Re-editing, Despite Coronavirus!

The virus is spreading even further day by day. There are more and more positive cases being discovered. Luckily, my family and I have stayed safe from it thus far. We have been staying mostly in our home, away from social interaction with others who may be infected. This virus is very serious. I feel as though we will be off from attending physical school for longer than projected as of right now. I pray that the spreading slows or comes to a complete stop. It is affecting not only people, but governments, economies, and so many other entities. We are seeing tremendous measures being taken nationwide, as well as globally

It has been difficult to stay completely calm under all of this commotion. With my focus on keeping good health , it has been hard to focus on my school work. My group members and I have not been able to meet up to re-film the scenes that need re-filming due to the social distancing that is so heavily being encouraged, and the policies being put in place in our state. I have, however, done other things to continue to work on this project. One of these had been continuing to edit the footage we already have, and beginning to re-edit certain things. I had my group member Jada email me what we have of the project thus far, and on my computer I have been able to do some editing. I downloaded an editing software program that allows me to make edits to the clips. Looking back at when I got my project peer reviewed, I fixed some things that were suggested for me to fix. I went back to some of the transitions that we had in between certain scenes and changed them. I slowed certain transitions down and sped others up. Doing this allowed for the project to flow more smoothly overall. I also turned down the music throughout the film, as was suggested. The dialogue is able to be heard more clearly now that that has been done. I plan to do more editing so long as I am at home during this virus.

How Can We Possibly Re-Film?

The recent outbreak of the Coronavirus has been so sudden. As I discussed in my previous blog, the state of Florida, in which I live, has been having many positive cases of this virus. It has cast so much chaos, anxiety, and fear upon our society. Due to fear and anxiety, this pandemic has become a race for survival. Stores and supermarkets are running low, and even completely out of, basic survival supplies. People have rushed to and from stores in efforts to rack up on supplies. This rush is out of panic. The media - including social media platforms, television, and the news - has played a huge role on placing fear on individuals during this time of crisis. While it is no doubt a serious issue we are facing, information is being blown out of proportion and causing people to become scared. We are becoming the cause of our own suffering. Soon enough should this virus get even worse than it already is, we will be placed on lock-down. This is already being seen in other states and countries, all in hopes to stop the spread of this virus. So, should this become the case for our state, it will be bad for us all. There will be limited to no supplies for people to use because we would have already bought it all. We must slow down and ration our supplies. We must come together and have hope that this will end soon in order to stay calm and act logically.

Our state is not on lock-down just yet. There have, however, been many policies implemented in the hopes to slow and stop the spread of this virus. The governor of the state of Florida, Governor DeSantis, has spoken to the people of Florida many times within the past week, one time being shown in the picture below. In each of these times he has spoken, he has addressed many policies and actions that are being taken. He has announced that many restaurants, stores, and other things must close at certain times if not completely. Movie theaters have been shutting down in all of Broward County. Not only is this harming the economy, but the movie industry completely. Many new movies that have been released pr are being released around this time will not be able to be viewed, thus causing the productions to lose value and money. The policies being put in place are also greatly hindering students' abilities to move forward with school work. It is very difficult during this time to meet up with the members of my group to re-film the scenes that need re-filming. We must take measures to ensure our health and stay away from this virus, and social distancing has been one of the main things leaders in power have been encouraging. Our health and safety is the main priority during times like this. Should we go on complete lock-down, we would not be able to re-film whatsoever. This will not stop us, though. We will continue to work our best towards completely this project in the best manner possible, despite the horrible issue at hand. We will work with what we have and result with the best outcome considering the circumstances we are under.

Major Setback to Our Entire Project

The outbreak of the Coronavirus, COVID-19, has been sudden and very insane. We have been unable to attend school because of this outbreak in hopes that the spread of it can decrease. As of today, our county announced that we will not be going back until April 15. That date is subject to change depending on how badly this virus becomes in our state, nationwide, and globally.

This virus has been a major setback for many people. It has had an impact on nearly every aspect of our lives, and it will only get worse before it gets better. Aside from being restricted from attending school, many limitations have been put in place here locally, as well as nationwide. Many places are closing down and have restrictions on closing and opening times. Certain areas in our country are being placed on lock-downs, where individuals are only allowed to go to and from certain places. Many people are taking precautions to avoid social interaction so that they do not contract the virus. It is becoming a very serious matter, because if not taken seriously, it can become detrimental. With the restrictions being put in place, I have concluded that completing this project will be very difficult. Should the virus spread further and get ultimately worse, my group as well as others, will have a very difficult time re-shooting certain scenes. This is because we could possibly be under lock-downs and many places will be shut down entirely. As far as editing and re-editing, there is hope for that. Thankfully, we are in an age of advanced technology. Internet and all of the technology we have has made it possible for everyone to stay connected and in contact. If we are not able to re-shoot the scenes we need to re-shoot, then we will have to work with what we have. We can continue to edit the footage we do have and discuss over the phone and email, etc. any changes we feel need to be made. Aside from completing the final task film, we also need to complete the CCR. The good thing is that it can be done all at home. Once my group and I finish the film, I will start working on that final task for this project. I really hope and pray that this virus can come to an end quickly. It is causing major chaos and turmoil within our society and our lives.

Finally Getting My Project Reviewed!

As I wrote about in my previous blog post, the day of peer editing did not go as planned for my group and I. My group member Jada was absent, and she had our project on her laptop. I contacted her during class to se did she could send it to me so that I could have it peer reviewed, but unfortunately it wasn’t sending over through email. So, on the day of peer reviews I was not able to have my group’s project reviewed and critiqued.

However, I thought of a way I could at least get some feedback on what we have compiled thus far. Over the weekend, my friend came over to my house to hang out. I asked her if she could sit with me for a few minutes to help me with this, and she agreed. First I had her watch what we have of the project so far. Then, I had her discuss her thoughts on it with me. Prior to letting her watch it I asked that she take note of anything she thought we could improve or change to make the film better.

As she was watching it, I noticed and took note of her facial expressions. When she finished watching I asked her what she thought. She told me that overall she really liked what we had so far. I asked her if there was anything she thought we should change, fix, or rearrange and she said that there were a few things she noticed we could do to make it better. There was one scene she pointed out, seen in the picture below, that she claimed was a little shaky. She suggested that we reshoot that scene when we do reshoots and re-edits. Another thing she mentioned was that the song that we have playing in the entirety of the film could be turned down a bit more, especially in scenes that contain dialogue among the characters. Moreover, she also pointed out that some of the transitions could be a bit more smooth. I took note to go back and change certain transitions to make them more smooth when we do re-edits. Overall, she told me that what we have so far is looking good. Aside from having her watch and critique it, I also asked my mother to do the same. She enjoyed what we have also, and she pointed out some of the same things that my friend did. I will be sure to make those changes when we re-shoot and re-edit!

Peer Review: A Difficult Day

Tuesday in class was the first day to do peer reviews of our projects thus far. Our teacher assigned each of our groups another group or individual to meet with. We would sit with them and watch what they have for their project so far. They would do the same for us. There was a peer review sheet that had a checklist of the elements in the film so far. When reviewing the film, we were to check the elements that were present in the other group’s film.

On Tuesday, I faced some casualties. These casualties disabled me to have a successful peer review. First off, my group member Jada was not present and neither was my group member Derek. The main issue was that Jada was not present. Our film so far is on the iMovie editing program on her laptop. Since she was not present with the laptop, I had nothing and no way way of presenting our project to another group/individual for peer reviewing. Regardless of that I figured I could still review the film of the group we were assigned to because I could just do it myself. So, I looked on the board with the list of names assigned to each group. I read the name of the individual that my group was paired with and I didn’t know who it was. I went around the room asking who it was and no one was of much help to me. I called out the name pronouncing it as best I could and I received no answer. I came to the conclusion that the student may have been absent. So, unfortunately I was not able to have my project reviewed nor review someone else’s project on Tuesday. I plan to have it reviewed soon though. I contacted Jada and she expressed to me her reason for being absent and said she would be present the next class. So I hope to get our film reviewed very soon in order to have insight about what we can fix or change. That way we will make our film the best it can be. The checklist includes some necessary camera angels and shots we will need in our film. The picture uploaded below is of the common camera angles, movements, and shots that are good to have in the film.