Progress Post 8 - Oh wait it gets worse

Oh Wait It Gets Worse

A file open with only half of the footage viewable and usable

    I think I jinxed myself, because now i cannot pull the footage. I did try to retrieve my footage but it says the data in the clip is no good. But I know it is usable because I can see it on my phone. I have used multiple methods from google drive, to the photos app, to the classic drag and drop. After all of that I can only manage half of the footage I need to take out.

    This leaves me with two routes. I can either pull some mystical fairy dust to repair the footage on the computer and it be usable, or I can render out each individual shot into MP4 files and extract them safely.

    The issue is either way I won't know if I will have any footage to use until I have all the shots on my computer. Not everything is so clear it seems and need either further digging or just full teamwork to get down.

Progress Post 7 - Smooth as Rain

Smooth as Rain

Frames from our second day shooting. We took more dynamic shots today because we brought everything.

                                                     

    Day two of production has hit, and while it was smoother first, we got the rocky hits of something called rain. It was cloudy at the start which may become a pain in post production and bringing it together. Then the rain came in and basically killed any chance of us getting through the rest of the chess shots. We were able to switch over to the chicken man scenes and get a good chunk of them done so we made a lot of progress. We got through 60% of the shot list today.

    The rain did slow us down though, we could of gotten farther if there wasn't so many hiccups. Clearly there are many issues we will hit in our film making careers. Although I'm getting a little tired of many issues, i shouldn't have to many hiccups now though!                                                                                        

Progress Post 6 - Production Begins!!

Production Begins!!

 

These are frames from the first two shots we filmed in our chess film.

    Today is day 1 of production! All of us are prepared, or so i thought.

    Our cinematographer who was in charge of bringing the metal and the chess board we need forgot both. So now we need to think on our feet and figure out what can we do. We may have forgotten our props but not our bodies, so we started our production doing a ton of close up shots that required neither props. We did go slowly however this let us get the best shots possible.   

    Clearly, you'll need to be flexible and able to change plans at a dime whenever your making any film. But, let's hope day two of production goes smoother.

       

Progress Post 4 - Camera Test

                               Camera Test

                

    We did a quick test on how to use all of our teachers equipment. It's all super cool and we can use it in so many ways it's a little shocking and hard to remember but we'll get used to it. He even taught us signs with hands for how to show what scene it is and the proper steps to take before a shot is took. 

    Even though I'm the editor i decided to be the one mainly messing with it and learning but it is always good to learn even if your not the one just in case your cinematographer is not on set one day. 

Progress Post 3 - Now what do we do?

Now what do we do?

    So the update is, is that it does not work. This means that Davinci Resolve needs to go on the backfoot as it cannot be a reliable source to edit with. It is a setback but nothing crazy honestly since I can do a quick tutorial run of Premiere and learn the ropes since that's all I'll need to edit this. It cannot be as intensive as some of my projects have gotten.

    Now I'm being played with huh. So neither work as Premiere is in a "Free Trial" even though I should have a full license. And it cannot update thanks to the school internet not being anywhere near fast in the room. So I won't have either software to use to edit with in class. This is not a good run for me huh.

    Well now I have to find another way to get this working. There has to be a way to share my progress and work on the film in class. This requirement is one I know there is a solution to, I just need to sit on it. Roadblocks like this come, it just means that it is a challenge i need to overcome and learn from for the future.

Progress Post 2 - New New, Fun Fun Solutions

 New New, Fun Fun Solutions

        

    So lets see what I can do while the team works on the documents. We have decided on using my phone to record the film. Two reasons being that It's the best camera in the group and with it having USBC 3.0 it is far easier to get the footage off of it into my machine. So what do we need so that it all can work well.

    First, I need to establish what software we will record on. We have three recording software's we can use. We can use the base phone camera, Blackmagic's camera, or Premier Rush's camera feature. I'll ask the cinematographer Kensey decide which he prefers to use. 

    Second, I need to get an editing software online and ready to use so I can go in and work my magic. I have two options, Davinci Resolve and Premiere Pro. I have been using Davinci for a year so I know my way around that plenty, but I need to be able to work on it in class which Adobe can fulfill. I do believe I have a way to get Davinci online on the school laptop but it may take some finessing. 

    I have Just been finding each problem as they come currently and tackling them one at a time. Honestly that is how you prevent being overwhelmed by what needs to be done. All you need to do is take it one at a time.

Now lets see if my crazy idea has worked.

Progress Post 1 - Slow but Steady

 Slow but Steady

Our films pre-production began slowly, but we came together and started bouncing off ideas and seeing what we could come up with. We needed it to be surrounding the idea of chess, and I gave the inspiration behind the chicken mask idea thanks to me having a chicken mask at my disposal. We used that and created an idea for a Horror film where a man looses a game of chess and kills the winner in retaliation. 

After that we laid down what work needs to be done. We all found things to do, all aside from me since I'm the editor and need to wait till the production and post production till the real work begins. All this is telling me is that although progress may be slow, it's steady and will be completed if I don't rush ahead forcing my team to crumble.

Although i do wanna keep myself occupied and getting stuff ready, what can I do for now to get ready?

About Me - Justhyn the Editor

 Welcome!! About The Editor

A Thumbnail of mine which is based off a year of content I created.

Hello, my name is Justhyn and one part of a team of aspiring filmmakers consisting of Kensey, Amara, John Davis and myself making our first film, Chicken Chess. I am the editor of our crew and i personally am really excited to get working. I have 4 years of experience editing my own YouTube videos and feel very proficient with my skills, to finally use them for serious filmmaking is a dream to me. 

Understanding what differentiates film making and editing to YouTube making and editing is my main goal in this class. I want to hone my skills and become a filmmaker and dive deep into this field. The great attention to detail filmmakers use is one I want to input into film. Media Studies has shown me ways and tricks that film makes use to tell its story, and my team and i will take that and make a horror chess film where a chicken man is the main villain. I hope you enjoy our journey.