Editing the film

 Editing is never a fun process. The grueling task is essential, but often painfully long as every frame has to be perfect. When editing our film opening, we knew in order to get the ideal look we needed to buy an overlay that pushed not only a "Miami" feel but also an old school look to our film.
 The creation of the title for our film on the screen was another important aspect that was carefully considered when making the film. We knew that when recording we wanted the title to roll across the screen behind the actor on a skateboard, which would give a vibrant appeal and aesthetic to the film. We used light yellow to title the credits as well as the title in order to push the vibrant appeal of the film that we wanted. The use of light colors was important for creating an uplifting and vibrant look that we so sought after. Overall, the title and the credits were both important pieces of the film opening that we were able to capitalize on through our use of editing.

Picking Audio

Films rely heavily on many elements in order to create the ultimate cinematography experience. Audio is one of the most important elements because it stimulates another part of the watcher's senses, the ears. Imagine watching a horror movie, without the gradual suspenseful buildups that make your skin crawl. Musicality offers a wide variety of impact onto a film that without it, will make a film seem empty. Imagine an action fast-paced movie, but the music is slow. This will make the entire scene feel out of place, and using this train of logic we picked music that would best inhibit our films soul.
    Although our film is not fully completed, we have finished editing and are reviewing music to put over the opener that will give the film the ultimate feel of "punk". The music genre punk is an embodiment of our film because it shows the rebellious nature of not only our film but of skateboarding. With this idea in mind the first artist we temporarily chose thus far, is Lil Peep, a rapper who unfortunately has passed away but embodies the soul of rebellion with his musicality that is just a little bit "off". Although our music is bound to change as we continue to edit and change aspects of our film opening, right now our train of logic is centered on the punk or sub-genre of punk-rap.

Picking an ending for the film

When our film opening was shot, we had two ending in mind and picking a specific ending is a tough process of going back and forth when different members of the group have different ideas about how they want the film to end. One ending campaigned on by a member talks about a car crash scene that filmed, that look aesthetically pleasing and could be plausible. However, other members of my group argue that this scene is useless and does not contribute properly to the plot in the way that we would want it to.

     This has led our group to argue the pros and cons of each ending and discuss which one contributes more to the overall purpose of the film, creating a meaningful emotional opening that leaves the audience with feelings. Our end goal is one that we all agree on, and therefore anything we do has the same end goal, giving our group a purpose in putting together the collection of clips that we have.

weird filming techniques that worked

A big challenge we had creating the film opening, was filming skateboarding. Typically skateboarding is filmed by a person on a skateboard holding a camera. The skill level required in order to do this is however very high and due to that fact, we had to improvise as it is very difficult to hold a camera and move at the speed required without a lot of experience beforehand.


                                                              
This led to us creating new methods to film, most notably sticking the camera out of a car next to the skateboarder. This was a great idea as it allowed us to film high-speed skating in the easiest way possible. Without this idea, our film would have not been able to film skating to the same level that it was able to. The idea of the filming technique was to drive next to the skateboarder, going at the same speed. It, however, enabled the shots to be smooth opposed to shaky.

Picking a title for our film

Picking a film title in a group of four people is never an easy process. Constant debate, and brainstorming is an important aspect of the process of critically thinking in a group. It was no mystery that we wanted our title to represent our entire film, but also be simple in every sense.
   In order to pick the title that we felt best represented our film, each member of our group brainstormed titles until we found one that best represented the aspects of our film in the best manner. A lot of titles were suggested including "The Outlet", "Skate", "SB" until finally a title we all instantly agreed on was picked, "Friction. The title was instantly a hit due to its double meaning, the idea of friction with feet on a skateboard, that anytime a person skateboards would feel. The other meaning is symbolism for the home situation for the character in our film that is abusive, giving us idea of friction at the house.
    We felt that this title fully represented the multiple aspects of the film that we wanted, helping to create a create the tone we initially envisioned a film touching on the harsh topic of abusive family's should have.

Reviewing the footage

In film making, a vital lesson i learned early on, was the importance of over-filming to an extent where you can choose from a variety of footage instead of being forced to pick. When we were filming, this idea was prominent, recording multiple takes of each scene was important for creating a film that we had the ability to pick and chose from the best clips, keeping in mind prominent ideas such as continuity and importance of each shot.
  As we begin editing, specific ideas were kept in mind, such as developing the story with editing techniques that develop meaning and overall contribute to making a story with meaning. We plan on using popular editing techniques such as eye line matches, crosscut editing and cuts to properly edit our film to become cinema quality. Editing will help create meaning in our film and with the use of picking the best clips will help us create the best film opening that we can.

Having fun with our film

 After the day of the shoot, we were luckily enough to get a full tour of CNBC, the amazing television station that produces many famous Soup Operas. This tour helped fuel my love for television, as besides having amazing food, our private tour showed us sets, and control rooms of the news station. Our entire group was extremely lucky to have the opportunity to tour the amazing station and learn about what makes many of the channels run, and how the news works in our modern society. It was a great inside look of a news station, something i had never thought about the inner workings of.
  More than anything, the news station motivated me, showing me the future i could have, if i continued with film. Overall, being able to have insight into a professional news station helped me to have motivation for my future and showed me the wonderful life of film in ways i never imagined.