We have come to an official end.

 Well Emeralds, it is time. Today is the last day of production and I just want to express my appreciation towards your patience. Let us do a quick summary of that happened and everything I completed. 

For starters, I picked a genre and pitch. Doing this hand and hand really helped me visualize my idea into real life. I gathered a team and I made it work.

Secondly, I organized a schedule and script that outlined what will happen on certain days. I needed this to stay on track and plan ahead.

I got lucky with the backup filming days as many dropped out last minute. I had to find a new cast, location, and conduct further research on how to pull this all together.

In the middle, I switched to a professional camera. To me it shows quality footage for the scene advancement. 

Honestly towards the middle I got really frustrated. I had to alter my scripts that fit my casts' personality. I needed it to look natural and not forced like the cringy short films. I am not a creative person at heart but I still try. 

Towards the end, I started to really pull everything together. It made me realize that I don't need a huge team to do this. I can be my own director and produce my version of media.

In the end, I got everything secured. Cast, location, and camera all worked hand and hand to create what I all the perfect final task. In all, my best production of media that I am confident you all will enjoy. 

Well that is all for now! Stay tuned for the post of my final task. Sending my Emeralds all my love. Remember to stay Royal green!

Above is fish working together in unity to protect their artificial habitat. They feel safe as there are no predators around, however, they understand the circle of life like all species. This is the beauty in life.

Life from the audience

 Hello Emeralds! Now you all know that I would not dare publish an "decent" film.  I made promises to you all that this would be better than AS level's presentation. I want to make my Emeralds, along with my teacher proud. I gathered the completed film from my assigned team member. Then I allowed only one person to watch.

When choosing the person, I had certain standards. The person needed to be a film nerd, watched media often, and can give constructed criticism.

Surprisingly, I chose my cousin. I always analyze films with her and point out all techniques that the directors may have used. 

After listening to all the notes, I contacted my team. I need them to understand that all their hard work has been studied by another person other than myself. All I needed to do is tell my team member fix a few editing  techniques then everything will be completed. I feel so relieved. After the process of you all reading my struggles, it is a beauty for everything to turn out perfect. Maybe all those challenges were simply used to lead me to success. Now one of my final tasks left were to make sure those errors got fixed. Finally, the filming and editing is complete. Before I submit, I need to figure out my last step to completion.

Well that is all for now. Remember to stay Royal Green!

Let us edit away

 Hello Emeralds! I am pleased to tell you that filming is complete. Now I want to walk you all through the editing process.

To begin, I want to inform you all on the apps I used. After using my dad's camera, along with the cinematic mode on my phone, I had trouble transferring the data. I asked my teammate to do that. To be a good team member, I also edited the video. Please understand that I did the basics. I assigned my team to do the major editing. It is only fair since I had to do all the filming and figure out the plans for myself.

Secondly, I used iMovie, CapCut, and Canva to do my set task. All I had to do was enter in the scenes. Also, input clean transitions that set the flow smoothly. 

I will admit, Capcut's update has been severe. This was due to its temporary ban by the Federal government. In response to that, I noticed that they changed the features. This just made me take more time into editing. Luckily, Canva already had templates and suggested which transitions to do first. Other than that, I gave myself a break. I just need my team's assistance more. 

Well that is all for now. Remember to stay Royal Green!

Let's try again..

 Hello Emeralds! Based on my previous blog, you all can tell my struggles. So far I have my Individual scenes complete. All that is left is the group scenes. Since some of my cast backed out, my cousin saved the day. 

For starters, I sent everyone a text to meet at the local park. Of course, I got permission from the park workers to film. I cannot afford any mishaps. Time is crunching.

I get there and took attendance of those who agreed to come. Then I used my dad's camera to film the scenery. This was just to see the point of view of the audience. Everyone had their scripts the night prior and everything was settled. 

Finally, the group scenes went well and I had everyone on business. I felt like a manager in the moment. As promised to the parents, I bought food. I served Publix chicken and bread. The group scenes were finally completed and my stress was relived. Next blog is my review from my partner. Then I will do final filming.

Well that is all for now. Remember to stay Royal Green!

A sudden switch

 Hello Emeralds! I am assuming you have all read the last blog and seen my struggles. After I let everyone know the new rules, I decided to do things differently. I filmed the lead characters seen first. The scenes where they come up with a separate plan to betray the friend group. Honestly, doing this first was so much easier. I did not have to correct every mistake of casts. I solely maintained my focus on two lead characters. That was a better concept, wish I thought of it earlier. 

Already, two of my cast members quit. It was stated that they had other extracurricular activities that had to be done. I respected it. Last minute, I called my cousins to fill in. In the final production blog, I will list the participating cast members names. I do not want to be in it for many reason. The main reason is, I just find it tacky to be the director and be in the film at the same time. My challenges will show through the acting. Like I promised myself, this has to go perfect. Thankfully, I have backup plans for sudden drop outs like this. I believe for the next recording, I won't cast close friends I associate with everyday. It is just too much of a personal barrier. 

Well that is all for now. I have plans to finish filming by the end of March. I will continue to update my Emeralds on this length process to perfection. Remember to stay Royal Green!

This picture is from Northern Florida. The team and I are shocked on how much more beauty it contains. Sad to say, but I see my future Media projects there.

Field trip production?

 

Hello emeralds! Now that the first couple scenes of the main characters are done, I switched focus. In school we had a field trip. The destination was Busch Gardens located in Tampa, FL. I did a quick overview and noticed some of my cast members were in attendance. This works out great for me!

So here was the plan. In the line, I was simply going to record interactions between a small friend group. Keep in mind the main characters are not there. That means I needed short clips of the friend group just speaking casually about their excitement.

I attempted this three times. First ride was cancelled right upon entering. Second ride had a 105 min wait with too much chatter to focus. Third ride was interrupted by the giraffes’ curiosity about my cart. 

Although this was not a scheduled film day, it would’ve been nice to have extra scenes. What matters is that I tried and out effort. The final scheduled days is the following week from today. I’m exactly sure that this will all go well. 

That is all for now. Remember to stay Royal Green!

Below is a picture of the giraffe approaching the cart. 

All a big misunderstanding

 Hello Emeralds! You will not believe what occurred in today's production. One of my cast members broke their Tibia during an afterschool sports activity. I am not sure whether or not I want to include them in the rest of the scenes. I have a feeling it will confuse my audience when they see a scene of my cast perfectly fine, then followed by another scene with crutches. Even with crutches, it is hard for them to have mobility. Their parents stated to me that it will be some days where the cast member simply cannot make it. I have been feeling down all day as I feel like the past three days have been a total lost.

In a state of frustration, I just went to the park alone to think of a new strategy. I consider two options. Option one, continue filming without that cast member. Or replace them a refilm the scene. Honestly, I just cried to let my emotions out. Is this what director's go through? Maybe I will just stick to writing scripts. Tomorrow, I have a plan. I can't afford any more mistakes and I will be more stern. I warned all my cast that everyone is on their last strike and will be cut. Time is crunching and I still need to edit. 

Well that is all for now. Remember to stay Royal Green!.

A new approach to production

 Hello my Emeralds! One of my cast suggested that I film with both  Apple iPhone and camera. I put my phone on cineamtic mode and had my team take over the camera. Once again, I shot the group scenes over again. I know that I have time to film the antagonist scene later. This was properly managed with my upkeeping schedule. 

To meet at the local park, I advised my team to just tell the park ranger my reasoning for using the community space. I was honest and advised them about my project. Surprisingly, they let my team in for free and transportation was handled in my care. 

To feed after the first five scenes were done, I paid for everyone to eat Ihop as brunch. I made sure everyone was well and fulfilled my safety contract agreement. 

In addition to the food, my worst nightmare came true. It started raining and I paused everything. I went into an area underneath a tent and suggested to film there. This scene is not official but it would be considered during editing. I believe the scenes came out much better with the rain interfering. The setting fit more for the theme, having the rain sense betrayal. The cast was able to focus better and tie into the script more. Truly the rain enhanced my plot and created a sense of urgency for my main character to act on their plan. Well that is all I can tell for now. Remember to stay Royal Green!