Editing Day 3 - Finalizing

I spent all of Yesterday editing, animating, and finalizing my movie intro. It might not be perfect, but I am extremely proud of my results. Honestly, this week has been so much fun, editing is truly my happy place and I hope to do it more often in the future.

Progress Clip:

In lieu of a progress video of the entire thing, this is a clip of the beginning, which was the bulk of Yesterday's focus. I plan on posting the entire intro tomorrow.

Timeline:

Fixing the Title Card:

Old

New

With Music

Since previously the animation did not give the viewers enough time to read the title, I simply made it end at the same time as the descent of the music ends, giving the audience a second or two to read the music. This worked wonderfully, although I was unable to fix the t in "the."

Fixing the B-roll:

The b-roll in my first draft of this video had been bugging me. There was something about the shots I had chosen that felt flimsy. I think it may have been too shaky? The second and third clips were just composed weirdly maybe. I had been convinced, at first, that they were the best clips I had, and if that was true then I knew I'd have to re-record. Luckily, this was not the case, I gave all the original clips a second look over and found two clips that were not only composed better and less shaky, but they were also long enough to replace those three clips. I do not know how I did not pick them sooner. The door, however, still felt too shaky to me and I did not know how to fix it at first (more on how I fixed that later).

Creating/animating the Logo:

I knew I wanted to make a logo for a fake production company, but I did not know what to call it yet. I genuinely just love all kinds of flowers, but one of my favorites is Lily of the Valley. These flowers are beautiful and delicate-looking, but they are extremely toxic to humans with no part of their anatomy being safe to eat or even touch (click here for more information). However, they are "A symbol of purity, joy, love, sincerity, happiness and luck" It's like finding hope in something seemingly unredeemable, which reminds me of the themes of hope within the darkness that the movie would have. Due to this realization, I decided to call the production company "Lily of the Valley Productions" and to include one in the logo.

I am not particularly skilled at drawing, so it took me a few hours to come up with this shape in Procreate. I planned on adding the title in After Effects.

At first, I wanted to animate the flower slowly growing into the image I made, but I quickly realized that would take much longer than what I wanted, and decided to make the image start small and spin while growing into what the original picture is. I also wanted to replicate the animation style of the title card, making it look as if the title was being written, but the font was so small it looked choppy, so by deciding not to make it "stroke sequentially" I achieved a similar look. Honestly, it worked out for the best. I decided to make the letters appear once the flower animation was over, and having learned from the title card, knew to make it end a few seconds before the clip would. Finally, the logo was too green and vibrant for the vibes of the intro, so I decided to color-edit it until It matched, by changing the temperature, tint, and saturation of the clip. (you can watch the final title card near the beginning of the blog post).

The look of the Logo with the title.

After Effects Workspace after I traced the title.

Color Settings

How the logo looked after

It's a simple animation, but I think it looks pretty cool.

Audio:

I decided that, although it's hard to hear sometimes, I was quite satisfied with the sound levels of the raw clips, so I did not make any changes there or with the levels of the main song. I found a song in the YouTube Audio Library by Jimena Colmenares Called "Frigtmare" By choosing this song, I did lean into the creepy vibes I had been avoiding, but I knew that the first few seconds of this song were perfect to put over the logo and door in the very beginning. I made this song fade out as "Spellcraft" faded in to give it a more seamless feel. I am most worried about making the audience believe that this movie is meant to be scary when really, it isn't.

Stabilizing:

All hail the "Warp Stabilizer" effect in Premiere Pro, the only thing capable of somewhat reversing the shakiness of the camera caused by my hands. (I had previously alluded to this effect a few blog posts ago)  I only found it helpful to use this effect on the b-roll. 

This effect was capable of turning...

A small but crucial difference. Yes, you can still kind of tell I walked a bit too harshly, but it almost feels seamless now.

The Credits:

The most fun yet time-consuming part, the reason I stayed up until one in the morning editing. I knew I wanted the text to appear/disappear with the movement of the camera and objects. The "Linear Wipe" effect in Premiere Pro was my lifeline when animating these credits. (to see three examples, look at the clip in the beginning).

I chose a font that was simple, rounded and small to make it look professional and innocent. I chose an off-white color rather than a full white since the full white stood out a bit too much.

This is the timeline for the clip including the screenshot above. As you can clearly see, I made sure, frame by frame, that the Transition Completion % and angle of the effect matched the letters perfectly to what they were hiding behind.

Now What?

This has been a long, stressful, and exciting process, and I cannot believe I am this close to the end, but I am proud of what I've done. I could've managed my time better, like I mentioned in one of my earlier  blog posts, time management is something I know I struggle with, but I managed to end this with enough time to complete my CCR and I consider that a success. I am ecstatic with the results, and I can barely wait to post them tomorrow.

PS. After rereading some of my blog posts, I believe I never specified my audience here as much as I did in my head. The audience is children, which I have mentioned before, but I'd like to clarify that it's specifically, children aged 8-12.

Editing Day 2 - Fixing Issues (Mostly)

 Today I just kept editing, I fixed some continuity errors, color-corrected, added the music, and created the title card. I still have a long way to go before I am done since there are still some issues to fix.

Progress Vid:

Timeline:

Fixing Continuity and Adding the Music:

In terms of continuity, I decided to go with the "jump cuts." This ended up feeling smoother than showing each and every movement. I had been skeptical about this choice before, but it's much more efficient than my original plan. I added the music and decided to turn on the audio of the clips for now. I also cut down the rummaging to one shot. Due to the music being shorter than two minutes, I changed the pacing a bit to try to end it on a note that doesn't make the video feel finalized. I edited some cuts to fit the beats of the music better.

Notes: I might reshoot some/most of the b-roll tomorrow, some of it is too shaky, and you can see the movement of my steps when I was shooting the door. Add a logo in the first few seconds. For the most part, I believe I'm done majorly changing the timeline.

Color Correcting and Sharpening:

Before:

After:

I color-corrected the shots mentioned in my previous blog. Since they were all much bluer than the other shots in the video, I first turned the highlights and shadows to a more yellow shade and then adjusted the midtones, until I felt that the right shade of blue was back and that it matched the rest of the shots as much as possible. I also turned the sharpness to 100% on all the shots.

Notes: I think I did a good job at color-correcting, and that the sharpness improved the look of the intro as a whole, I plan on doing the same if I end up replacing any other shots.

Creating the Title Card:

It just so happened to be that close to the exact moment that I had been planning to add the title card, the melody descends. This descent in the melody gave me the idea of having the title be in cursive and animating the movements. I decided to use After Effects even though I have minimal previous experience with it. I found a quick and simple tutorial for just what I wanted to do. After some searching, I decided on a font type called "Blithe," and played with the size, color, and position of the letters until I was satisfied with how it looked. I picked "Blithe" due to its playfulness and relative readability, because of the target audience of children. Creating the animation was a surprisingly simple, although time-consuming, process. 

The Tutorial:

The Title Card:

The Workspace:

Notes: Considering I almost never use After Effects, this was a pretty successful first attempt. I plan on shortening the animation to only the descent of the music since currently, it goes on for longer than it should. Also, I want to smooth out the T in "the." I need to add the credits to the video, I do not plan on using After Effects for this as of now, but I might try. I want to create and animate a logo, probably will be using Procreate and After Effects. 

Now What? (yes I changed it this time)

I've made a lot of progress, but there's still so much left to do. I am quickly running out of time, but I am still fairly confident I can pull it off. Once I fix every issue I previously mentioned, (while keeping in mind that no project can be perfect) I will work on my CCR. 

Editing Day 1- Blocking

I finally started editing today! I am happy to announce that I'm not even done putting all my shots in, and I already have more than 2-minutes worth of content. It is extremely relaxing to know that I am not short on time since that was my biggest concern. Today's cut is extremely rough, I have not added the music yet, and I have a bunch of continuity errors to try and fix now. I will say though, that I am extremely happy with the results of the lights. 

Progress Vid:

Timeline:

My Notes:

• Continuity errors in the cuts during the rummaging part (00:22-00:30) 
• Continuity errors while Sowing (01:15, 01:27, 01:32, 01:39, 02:08, 02:10) These are all due simply to the fact that there's a lot of movement while sowing, sometimes her hand would be in a different position than the last shot, sometimes I forgot to shoot a simple movement. I can either lean into the jumpcut feel and make the whole process more fast-paced by focusing only on the important actions, or I can try to make it feel as smooth as possible. Luckily, the last two continuity errors can be avoided by taking out that part, since I'm overtime and still missing the title and the logo in the beginning.
• Jump cut at 01:09 because I did not change the angle enough between the shots but it's sadly the only way to keep the continuity. Might play around to try and make it feel smoother.
• At 00:44 you can hear me saying "ok." Mute it/cut it off.
• Add the title right after/with the reveal of the bunny.
• Cut off the video mid-sowing of the eye in a way that makes it clear there's more coming.
• I might cut the rummaging to just one shot (extremely glad I added the sowing idea because now it's the main part of the intro).
• Color-correct these shots: 00:26, 01:07, 02:05, 02:08.
• Add music
• Try adding the sound of her rummaging in the b-roll.
• Add the credits!
• Try adding cute stings, especially in the reveal of the bunny. 
• If I cut off the single shot showing her face, all the shots will not show her face. I can use that to create more mystery around who/what she is.
• I will probably not add the shot of the other girl.

So What?

It's not perfect, but I am proud of my results so far. I'm gonna spend more time editing tomorrow and hopefully finishing the intro. There might still be some mistakes to fix, but that always happens with any project, and I still have time to fix them. I will focus on the CCR as soon as I'm done with the editing.

Finding the Music

Sound is a crucial aspect of any production. Both the lack and abundance of it should be a deliberate decision made when creating a scene. Whether to use music or not was a question I have asked myself throughout the stages of this project. However, I believe having music is likely to be the best idea for me. For this reason, I will be searching through multiple royalty-free websites to pick some options for my project.

I used the following websites:

• purple-planet.com
• bensound.com/
  

What I Need/The Mood:

Music/sound is essential to establishing the tone and mood of a scene. Since my opening is all about creating mystery, the music should add to that feeling. However, I am still able to lean my mystery into multiple sub-tones. I could create a lighter, almost happy mystery or I could make it somber and creepy. I believe I'm gonna lean into the lighter category of options, but I still wanna explore all my options before settling on any conclusions.

My Options:

After searching through three websites (the two previously mentioned and bulletproofbear.com for which I need to be verified) I only found 4 viable options. (It could be 8 if bulletproofbear verifies my account)

Curse of the Dolls - Purple Planet

Link

Pros: It is mysterious, sad but with a hint of playfulness, i like the flow of tension and believe it could fit with my timeline, long enough for the intro (a few seconds short but that shouldn't be too hard to deal with).

Cons: Might be too creepy.

Spellcraft - Purple Planet

Link

Pros: It is also mysterious, leans into the playfulness even more, has a fantastical/magical mood, I also like the progression of the mood and believe it could fit with the actions happening on screen, it is long enough for the intro.

Cons: Might be too whimsical, could feel like a true fantasy rather than a magical realism.

Magical Storytime - Purple Planet

Link

Pros: I like the way it still feels mysterious while establishing that she is good. 

Cons: Might be too happy, definitely too short.

November - Bensound

Link

Pros: I like the way it kind of leans into the calm sadness, still mysterious, it is less overwhelming than the other songs, definitely long enough.

Cons: Might be too slow/not progress well with the story, might be too sad.

Decisions:

So far my personal favorite option is Spellcraft, it is mysterious yet whimsical and sets the right tone for the scene, although the ghost is sad, she is doing something that makes her happy and gives her hope. The other two Purple Planet songs have too much going on for my liking. Surprisingly, given that it's a polar opposite, November is a close second option and I might still play with both options once I start editing 

So What?

None of the songs I was able to list perfectly captured the vibe I am going for with this intro. Bulletproofbear has a few options that were better fits than either Spellcraft or November, if my account gets approved I will dissect these options in a future blog post. I honestly believe I will probably be using Spellcraft, and I am pretty content with it. Next week I need to finish editing and work on my CCR.

The Dreaded Title

Making titles is one of my least favorite aspects of a creative project. To be fully honest, it either comes to me naturally and it's a fun addition, or I have to carve it out of the depths of my empty brain, and feels like a needle in the bottom of my shoe each time I'm reminded of it. I am devastated to report that this is one of those projects where it feels impossible. Unfortunately for me, I must title it, it is a crucial requirement of this intro. 

I want the title to be attention-grabbing, to be memorable, and to capture the essence of the movie.

My Options:

The Ghost Project

Pros: It's straight to the point, probably memorable due to its simplicity.

Cons: Gives too much away, reminds me of The Blair Witch Project, too boring, doesn't capture the essence.

Renee

Pros: It's unique, possibly memorable.

Cons: Too simple for me, doesn't capture the essence.

Tanda and Renee/Renee and Tanda

Pros: Feels appropriate for target audience (kinds), cute.

Cons: Once again, too simple and straightforward. 

All Our Shades of Blue

Pros: Alludes to the blue motif (representing hope and sadness), not simple, might be memorable, I think it captures the essence.

Cons: Might be too complex for the target audience.

Decisions:

Honestly, this is difficult because I don't particularly love any of the options. I have found myself hopelessly trying to find something that feels decent. My personal favorite as of now is "All Our Shades of Blue" Ironically enough, I only came up with it while trying to actually search for shades of blue. I appreciate creative titles, and this is the most creative out of all the ones I came up with.

So What?

Coming up with titles this time was not an easy task, but I would be happy to have "All Our Shades of Blue" as the title. I am already picturing how I could try to animate it even with a bunch of shades of blue (I am not an animator, but I love trying new things and, with it being spring break, I have more free time). Now I'm gonna look for songs, and continue through the post-production and editing process.

Downloading the Files is Harder Than it Seems

Let me start off by saying that I did not expect to make a blog post about this topic alone. that being said, it took me multiple days to figure out a successful method to sort through and download my 100 shots. Because of the time and effort spent on this usually simple step, and all the lessons I learned along the way, I thought it appropriate to dissect the process.

Method #1 - Whatsapp

On Monday I started the process of sending all the clips I took through WhatsApp to then download them on my computer through https://web.whatsapp.com/. This Method worked just fine at first, but by the time I was done downloading all of the clips, I became afraid that not all clips had successfully transferred. 

On Wednesday I counted all the clips and realized that only half of them were downloaded on my computer. (I am unsure of why this was). Not only did I have a lower number of clips already, but multiple clips had multiple duplicates. At first, not wanting to start over, I started skimming clip-by-clip and comparing it to the clips I had, to know what I was missing. This quickly proved to be too time-consuming and I decided that starting over would be a better idea. However, I knew I had too many clips for email, which is my usual method, to work.

Method #2 - WeTransfer Website

On Thursday, after asking some friends how they shared the clips, I found WeTransfer. I tried using the website on Safari. Hypothetically speaking, given that my files were less than 2GB in size total, (the max on the website) all of the clips should've been able to be transferred on one zip file. However, my phone spent hours processing the clips just for them to not upload multiple times.

Method #3 - WeTransfer App

On Friday, after discussing the previous days' events with the friend who had suggested the website, she recommended trying the app. She also recommended dividing my clips into sections so they could load faster. Since I was already planning on organizing my clips by timeline order, I decided to start the separation then and divided my files into 6 groups: B-roll, Box, Bunny, Drawer, Sowing, and Bunny 2. This method was successful, and within an hour, all the clips were downloaded into my computer.

Sorting Through it:

I spent another hour sorting through the clips I had downloaded, deleting the outtakes, and naming each file, to make my life easier once I start editing.

So What?

This step took way longer than I could afford for it to take, but I did learn some lessons. #1 - Don't use WhatsApp to download clips. #2 - Don't underestimate how long it takes for any step, even when it seems easy (this lesson is easier in theory than practice to follow). #3 - Divide huge projects into sections when transferring the clips. I have officially ran out of time this week to be able to start editing. I plan on coming up with a title and finding a song for the background this weekend. I don't have a lot of time left for this project, but luckily I still have spring break and I will spend the first half editing and finalizing the project, and the second half making my CCR. I believe I will still be able to complete my project in time.

Filming the B-roll

 Today since neither of my sisters could help me, my mother helped as the "tripod" for the lights and as my behind-the-scenes camera woman. We filmed all of the b-roll this time. This time everything went smoother than the last since I didn't have an actor on the screen to be told what to do. I would like to add that I was unable to get a camera for either of the recording days and had to settle for my phone (with no tripod or stabilizer) since that is what I have available to me.

Setting up:

I forgot to mention this in the previous blog post, but I had to reorganize my shelves a bit to fit the character of the ghost (as this room is meant to have been hers). Mostly I just removed things and placed them on the table in my living room.

The Mess

Behind-the-Scenes:

Me filming while my mother serves as the tripod for the lights.

The setup for the shot of the door with the light.

Possible Concerns:

Due to my lack of tripod or stabilizer, I am worried that the shots might come out too shaky. I know a few tricks to stabilize the shots while on Premier Pro, but it's not always effective. 

Key Props:

The tarot cards and crystals to represent how Renee got obsessed with the occult before passing.

The mini setup of the attic of the Haunted Mansion at Disney, also to represent her obsession with ghosts.

This is the medicine she was taking to treat her illness before she died. (I got the flu this week)

My Favorite Shot of the Day:

My Camera Roll After The Past Two Days:

So What?

Almost done with filming. All I need is the one shot of the other girl in class/school looking bored/sad/mad. I am pretty happy with Today's results. I got all of the B-roll I believe I'll need and I know that if during editing I need to fix my b-roll, it won't be too hard to set it up again and film some more b-roll or reshoot anything. I had my mother move around the light to show that Renee is moving and the source of light is alive and not still, but I am worried that it only adds to the shakiness. Hopefully, I'll be able to edit out the shakiness of the camera, and the lights moving will look organic like I was hoping. I am content with the visual symbols and foreshadowing. The next stage is post-production: editing, finding the music, choosing a title and font, and hoping I have at least two minutes worth of content.