Hey blog!
I imported my footage into premier pro and made the line edit for it. IT LOOKS SICK. I am super happy with how this looks. Because this scene is filmed in a different location than the actual car meet, I am keeping the shots nice and close to only show what is going on and not the background. Here is some shots from the line edit!
Over the weekend I was at the race track taking photos for a friend. While I was there I thought to myself that I may want to shoot videos of the cars as well just in case I decide to implement it into my film. Getting shots here was much more difficult because I was against he fence and kind of far away from the action. Getting a variety of shots was also difficult because of that. Overall I am satisfied with what I go from the race track and I hope I find a place to edit them in if needed.
It has begun!
First day of filming I had a officer film multiple shots with me and a couple of drivers to simulate a scene where a cop is chasing the main character. We began with using the drone to get a overhead shot of everything going on.
Once we finished filming the scenes with my DLSR, I attached my DJI Osmo pocket 3 to the back of my car so I could get shots of the police actively moving chasing down my car. We also attached the camera the back of my friends car who was filming the front of my car "accelerating away". Overall I am super happy with how this turned out and I cant wait to start editing it!
Hi Blog. As I am just getting ready to start production, I wanted to share the different cameras that I will be using for my production.
Nikon D7500- This is my main camera that will shoot most of the film. I will use this camera with a tripod to get nice stills. I can set the f-stop super low on this camera making it really nice to use during the night and make shots in the day look beautiful. If you dont know what "f-stop" is, it basically changes how much light enters the camera (lower the number, more light enters the camera)
DJI Osmo Pocket 3- I LOVE this camera! This camera is super tiny and so easy to use. It can fit inside of my pocket making it super easy to transport. This camera shoots in 4k and has a built in gimbal which makes the shoots super smooth. With this camera being very small, I can place it in very unique areas to get really cool shots.
DJI Mini 2 SE - This drone is super small and super easy to use. It has a built in camera that can shoot in 1080p making the quality still strong. I will be using this for shots high in the air to get unique angles of the cars.
GoPro Hero 8 - Another super small and INDESTRUCTABLE camera. From personal experience, this camera can go through hell and back and still work like brand new. It can record in 4k and shoot underwater making it such a good action camera.
Hi Blog! Audio is a HUGEEE part of making a great film. I would argue its much more important than visuals. So, lets talk about I am going to do about my audio.
Music!- The entire film opening will have instrumental audio that engages the viewer into the vibe of the film.
Voice Over!- I will have a "news reporter" narrating the film opening as if the opening is a breaking news story. I will do this by getting one of my friends and saying lines from a script that I have created. I will absolutely 100% use a high quality mic so the voice sounds amazing.
Car/Natural Sounds!- This is a major part of engaging the viewer into my film. I have very tiny magnetic DJI microphones that I can put onto the engine bay of a car to record the engine noise. For the natural sounds though, I have a Rhode mic that I will keep on my camera AT ALL TIMES to capture "Moments" and get very nice Nat sounds.
Stay tuned for more possible Audio techniques that I may use!
Hi Blog, today Props will be what I yap about...
This is a HUGEEE part of my film opening as this needs to be perfect for it to be good.
I have big goals so my props are going to be difficult to get.
1. 30+ Cars all parked together: Yeahhh, lucky for me I know lots of people that would love to show up and be apart of my film so this shouldn't be to big of a issue. Using all of these cars shows the "Street Scene" and what goes on rather then just describing it.
2. Police Officer/Car: It's a little strange how I'm going to ask the police station to be in my film that highlights street racing. However, once I get them this will ELEVATE my film so much! Its a very crucial role and to have them in the film will be so cool.
Other than those two subjects I should not have to use any props. I'll keep you guys updated though!
Hi Blog! Today I will be discussing the lighting techniques that I will be aiming to use in my film opening.
The film opening takes place in the night time so lighting will be key. I want to go for a dark look but with aspects of bright lights to give off the vibe of a street at night. How will I do this? Easy! Filming at a actual street with a ND filter will give me the look I am looking for.
In editing to make this look even more visually pleasing I will lower the highlights and make the temperature cooler to give a cold night vibe.
Hi Blog! New week and more ideas have been finalized, such as the character development.
My film opening will take place 2 years prior to the actual time frame of the movie. This is due to the events that happen in the film opening that shapes the character for the rest of the movie.
The character is this guy who runs the "Street Scene" by winning races and being the center of car meets. He is wanted by the cops but has never had a close encounter until one night, cops get closer than ever to him which shakes him up and causes him to disappear and go into hiding from the Street Scene for the next couple years in order to keep himself out of handcuffs.
Hi Blog!
My film opening project story line is now complete. My movie is about a driver who does illegal street racing and how the police stop him.
The opening shot will be in the day time where the character is fixing his car.
From their it will turn to night where the character is now driving around going to a car meet.
From their, a voice over of a news reporter will tell the story from the police side while showcasing the illegal activities the character and others are doing.
At the end the face off between the police and the character will go down as the character gets away which will lead into the beginning of the film.
The filming process has begun and I am beyond excited for the finished product so stay tuned!
Hi blog, today I want to discuss a media theory I want to incorporate in my film.
Now, originally, I didn't think of incorporating any theory's on purpose. However, I did some research and I believe that the Agenda setting theory would be cool for my film.
Now how would I do this...
First off what does this even mean? According to https://helpfulprofessor.com it states that the Agenda Setting Theory is "a theory that suggests the media doesn't tell us what to think, but rather what to think about. It highlights how media coverage can influence the public agenda by emphasizing certain issues over others". Now for my film, I want to have a news reporter voice over giving context to what is happening but in a biased way to make the street racers look bad. But in my film we will see the truth of street racing and what is really happening.
With that it perfectly represents how Media can influence the public by making the street racers the bad guys.
It was a exciting day!
This was the first time I had told my idea for my film opening to others in my class. I was expecting to have everyone be like ummmm I don't know about that. However, they actually helped me improve the plot of my film opening. One of the people in my group suggested for the main character to have a motivation... So I got thinking, and I thought of having the main character reflect on his previous bonding with his father through cars before he passed away. Through this it will make more sense about why the main character even likes cars and racing.
Enough about me. The other people in my group had really cool ideas. They ranged from horror, sci-fi, and mystery which I really like. It's very interesting how everyone thinks so differently about what they want their film to be about. I gave lots of constructive critics to my fellow group members as well to help guide them to improve their story just as they did to me.
Overall, I am very pleased with my group and will love to meet back up with them soon and discuss how everything is going!
Location scouting
I have found the location I want to film, quite easily.
To begin, I want to film the cop car scenes on the small back roads in southwest ranches as its dark and creates a more eerie vibe.
The big car meet. Lucky for me, I have created a meet well advance before this project. This will be filmed at a shopping center parking lot that offers great lighting with the shop store lights and parking lot lights. Their is opportunities for great shots with tons of cars.
Race track! This one is also easy to find for me because I already work at the race track with cameras. This at Homestead Miami Speedway. I can go inside the track and get great angles of the formula cars and GT cars flying by to get that perfect cinematic sequence I am hoping to capture.
Today I plotted out my schedule/goal for myself for my film opening project. I know how much time I have and want to maximize every single day to make sure I don't fall behind and have extra time in the end just in case something goes wrong.
FEBUARY
10th - Full Storyboard complete
12th-28th - Filming.
12th - Cop car scene
15th - Race track scene (If needed)
21st - Public Car meet
22nd-28th - Get any shots that may be missing and import footage into Premiere Pro.
MARCH
(Late start due to STN)
7th - 16th - EDITING
18th - Have the finished film.
19th-24th - Find any weaknesses in film and correct them
25th - SUBMIT
I researched three opening credit styles that I personally really like and will take inspiration from for my own
Casino Royale 2006
Mad Max: Fury Road 2015
John Wick 2014
The initial credit of "Casino Royale" is visually surprising and thematic rich. They offer a mixture of styling animation and live-action footage, showing the topics of the film's detective and danger. This sequence introduces the audience to the world of James Bond, while incorporating elements such as card games and gun plays aligns completely with the story of the film.
While "Mad Max: Fury Road" is known for its tireless action, the credit sequence is a masterclass in the visual story stories. It has a rapid assembling of images that establishes the world and inspirations of characters. The use of bold graphics and a powerful score immerse the audience in the chaotic atmosphere of the film from the beginning.
The initial credits of "John Wick" are amazing. They introduce a series of ghostly scores visuals that introduce the world of title character. The sequence effectively establishes the tone of the film, indicates at the emotional depth and will follow acute action. The use of typography and color contradictions adds to the overall beauty, making it memorable.
I have found three film opening that will relate to mine in the Action genre
Black Widow 2021
The Fast and the Furious 2001
Rush 2013
First off, Black Widow opening is the style I am being inspired by. They base the opening off of Natasha's childhood with the use of the song "Smells like teen spirit" by Nirvana and use of other footage that relates to things little girls like. Now for the the actual filming...Use of a dark filming location at the shipping containers creates a very eerie vibe. Along with that, the soldiers coming for the kids forcing them to come with them add on to the intense eerie vibe. Now my opening of course will not be as dark and crazy as this but I like the editing style used.
The Fast and the Furious opening scene relates to the theme I want to use in my film opening. They use this scene to foreshadow the protagonist of the movie and what they do to obtain their illegal car parts. Besides that, I love the theme used of modified cars in the night, racing down the highway. They choice of cars made this scene more "relatable" as these are cars that are typically modified on the road. For my film opening, I will capture scenes of modified cars and what the racing aspect part is like (Of course on a closed track) as that mixed with Black Widow opening scene style will be great.
Rush is a formula one film based off the 1976 season where two drivers push each other to the limits. This opening scene foreshadows the tragic moments before Niki Lauda's major accident that left him hospitalized. Personally, I love the style and camera work used in this film. In my opening scene I want to have a racing portion and use the style shots that this movie used. It captures the intensity of being on grid and when the race begins which I think fits perfect for what I am trying to accomplish.
I have made good progress since my last blog. I have finalized what exactly I want to film, and the type of music.
The style film opening will be inspired by Black Widow but instead of human trafficking, it will be with cars and racing (My favorite things) I believe the style Black Widow uses with the theme of cars will actually be a really good mix.
For the music I have a clear idea in my head of what I want but its the issue of copyright. So I have contacted Universal Music Group asking for licenses of the song "World on Fire" by Klergy. I have a feeling this won't work out so I am still working on finding a non-copyrighted song that will also fit with the vibe I am looking to do.
Hi blog! I have no idea what to think yet! I GOT A IDEA I just learned that this doesn't have to be a professional video :D For Part...
