AICE Media Studies

 How do your products represent social groups or issues? This short film represents the issue of addiction which affects many people in society. The main character in my short film suffers from addiction . As the film progresses it becomes more evident to the viewer how the main character's addiction plagues his day-to-day life . He is shown in distress which my film tries to make viewers infer is due to his addiction. In the plot of my short film, th e main character wants to find his brother who has been kidnapped for a ransom and blames himself for being useless because he got himself addicted. Just like the main character in my short film, many people in society abuse substances like alcohol , pills and other drugs. Addiction creates issues for people in society as their health can deteriorate and their relations can be damaged. The main character in this short film is seen having some trouble moving around which can be related to his problems with addiction. He is also di...

Website https://ransomofficialmovi.wixsite.com/ransom-movie Postcard https://www.canva.com/design/DAFe0Wmdoxw/y2eF0G8AxqHtQFrMOzumtQ/view?utm_content=DAFe0Wmdoxw&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink Short Film https://youtu.be/Fvbe5gNuWM0

It's almost time for my short film to be done. Now that the rough draft is complete I just need to finalize it. This includes crediting the people involved and the music that was used. This also means I needed to look everything over and decide if anything needed any further editing. I made sure to write the names of the people involved. For example, the actor in my short film was my friend Aidan Jones. The starring part of the credit shows Aidan's name. This also applies to the producer, director, and music creators. The audio and voice over got a little unaligned when I was editing in the text. However, this only needed to be fixed back to the way it was. The short film will be available from my groups social medias and website. The main place to stream it will be YouTube. The YouTube account for my short film is attached to my groups website. The website is linked to the social medias as well. This way everything is linked together in a way that lets the audience find what t...

Before my short film is done I need to finish editing. Now that the music choices have been made I can edit them into what has already been edited so far. The first half of the short film goes with the first audio choice. The audio is loud enough to hear but not too loud because there is still a voice over. After I edited in the first audio, I started editing the rest of the second half of the film. The transitions I used the most for this part of the editing are called cross dissolve and smooth cut. The main character is seen searching in these clips. With this in mind, I thought the use of these transitions would make the scenes flow the best. The audio for these scenes is also mysterious and dramatic. This helps set the mood of the scene and prepares for the plot twist. A couple clips had some unwanted signs in the background. To avoid the sign from being seen I cropped the videos and adjusted the frame. This didn't change anything about the video except for the ability to see t...

With the majority of my editing completed and all of my filming done, my short film now needs a soundtrack. Some important things I was looking for when it came to music was royalty free options. Since a lot of my short film will have a voice over playing, the music will mostly be set in the background. Due to this I decided I wanted the soundtrack to not have any lyrics so the viewers wouldn't be bombarded by both dialogue and music. This is important because the music should set the mood without making the viewer unable to hear what is being said. After doing some research into potential websites that could provide audios, I found some options. Most websites allow free downloads if an account is made on their website. This was initially the plan my group was going to use. However, I found that the options from YouTube were better. It is because of this that my group used YouTube for the music. I then decided I would need two audios. One audio for the first half of the film and a ...

My group was able to work on the editing for the short film. I got to work putting in transitions. One of the benefits on the editing software my group is using is that it has built in transitions that can be inserted into the short film. Some examples of the transition options are dissolves, fades, and slides. I also made sure the timing was right for most of the clips. Some clips lead directly into another so I had to make sure to align them well. Due to this, some clips were shortened a few seconds each. However, the time that was removed will be made up for later in the film. There was a lot of voice over work that went into the scenes that were edited. To make sure the audio is completely understandable, the main audio from the clips had to be muted. There are some background noises in the clips that make them completely unusable. For example, there was a dog barking, cars driving by, and people playing at the playground by the park. This isn't what I would have preferred to h...

With my short films clips all arranged in the same place, my group started editing. Since I had already looked through the clips from the first day of filming my partner was able to start editing them. The editing software my group is using is called DaVinci Resolve. My partner uses his laptop to edit the short film. My group is able upload the videos from each others phones to each others laptops. This is how I sorted the videos previously. I had moved the videos on to the laptop, then into folder, and finally into the editing software. While looking through the videos that were filmed on the second filming day, I found a problem. A few videos were affected by the wind in a way that made them unusable. This was because the iPhone cameras seem to auto focus. This had apparently been a problem that was overlooked because the wind was causing the camera to keep trying to focus on something. This gave the videos the effect that there was a slight zooming in and out where the camera became...

Now that my group is finished with filming, the clips have to be compiled. To do this my group will take all of the clips from each filming day and put them together. Since I had already sorted the first day of filming it was relatively easy to work with. What I did was move the clips into the editing software so they are ready to be edited. To do this I moved the files into the software and saved the project. The files were previously sorted into folders for easy access. When moving the files into the software, my main goal was  to get the clips put in order. To make sure this happened I had to keep looking at the videos and the storyboard to get an idea of which clip was which. This made the process a little longer. My group had originally thought I could sort the files in order in the folder but apparently I must have accidently move the clips around. With this out of the way I could start sorting the second days clips. In all, there was slightly more time recorded for the first...

Today my group recorded the park footage. However, filming at the park and outside was more tedious than my group thought it would be. Some things my group had to consider were background  noises, other people at the park, lighting, and safety hazards . The first thing I noticed was the amount of cars that were in the parking lot when my group arrived. There were at least 7 cars which meant there were some people using the park. However, the only thing my group had to worry about was the noise the people were making. Most of the people were occupying the playground nearby or walking around the trail. Both of these things were mostly out of the way from where my group would be recording, but there would be some noise from the playground every once in a while that would cause my group to re-film a clip. Also, though there were not a lot of cars passing by, my group also wanted to get as far from the street from possible to avoid car noises in the background. Even though my group got ...

Now that the house clips have been filmed, my group needs to look them over. There are a lot of clips that were filmed on my groups first filming day. The bad part about this is that my group has to go through each clip one by one. To make this process easier, my group kept track of where each clips belonged. I also had to add up the times from each clip to make sure it was in the right range. After this, my group moved all of the clips into a digital folder and put the footage together and in order. With this being done, my group then decided if any clips were not good enough to be used. When my group filmed at my house, I made sure there would be a second version of any clips my group was not sure about. Due to this my group looked through the clips that needed a second look and the clips that could be used to replace them. In all, only two clips were replaced with extra clips. Another concern was that when filming with an iPhone my group has to consider phone storage. To avoid this ...

My group first met at my house. I had made sure to previously move the things I didn't want in the background out of the room I planned on filming in. My group got situated  in the room which is by my front door. Though, I had some immediate concerns. This room has windows so there is a little bit of natural light that is shinning through. Though there isn't enough to light up the whole room. This was a little problematic because the only other option was to turn on the room lights. The room lights were making the shots look a little yellow in the clips my group recorded. However, after my group spent some time trying to adjust both the light dimness  and the curtains, my group was able to find lighting that would work with the camera my group was using. Since the camera on my partners iPhone is somewhat high quality, my group decided to film with my partners phone. To make sure the shots looked as good as possible, my group shot the clips in 4k with the iPhone. In order to ma...

Since my short film is using an actor outside of the group, my partner and I made sure the location was good before filming. Today my groups goal was to verify if the location that was picked will work well for the needs of the short film. The location my group picked is  Royal Palm Park, Oakland Park, FL. Before my group saw the park in person today I thought there might be some problems with the location. However, after spending around 45 minutes walking through the entire park there is only one thing my group is worried about. The park gets people walking and running through it. As far as problems my group was expecting to come across go this is a relatively little problem. The only concern is that my group may have to film for a while longer than initially expecting to have. This would be because when people who are using the park come along my group will have to temporarily stop filming to avoid getting people in the shots. Though, there are going to be four or five areas my g...

Before my group starts filming, props and costumes have to be decided on. My group plans on using costumes that are made up of clothing that is already owned. Not only is this a practical approach for this short film, but it allows my group to skip spending money on costumes. For this short film the characters will be wearing everyday clothes and all black clothes. Due to this, finding clothing to work as the costume for the characters is very doable without making purchases. Also, my group is planning on using an actor that isn't apart of the group in the short film. This actor is a mutual friend of my partner and I. My friend would act as the main character. With this approach the only complication my group has to worry about is finding out if the actor has clothing that suits the character. However, after a brief discussion my group came to the conclusion that the actor will most likely have something in their closet that will work. Other than costumes, my group also needed to g...

Scene 1: Medium shot from behind of Jalen sitting at desk Scene 2: Close up shot of Jalen doing work at his desk Scene 3: Medium close shot of Jalen banging the desk in frustration Scene 4: Medium shot of papers scattered on the desk Scene 5: Medium close shot of the trash can filled with papers Scene 6: Medium close shot of papers underneath his desk Scene 7: Over the shoulder shot of Jalen opening the ransom note Scene 8: Close up of him opening the ransom note Scene 9: Close up of the ransom note Scene 10: Medium shot of the desk Scene 11: Medium shot of Jalen from behind Scene 12: Close up of Jalen opening the door Scene 13: Close up of the mailbox Scene 14: Close up of the ransom note in Jalen’s hand Scene 15: Close up of Jalen taking the ransom note Scene 16: Close Medium shot of Jalen shutting the mailbox Scene 17: Close medium shot of the mail Scene 18: Medium shot of the empty chair Scene 19: Close medium of Jalen filling a cup of water Scene 20: Zooms in on Jalen putting enve...

Schedule 2/3/23 - My group will have a completed storyboard. 2/4/23-2/6/23 - My group will gather all necessary props and put together costumes. 2/6/23-2/8/23 - My group will start and finish filming the scenes that take place in the characters house. 2/9/23-2/12/23 - My group will film the park scenes for the short film.      Within these times for filming any back-ups or retakes should be completed for all scenes. 2/13/23-2/15/23 - My group will edit the short film. 2/16/23 - My group will finalize the short film which will include both the filming and editing being finished. Location My partner and I will be filming at Royal Palm Park, Oakland Park, FL. This location will be used for the scenes in our film that take place at a park. Some good things about this park are its scenery, location, and accommodations. The background of the clips that will be seen in our film will look nice and the atmosphere won't take away from the quality of my group's film. The location of...

Screenplay INT. JALEN’S HOUSE - DAY Jalen is sitting at a cluttered desk in his home with several papers on the floor. He is seemingly exhausted while examining a couple pieces of paper. Props are shown across his desk, in his hands, and on the floor. Jalen (voice over) My brother Alex, who I am very close to, was recently going to meet with me over an important family related topic that affects the both of us. Recently, our father who had been taking care of us alone unfortunately passed away due to his sickness.  It has taken a toll on both of us but for some reason Alex seemed very concerned about something else. Our father left us a considerable amount of money to split. When we decided to have met he seemed very panicked and kept telling me how important it was that we met in person. After receiving this note and not having heard back from Alex since early yesterday morning, I have to find him. EXT. JALEN’S HOUSE - DAY Jalen has a flashback from when he is in his home when he ...