Final Movie

 

Post 35: Reflection

 This film project helped me grow creatively and hands on. I learned so much on how much planning goes into making even a short film, from storyboarding to editing. Seeing the project go from an idea we came up in the middle of our class period to a finished product was rewarding and made all the hard work feel worth it.

If I were to do this project again, I would spend more time on our sound and camera work. Overall, this experience helped me understand filmmaking on a deeper level and showed me how teamwork, patience, and creativity all come together to create a final film. I’m proud of what we created and how much we learned as a group throughout the entire process.

Post 34: Challenges & Solutions

 One of the biggest challenges we faced was time management. Filming took longer than expected, and it was hard to fit everything into our schedule especially while filming after school, we had to arrange rides, were unable to film on our club days or the days someone had work. To solve this, we prioritized the most important scenes and adjusted our shot list. This helped us stay on track without affect the actual quality of the film.

Another challenge was the sound quality. Some clips had background noise that made dialogue hard to hear. We knew we would have to fix this during editing by adjusting audio levels and, in some cases, re-recording sound or muting the scenes. These challenges taught us that some problems are normal in filmmaking, but what really matters is how you find the solutions to these problems.

Post 33: What We Learned as a Team

 Working on this film taught us a lot about teamwork and communication. Everyone had a role, and although it did fluctuate during filming, it only came out well when everyone did their part. If one person was unprepared, it affected the whole group. This showed us how important each responsibility is during a group project.

We also learned how to communicate better under the pressure. There were moments when we disagreed on shots or scenes, but we learned to listen to each other, take criticism and compromise. By the end of the project, we worked more smoothly together and trusted each other’s ideas. This helped us grow not only as better filmmakers but also as teammates.

Post 32: Audience Feedback

 After showing our film to our friends and classmates, we received tons of feedback that helped us understand how the audience viewed our work. Many people said they liked the storyline and thought the film had a clear message. Some viewers mentioned that certain scenes were emotional and easy to understand, which showed that our planning and acting worked well. 

However, we also received constructive criticism. A few people said some scenes could have been louder or clearer, especially the dialogue. Others suggested that we should tighten up a few scenes so the pacing felt smoother and so that it’d flow better. This feedback was helpful because it pointed out things we didn’t notice while looking back and even editing. Overall, the audience feedback helped us see our film from different perspectives and understand how it could be improved for the better.

Post 31: Behind the Scenes Reflection

 Being behind the scenes during filming helped me understand how much work goes into making a movie. When you watch a finished film, you usually only see the actors, but behind the camera there is a constant movement and decision-making on the spot. Crew members had to adjust lighting, camera angles, check and make sure the recorded sounds came out clear, frame shots, and make sure everything looked right before filming even started.

This showed me just how important each role is on set. If the camera wasn’t ready or the sound wasn’t clear, the entire scene had to stop. Working behind the scenes also taught me how important the communication is. Everyone had to stay focused and listen so filming could run as smoothly as possible.

Blog #30 – Music and Sound Design

 Choosing music and sound for Karma High ended up being more important than I expected. A subtle background noise, a creaking floor or squeaky shoes, or even a short pause in the soundtrack could completely change the mood of a scene, making it tense and suspenseful. Using all the different sounds showed me how much the audio has over emotions.

It also helped us highlight all the important moments in the story. For example, using a sudden sound at the right time made a scary scene land almost perfectly, and the quieter tones helped emphasize the reactions, the audio sound can make or break a scene, and it was cool to see how the small changes could make such a big difference.

Blog #29 – Editing Preparation

 Before just heading into our post-production, we spent a good chunk of time organizing all our footage. We labeled the best takes, sorted them by scene, and made notes about which angles worked best. Doing this ahead of time saved so much stress later because we knew exactly what we had to work with and could focus on putting the story together rather than us searching for usable clips.

Planning out the rough cuts before opening the editing software also made us think more about carefully about pacing, scene order, and transitions. Even small decisions, such as which shot to start the scene with, how long to hold a close-up, or when to cut to reaction shots, had a huge impact on how the story would feel and which parts we wanted the audience to capture. It did make me realize that editing isn’t just about putting clips together; it’s more so about shaping the narrative and controlling the audience’s experience.

Blog #28 – Reviewing Footage

 

While watching all the footage after each day of filming back, it was honestly one of the most useful parts of the whole process. Some scenes turned out better than I expected, which was really motivating, while others had tiny mistakes that we hadn’t even noticed on set, like a something or someone being in the wrong spot or a line being slightly off. Seeing everything played back made it easier to decide which takes we could keep and which ones needed to be reshot, and it gave me a clearer view on how the final film was coming together.

It also helped the actors a lot. Seeing themselves on screen allowed them to notice little things, like how their expressions came across or if their movements  during the scene looked natural. They could make some adjustments in the next scenes, which saved a lot of time later. Personally, being able to review all of the footage early on helped a lot, instead of just guessing whether each scene worked by the time we had everything filmed .

Blog #27 – How Bloopers Helped Improve Our Scenes

 At first, I was starting to get really annoyed by all the bloopers we kept getting, lines forgotten, laughing at serious moments, or actors messing up their movements. But the more we filmed, the more I realized that these “mistakes” were actually helping us. Each time something went wrong, we could see exactly what didn’t work and figure out how to fix it in the next take. It made the actors more aware of their timing, expressions, and how small movements affected the overall scene.

By the time we finally got usable footage, the scenes felt so much more natural and I could actually start seeing the film slowly but surely coming together. The actors were wayyy more confident than when we first started off, and the story flowed better because everyone was learning and taking feedback from one another in all of the earlier takes. I even started to look forward to bloopers, they became like a learning tool, showing us what exactly needed attention and pushing us to make the scenes stronger than we originally planned.

Blog #26 – Why So Many Bloopers Happened

 

Most of our bloopers happened during the emotional or the intense scenes. It was very difficult for the actors to stay serious like they needed to be in each scene, especially while filming the same scene multiple times due to errors. All of the long filming minutes/hours also made it easier to lose focus, and more interested in going home.

These bloopers showed us the importance of taking a couple breaks and staying as organized as possible. Once we slowed down and reset between the takes, scenes started to improve. This helped the filming process feel less chaotic and more controlled.

Blog #25 – Bloopers: What Went Wrong on Set

 We ended up with tons of bloopers while filming our scenes, mostly from them forgetting their lines, laughing and cringing during the scene takes, or breaking character during the serious scenes. Some moments were just funny, but others happened because people were playing, nervous or just tired. These mistakes slowed down filming but unfortunately they were unavoidable.

Even though all of the bloopers were frustrating at some times, they did helped us realize exactly what needed fixing. Repeating the scenes over and over again actually helped the actors in the scene gain the confidence and improve their timing with what they were about to say. Most of our better takes came after messing up a few times first.

Blog #24 – Directing Actors During Filming

 Directing the actors during filming was harder than I thought it would be. For one, we had to use each other as characters in the show while still filming one another. Some of our scenes didn’t feel quite right at first because the emotions were either too forced or not strong enough. I had to explain what the character was feeling and why the scene mattered instead of just telling them what to do, and guide them on how to showcase each action of their character.

Once actors actually understood the emotion behind the scene and their role in that part, their performances improved a lot. This showed me how important communication can be in filmmaking. Just a small change in someone’s tone or their body language made scenes feel more real and helped the storyline flow better.

During this take I’m guiding “amara” in the back to express more emotion while doing the creepy drawings while thinking about the bullies, in the script she was written as very mad and scribbling the paper till the ink started to bleed, here she wasn’t doing that, so I let her know. 

Although there was giggling in this scene take, your able to see the difference in amaras actions and is able to see who her anger is towards, which is what we need in the film.