The project my group had presumed to film was a challenge to say the least. As everyone knows, there is an awful pandemic which has put a restrain on the amount of time we needed to film and the locations we could go to for the project to be completed. My group and I had seemed to find out later that the location we have been planning to use, had been closed. That was just one of the obstacles. We drove for several hours to try to find a new place we could possibly use to film in. It was also difficult to find a date and time which the group could be united and come together to form a well enough, structured film opening project. I still think the entire process was fun but adapting to the several changes was the main obstacles which we seemed to manage pretty well. The rest of the group was very cooperative and did the best that we could have done.
In terms of the critical reflection, there are a few unanswered questions:
1) Rate on a scale of 1-10 how did your group work as a team. Support your rating.
For what we had and what we could only work with, I think we did the best we could and we put in the most amounts of effort that we could have possibly exerted which in my opinion, deserves a 10. We did what we were asked and were able to organize it, do it, and edit it which all the obstacles which were presented to us anyway.
2) Explain how you organized and prepared for the project. What went well and what could have been improved?
Finding a perfect time and day to gather all those who were a part of my group, had to have been the easiest part because the rest was a little complicated. Before all the nonsense with the current pandemic we are all facing, we had difficulty deciding what we wanted to do for our film, where we wanted to base it around, and who was going to do what. Once we discussed it over two class periods, we had it all sorted out and made our plan of how we wanted it to go about. The day we were filming, we figured out the hard way that our selected location had been closed due to the COVID-19 issue. We immediately had to brainstorm places near or places which had the same environment to film our project in so we were able to do what we had planned on doing. Once we then found a place, it was a smoother route from then on. We had our props, we had our scripts, and we adapted to the new location. The planning could have been improved, in the sense that we should have already implemented a plan B in case the first option did not come through but instead we managed to figure it out randomly.
3) What difficulties did you encounter when FILMING? How did you overcome them?
Back to the issue with the main, specific location we had in mind to begin with, the lighting had been something we didn’t have in mind. In the new location, there was much more natural lighting, it was difficult to get into, and it was not good enough for sound. We previously had the perfect setting where there would only be a slight amount of lighting, there would be enough space to create echoes when we spoke, and it was much bigger. But, we ended up adapting to the new property and found out the happy mediums we could work with to get a better production out of the whole thing.
4)What difficulties did you face when EDITING?
Like I mentioned before, I was expecting to get this extra echo when the actors in the group were to be talking in the other location we had. The lighting and the space of the property was not what I had planned for. As a whole, it was going to shape how I edited the film opening and what needed to be added. In order to be a little more realistic and still scary, I chose not to do anything too drastic. I didn’t mess with the lighting or their voices, but I added in all the music and sound effects it was lacking to make it scary enough to fit the genre we had in mind.
5) Discuss how you prepared for the AUDIO of your film?
My camera I used to film with, had a microphone I plugged into the top so the audio coming from the group was clear and loud enough in terms of dialogue. When it came to the extra noises we were lacking, I added in suspenseful noises and sound effects to give it the feel where bad things are going to happen so the audience would be nervous, yet wanting to know why everything happened like it did.
6) If you were to REPEAT THE PROJECT AGAIN, what would you do differently?
I don’t think I would do anything really different. I loved working with my own friends and filming something fun which we each loved working on. It wasn’t hard to film with anyone but the pandemic is the only thing that was not appreciated.
7) ANALYZING THE FINAL PRODUCTION, what aspects are you happy with? What could have been improved?
I am happy with what we did and the final product. We put in our maximum effort, we adapted very well with the circumstances we were faced with, and we still continued with the plan we always had in place for the making of this film opening project. I had a fun time looking through all the footage and things we did just to make this whole thing possible and I couldn’t have done it without the immense amount of help I received from my group. They cooperated with everything and did everything they were needed to do and I could not have produced or edited the project if it weren’t for their support and effort.
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