Editing (with iMovie)- Day 1

Friends, readers, countrymen, I have begun the editing/post-production process for Unpacking. Admittedly, this was something I was a little terrified of; I don't have much experience with editing. In fact, aside from a fever-dream project in the seventh grade for Civics class, of which I only remember snatches and flashes, and a TikTok video I filmed for this course, I had never edited a video, or anything visually narrative. But I buckled down and started it- and that's the hardest part, right? Right?

To begin with, there were some things I put in place during production to make my life easier during post-production. I organized all my footage (shot on my iPhone 12) on my iCloud Photos account, in two separate albums for the two halves of production- day 1 and days 2/3- and stored everything in labeled folders in my Google Drive, within my Portfolio Project folder. 

Where needed, I also downloaded photos and videos onto either my laptop, or either of my partner's laptops, both of which I sometimes use. However, I tried to stay away from only having a hard copy of my footage on one computer. Not only was I afraid of any kind of malfunction leading to me losing all my hard work from shooting, I also like to be able to work anywhere I am with whatever equipment I have with me. Since my laptop is old, loud, overheats easily, and doesn't fit in my backpack, I tend to be very spotty with what computer I use; I often use school laptops from whatever teacher's classroom I'm in, or my partner's computers. Also, after downloading and labeling all of my day 1 footage in an early attempt at editing, I aborted the process. I tend to take long videos- not moving or cutting the camera feed between takes- because of inexperience, both my own and that of my crew. After trying to edit clips on Premiere Pro, I quickly backed out of the process altogether; here, you can see the thought process and research that led me to iMovie.

Having set myself up for success (hopefully), I began roughly cutting individual takes out of each longer video file using the iCloud Photos tools. This was a really laborious process, and it was easy to miss whether I'd already cut out a particular take. In the future, to make this easier, I want to use an industry-style clapperboard (if I can) to label my footage. I then watched all the different takes for each scene, decided on elements of my favorites, and roughly put them in order on the iMovie timeline. At this point, I was worried about going overtime; I think once I had all the clips uploaded, I was at nearly 5 minutes. But I knew that there was a lot of downtime to be cut out. Still, I think planning each shot more intensely before shooting and following a more organized approach to takes would have reduced the uncertainty I had.

I also ran into another problem at this juncture: the zoom effect I'd intended to use for the very first shot, the Ken Burns effect, wasn't available on iMovie for videos; only photos. It also wasn't available on Premiere Rush for videos. I'll tell you how I got over this after day 2 of editing is up; but- hint- I may have to brave Premiere Pro after all. But I only discovered this (in my opinion, rather serious) defect of Premiere Rush (a shame, I really liked the simplicity of the interface) after day 1, with my future-Clover brain. Let's finish chronicling what I did in editing.

My biggest challenge was the credits. I had to speed up and slow down the pacing of the credits a lot to make sure the timing of the reveals was consistent as the boxes panned; I also had to cut out a lot of transition time. In the future, it would've been helpful to film with a more standardized credit length in mind- and my musician's brain can't help but think I should've used a metronome. I also completely zoomed in and out on a lot of shots, especially those of me and Bia taking out our individual actor credits from the trunk. I did this for two reasons: it made those shots more cohesive with the rest of the credits, and it also prevented an early reveal of credits that weren't supposed to be as in the frame. Although it made it kind of grainy, I think I might try to add a similar grain effect on the rest of the credits to pull it together. 

Day 1 was definitely not the end; after reviewing that first cut with Bia's eyes to help me, I realize there were some rough patches on the transition at the stairs and the walking into the bedroom scene, as well as a real need for a zoom-in on the bedroom scene so that I could successfully pull off the shot/countershot with our earlier footage. Also, there was lots of static on most of the audio recorded in the entryway of my home and the car, because of (respectively) the hard-surface-high-ceiling combination and the running engine before Bia turns it off. I'm definitely excited to continue with Day 2 of editing, and as soon as I'm done, I'll see you on the flip side.

Yours always,

Clover Fields

It's Nice To Have a Friend

 Readers, I can't help but quote Taylor Swift in this post title. Because, as all mathematicians "stand on the shoulders of giants"- and, indeed, does everyone- I couldn't have continued through the development, production, and post-production without my classmates and peers. Namely, a very, very special shout-out to Bia, who I'm sure I've mentioned more than a few times already; but also to my other peers.

During class, one of our activities was a group discussion to provide feedback and discuss our projects with our peers so we could all gain better mutual understandings of where we were in our progress, and any final tweaks that maybe needed some new eyes. Because of delays to my project schedule, namely health concerns that impeded filming as well as my own lax schedule-following, I had not begun the editing process yet. Unfortunately, the final day of class time that's free to be spent in discussion or working independently will not be a time when I'm able to receive class feedback, since I'll be at an urgent emergency doctor's appointment. 

However, I was still able to glean some insight from talking to Bia about the footage out of class and on set, as well as showing two of my classmates in class the tracking shot that led to my production logo. They agreed that the motion of the shot included a nice reveal of my production logo, and the box mechanic with which I'm displaying my credits. However, I said I felt the pacing was uneven and jarring, and they agreed. After I had my first rough cut, I showed Bia. My initial plan had been to do a voice-over of a conversation between Christine and her mother, to hint at some more of the themes present in the movie. We discussed how she could record the voice-over- from close up, or from far away. We also discussed how there were some jarring scene transitions. Although I've since rethought the voice-over conversation- more on that later- her feedback on which scenes I thought should be zoomed was really helpful, and I'll definitely keep it in mind during my editing process as it continues.

Readers, I shall see you very, very soon for a discussion of my first day of editing.

Yours always,

Clover Fields

Sources:

Wikipedia Contributors. (2019, June 4). Standing on the shoulders of giants. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_on_the_shoulders_of_giants

PHOEBE BRIDGERS NEVER EMAILED ME BACK! (Finding royalty-free music)

So, last night, I checked my email one last time for a response from Mr. Darin Harmon, Phoebe Bridgers' representative from Blue Raincoat Music. (I emailed him for copyright information about using Motion Sickness in Unpacking here.) Again, I found none. So, I put on my big boy glasses and searched for an alternative.

At first, I'd considered producing my own music for the Unpacking opening. I quickly discarded that, however. I was pretty specific about the vibe that I wanted, and I knew that not only did I not have time to fully mix and master something, I'd also have to play instruments that I only play adjacent versions of, and do not own. Although it would've been possible for me to borrow an electric guitar and use the drum set in my school's band room, especially since I'm one of two percussion section leaders in my school's band program, I knew that finding a time to record in the band room undisturbed with the busy schedule of spring concert band season would be nearly impossible, let alone time to edit the recording; and, at that, I am fairly mediocre if not clueless at playing the drum set. So, I knew I'd have to find something else.

Through word of mouth in my class, I knew that some of my classmates had found royalty-free music for their own productions through the YouTube Audio Library. Given their impressive audio categorization system (mood, instrument, and length were the first I saw), I was able to quickly find a few playlist options that I could just flick through. I opened up the Electric Guitar playlist first. There was a lot of up-tempo, upbeat rock music, which I'd expected given the common association of the electric guitar with "dad rock" music. But I was looking for something moodier and more intimate; so when I first heard Isolated by Kevin MacLeod, the close tension of the melody's intervals combined with the bass strings of the guitar forming a bit more of a beat and some texture really appealed to me, as did the mellow tone of the main instrument. I also liked how exposed it was; although I wish there was some combination of guitar and drum set to support a development of the main melodic motif, I think the first 10 seconds or so will do just fine as the song Charlie is listening to in the very first shot of Unpacking. However, I'm also not opposed to using it until after the credits.

My next challenge, I think, is going to be figuring out how to download this (safely) from the web. Then, I'll see you in Day 2 of editing as I wrangle with adding and removing audio.

Yours always,

Clover Fields

Sources:

YouTube Audio Library - YouTube. (n.d.). Www.youtube.com. Retrieved March 30, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/@AudioLibraryEN

Macaroon 5 | YouTube Audio Library. (n.d.). Www.youtube.com. Retrieved March 30, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx8ls-Y-Keg&list=PL93uzrz9f1_RBdYVSY9QTSUo4faT6WRRX

Isolated | YouTube Audio Library. (n.d.). Www.youtube.com. Retrieved March 30, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1mtJ4YirEw&list=PL4izmozqWz0EEouurt7hrpHmfOGLKS4JH&index=1

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I figured it out! (Filming Days 2 & 3)

So.. I didn't move during filming.

In my post here, I talked about everything I was doing to prepare to move between my original two filming dates of March 12th and March 19th. However, it turned out- as it often does- that not everything worked out the way I'd expected it to. On March 12th, the first day of filming, I wasn't able to complete all the entryway shots. This was due to a few different reasons. First of all, I hadn't expected the bedroom scene to take so long to film all the shots and angles I wanted, since we also had to rehearse a lot to get to a combination of convincing delivery and good camera movement. Second of all, I hadn't expected how much the physical exertion of filming would demand from my body; I am chronically ill, with chronic fatigue, and by the end of the bedroom scene I could barely walk. Although it's unfortunate, it's also something I should have expected, given that I've lived with my conditions for years. Third of all, the unexpected need for props presented itself in Bia's idea: I could buy cardboard boxes and have Christine and Charlie move them in, and I could also write my credits on those boxes. I really wanted that to be a large part of the transition between the car scene and the bedroom scene, which both felt a bit disjointed at that time, and I was also worried about my time constraints- namely, that the bedroom scene wouldn't be long enough. So, I felt that I couldn't film the entryway scene without those props.

Since I'd expected to move later that week, I began thinking about locations in my new home that would be suitable for filming it. But I didn't have to. Due to other personal events, my family decided to postpone our move until this week, the 31st of March. Unfortunately, there was one more further thing: on March 19th, when I was supposed to have my second day of filming, I had a migraine and was unable to fulfill it. So, over spring break, on Friday- March 24th- I was able to (finally!) have day 2 of filming.

My previous assistant cinematographer, Max, and assistant producer, Ellie, were back in Orlando. But, luckily, I had a third pair of hands on set anyway. Although he's been mentioned a few times on this blog, this marks the first appearance of my partner, Foutch. He mostly helped me out with physical tasks and my personal health- helping me clean out my car, move boxes and such- and set dressing. (He also washes fruit and brings me water. I'm spoiled, I know.) He is one of my assistant cinematographers, and shot about half of the day 2 footage- or what I couldn’t shoot- and I'm very grateful for his help.

The Day 2 Crew: Foutch (left); Clover (middle), me!; Bia (right)

The very first thing we did was make our box props. Before picking up Bia, I went with Foutch to buy boxes from Home Depot. Using this website, I made a list of everyone I was going to credit in my film. It was pretty easy- most of the people were me. I used a Sharpie to write credits in my neatest print handwriting.

We loaded them into my car and we were off. 

We shot a few different types of the credits. At first, I had wanted the credits to be one wide shot of the trunk, like the photo above, cut with close-up tracking shots of each box after it was taken away. I quickly realized, however, that those types of shots weren’t really possible without a stabilizer, and I didn’t want to risk injury or overtiring myself trying to walk backwards smoothly. Eventually, I also realized that the credits looked less busy if only one box was visible at a time. After reviewing my footage, I regret that, but only because the credits feel too long yet I'm finding it difficult to cut them and keep them readable. My final decision was that the only tracking shot of a character carrying away a box would be Bia and I carrying away our individual actor credits, and the rest would be placed in a pile, with some boxes being lifted away to reveal others and handheld camera movement. But I really wanted a transitionary shot between the setting of the car and the setting of the house; although the actual process of moving often feels abrupt out of denial, I wanted the length of the transition to reflect the awkwardness of it. So, we decided on a shot that involved Bia opening the trunk and taking out my production credit that read, "a Clover Fields Media production". This took a LOT of tries to get right. At first, it was just her opening the trunk from the side and me dropping to one knee to get the box's text filling most of the frame. Eventually, however, we decided on a final combination of shot composition, angle, and camera/actor movement: I followed her getting out of the driver's seat of my car with a close-up handheld tracking shot, and kept the shots relatively tight and angled so that the boxes- specifically the box she was holding- was only visible at the last second. I think it added a pretty cool cinematographic effect, and I was really proud of the shot, but it took a long time to film- maybe a half hour for about 5 seconds or less of footage. Still, by then, we were definitely grateful to go inside. However, upon getting inside, it immediately became clear that I wasn't up to filming more, so we agreed to meet again the next day. 

That Saturday, again with Foutch and Bia, we filmed the door scene and the stairs scenes that bracket the bedroom scene in my opening. We used a combination of Bia's tripod and Foutch holding my phone. I wasn't able to get as wide of a shot as I would have liked for the door scene, however, because of the placement of the stairs. But, of all the days of filming, Saturday was definitely the shortest, and the shots were the least involved, as well as the least changed from how I originally imagined them.

And, with that, I end my chronicle of production. There's more to come on post-production, and how I fixed what mistakes I felt I made during the photography process. But- what is it those in the biz say? That's a wrap?

Yours always,

Clover Fields

Sources:

. (n.d.). Www.evercast.us. https://www.evercast.us/blog/film-credits

Planning (definitively) my CCR

After some discussion with my instructor again, I've decided on the format of my two CCR productions: an interview for questions 1 and 2, and a slideshow with voice-over commentary for questions 3 and 4. 

On my initial post about my CCR (here), I expressed my interest in doing a podcast format for questions 3 and 4. However, I felt that visuals would aid the engagement level of answering questions 3 and 4, since I could include stills from behind the scenes of production, screen captures of my previous projects, and screen captures of resources like Google Drive, which I used extensively, as well as other screen captures of technological resources. So, a voice-over slideshow presentation seems like a good fit. It's also going to be relatively quick and easy for me to gather screen captures and put them into a presentation, since we're nearly at the finish line of completion and time is of the essence.

However, my first CCR (for questions 1 and 2) will take a little longer to set up. Most of the planning process of the interview's production took place in my head, but here is what I've decided: I'll script it today, and then we can record the conversation. (I am happy I won't have to produce a full advertising package for my film opening.) I borrowed a tripod from my instructor to facilitate the actual production.

Now that I'm right down into the middle of the editing process for Unpacking, I'm also a little concerned about how long this CCR is going to take to edit. So, I'm going to use a notepad at the beginning of every take to label it, and I'm also going to make sure my partner and I record with sufficient pause between each conversational unit so that I can edit it. Hopefully, his experience with public speaking and my familiarity with my own speech patterns will make scripting, rehearsing, and performing faster.

We're almost there. I'll see you again after scripting- and then for production and editing.

Tired, but still yours always,

Clover Fields

Designing & casting Charlie & Christine

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose/ By any other name would smell as sweet."

- William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

I decided to cast myself as the main actor for Charlie, the main character of my film, in no small part because I was the direct inspiration for their character (and thus understood a lot of the complex emotions I was looking to portray in my production) but also because I knew there weren't many of my peers that I could cast. I wanted Charlie to have the appearance of someone who a parent wouldn't sneeze at having their daughter share a bedroom with or a sleepover or even a too-close friendship; therefore, Charlie had to have a partially feminine appearance & gender presentation. Christine, I knew, could be played by Bia/Beatriz, my classmate and friend. Not only would she understand the importance of filming dates, she could also help plan and review shots if I needed another eye with me. 

When I was formulating Charlie's costume design, I had a few things in mind. I knew that I didn't want it to look too put together or "done"; more rushed, and a bit sloppy, as though they hadn't been able to do laundry but didn't have many other clothes. Visually, I wanted to keep most of my production neutral and a bit cool-toned, but I did want their main top to stand out a bit. Finally, I knew that one of my major challenges during principal photography was that I might move, and with zero budget, I knew I had to pick clothes I owned which were appropriate and comfortable for shooting, but also wouldn't be likely to actually be so dirty they were unable to be worn at a moment's notice.

With all these issues in mind, I picked an outfit that I actually did wear quite a bit during the highly transitional phase of my life: a hoodie, baggy jeans, and plain socks. 

I also wanted Christine to have a bright "good girl" aesthetic, but I wanted the overall tone of the film to feel kind of gloomy and jaded, as so many adolescent films do. Without too much work in post-production to create that muted vibe, I told Bia to stick to something she could rewear at a moment's notice, in tones of mostly gray and white. 

 

 

So, with all the logistics of our outfits in mind, I wanted to talk about the character choices that drove these costume choices a little bit more. I wanted a contrast between the states of being that Charlie and Christine found themselves in. I really liked Bia's initial choice of outfit because it was simple without being boring- the triple necklace, grommet belt, and the ripped black jeans juxtaposed with the sweet white cardigan all spoke to the conflicts that I wanted to explore in Christine's character- and would, given the rest of the film to unpack all my thoughts about the highly personal story that inspired Unpacking (hehe, get it?). Many teens find themselves stuck between who their parents expect them to be- in this case, highly religious- and a spirit of angsty rebellion that they often use to express their personal style. Therefore, the edgy, punk influences in Bia's outfit felt modern and fit within slightly alternative trends from the last few years. But I also wanted her color palette to mesh with the color palette of the set, in this case my home, which was mostly calm, cool neutral tones and creams. Visually, Charlie was supposed to stick out and feel like an outsider compared to Christine. I think the color choices in our wardrobes accomplished that well.

Well, folks, that's all for today.

Yours always,

Clover Fields

How do I turn this thing on? (Filming Day 1)

Friends, this post has been long in the making. Or, rather, the actual post hasn't been, but rather the process the post describes. On Sunday, March 12th, Day 1 of filming for Unpacking happened.

A few things complicated it. First of all, I was with two of my friends from Orlando, Max and Ellie; they kindly agreed to help out on the day of filming, which was a huge help I hadn't anticipated, since- well- they live in Orlando. I've worked with both of them before on individual projects across lots of mediums, but never film. Second of all, we started filming in the afternoon, around 3 pm; and as the sun set, we had to worry about losing natural daylight.

Max (left), assistant cinematographer; Ellie (right), assistant producer

Max (left); Ellie (top); Bia (right), actor for Christine; Clover (bottom), me!

I used Bia's tripod, which she was kind enough to lend me; Max, however, had to use it as a monopod a lot of the time to get the handheld movement I wanted in a lot of my shots. I think it really helped as a stabilizer, though.

Over the course of filming, we did a lot of rehearsal with the camera rolling so that we could get used to it, while also getting Max used to the specific style of handheld motion needed to frame each shot. I also shot a lot of vlog-style commentary that I want to edit into a longer vlog of filming, so that I can (hopefully) have something a bit more to look back on, and hopefully edit & post to YouTube- along with a bloopers reel. 

We were able to rehearse and film all of the bedroom conversation, but we quickly realized that it was just over 30 seconds- which was probably not nearly long enough for what I needed. So, Bia came up with the (genius) idea to write my credits on boxes and have that be a part of the transition between the car scene and the bedroom scene. However, we didn't have the boxes yet, so I was left stumped as to how we were going to pull that off. But by then, we needed to film the car scene, which we had planned to do before I drove Bia home. 

I piled a bunch of my bags and backpacks into the backseat, and then I had Max record several different takes of up to 30 seconds of me staring out the window wearing earbuds. We played Phoebe Bridgers' Motion Sickness to ensure that I would have sufficient footage for everything we needed. We also tried out several different techniques; I knew I wanted a slow zoom-out from a really close-up, tight, intimate shot to showing the rest of the backseat. Eventually, I settled on a computerized zoom on 4K footage (the rest of my footage is shot in HD 30 fps to reduce storage space and upload times), because after reviewing the different types of manual zooms Max was able to get using my phone's lenses (which zoom between 0.5x and 6x), all of them looked really blurry and shaky. 

With that, the first day of filming was done. And, so, for now, am I.

Yours always,

Clover Fields