Emma's Blog

Summary

I started out my mapping out what I did for 24 hours each day and collecting data. I then organized this into 5 categories to put the data in my pie chart. After this, I went into Adobe Color to create a color palette for my documentary and pie chart. I then went into 1001 fonts in order to download a font I wanted to use for my pie chart. After all of this, I created a script for my documentary, recorded my audio, and uploaded it the computer. For my video, I used screenshots of my pie chart with different sections greyed out depending on what I am talking about and edited them together in Premier Pro. I downloaded an audio from open verse and placed it in Premier Pro for background music.

Font

Color Palette

Pie Chart

Script

Hi! I’m Emma and I recorded 24 hours of a Day in My Life. To start off my day, I wake up at 7 am, get ready and go to school. This takes me around an hour each day to begin my morning. Most of my day is spent at school as it consists of around 6 hours. This includes the time I spend driving both there and back, as well as the 5 minute passing periods and 10 minute break. School also includes lunch. Eating and making food takes up around 2 hours of my day. Breakfast and making lunch in the morning encompasses 30 minutes every morning, followed by a 30 minute lunch break at school, and an hour dinner every night with my family. After school, my day consists of around 5 and a half hours of extracurriculars and activities. Following the end of school, I had a National Honors Society Induction Ceremony which lasted around 30 minutes. Directly after this, I went to powderpuff practice which was around 2 hours long. After arriving home, I worked out for about an hour and then ate a snack while watching some television for another hour. At 7:30 pm, I leave to go pick up my sister from gymnastics which takes me another hour before I eat dinner. After dinner, I begin to get ready for bed which includes showering, brushing my teeth, washing my face, and other things. In total, throughout my day, I spend about 2 and a half hours getting ready for various things. I then spend the rest of the night on social media, or watching television for about 30 minutes. I typically go to bed at around 11 meaning I usually get 8 hours of sleep every night taking up the majority of my day. Following this study of my average day, I was surprised to see how much time throughout my day school took up. I was also surprised that I a lot of my time also consists of extra activities or being active that I only spend around an hour watching television or scrolling on my phone, which is weird because I love texting people. Anyways! There’s 24 hours in the life of Emma Rose, thank you for watching!

Audio Editing

Storyboard

Video Editing

The Documentary

Link to Documentary

What I Learned and Problems I Solved

Over the course of this production and documentary cycle, I learned and became familiar with the tools of Adobe Illustrator as well as further expanded my knowledge on Premier Pro. Additionally, I also learned how to create a color palette for my film using Adobe Color as well as download a font from 1001 fonts to upload into Adobe Illustrator. Through Adobe Illustrator, I learned how to make a pie chart in order to represent my data. On Premier Pro, I attempted to learn how to duck the music under my audio, however, I experienced some problems as I struggled with figuring out how to pull up the side bar in order to follow the tutorial. Therefore, instead I learned how to the audio gain of my music to -20 decibels in order to put it in the background of my audio.

Summary

In post-production, I collaborated with the screenwriter and the editor in discussing the difference in lighting and possible filters to help add to the atmosphere of the film during the time of graduation.

Evidence of Further Contribution

Continued contribution with director: Air-dropped additional clips to the editor to sort through and work with the editor on deciding which clips they were going to use/what shots they would need re-filmed or added.

Continued contribution with editor: Realized we were missing a shot that was filmed and got deleted. Had to re-film the shot and send it to the editor in a timely manner to maintain progress towards meeting the deadline.

This is also represents an example of a reshoot. We realized in the editing process that we needed to add a zoom shot to help transition to the diploma as without the shot the cut was very sharp. In this shot, the camera zooms into a pile of homework and papers very close, and then cuts to a zoom out of a high school diploma. We had initially filmed this during the production session of creating the film, however, in editing we noticed that the clip was deleted and we therefore had to reshoot it.

How I Could Have Improved The Film

I was not here on the day we presented our film to the advisory board and therefore I was unable to receive any feedback from them. Personally, I think I could have improved the film by changing the angle at which I shot the papers. During the post production process we realized that the angle at which I shot the papers was flipped upside down or sideways making it appear very out of place. Therefore, in the film, the different cuts to various shots of papers on the desk was very disorienting and confusing to me personally. In the future, I would choose to speak to the editor every day to ensure that he is doing a quick cut of the clips we shot that day and discuss what shots we would need to shoot to improve the film. This allows me to organize my shots better, as well as see a rough cut of the scene to help me analyze what angles or additional filming we would need to schedule time for.

What I Learned

I was not here on the day we presented our film to the advisory board and therefore I was unable to receive any feedback from them. However, in my own opinion, I feel as thought I could have increased the tension and enhanced the film by going further into this idea of a dream. Instead of focusing mostly on the characters overload of homework, maybe focus more on what they are excited for and dreaming about to really sell to the audience that the character is dreaming without leaving them a little confused. However, I do feel as though the zoom shot to the papers and then out from the diploma worked very well. I also feel as though there was a great contrast between the two close ups of the character as in one she appears very stressed, whereas in her dream it is apparent to the audience that she is relaxed and content.

Session Number:	5
Week Number:	not sure
Total Estimated Hours Contributed this Week:	3.5 hours
What is/was your overall goal for this week?	finished editing film by Wednesday

Work Tasks 

Date	Task Description	Time Spent	Was / Were your choices and work Best Practices? Why?
Monday	worked on production blog post – gathered evidence of alternative shots and camera evidence	40 minutes	Made progress on blog post
Tuesday	worked on production blog post – gathered evidence for slideshow- zoom shot transition	40 minutes	Made progress on blog post
Wednesday	was gone most of the period because of IB testing – finished production blog post	0 minutes	Yes, was able to finish production blog post
Thursday	was gone all period because of IB testing	0 minutes	No because I was gone
Friday	published post production blog post, finished weekly journal	40 minutes	Slightly as I made progress on post-production blog post

Session Number:	5
Week Number:	not sure
Total Estimated Hours Contributed this Week:	3.5 hours
What is/was your overall goal for this week?	finish filming

Work Tasks 

Date	Task Description	Time Spent	Was / Were your choices and work Best Practices? Why?
Monday	worked on blog post	40 minutes	Not exactly as I was slightly distracted with decision day
Tuesday	finished repetitive shots for film, and filmed zoom in to diploma	40 minutes	Yes we made progress on our film
Wednesday	was gone because of IB testing	0 minutes	No, unable to get work done because everyone was gone
Thursday	unable to film because we didn’t have Alice’s cap and gown, worked on weekly journal blog post and	40 minutes	Not as productive as we wanted because we were hoping to finish filming
Friday	filmed the graduation scene	40 minutes	Yes, finished film

Summary

During the production process, I was in charge of recording the shots from the phone and controlling the lighting.

Camera Evidence

Preparation – prepared for shooting by setting up the location within a well lit room, and choosing the best i-Phone for filming with the highest quality.

Camera movement in storyboard showing the transition and zoom into the papers to the cut to the diploma and zooming out.

Different angles for shooting shots of her working, close up shot of her face to show her stressed.

More shot design – close up of her at graduation to show her joy of graduation. Contrasts with the close up from before showing her anxiety.

Shot Choice Justification

Decided to incorporate tracking shots, close-ups, and zoom shots. The tracking shots helped indicate repetition adding the feeling of repetition throughout the days. I chose to use the zoom shot in order to help add to the transition of her working to the diploma with the graduation. Lastly, the close-up emphasized the anxiety that the character was feeling.

Lighting Design

The dark hallway in the back with illumination on her face helps create a more dramatic mood within the film. It also helps add to the genre of Drama by creating a more dramatic lighting through the use of intense lighting.

The lighting during the graduation scene helps add to the atmosphere as it has more warm tones giving a sense of joy and ease within the audience.

Consultation with Editor

Editor and I worked together to decide on the lighting change for the flash-forward to graduation to help represent the futuristic feel of the film.

Alternative Shots

We filmed multiple shots of Alice on her third day with multiple papers. The different shots included different ways of her spreading out her assignments to help represent the overload of work and stress she was dealing with. We ended up choosing the shot of her spreading the papers out instead of the shot of her setting them down because by spreading the paper out, the work load appears more overwhelming.

Camera Work and Lighting Evaluation

I feel as though my camera work was very effective and my best work was the tracking shot and zoom shot. I also feel as though the lighting with the beginning scenes was a good illuminate and the graduation scene appeared as though it was stage lights.

Influences from Films

Kenny Ortega – High School Musical 3, inspiration for the graduation scene

Hoyte van Hoytema – Dunkirk, tracking shot

Demien Shazelle – Magnolia, use of the pan shot

What I Learned and Problems I Solved

We experienced issues with props which set us behind on our production schedule. This helped our team plan and realize we need to communicate about props needed so that we wouldn’t fall more behind. We also lost clips during production and realized that some shots didn’t flow together nicely. Therefore, I also learned to work with the editor on making sure all shots flow nicely together allowing us more time in post-production so that we aren’t rushed. In this production, I had to rush multiple shots to help transition the cuts more smoothly, when instead, I could have had better communication with the editor on what shots additional shots were needed.

Session Number	5
Week Number	5
Total Estimated Hours	4
Goal For This week	Finish pre-production journal, begin filming

Work Tasks

Date	Task Description	Time Spent	Was this a Best Practice?
4/24	Added examples of cinematic story telling techniques and test shots to pre production journal	50 minutes	Yes because it helped me figure out which techniques I was using to raise tension and receive credit for the film
4/25	Published production blog post, created headings, began filming Alice stressed about assignments	50 minutes	Yes because it gave me a head start on my production blog post and we began filming to stay on task
4/26	Began filming shots that will be used for repetition	30 minutes	Yes because we were able to film the shots that needed to be very similar in one day to uphold continuity
4/27	Filmed shots of Alice working	40 minutes	Somewhat, more shots could have been filmed but we did not have the necessary probs
4/28	Film Alice waking up with phone	45 minutes	Yes, we finished the beginning scenes of the film and made more progress

Summary

Throughout the production process, the role of the cinematographer is to control the lighting an increase the tension with various camera angles and movements.

Tracking Shot #72 Film Example: Dunkirk

I plan to use this by tracking Alice when she is walking to the table.

Close-Up Shot #58 Film Example: Sherlock Holmes – A Game of Shadows

I plan to use this by doing a close-up of Alice in a graduation cap. I also plan to incorporate it after Alice realizes it was all a dream.

Pan Shot #68 Film Example: Magnolia

I plan to pan from the phone with the date to Alices face.

Zoom Shot Film Example: Vertigo

Test Shots

Lighting Tests

Equipment Checklist

Phone/Camera

No necessary added light, filming location is in cafeteria which is lit enough to create a good quality shot

Table

Notebooks, paper, pencils for assignments

Diploma

Cap and Gown

Second Phone to be used as a prop

Collaboration with Director

Discussed costuming, and props such as having a table in the scene to portray the characters work space (mine-en scene), location ideas – decided on the cafeteria, as well as any necessary lighting needed with director during the brainstorming process – we didn’t feel any added lighting was needed as the cafeteria is already well lit due to the sky lights.

Set-up Sequence Workflow

1. Set up table in corner of cafeteria
2. Grab phone to record
3. Set up audio with boom stick and mic
4. Ensure phone is focused
5. Begin recording

Map of Each Location

Storyboard Notation

What I Learned

Throughout pre-production my team and I had to brainstorm various ideas and techniques we could use to help raise tension in the film. We struggled to create ideas that would make a film relatable to the audience. However, through talking about what we were experiencing as seniors, we eventually settled on the feeling of “senioritis.”

Session Number	5
Week Number	5
Total Estimated Hours	4
Goal For This week	Finish pre-production journal

Work Tasks

Date	Task Description	Time Spent	Was this a Best Practice?
4/17	Published pre-production journal, created headings, began summary section	50 minutes	X
4/18	Chose cinematic story element techniques from Jennifer Van-Sijill packet	50 minutes	X
4/19	Created storyboard and made notations, mapped out filming location	30 minutes	X
4/20	Finished the what I learned section and workflow for shooting scenes section of blog post	40 minutes	X
4/20	Added in test shots and lighting tests as well as updated equipment check list in blog post	45 minutes	X

Session Number
Week Number
Total Estimated Hours
Goal For This week

Work Tasks

Date	Task Description	Time Spent	Was this a Best Practice?
4/10	Touched up film portfolio	50 minutes	X
4/11	Worked on CS	50 minutes	X
4/12	Worked on CS	30 minutes	X
4/13	Worked on CS	40 minutes	X
4/14	Worked on CS	45 minutes	X

Date	Task Description	Time Spent	Was this a Best Practice?
3/27	Helped Sammy finish editing her film	50 minutes	X
3/28	Finished helping Sammy	50 minutes	X
3/29	Began editing and completed 9 minute film reel	30 minutes	X
3/30	Touched up film reel and worked on write up	40 minutes	X
3/31	Completed write up	45 minutes	X