Finished At Last

    Well, we're finally done with our media studies film opening project! And like I've said before, I was actually quite nervous before starting this because I wasn't sure how we were going to get our "actors" and how we were going to film, not to mention what it was gonna be about! Fortunately, my friend (and now collaborative partner) Daniel and I came up with an idea even before the project was assigned, because we had been told about the class by others beforehand. 

    The idea was simply to create a story that revolved around a teenage love triangle and the challenges that the characters in the story would have to deal with. Our plan was to explore the lives of each of the teen characters, but also to focus on Betty, the girl who was cheated on (aka the main reason for this entire story taking place). Of course, we wanted to include the other characters' perspectives and viewpoints and we did get the chance to do so, but since this wasn't really the medium to do that in depth (since it wasn't a short film, for example), we could only include a brief introduction to all of the characters. But I think, techniques that we used, such as including the voiceover for Betty, helped us convey the ideas and themes that we wanted to even in such a small amount of time. 

    

    Once the film opening was actually assigned to us, we came together with classmates Melanie and Tori to start brainstorming and whatnot. Contrary to what I previously thought, we actually had a lot to work from. In fact, we had so much that from day one we had to cut stuff out, like the character of Inez, who was supposed to be a supporting character and the character who gave Betty the unfortunate news (of James' betrayal). We even at one point considered taking August out of the opening itself, because of the fear of time constraints. Some of us were against this very much because it would take a large part away from the whole love triangle aspect of everything. However, we eventually agreed to include August in the opening and to see if her scenes were too long, only after we filmed. It turned out that we were able to fit August in after all!

    Then, it was time for filming (probably the most chaotic part of all). Planning the filming date and locations was a bit of a struggle, especially trying to coordinate everything with everyone's schedules and their concerns regarding COVID-19 procedures, but I think I can speak for the group when I say that it was actually a success. It was actually quite hot outside (mostly where we filmed) and we weren't necessarily prepared for that, with what the thick clothes most of us wore and Tori's camera not being able to take the heat (literally!). But overall filming was a fun and good experience that I would not mind doing with this group again. Even though Melanie could not make it to the actual filming, we were able to send the footage over to her to begin editing very quickly. 

    The next part, editing, was pretty much Melanie's domain, but of course, we guided her in what we envisioned and told her which clips were good to include. So essentially, while she was working on cutting down our clips we were thinking about and finalizing the transitions, effects, fonts, and music that we were planning to put in our final project. It seems as if our communication skills did us well during that time as the first draft of what she put together turned out great! However cliché it may sound, this was actually a very rewarding experience, seeing this turn from a simple idea to a finished product, and I would gladly do it again, especially with this group. In fact, below is a short clip of part of our film opening. Hope you enjoy!