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✌🏻