CCR

 Hello Blog!

Here is my CCR.  My final, last words about this project! What a journey. Thanks for being a part of it. 

Escape CCR

Hannah signing off✌🏻

Final Film!

 Hello Blog!

Here is my film. Hope you enjoy it!

Escape

Hannah signing off✌🏻

Film Reflection 🙌🏻

 Hello Blog!! 

I just finished some final touches to our film and the wait is over, it is done.  Now before I give you the link to my youtube I wanted to reflect on our film...

WOW!

What. A. Journey.

An entire month of research, planning, sketching, and brainstorming ways in which to fully express our feelings and creativity into a film introduction, now called "Escape."  We are super excited and this whole process has been interesting. 

It has been my first year filming ever for projects, grades, etc, and I never used to like editing or filming because it was always super hard for me.  But, now, this project has made me feel super accomplished because I am an amateur filmer compared to my classmates but I put in the work and made this film happen.  Reflecting back on this entire experience I am grateful for the knowledge that I now know, and the growth as a person throughout my AICE Media Studies journey and portfolio project journey.  I have adapted to accepting failure and hardship and I have grown to work with others in a healthy environment.

This film journey has not been easy.  I made many adjustments to my film as we went along.  Many shots did not go according to plan because some did not match the vibe of the film, the location of the shoot, and maybe the overall storyboard was too precise or not enough shots for a two-minute time frame.  Originally, we were going to have the first few shots take place in my car, however, we felt that this was unnecessary once we got to the track and field.  We started taking shots at different angles and realized we did not need the car clips.  As well, we switched up the end of our film.  We were originally going to close the film introduction with a scene with a text message from the main character's mother stating how angry she was that Amelia (the main character) was not home.  However, in a two-minute time frame, this was not possible.  So, we ended on a more relaxed note, yet with a classic introduction style. 

Partnering up with Sabrina for this project was one of the best decisions.  In order to get the precise shots that we got for this film, I needed a partner, and Sabrina and I have worked prior to this project together.  We have really great communication as we text, call, and chat with each other about our opinions and how we feel about the project.  I really appreciated our healthy partnership.  

As a whole, this process has been great.  Not only did we work on this project outside of school, but we also worked on this project in school effectively.  I appreciate our brainstorming and planning process.  I as well appreciate the healthy recording environment.  This film was a lot of fun.  I feel as though we reached our target audience of early teens to late 20s aged persons as well by creating a film that captures the genre of a sports drama. 

Thank you 

Hannah signing off✌🏻

Editing !!!

 Hello Blog!!!

Blog, long time no see.  Since spring break a lot has happened, especially yesterday.  We edited our film! It took a whopping three hours and we used the app iMovie.  iMovie is super easy to use and it is easy to input our videos and have them mesh together.  So let's go through a few things:

Editing took us three hours!! Crazy right?  This is because it is such a meticulous process.  For example, some of our long videos had to be cut down and we edited some of our videos to be jump cuts (in a way). There was one scene with my dad that I wanted to cut so you could see our argument in the kitchen, him throwing a paper on the counter, then him continuing arguing with me.  Instead, we actually had two separate clips that we had to split in order to get the closeup of the paper and then the continuation of the argument.  This was a great, smooth-flowing scene and we are very proud of our editing skills for this.  

Another thing, I bought a song online for 30 dollars.  Yep, you heard it here.  I could not resist.  It is a beautiful song and fits perfectly for our aesthetic in the film.  It is a blues, indie vibe and we could not love it more for this film.  It sets the tone of a dramatic, emotional, and intriguing film.  This is the song by Tre_Houston_Productions

Okay, one struggle that we are having to overcome is the music and how we edit it with the end of the film.  We are still trying to figure out how to lessen the volume of the song in the background towards the end of the film, so it is not an abrupt stop to the music towards the end of the film.  Here is where we need to fix the sound:

As you can tell, the film ends with a low-angle shot and then the name of our film is going to pop up.  It is called "Escape."  This is a moving scene because it shows that all the flashbacks, anger, and frustration felt by the athlete are being taken out on the track.  That is her motivation, and this final moment is when the music cuts and we finally hear for the first time what the surrounding sounds, environment, and breathing sound like.  In order to get this sound, I used a voice memo app on my phone and went outside to get atmospheric sounds, and sighed to the rhythm of the main character Amelia's body moving up and down in the video.  As she has finished her run and come back to reality and the now.  We had to use a voice memo over the actual footage of me breathing because, in the actual video, Sabrina is directing my movements and telling me what to do.  That is why we did a voiceover.  Sabrina said, "Hannah look up and turn to the left."  This was helpful but in the film process, we should have thought better and stayed quiet so only my hearing could be heard and the actual sounds of wind and the track could create atmospheric sounds.  However, our voiceover was pretty spot on.  

Another thing, Our flashback scenes came together great!! We are super excited about it.  By using dark grey/ blue filters on the actual film scenes, it came together great and really portrayed a sense of past tense all while creating a dark tone.  We decided to keep the volume on these flashback films but adjusted the volume to lower.  This is so the music in the back is still heard and the argumentation and sound of throwing books and trophies on the ground are soft and muffled.  It creates a darker mood and is just what we wanted.  I felt that the filter on these scenes really came together perfectly to create mood and time differentiation.  The colors were perfect.  

I also really appreciate my father's (Ryan) acting skills!  He was more serious than me and it helped to keep me on task with his marvelous help, we got these over-the-shoulder shots and images of our faces as we argued.  One little behind the scenes tidbit is that we were originally going to do a simple two-shot of the argumentation scene at the kitchen table, but I could not keep a straight face so Sabrina decided that we should do an over the shoulder shot so when my father did a yelling scene at me, my giggly face did not show... genius! Now, I understand why people use stunt doubles!   

Here is a silly picture I took of Sabrina as she laser focuses on the editing.  #Focused 

Soooo, Blog I am super excited about our movie intro.  Mainly because it has taken a lot of time and effort and I am excited to show the finished product, but also because as an athlete I think the message is really important. 

 I just recently applied for a scholarship at the Univ of Central FL and in that, I had to make a PowerPoint on being a leader/captain of my soccer team.  In this PowerPoint, I mentioned that one of the biggest leadership duties you have is to be there for your teammates.  I spoke about leading a heart and ear to my teammates who come to me about their mental health.  Soccer is their escape, their zen, their place to get away from toxic people and negativity in their life.  It is all that and more for me as well.  This movie intro proves that people do sports for more than a metal, trophy, chip on the shoulder.  It is much more.  It is a healthy "escape."

Thank you always.  

Hannah signing off✌🏻

Confession

 Hello Blog!

I have to admit.  I have been a little laid back with my project this week... any guess why? That is because it is spring break.  It is harder for me to focus due to distractions around me: family, friends, and trips.  I have been gone this past week to Colorado with my family.  I have been shredding up the slopes while some of the time could be used to edit.  However, life happens, things happen, so I am allowing myself this pass.  After today though, I am all hands on deck editing together my film project.  

Here are a few things I am going to focus on:

• Editing together clips through concise transitions
• Finding a blue filter to use over the "flashback" scenes in our film
• Finding an accurate font to use and editing in a correct format the names and titles of those who contributed to this film

I just really hope it all comes together nicely.  I am a little stressed about the editing, but after our class discussion, I am confident that if I need help I can ask my classmates or watch tutorials.  But more importantly, I have the extra help of my partner Sabrina!

Thanks, Blog.  Here is a funny pic of Sabrina and me on shooting day 2. 

Another one 👇🏼

BYEEE 

Hannah signing off✌🏻

Music Again ??

 Hello Blog!!

I need to get going on music.  I am still searching the web for a song but it has been the hardest thing to find.  This is what I need:

• A song that is free
• Copy right free song
• Indie vibe
• Blues vibe
• Has a beat drop or a progression in beat as the song goes along

Once I find a song that fits well with our vibe I need to edit it to match the exact time the beat drops as Amelia starts running.

Here is the scene where she starts running:

Thank you blog!

Hannah signing off✌🏻

Shoot Day 2

 Hello Blog!!

We completed all of our shooting scenes today! How exciting.

After school, Sabrina and I headed over to the track at school and we began filming certain scenes.  They turned out great and I realized during this process that you do not always have to film specifically and according to your storyboard.  When we went through our filming scenes we kind of went along with the motion of the film.  We found more objects to film such as hurdles and we also created more establishing shots of the stadium, bleachers, school name signs.  It was great and the little changes we made we feel are beneficial to our project.  As well, if we film our original scenes and they turn out to not make the exact two-minute mark, then we still have great scenes to incorporate into our film.  The next thing we must do is edit! 

Oh, also, the bugs were crazy while we filmed.  It was a hassle to take shots while sitting or standing still on the track because I was getting mauled by nats.  But in the end, we finished our scenes so it worked.  As well, the bad weather held off until we were done filming so that was a plus! 🤝

Here are some images of Sabrina and I filming. 

Shot of hurdle near the track with school in the background.

Amelia huffing and puffing after her run.

Amelia stretching before her run. 

I know you're excited to see the finished thing.  Soon! 

Hannah signing off✌🏻