Final Project for Cambridge - Horror Film Opening

     Here it is. After I'm done posting this, all I can do now is wait and hope I get a good grade. Thank you for watching this journey, and I hope you enjoy all my hard work and effort I put into this piece. Personally I like it, but maybe I'm being biased :). Also to make things clear, the names in the film are all fake. I just felt that it would look weird if all the titles such as director and editor were credited towards my name. I wanted it to feel more like a high budget film, where hundreds of people work on it together and are all named in the credits.

THE RUBBERNECK

My Creative Critical Reflection

     After many grueling hours, it's finally been finished. My health has slowly worsened these past few weeks from no sleep, but if I get a decent grade then it would have been all worth it. This was probably my least favorite part of the project, it took way too much time to make and I really think a simple blog post would have done the trick, but rules are rules. What a rollercoaster of emotions I felt during my time working on this project. At the end of the day though, I think it came out well and I'm happy, so enjoy!

CCR

Finished Editing + What I Learned Overall

     I finally finished editing my project. Because editing is my weak spot, it took me quite a while to make something that I considered good, but it's over now. I had to deal with a couple of obstacles along the way, but now I can concentrate everything towards my creative critical reflection.

    

    As you can see, the software I'm using to edit my film looks different from the previous screenshots I shared in my older posts. That's because I had to switch to CutShot, as OpenShot was simply not cutting it. It was so basic I knew that submitting my project with OpenShot being what I used to edit my film would likely land me with a C as my maximum grade. So, I asked a friend and he showed my CutShot, so I decided to go with the change. Of course, that meant I had to redo my editing. It took some time, but I got what I had edited in OpenShot and managed to replicate it somewhat onto CutShot, but with better effects added on. However, this did lead me to another sort of major issue: I had no idea how to use it and the deadline was looming in.

    CutShot had a ton of more features and different effects that could be used for my scenes. As such, I felt completely overwhelmed and had no idea where to start. Fortunately, I was able to find a ton of videos giving tutorials on how to use CutShot. Once these videos told me where to I can go to add words onto my film or apply fade-ins, etc., it became relatively simple to handle. Long story short, OpenShot is not going to have a nice review from me.

Shoutout to this channel, they really helped me out with quick and easy to understand tutorials

    For the last two months, I've been working and taking hours out of my schedule every week to make this project something I can be proud of. When the project was first announced, I'll admit that I was annoyed. Having to do 20+ blog posts, a CCR, and a film opening sounded like it would take me 6 months minimum. Especially the movie part, as I had barely done any improvements on my editing skills since I joined the class. I mean, I already get less than 10 hours of sleep in a full school week, my body feels weak all the time during classes, I need to study for the SAT in May, and I can almost never concentrate when working on schoolwork. So, getting this project on top of everything else felt like someone punched me in the gut. But the truth is, it wasn't that bad in the end. The blog posts were time-consuming, but they weren't difficult to make since I actually did the work and didn't have to make-up stuff. I haven't done the CCR yet, but if I managed to pull through with creating an opening that I'm actually proud to have made, then I think I can also make a CCR that I will be proud of. I also had a great time hanging out with friends who volunteered to act in my film piece, so that was nice. Granted, there were a lot of bumps down the road during my journey leading up to and during this project, such as having a minor Covid scare (luckily, I tested negative). I'm not lying when doing this project reminded me of something: just because it's a school assignment does not automatically make it boring. Granted, I would have preferred to indulge in my hobbies rather than research and make a film opening, but I'm glad that I got this experience. This was a unique experience to me, so the change of pace felt nice. 

    If there are two things I learned from this whole thing, it's that planning is everything in order to be successful in school and in the future, and that working in the film industry is much harder than I had originally believed. If this blog portion of the project was optional, I would not have done it. And that would have led me to do everything-the research, planning, filming, editing-the last week or two before it was due. So, while these blog posts cost me a lot of my time, they ultimately did help me earn a better grade than what I would get had this not been part of the final grade. Also, I really used to envy people like Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, and anyone else whose role focused around the camera and deciding how a scene should be shot. I genuinely believed that their jobs were insanely easy for the money they make. What's so hard about getting a good camera angle, I thought. Well, after enduring this project, I realize how much talent they have for what they do, as well as how much effort is put into films. It took me a couple of hours with my friends to simply create a 2 minute opening. But if I were to create a whole film, now that'd be impossible. This project has certainly opened my eyes up with what goes on behind the scenes when producing a film.

    

Certain Changes to My Film

    Before I finish editing my film together, I need to address some overall changes that are occurring in my project and in the editing process. While the changes made were not necessary, I personally believe that the changes I decided to make are better than what was originally intended and will help me earn a better grade.

    One of the changes made was how some of the shots were made. Originally I had not thought of these two angles to produce, but my friends suggested it and when we filmed it, it turned out better than I had expected so I'm adding it into the final edit. For example, after the two men begin running from the Rubberneck, I took shots of simply their feet as they run and then the Rubberneck's shortly afterward, to convey the idea that they are being chased. We did not really know how to properly get a good chase scene with the people jumping over bushes, etc. so we thought this was a good compromise. Furthermore, there was a small puddle which would reflect ourselves when we stood near it because of the intense sunlight. That caused us to film a suspenseful and brilliant (in my opinion) scene where the Rubberneck attacks one of the characters, but it is only shown through the reflection of the puddle, leaving the audience wondering who died. This leads to another change that definitely needs to be discussed, which is what happened to the two characters in my story? It is not revealed who dies. At first, I planned to kill either the Nerd or the Jock, but I thought it might be better if it never is revealed and the audience has to wonder who passed, if both of them passed, or if they even died. I think this would help them stay rooted to their seats and watch the rest of the story, hoping it is revealed later on in the film of who died. 

    Another change I made was the editing software I was using. OpenShot was honestly to basic and did not have a lot of the features I needed to make this work. I would look for something basic to use, but it would not have that effect. So, I asked a couple of friends what software they are using and one of them suggested I use ShotCut, so I got it. I had to transfer all the editing I had done to the other application, but I think I managed to do it and it'll allow me to have a better edited film.

    Another change I made was to the introduction to my opening. When I filmed with my friends, I made sure to take a couple of shots of the scenery to provide establishing shots of the peaceful environments. It would also be around this part that I would quickly add the credits so that the audience does not have to see the names as important stuff is occurring. However, viewing the shots I took left me unsatisfied. They were small clips and I feel like they would abruptly change if were to put them together in the video. In my opinion, it felt like the audience was teleporting around the environment, making it feel weird. As a result, I returned to where we had filmed and took some shots by myself. Not going to lie, I felt pretty lonely since it was just me in that place but I think I got some good pieces. I made long continuous scenes because it'll give me time to put the credits there, and it will help the audience see the location and have a better grasp of it. Furthermore, now that it is one long tracking shot, the audience will feel like they are physically walking there and are about to be attacked, which is what I was going for.

Editing the Scenes Together Pt. 1

    Finally started the scariest part of the project for me: editing everything together. Just the thought of it definitely worries me. Still, it was now or never, so I decided to start it right away. After a couple of hours of organizing my clips and editing them together, combining them, cropping stuff out, adding music in the background to have tone, etc., I made a ton of progress. There were a couple of issues I made while filming, but I did my best to work around it and adapt to the situation. I will honestly be really mad if I get a failing grade on this because I truly believe I tried extremely hard to get the best possible opening I could think of.

    One thing that definitely had me a bit nervous during editing was the software I was using. Like I said in one of my first posts concerning the Cambridge project, I'm using OpenShot due to how basic it was to a newbie such as myself. The problem that had me concerned was that it might be too simple and I should probably look for another application. Instead, I held back my fears and went ahead with it.

    At first, I was wondering what I was going to do with the background music that I wanted to add into my opening. My teacher had told the class how we couldn't use copyrighted music in our opening without permission from the original creator, so I looked around the Internet searching for free music anyone could use. It took a while, but eventually I found FreePD.com, which had a ton of useful files of different music I could incorporate into my opening.

    Because of my genre (horror), I looked for music that interrupted the environment or caused the audience to jump in their seats. Whenever I think about this, I always look back to the screeching violins that were used in Psycho when the woman was murdered in the shower. In my opinion, it's a great example of what to look for.

    Again, even though I was editing for a long time, there is still some left to do. I'm still in the beginning to middle stages of the editing process, but I'm confident I can get it done by the next two blog posts. Either way, the final two blog posts are coming up, so I need to finish this quickly so that I can work on my creative critical reflection.

    

Movie Has Been Filmed!

     After a lot of checking up with people and seeing if our schedules aligned, we finally set the date for me to pick up my actors around 1 P.M. on Tuesday, March 23rd. My family went to visit relatives in Chicago and I stayed at home because I had a ton of schoolwork to focus on, so I was basically free at any time. When I picked them up, I was originally intending to bring them and film at the spot that I had found in my previous blog post, but I was also going to act for my friend's film, so they needed a location that was convenient for everyone. Luckily, my friends had done their own scouting beforehand and found a spot that was perfect for everyone's film piece. When they told me to drive to our town's community, I was extremely hesitant because I've been there many times and could not recall a setting that appeared abandoned or had lots of vegetation surrounding the area to resemble a forest. However, as we got out of the car, they took me to a place that required passing through a couple bushes to get there. That's when we ended up in a completely different place that I've never seen before. It was full of trees and grass, had a marsh on the side, and it was an overall great place to film. 

    My film had a couple of modifications in the end, but the general story and overall idea is still the same. In terms of technical differences, I had brought my earphones and Airpods, intending to hide them somewhere in my clothes so that the audio could be heard well. However, when we tested the scenes without the earphones, it sounded good, so we decided to simply film it without them. I have a Samsung, and the camera/video features definitely lag behind those of the iPhone, so I used my friend's phone to film the project. 

    I think the major difference my film had to my original plan was the emphasis on the doll. Originally, the doll was mostly meant as a prop for the Rubberneck, serving as a clue for the audience to understand that the villain is some sort of deranged child. However, when me and my friends would place the doll on the trees in the setting it just appeared so ominous and scary. In actuality, the doll scared me and my friends more than the actual Rubberneck. So, we decided that the doll should have a ton of more screen time to make the audience realize who the real villain is.

    All in all, I think all the clips I got were really good. A lot of them had to be done multiple times because we knew they could be better, our acting wasn't on point, there was a mistake, etc. Once I'm done editing everything together, I really do think it'll end up looking like a good opening. Like I said a lot of times in my last couple of posts however, my editing skills are below average, so I really need to step up for this part.

Location Found!

    Today was the second day that I went out to look for a potential location that I would use for my film opening. Like I said in my previous post, I came much more prepared than last time, looking up different locations on Google to get an idea of where to look. And it paid off, because I think I found a good place to film.

    After I found four locations on Google writing "abandoned places near me", a couple places loaded up and I wrote them down. Next, I went to Google Maps to see exactly where the areas were and if I had access to them. Two places were automatically scratched off; the only way into one of them was through a gated community, while the other one was simply impossible to get to on foot or car. 

    That only left me with two other spots to check, but they were directly across from one another, so that was lucky. After driving for a couple of minutes, I finally arrived where Google Maps had directed me towards. To get into one of the places, I had to turn left and then drive straight ahead, according to Maps. Once you turned, the asphalt roads turned to dirt, and you would be greeted by a cow enclosed in a large fence. Private property could land me in trouble, so I decided not to go there and just take the loss.

    The other place, however, had no road leading into it. It was a little passage through some trees on the side of the road. So, I parked my car on the gravel washboard, which was a little bit farther away from the passage. I then got out to investigate the area, and it looked really good. There was a small metal gate to block any cars from passing through, so I don't know the legality of walking past the gate. I'm going to have to do some research and ask people if I can film in that area, but I most likely will. In my opinion, it's too good to pass up and I don't believe I could get into any trouble if I film there.

    One thing I really liked about the location that added to overall setting in my horror film opening was the canal that can be seen on the first picture. I think towards the end of the opening, as one of the characters is being dragged away by the Rubberneck, the other sees the tubes that the audience can also see, running towards it because that means he is getting closer to civilization and away from danger. I don't want to jinx anything, but if I manage to resolve the dialogue, my project could turn out just how I want it.