And That's a Wrap!

After five weeks of thinking, researching, planning, and producing, I am finally done with my 2 minute film opening. It came out great and I am actually very proud of myself considering that I did this all on my own and it was really the first time I had to make a video of this caliber, as far as planning and production went. I'll be posting my final project on Sunday, so let's consider that not the due date of my project, but the premier of my film!! I'm  excited to share it.

Now that my opening is finished I can shift all my focus to the creative critical reflection. I have already drafted what I want to say so now all that is left is to piece it together and actually create my director commentary, Wow, can't believe these six weeks are almost over...

The Shoot

As you know I was scheduled to shoot my film opening on Saturday and it went great. Isa and I had agreed to meet and start filming at noon just to make sure we had plenty of time to get everything and finish completely. After both of us running a little late we met up and drove to our shooting location only to realize that the park we were supposed to be filming in was completely closed due to a two day "80's RockFest" concert. I was confused and taken aback by this obstacle yes, but luckily Isa and I were able to think, call some friends, and find an alternate location which was about 20 minutes further but actually ended up being better than my original filming location, so, thanks 80's RockFest!

Sneak peak of one of the shots from Blank Canvas

Once we arrived we got right to work and started filming. I had my storyboard with me and a list of extra shots I wanted to get. As the process moved along, from actually being in the location, I got ideas for new shots so I directed Isa and we filmed those as well. Even Isa contributed to some new shot ideas. I ended up filming in abundance and as I learned from editing yesterday, had a lot more than I needed. Which I mean was the plan. The last thing I wanted was to get home after filming and realize that I was missing vital parts. Actually, this did happen with a small part of my film where Eevie receives a phone call, and while I filmed Isa answering the phone I dont not film her taking the phone out of her pocket. But with some sounds I'm working on making the transition of answering the phone a bit less disjointed. As for the rest of my footage it was just unfortunate because I had some really cool and interesting shots that I would have loved to use, but didn't end up making the cut. Oh well, I can always save them for the extended version, am I right?

Anyway, filming went smoothly and thankfully (seriously, thank GOD) there was no rain like I had previously feared. It was actually pretty sunny and very, very hot. We had fun filming but after a while we were both sweating and had headaches from the heat. But like always, the show must go on, so we pushed through, got the job done, and got out of there. We celebrated after (and tried to un-dehydrate ourselves) with refreshing smoothies and called it a day.


I'm so thankful for Isa for helping me film and star in my opening. She was great and I truly could not have done it without her.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

In my short film opening I will be using a song called Francis' 13th by The Agrarians. I found this song off of freemusicarchive.com and immediately fell in love with it and thought it would be perfect for my film. Actually, all of The Agrarians' songs that i listened to were pretty great. 

Anyway, this song is licensed under a Attribution Noncommerical Share Alike license which essentially gives me permission to use this song in a video as long as it is for noncommercial use and as long as I credit the artist, which I am doing not only in this blog post, but also in my film opening. Here's a bit more detail and information about this license and the permission it provides.