Editing Pt.2- Trying To Make This Feel More "Professional"

 Hey guys, it's me again. I kept editing after posting the last video, and I found out some new techniques and ways to work with my video. 

Filter

So, for the filter, I started doing this black and white background that only detected the color red. However, throughout my editing, I started to notice that my image did not have the quality and that kind of richness I see in a lot of movies. I wanted my shots to look more vivid and dramatic, not as flat as it was. Therefore, I started to shake things up a bit.

 From there I went straight to YouTube, looking up for a coloring tutorial for Premiere Pro. I found a video that compared two images: the before and after. I was mesmerized at how richer and splendid the quality of the after was compared to the before. This is the video: 

I found this to be very helpful and clear to understand.

Something I really liked about the video is that the narrator explains the levels that certain lines should be at when controlling highlights, shadows and others. The use of his simple method helped me gain confidence back. He also mentioned ways to make different clips have similar lightings and tints to them, which helped me a lot because I was filming in various corners of my house, some were very light and others had lots of artificial light and shadows. What I wanted my images to look like is kind of a more dramatic, greenish feel. I am slowly achieving that. The tutorial consists of more complex aspects later on, and I honestly am struggling a little bit on that part. I believe that I will find a way somehow though.

Sound

Something else I did was that I finally cut my clips the way I needed them, and I figured out how to lower the volume of the videos. I mostly muted the clips all the way, because there was a lot of chaos happening behind the scenes. Something I am considering is remaking those sounds, like how I was able to on a sound project I did a little bit ago. I don't want everything to have a sound, but I think having the audience hear the sink, or a scream, might make my piece more real and intriguing, as well as making it an easier context to understand.

 After taking off the sound, I added my free copyright music. I chose "My Sweetie Went Away", because the lyrics were just on point for my storyline. I know you, reading this, are curious to know what the lyrics are, so there you go : 

I've got a lovesick tale to tell to you
Though it ain't no fail of mine
It's about a gal named sue
And a boy named lou
They were fightin' all the time
Sue came home one afternoon
And found an empty dining room
Without a word
A turtledove had flown
Sue began to moan
? My sweetie went away
But he didn't say where
He didn't say when
He didn't say why
Without biddin' me goodbye
Oh I'm blue as I can be
I know he loves another one
But he didn't say who
He didn't say when
He didn't say what
His momma has got
That took my sweetie from me
I'm like a little lost sheep
And I can't sleep
But I keep tryin' to forget
My travelin' poppa, he left his momma all alone
I groan
My sweetie went away but he didn't say where
He didn't say when
He didn't say why
I know I'll die
Why don't he hurry on home?

There's a really nice potential that I saw in these lyrics. Even though it is about a woman talking about her struggling relationship and how she's sad that her husband went away, when it is put together with my story, it creates an interesting meaning. Basically, it's feels as if she was supposed to be sad that he went away, but it's the opposite. On the song, the woman complains about him leaving her; on the story, she makes it happen. 

Conclusions

My recent progress was basically what I have described, which, talking about it seems like nothing, but TRUST ME, it took SOME time. Also, I don't have so many other things to edit, so I don't think I have to worry so much about finishing it up quickly.

Oh, and my free trial on Premiere Pro ended, which is sad. I have to pay for it now :( 

Me, crying over money

By the way, I have this urge to tell the world about something that bothered me a lot, which is the fact that I USED A PAN TO KILL A PERSON on the story. A PAN!!! Like, for absolutely no reason. I could completely JUST have used a KITCHEN KNIFE. It would have been so much better, but for some reason I only realized that after I had already filmed everything.

I am going to do a lot of progress next week. Stay tuned for more :)

Editing process (Day 17)

I started editing my clips on Friday, and that was quite different compared to the things I do.

I was going to use iMovie, but I decided I just had to have something better for this piece. 

I remember using Adobe Premiere Pro before on Middle School, but I couldn't  remember how to do things. It came across my head how that was a really good program that has a vast list of things you could do, so I went with that one.

Since I did not have the application downloaded, I signed up for a demo, which is more than enough. 

I transferred all of the videos from my camera to my computer. There were a total of 49 files of the scenes.

I opened Adobe Premiere Pro, and I started to import the clips into the project. I started cutting out unnecessary parts from the videos, and putting them in the order of the storyboard. I also filmed some extra shots that seemed interesting. 

This is how my screen is looking right now.

Afterwards, I started looking for a song to use. It was really sad to not be able to put the song I really wanted, "Tonight You Belong To Me" by Patience and Prudence (it was copyrighted). I went to chosic.com to look for free copyright music. I put an "Old" filter and started looking for potential songs I could use. This was a very important part, because my piece does not consist of any dialogue, therefore the elements of focus were the body language, colors and music on the video.

I found two potential songs from there, one called "My Pillow And Me", and the other one "My Sweetie Went Away". I like both of them, but the name of the second one seems more on track with the storyline.

This is the song I am focused on right now.

After finding the song, I started having a little fun, trying to imagine how everything would look like after it was done, and starting on the filter. I wanted to do a black and white filter that only detected the color red, or that at least made everything else muted. I fortunately was able to do it! I am not the best at it, but I certainly am getting better and better. 

I am putting this here so that it's easier for me to find it! This is the tutorial that helped me create the effect I wanted!

Sadly, my computer decided to update randomly when I went to get some water. I lost all of my progress and I am starting over. I have all of the clips together, and I am cutting them now. I do believe though, that it's going to take less time to get to where I was. I will keep you guys updated on my next post!

What's Next?

For the next days, I am going to try and finish up at least most of my opening. I want to have time to do the project reflection next week. Right now, I will keep working on it as most as I can to try and get this done. Also, next week is my birthday and I am a bit busy, so I have to get going!

Filming Day (Day 16)

 Filming day was on Wednesday, March 17th.

Figurine

I took advantage of my school privilege to start working on the costumes and production early.

Hair

I started at 1:20pm by doing my hair. I curled all of it with a curling iron, and pinned them with bobby pins. I used a lot of hairspray so I could get a strong hold that would last for the whole filming time.

These are the materials I used for Marylin's hair.

This is me starting out on the hair at 1:20pm

This is my hair pinned up; I was on the finishing process of curling it. Afterwards, I brushed out the curls and used hairspray and gel with pins to create the actual hairstyle. This process alone took me 3 hours.

               

This is the before of me trying to                      This is me, fully done. My hair finally

do a 50s hairstyle but failing                               looked acceptable.

Makeup

My makeup consisted of eyebrow pencils, light concealer, cat eyeliner with light brown eyeshadows and a red, bold lipstick. I also had a spot on my cheek, and I reinforced its appearance using a brown eye pencil. It ended up looking great!

                                       

This is a clearer picture of the makeup. I took a screenshot from the actual footage taken later that day.

Clothes (You Already Know About This One)

I put the red dress on, black high heels and I was ready!

For the husband, I told the actor to bring a suit and have his hair damp. He has curly hair, so I figured having his hair wet would give it a gel appearance.

Afterwards, we drove to my friend's house to get the vinyl for a scene. They gave us the most neutral disc they had.

We got back into my house, set up the camera on the tripod and started filming according to the storyboard. some of the things on it were changed, because I figured they would be unrealistic to produce in real life. I had to adapt with what I had. 

Conclusions

I don't think it is necessary for me to walk through every step of filming because I have mentioned that over and over in the past. I will say that this experience was incredible, and that the feeling of producing something and making something that came up in my head come to life is amazing. I felt like I was accomplishing something. I also loved the aesthetic and atmosphere created with the lighting on most shots. The fake blood scenes were also very fun and messy to make. I had to explain to my parents what and why I was doing that. I loved creating scenes that also showed Marylin's twisted perspective. It gave me chills. Overall, the production process was very challenging but very thrilling. I look forward to learn more and become better at this. 

Making Fake Blood (Day 15)

 Hi! Today I was supposed to film, but I wasn't feeling too well. I was very exhausted and I had an eye infection that hurt a lot, like, every time I moved my eyes I wanted to cry.

HOWEVER, I was actually able to do something useful later on.

I made some fake blood, and I even filmed it.

I thought it would be better to just make a video about it then take 1000 pictures explaining the process.

Here it is! Enjoy:

Getting Back On Track (Day 14)

 Hi! I have great news I want to share... the dress is finally here!

Now I have all of the elements I need to film my video!

Here is a picture of the dress:

         I really liked the way it looks, and it definitely fits like a fifties' dress would. It also comes with a waist band to give the body a more hourglass figure. I am super excited to start filming!

        I decided that the best day to film would be Sunday, because I have family plans on the other days. I will have the whole day to film. I also have thought before of filming on multiple days, but the problem with that is that the hair and makeup I will have to do for the characters are going to take a long time, and I might not be able to make them look the same twice. I want to avoid making my viewers confused by that type of inconvenience, so one day of filming it is. 

        Also, I have never really gone in detail about the products I am going to use for the characters' looks. So in this post, I am doing that.

Post-Production Planning (Day 13)

 Because I cannot think of any other way of going further on before filming preparation, I will elaborate on what I am going to do afterwards.

After the video is filmed on Saturday, I will begin the editing process.

First I have to transfer the clips from my camera to my computer, and from there, download an editing software.

I want to look into different editing softwares, and find one that can be affordable. I am only familiar with Adobe Premiere, so it might be the one I will download. I can also ask for a friend's Adobe Premiere account so I don't have to spend money. If everything goes wrong, I can just use iMovie. iMovie is very simple but you can certainly do a nice job if you know how to use it.

I will then look into the different clips and cut the things I don't need, make readjustments, etc. 

I will also look into putting on a filter I've been thinking of for this project; which is a black and white filter that only detects red variations. I have watched a few videos n how to do that but I will only know once I am really at that stage.

Another thing that helps is that I still have a lot of time to edit after I film, so if I have any difficulties in achieving what I want, I will have plenty of time to figure it out.

I am adding music to my video, and I think that will be the biggest challenge. I know plenty of songs that would fit nicely with my film's mood, but I don't think I can use any song. I have to check the copyrights to know if I can use them. I tried to earlier, but all that copyright topic can be a bit confusing. 

In summary, the editing I will do will include music, a filter, cutting scenes, zoom-ins, cropping, etc.

I will keep you guys updated in my editing process throughout the journey.

Change of Plans (Day 12)

 I finally got an answer from the dress owner, and unfortunately I will not have access to it. I ended up buying my own dress on Amazon. It’s arriving on Monday, which means that I might film next Saturday. It’s red and flowy, and something I get to do now is not worry about getting the dress dirty. 

 For the husband’s look, I will style his hair using gel and a comb to give it a “pushed back” look. I might countour the actor’s face to make him look older. His clothes are a tux and some nice shoes.

  I have decided that I will be acting as Marylin. I am using a hair curler, gel, bobby pins and lots of hairspray to achieve the fifties’ look. I will wear a red dress and black shoes, red lipstick and cat eyeliner.

Gathering Elements for Filming Day (Day 11)

 Hello! I am back! 

 Today was very challenging for me. I kept thinking about what I should write for today's post for a long time. Honestly, I feel a little bit stuck.

So, there are some things for my video production that I needed from others. This includes the tux for the husband character, the dress for Marylin and a vynil. I really want these in scene because they help create that historical atmosphere. 

Historically accurate elements

    I asked my friends, and I am going to be able to have access to the tux. My other friend who owns the vinyl isn't in town but can still figure out a way for me to get it. The only thing I am still waiting on for a response is the dress. If I end up not getting the access to that dress, then I'll improvise. Thankfully, I already have a plan B. 

    Plan B: I have a party dress that is a bit flowy, the top can be covered with an apron. The image in the right is my "improvisation". 

Once I have pictures of the other elements or have them physically with me, I will update you guys.

Production/Setting

The production elements I do have are a camera, a tripod and my house lights. I might film during the day so that I can have sunlight to my favor. These are the camera and tripod I have:

Filming Times

Saturday:

I am thinking of filming my clip tomorrow, on Saturday (3/5/2021). This is the agenda of times for that day:

- 10:30 am- Go to publix to buy ingredients for fake blood

-  12:00 pm- Have fake blood ready; set up setting.

-  1:00 pm- 2:30pm-  Start receiving actors, getting ready- doing makeup, hair, etc.

-  2:30 pm- 3:00pm- lunch break (I eat lunch a bit later than people from the U.S.)

- 3:00 pm- sunset- filming. 

If I don't get to film tomorrow, that's okay. I can't film on Sunday though because I have an event. I can figure out a day during the week or even next weekend.

I will keep you guys updated! Thank you for reading!