CCR

https://youtu.be/1wip7JcgGuI

Rise - Film Opening

https://youtu.be/q9AKdUT8nyg

The End

The End of the long process has come. I am both relieved but saddened about this. The whole experience really has been a big learning process and I've learned so much about my abilities through it all. I've made plenty of mistakes and many successes. At this point in time, I have finished everything. The CCR and Opening itself is complete and is available to watch. This was the first real small film I have ever done that's done purely by me alone and I'm pretty proud of myself. Hopefully this will be a first of many, and as the years go by, I will improve more and more.

I want to thank both my two friends, Gordon and Daan for helping me through this process as I know I can be a bit hard to work with. They didn't have to be apart of this but they chose to and did a great job. Once I finished everything it felt like huge weights on my shoulders have fallen off and have given me something to be proud of. Hopefully people enjoy the final product but even If they don't, I will still be happy. If there is one thing I have learned, criticism is helpful and It only makes me improve and strive to do better. I really am thankful for this project and hopefully this wont be the last you hear from me ;)

Fin. 

 

Final Touches

I have nearly finished the product. I got my camera, put the new footage into Premier, and edited the final parts. This time, I began from the beginning of the video and started with the first shot of Gordon getting out the car. I went from clip to clip, putting them in chronologically until they reached the footage I had already edited. It looks great. I then went went to the part where there is the transition and deleted a few clips to fit in the newly recorded parts. Everything seemed fine apart from a few problems but they weren't too hard for me to fix. The transition worked well and was much better to what I previously had.

I was almost finished with it all but I just needed to put in the title and opening credits. This is when I realized I didn't think of one of the most important parts of the film. The title. I did have thoughts throughout the process of some names like Running, Keep Going, and Rise. "Rise" was my first choice as that is what I'm basing the movie on. It's about two teens that want to become pro, rising up and making a name for themselves. There was also a few shots that implemented this like the spiral shot. It's a low angle shot that then rises to the top. So I stopped thinking of names and just decided to call it "Rise". 

When thinking about how I should display the text I had a pretty good idea on how I would like It. I put the title in big white letters on top of the part where it's high angle of Gordon walking towards the field. I then put the other credits before that shot.

And so this was it. I had finally finished editing it. The final product was complete and all I needed to to do next is do my CCR.  

Film Day Part II

It is film day part II. After school, Gordon and I went straight to eat then went back to get his clothes and things. Daan also went back to his to eat and gather his things. I needed everything to be the exact same, so I told them to wear exactly what they were wearing when we filmed the first day. We got Gordons things and drove to the fields. We arrived the same time Daan did and began filming.
   
Luckily it the weather was quite similar to the last time apart from a few clouds in the air. We were also lucky no one was playing in the field we needed to use. I decided to begin with Daans scenes first as he had somewhere to be after. Because we didn't have an extra person to help us, I got Gordon to get in Daan's car so that he could be the person Daan is saying goodbye to. You can't see Gordons face so it was perfect. I wanted to create a shot where Daan is saying goodbye to his friend as the friend is beginning to drive away. I asked Gordon to back out and be at an angle where he could drive away as they say goodbye. I also wanted to create a transition from the montage to Daan's part. I did this by having the camera back out from his shoulder which would create a white blur to then going into focus. I did this and the shot worked well. To make the transition work I would need another shot from the montage to transition to Daan's bit. I did this by getting Gordon roll the ball fast on the ground towards the camera to make it so close that it takes up the whole screen and will be black. Going back to Daan's scene, I recorded a few angles of him walking and I asked him to look towards the field where Gordon would be playing then to the path then back towards the field. I wanted to make it look like he was recognizes Gordon but this took quite a while. Daan isn't the best of actors so we had to go again and again to get it right. It just didn't look natural. I had an idea to make him feel more natural so I asked to do something with his hands as he walked and not be so stiff with them. I told him to itch his head, brush his hands through his hair, wipe sweat off his forehead, just anything. And to my surprise it kind of worked. It wasn't perfect but it definitely looked a lot better. I then recorded him moving towards the fence and looking at Gordon play. I did a few different angles of this so I could use the right ones when I edit them. We finally finished Daan's part and he was free to leave.

When Daan left I only needed to film a bit more of Gordon's part. We started by filming the very beginning of the opening. I did a shot of Gordon getting out the car which would be the first shot of the film. He then opens up the trunk to get his bags and ball. I wanted to record the shot inside of the trunk so I put the back seats down and recorded from inside. I had the camera focus on the ball and got Gordon to reach for it and take it. We then recorded his walk towards the field. I did a medium shot of him putting on his headphones as he walks then I was onto the next shot which would be quite tricky. I wanted to create an establishing shot where it's high angle with the protagonist walking from the left to right. The only problem was I didn't have a crane obviously or a high place I could be. To solve this I used my tripod. I extended the tripod to the most it could possible be and held it from the bottom with the camera on top. The camera would be quite high and would be at a pretty good height for what I envisioned.

At this point we were pretty much done. We still had a lot of light left so I got Gordon to just play around with the ball a bit more so could have more footage. You can never have enough footage. I did a few different angles and asked him to do certain things with the ball. The sun started to go down and we were finally done with filming for good. I had all the shots I wanted and I'm ready to finish editing the final product.

Planning Again

     I'm really starting to get the hang of things on editing. I have almost finished editing all of the parts I have filmed and apart from the problems I faced with Daan's scene, it is looking good. Carrying on with the editing, I have just been putting in the clips, cutting them, and messing around with them to make the video flow. I still haven't started the color grading but at the moment, that is the least of my worries. I will most likely eventually do them when I finish the entire project. If anything, I will put presets on the clips to make them look more cinematic.

     The next post will most likely be the second day of filming so I want to plan it a bit more than the last time so we can do it right. I have changed a bit of the plan as I think it is the best decision. I have decided to scrap all we recorded for Daan's scene and re-film it a bit differently. This is for a couple of reasons. the first reason is because I have a better idea on how I want it to go and the second is because of the daylight. Originally I was just going to go to the next film day to record one small shot of Daan to make the transition more smoothly but I realized the time we are going is not going to be the same time we recorded his scenes. The lighting will look different. This isn't a problem though because Daan is okay with it and I think the first time I went a bit quickly and didn't take my time with it so it didn't come out how I envisioned. Re-doing it will give me a better idea on how to do it and learn from my mistakes from the first time so that this second time will be better.

   So after school Wednesday, we will quickly grab something to eat, get Gordon's clothes he used during the first shoot then go to the fields. Daan will go back to his to get his clothes he wore and we'll meet up there. I'm going to start with Daan's scenes first then film the beginning of the opening. Then lastly I might just film a few more shots of Gordon playing just in case I get some better angles I can use.

   I have also decided to change the way the beginning will be. Originally I was going to do a shot of Gordon driving to the fields but I have decided to scrap that due to time management on the video. It will begin with Gordon getting out the car, gathering his things from the trunk, then walking towards the fields as he puts on his headphones to begin the music which will then lead to what we filmed last time and what I have already edited. I do have some really great ideas on camera shots and angles for the beginning but that would have to wait for the next blog to explain it.   

Edit, Edit, and more Editing

     The editing process resumes. I started this day by finishing up on editing the jump cuts of the different items being placed. All I really needed to do was to just tidy it up a bit and make it flow nicely. During the beat I placed one clip where Gordon runs with the ball towards the film. At first I thought this wouldn't look right as it wasn't like the jump cuts and doesn't go with the beat but it turned out fine. Following this was a short black cut where there is about a second or two of the screen just black. It then starts up again as the music changes in rhythm and thus beginning the montage. I looked through my file and went clip by clip to see which ones are the best and which ones I would use. I started putting some clips on the timeline and would cut them to make them fit and flow well. I also experimented with the speed of some of the clips. For instance, I would change a clips speed from 100% to 110%. This would make Gordon look better and faster with the ball without making it obvious there's a change in speed. I also took advantage of one of the effects I learned about called warp stabilizer. This effect would make a clip a bit more stable and reduce the shakiness to the best of it's ability. I tried it with a few clips and some worked really well and some didn't. I still wanted the effect of a handheld camera so I only applied the warp stabilizer to a few of the clips.

     Once I finished the first stage of the montage, the next part is to introduce the other character. I put a clip of Daan saying goodbye to Diego then walking over to the fence to see Gordon play. This is when I came across my first obstacle. How I originally this scene is to have the music go quieter and hear them talk. The problem I came across though is the audio clip of them talking is too windy. To solve this, I texted Daan and Diego and asked them to do a voice over. The next time I see them together I'm going to record it on my phone. I will also put an outdoor sound of the trees swaying and birds chirping on top as well. When I edited this bit I also made the music gradually go lower and then back to the original volume when it goes back to Gordon playing. The other problem I have about this bit is that there is a bit of weird void missing. I need to record another scene of Daan to make the transitions of the clips flow right. I asked Daan if he too is willing to go back and film and the nice friend he is agreed.