light switch would click and the lights would take a while to turn on. I didn't want the audience to assume that this scene was glitching or something like that so I figured that in class, I would edit the sound to fit the scene. As these scenes were done, I asked Aitan and Amy to set up the tripod and camera according to the next box in the storyboard. As they did that, I went to my room and began typing on my computer. I had forgotten that for the scenes in the dining room, an envelope needed to fall from behind the curtains with a letter inside containing a message. I wrote this message out and got an envelope from my grandpa's room and headed to the dining room. I set the envelope behind the curtains and adjusted the lighting to make it low.
   Once every scene inside of the house was filmed, we all went outside into the road. The street light was thankfully on so we had the perfect setting. The outside of my house only has one outlet but even with the extension cord, the camera wouldn't extend far enough. This meant that I would only have about twenty minutes to film every scene that occurred outside. I brought out my dog Bella along with her collar and leash for Amy to hold. I set up the tripod exactly where it needed to be but we got interrupted several times by a passing car. These scenes definitely required more takes in comparison to those inside of the house due to factors that we had no control over such as wind gusts, cars, and distracting noises. One noise that we took advantage of however were sirens in the background. I decided to film as we heard them to add a sense of crime in the neighborhood. As we filming, a car came up to us and stopped right in front of us. At first, we were pretty scared but I then noticed that the car belonged to my neighbor and I guess he was curious as to what some kids were doing near his house. Like I had asked of us in the very beginning, we were able to move fast and finish filming the storyboard within a total of two hours.

                                                     

Filming Blog: The extension cord never gets old

   After my group and I saw the amount of work that we had been able to finish during our first day filming, we all decided that the following weekend would be convenient for all of us. Since I had kept the camera and tripod on me from the first day, I had to carry both at school. When I got to class, I asked Amy to re-check out the materials. After school, Amy texted me and told me that she left the tripod in the school bus on her way home. I was upset because it would be difficult for me to adjust my schedule the following week. I knew that we would be able to film without the tripod, but I figured that it would be best to spend our time and devotion on a product that doesn't come out shaky or blurry. Amy thankfully retrieved the tripod Monday afternoon and I suggested that her and Aitan come over to film on Tuesday. However, I didn't notice that I had plans scheduled and I would get home pretty late. At around 6:30 pm, I texted the group chat and asked if they could come over in the next thirty minutes to film and to be able to finish the scenes that needed to take place at my house. Thankfully, by 7 pm, both of my group mates arrived and we started filming immediately. Since I had expected to return the camera after the weekend, it never occurred to me to charge it. Consequently, I had to get the extension cord from the garage once again.
   Since we began filming pretty late, I told Amy and Aitan that we had to move pretty quickly and efficiently. I decided that it would be better to not redo any of the scenes that we had covered last time we were filming to ensure that all boxes on the storyboard were at least filmed once. The remaining scenes needed in the main room were finished up in thirty minutes. Then, I moved the tripod and camera into the hallway where we would continue. Once I got to the main hallway, I realized that I didn't know how to set up the lighting. If I turned on the family room light, it would be too bright and the lighting wouldn't create any suspense. If I left that light off however, nothing would be able to be seen. Aitan handed me his phone with the flash on and told me to set it right under camera. This was able to provide clear lighting but the flashlight was very noticeable through the video.
 

Editing Blog: Loading...

Since my group and I filmed on Monday, we came to class on Tuesday prepared to immediately start editing. I was the first one of the group to get to class. I didn't get computer 16 because of the audio problem that I encountered last class. When I got to my seat, I turned on the computer and signed in. I asked Amy to get an SD card reader and to put in the SD card. I noticed that it had not been put in properly so I asked Aitan to fix it. Once I got the reader back, I inserted it into the computer. I selected Pinnacle Studios and waited for about 5 minutes for it to load. However, the program never loaded.
I grabbed another computer, thinking that the one that I previously had an error. The same exact thing happened with that computer as well. The group that sat beside us offered me a computer that they hadn't used so I tried going to Pinnacle Studios on that one. After the failed attempt, the group that sat in front of us offered a computer as well. I asked Amy to log in with her account in case the faults were due to my login. Once she logged in, I went to Pinnacle Studios and the program, once again, did not work. I tried various techniques to try to make the program load on every computer however, none worked. My group and I then attempted to ask our teacher for help but she was not available at the moment. The only possible answer that I had for as to why every other students computer was working and ours were not, was that there was low internet. This only makes partial sense however because if this were the actual cause, then other students would be experiencing the same issues as us. Unfortunately, this meant that my group and I had lost two valuable days for editing.

Peer-Editing Blog

   After a couple of weeks during the filming and editing process, my class took a day to review another group's progress. Peer-editing allows us to explain to others what elements we liked and what elements could be improved. The person assigned to us had already completed all of the editing required and only had to focus on finishing touches. There were several aspects of the movie that I really enjoyed. Such aspect includes the good lighting throughout. Every scene could be seen clearly and there was no questioning what was occurring at any point during the movie. Furthermore, I also appreciated the thought put into each scene. A split scene was used very nicely where both actors were in the bathroom. Also, the separate conversations that were being held allowed me to completely understand the plot and left me wanting to know more. This is very important since it means that the plot is interesting and captivating.
   On the contrary, I noticed some things that I felt could have been represented better. An example would be how the twins in the movie are portrayed. Without context from the student, I wouldn't have understood that the two assassins were twins who never met each other. In the movie, there are small signifiers of each asssassin having a sibling but it would be difficult for an audience to see the connection immediately. A suggestion for this particular aspect would be for the student to incorporate each actors' last name in a clip from the two minutes in order for the audience to recognize that they are related. Another aspect that I noticed were that some scenes lasted a little too long. This, however, can easily be fixed as the student was over the two minute limit anyway so there aren't any shortage of video concerns. The only other thing that I could possibly comment on are the finishing touches that need to be added. This includes all of the titles which haven't been placed in the video. It also includes an addition of non-diegetic sound but the student was conscious of this before I began to peer-edit.