Final Project

https://youtu.be/tl6vF98auMk

CCR

https://youtu.be/9zOgMUIcs2M

Music... part 2

Today I am really excited since I got the email response I was so patiently waiting for. The rights of the song I wanted to use are owned by the songwriter's (Simon Diaz) daughter. Luckily, my dad was able to help me with this. He works in the television industry and had worked before with his music, so he was able to give me the email of his daughter, Bettsimar Diaz. I emailed explaining my project and that it would be such an honor to use her father's song. She politely responded and told me to send her the credits and purpose of my video. I did and today i got this:

I already put the music into my video and it was definitely the last detail it needed. It brings the purpose together. I think I am finally done with the editing par, I am just going to take a few days away from it so I can come back and see it with fresh eyes and see if I want to change anything.

Editing

For editing I had first planned to use Imovie for organizing and cutting my shots, and for any effects I wanted to add I would download a free 7-day trial of Adobe's After Effects CC program. This is not what happened.
First, I downloaded all the videos from my camera to my Macbook, I opened Imovie and started organizing the scenes. When I arrange the sequence that I liked, I started to edit and cut the minor details until I liked it. Then, I wanted to insert and Island into the scene so for that I knew I would have to use After Effects. I opened the program and realized I could not transfer the video from Imovie to After Effects. This was extremely frustrating. In order to solve this I had to download a different program called Premier Pro. So I had to start all over again, but at least I already had an idea of what it should look like. I did it again, and then transferred the video to After Effects. In order to do the insertion of the Island I had to find a photograph from my picture library of my trip to Exumas of an island and then Photoshop it to match the background of the video and also edit it so it would look sort of like fake, creating an effect that is clearly exaggerated.

When I had the picture ready, I then searched a tutorial on youtube how to insert an image in my video. It was very helpful.

When I had my insert ready, I proceeded to work with the Premier Pro program. I had never used it before, but I watched the tutorial that comes with the program and learned pretty quickly. I made the decision to make few cuts and have continuos scenes to show the passing of time. When I finally finished editing the only thing I was missing was the permission in order to incorporate the music and the voiceover. 

The narration was one of the hardest for me since I had to figure out what parts of the "legend" where going to be said and how much was going to be said. I kept rewriting over and over again, and trying different audios using my voice as an example until I finally had it. I was unsatisfied with the amount being said but it was what would make sense.

I asked my friend, Cristobal, to record those lines and then send them to me. I only took him a couple of minutes and a few retries to get it right, so I inserted it not the audio. Now the only thing I am missing is the rights of the song I want to use, which I am waiting on an email response. Hope I get it soon!

Production

SHOOTING DAY!!! Okay so I was really excited to start filming. I got out of school early, put in my car everything I needed (camera, memory card, charger, camera lenses, computer, tripod, storyboard) and went of to my friend's house in Wellington. I arrived and we immediately started to get ready to go to Fisherman Island, we decided to make a day out of it. We put everything in Cristobal's car and went on our way. When we got to the place we were supposed to kayak from, there were nets all over it saying that we couldn't cross and there were a lot of cars and policemen. We asked around an realized that we were near President Trump's house in West palm Beach so there was a lo of security. We decided to go the other way around and it was clear and perfect to go through. As soon as we got in the water there was a lot of mud and it was really difficult to get through so we kind of got stuck.

Soooooo I had to resort to plan B, even though I really wanted to shoot here. We got our stuff and went to a beach that was 10min away and it was beautiful. I got really lucky that the day was sunny and clear.

When we got to the beach we want as far as we could so we can get away from people since it was a public beach. I set up my camera and tripod and started to make marks on the sand instructing Cristobal on where he should stand.

I filmed I couple of shots to get a sense of what it would look like and half way through I realized that the angle of the camera was showing a lot of houses and people in the back, so I had to adjust it and start all over again. The second time was way better since it made the beach look more primitive and the focus would be on him now. 

I wanted most of my shots to be long shots in order to establish the vastness and the simplicity that goes accordingly with my story. The only close-ups are of the character. I did this in order to introduce him and establish intimacy with the character. Close-up of his bare hands, eyes, and face. Also the fact that he is working on his tools signifies that he is getting ready to keep going. The fact that he is sitting means that he is tired, but by working on his tool means that he is not giving up yet.

I thought it was going to take me two days to film, but I was able to get everything done in one. Such a relieve. Shooting was really fun, but also a learning experience. I usually use my camera for photographs and using it for video taught me a lot. I had to manage the natural light and what kind of lens to use in order to get the right shot, which was harder because when you take pictures you can just manually adjust the settings and arrange what kind of aperture and shutter speed you need, but with video it was harder to get the right view. I think today was a successful day!  

Music

For the music I was always set on the same song: "Tonada De Luna Llena" by Simon Diaz. I chose this song for many different reasons. First of all Simon Diaz. 

Simon Diaz is a singer and composer of Venezuelan music, whose work is regarded as one of the most important legacies for both Venezuelan and Latin American popular music. He has a unique essence that identifies with the simplicity of Latin America's culture and views. Whenever I would travel through Venezuela whether it was to beautiful beaches, deserts, or plains, my dad would always put his songs on and I remember just being fascinated by them. They have a sort of nostalgia in them. His songs are usually about ordinary lifes in the rural atmosphere. Sometimes he would turn folkloric legends into songs, complying with their oral tradition. Adding his song as the soundtrack was like adding a piece of me to it. 

His song, "Tonada De Luna Llena" ties perfectly with the theme of my movie. The melody of the song and the whistle gives a mysterious undertone that I think would grab the viewers attention. The lyrics of the song is very poetic. It talks about the hardships the man is enduring in his love life, work life, family life and how the moon is always there watching over everything. The below sound adds to the myth theme of the story as well. This is definitely the song I want to use, and now I need to begin the process of acquiring the rights of the song.

Shooting Locations

Today I should be starting to Shoot, BUT!! The due date was moved from the 9th to the 11th so I am feeling a little less stressed out now that I know I have a couple of few more days. So since my character analysis I talked to my friend Cristobal and he told me he would love to act in my video. I was so relieved. I told him about the story and what my visualization of it was and asked him if he knew of any places that would fit my description. He told me I should come up to his house in Wellington and go see some places since there are lot of beautiful beaches over there. He specifically told me about this little island called Fisherman Island that is in a lake near his house. I got so excited when he told me he could take me to it and we could film there.

So Fisherman Island is my plan A, my Plan B would be to go to another beach close by. I am planning going up there between Thursday and Friday in case we need two days.