AICE Media Studies

 Hey guys, here’s our final movie. This journey was long but it was well worth it. My group and I have been working on this for a while and we really hope you guys like it. Here’s our short film thank you for following along, enjoy !! Final movie Black Jacks Website  

 Hey guys, today is the last day we have to complete any last minute changes. As you guys know we are basically done !! We only have one more day until our deadline. We decided to do one more overview of our film. Though it wasn’t much wrong we decided to adjust the ending. The ending was a bit shaky. It ended kind of rough because of the way the camera was shut off. We usually filmed more than one time of the same scene. We just happened to not have done that this time. To cut off some of the shakiness at the end we decided to add another clip of the same scene from a different angle. By doing this we hoped to not lengthen out the actual time of minute 5 but the actual duration of the scene. We used angels computer of course to edit. This kind of helped with the shaking at the end. It eliminated the very end of where you would of saw the camera being actually shut off. We know the film isn’t supposed to be a 5 star film but that was just bothersome. After doing that we watched the...

 Hey guys, there’s isn’t much to say today but i’ll catch you guys up. As stated in the last blog we finally put everything together and finished editing. After we were done editing we never went over it though. Today we just decided that it was a good day to just carefully go over every scene and everything else. First we started off with the angles. We were sure every transition was clean and carefully transitioned to the next. It was a FEW tedious mistakes. We went in to fix those simple mistakes. After that we then went into the titles again. We carefully made sure each title was correctly spelt out and very transitioning was the same. We did forget to add things like the extras name so we went in and did that. We then made sure to check that the minute with the name of the film was perfectly transitioned. This had to be the most tedious part being that we didn’t want to black out any parts of other scenes. After we’ve perfected the transitions and titles we then went in to che...

 Hey guys, today we added music to our film. As I stated in the last blog we were not trying to rush the editing process. As we learnt last year the music has to be non copyrighted. Well to find our music that we used we just went on youtube. We each went our separate ways to find a sound and then came together with a conclusion. For the actual editing we just used angels laptop. Finding a suspenseful sound is not hard. Finding the right suspenseful sound can be tho. We didn’t want the same suspenseful sounds that you usually here in almost every thriller. We wanted something different. Something we could call out own. We sat down and went through youtube until we found the right sounds. We used two different sounds and made it into one to add suspense. One sound has more bass than the other really creating that feeling. Our whole purpose of doing this was to mimic what you usually  see in movies but with a twist.  There is not sound all throughout our film. The sound is ...

 Hey guys, as you know we are done filming. Today we are focusing on editing. We really took our time on this part today being that we wanted everything to be perfect to the T! We have changed up the titles just a bit. To to the editing we of course used angels computer the same as last time. We have decided to go with the same don’t all around. We also added effects to it instead of it just popping up on the screen. The words fade in a little now slowly to make it feel more like a film. We haven’t added any color to it the words are just white. We decked to keep the name of the film pop up in the middle of the film. We did add an effect to it so the film doesn’t feel plain. Our whole objective of this is so that the film feels suspenseful. We really wanted to carry out each aspect of the film from the theme to the filming to the editing. We believe we did an extraordinary doing that with limited equipment. After all the titles were added we then went back into the film and replace...

 Hey guys, We are now done filming. Although we have finished all our filming we have decided to take a break from editing the actual film and handle business. We only have had rough drafts of the website and post card. So now that we’re on track we decide to add the finishing touches. As I mentioned in the previous blogs we needed to add pictures to our website. So in class today we decided to go ahead and take face shots and a group photo. This was all we need to complete the website. As for the film, when angel completed the upload of the photos to the website Danni then began working on the QR code. While she was doing that I added a few changes. I added more graphics to the post card to make it more appealing. By appealing I mean more fun. I decided to add the name to the back of the postcard instead of the front. I added “Save the date” to the front being that the the date is the background. I found that very creative so I went for it. I also played around with the editing of...

 Hey guys, today is the last day of filming ! We only have one last thing to film which is minute 4. To film we still used Danniella’s camera and tripod. This scene was supposed to be dark and suspenseful. We cut of all lights and used our flashlights for spotlight. This is the scene with mystery man and the body guard. Jackie is also in this scene. This part of the film was supposed to be filmed first originally because it does have a lot of dialogue. We didn’t film it because I wasn’t available & we had no one else. This is just days before the deadline so it is kind of a set back. Good thing we jump started on editing. During this film we needed a set up kind of like a office. This was filmed at Angels house. We used a desk in his kitchen and just set it up with a computer and speakers along with the mystery document. During this scene I had to act scary and intimidating. I was a bit nervous so we did have to redo it a few times. To make sure I was ready we made sure to do a...

 Hey guys, being that the end is almost near we’ve decided to go ahead and work on our post card. From my understanding the post card is also apart of our branding. The postcard was my task. We decided to do it this way because angel and Danniella was busy with editing. I didn’t mind either way because editing is also my thing! Though it was my task I still wasn’t alone. My group mates helped me with ideas for the post card and I just executed it. On our post card we needed the realest date, the website, film company and the name of the film. I really sat down and thought hard about how can I execute this in a creative way. First I thought about colors. I decided to go with colors red, gray and black to pull of the thriller theme. Angel and daniella suggested I added the blackjack card. This was key to make it eye catching. I’ve decided to use that example and make the back of the post card very graphic to the theme. I added things such as dice, cards and of course the black jack c...

 Hey guys, today is just strictly about editing. As i stated in previous blogs we basically filmed all of minutes 1 through 4 just missing some of minutes 5 and 3. We just added all the the minutes we had already completed together. It wasn’t hard to connect the angels. We’ve decided not to go with any major editing such as effects and so on. To edit we still used Angels computer software. Angel did all of the editing when it came to putting different scenes together. It wasn’t tricky for him because we all did a pretty good job coordinating it so that filming went smoothly. By doing this editing went even smoother. We now have decided to add in titles now that most of the film is done. We really had to sit down and think about what font to use. Being that our film as thriller we needed a good font to use. Finding free fonts wasn’t hard we just used the ones available on the editing software. After going through the different fonts we finally found the one. The beginning titles wer...

 Hey guys, today is where we film minute one and finish two. In the first two minutes it’s a dialogue of Danniella AKA “Jackie” and her mom & then Jackie in distress. We filmed at Danniellas house. We decided to film there because it was more convenient because we needed her mom in the film. To film we are still using Danni’s camera and tripod. Angel is behind the camera directing and i’m just there helping him. This filming process took a little over a hour because we finished the first two minutes pretty fast so we decided to get minute 5 in as well as minute 4. Filming minute two was a bit tricky being that it was way darker outside than expected. We were supposed to film the outside scenes during sunset but time and traffic had other plans. It didn’t make much of a setback or big difference though. To add light to the scene we just used or phone flashlight again and porch lights. We angled the lights directly at the actor to avoid any weird shadows. This day it was also ver...

 Hey guys, today we are switching it up from filming and focusing on editing task. From my understanding the website was supposed to be apart of our branding. To create and edit the website we used WIX. We chose this company because it’s free and easy to use. For the name of the website we simply just used the name of our film. The layout of our website is pretty simple. To begin with we just briefly described what our film is about. We then added release dates. This is where realized that we need a company name. We decided to just keep it simple and use the initials of all our first names then add studio. So it came up as “AAD Studios”. After that we just added it to our website. We didn’t finish the website completely we still have to add things like headshots, pictures and of course the film. Today we also started editing. We just got a jumpstart on the website just so we can make a rough draft and show our teachers. If any corrections were needed we would receive feedback from ...

 Hey guys, today was the second day of filming. Today we decided to go with the rest of minute 3 and begin 4. To film we used danniella’s camera again along with the tripod. There was a new extra presented which is Danniella’s mom. Her mom was very nice and really played her role in this film ! At first I felt that having to switch scenes in the same minute was going to be tricky but angel really pulled it off. Angel was behind the camera again and Danniella and her mom was the main characters in this film. I wouldn’t consider her mom and extra being that she actually had lines. In these scenes Danniella AKA “Jackie” was getting kicked out her home. So we had to set up the house to make it messy. We used random mail and paper and put it all over the counter. We then used bottles and put it all around to really give it that messy look. I guess you can say these were our props in a way. We used the tripod to set the camera still so it wouldn’t be so shaky and really give it a profess...

 Hey guys, during this time my group and I briefly discussed the new days of our planning due to a minor set back. Originally we were supposed to film during winter break but wasn’t able to do so due to one of us being out of town and one us being sick. We finally got to start filming on the 17th of january leaving us 13 days to spare for filming and editing. We knew this was going to be a little tough but we decided it was best. On this first day we filmed minutes two and three. We decided to do this because we felt that it would be best to get the scenes with extras in first. To film we used Daniella's camera and a tripod. If there was a issue with lighting we just used all our phone flashlights to get more lighting. In these scenes it was only two extras, the body guard and one gambler. Angel recorded/ directed these scenes. Daniella helped him giving him brief advice. To set up the scene we just moved a few things around to make it seem like a casino. We didn’t have much props ...

Hey you guys, My group and I have finished the key aspect of our film, our storyboard ! Below is it explained typed out and there is an attachment with visual drawings.  Minute 1 (Marked with pink)  -Pan of a dirty house filled with bottles and trash -Ash walks in stumbling with a drink in hand yelling at anna -Anna turns away from ash screaming that she’s done  -Ash walks closer to Anna, trying to convince her to change her mind -Anna stands her ground and screams at Ash to get out  -Ash continues to try to get Anna to let him stay, making empty promises.  -Anna picks up trash and Ash’s things throwing them at him -Ash gets more angry begging Anna to let him stay -Ash gets a glimpse of a red letter and decides to just leave -Ash storms out leaving Anna stressed  Minute 2 (marked with yellow) -Ash walks out the door and sits on the front porch -Looking at the letter ash realizes who it’s from and begins making his way to a nearby alley way  -In the all...

  Hey guys, for this blog I'll be discussing are plans for the final task. More specifically the schedule, location, health and safety, equipment, and possible participants. It'll be listed and then explained in a following paragraph.   SCHEDULE: -Shooting: DEC 13-15, 17-18, 22-23, JAN 4-6, 10-11, 17-19  Back-up: DEC 22-23 JAN 10-14, 17-20 -Editing: week after shooting is done or during if we’re pressed on time (January 21 through the 28)      We plan to shoot in most of December starting our midterm week, from there we will try and film in intervals of about two days leading into January. We have some days that are marked for both initial shooting and back-up which will be mainly used as a review day to reshoot old scenes or follow into the next scenes. LOCATION: -Angel’s House -Anya’s House  -Danniella’s House (possibility) -Outside Park (possibility) -Office (possibility) We plan on having our houses and only two easily accessible public spaces...

S hort film description:      When a Chinese-American mother and her children come upon a seemingly abandoned little girl, their attempts to help have unforeseen consequences. Sound:     As common in the drama genre, dialogue is incredibly prevalent throughout this short. The whole story is told through the voice, but what this short does differently is the use of different languages and dialects. When the little girl is found, all she speaks is Chinese. In her repetition of the little girl's words, the mom only becomes more and more confused. The way the mom speaks to the police officers versus towards the mom of the little girl shows the fear and misunderstanding of the situation. Moreover, the way the man talks to the daughter when they're in the car, his condescending tone shows the rude and racist intent in his words. The words themselves hurt as well, with him saying "Ni-Hao" to the daughter, but the tone of voice is what really makes it hurt, to...

  Short film description:      Francis is a troubled teenager who manipulates his family in odd, uncomfortable ways. Sound:     The use of dialogue in this film helps immensely with the story. The main character's inflection changes as he repeats what he's going to say. Hearing these phrases before the viewer sees what they relate to create foreshadowing of future events. When speaking to him, both parents make sure to be very cautious of how they talk to him, showing the power dynamic and just how much control the main character has over the parents. When Frances is talking to and about the dad, he is very condescending and believes himself to be better than him, relating especially when it is revealed that the dad is Frances's soon-to-be stepdad. As soon as Frances doesn't get his way, he starts getting angry and begins yelling very quickly, changing the subject to make things go his way. Otherwise, Francis barely shows any emotion in his voice, unless tr...

  S hort film description:     A sticky, intimate bond between mother and daughter becomes threatened when the mother helps her teenage daughter throw a party to impress new, popular friends. Sound: In the dialogue, there is no difference in how the mother and daughter speak to each other, speaking more like friends than mother and daughter. However, when the party starts, the mom begins interjecting herself into the daughter's conversations, teaching her how to take a jello shot and encouraging her to come into the pool. The added sound contributes to the setting, with dance music that helps bring the idea of it being a party altogether. This is made apparent when there is no dialogue and the daughter is just dancing, where all that can be heard is the music she's dancing to. There is no dialogue that needs to be understood or listened to, more so the viewer can focus on the daughter's awkward movements and how she feels in that moment. Mis-en-scene: The opening scenes w...

  Sound: The sound plays a big role when creating the setting. It helps us to picture the outside environment which is where the film takes place. The dialogue also drives the story forward because it reveals the plot of the story. It helps to explain why the characters are there in the first place and the events that take place between them. They don't use any major editing sounds or techniques. Besides the diegetic and non-diegetic sound taking place in scenes there isn't any other major implications that the sound adds.  Mis-En-Scene: The mis-en-scene for this film was a very well done. Although the actors aren't very well known in America they did play their characters well. They were able to portray the life of a modern family and it helped with the film. The props were also very well done and worked very closely with the costumes. They were dressed for camping in a northern part with slightly heavy winds. The set was very well made with leaves and trees in the area. T...

He y guys, making a short film starts with writing. To have a successful short film you must know how to structure it exactly how you want it. You have to analyze key details in our story figure out what your story is once you do that then it leads to theme and the film will be a piece of cake. Next is gear, while picking out gear think about how you want your audience to feel. If you have very limited resources to filming be precise! Think about animation when making a short film it makes the production much more interesting although it is not needed in most cases. Set the tone for your film and put it into every aspect of your film, that's including the  location, wardrobe characters and every camera angle/movement. Without the tone being in place your film looks all over the place and loses its confidence. Casting also plays a major role in your film. If your actors aren't going into depth as you would like it'll make it really hard for you to sell your theme/ film and a...