AICE Media Studies

  Hey everyone, welcome back to the blog! Today, I'm excited to share more about the final touches we've been adding to our film. After Conner worked his magic with the editing and color grading, it was time to focus on sound design. We wanted every sound to enhance the viewer's experience and evoke the right emotions. I curated a soundscape that elevated each scene. From the subtle rustling of leaves in the background to the crisp sound of boxing gloves hitting the bag, every detail was carefully crafted to immerse the audience in Renato's world. One particular challenge we faced was finding the perfect balance between dialogue and background noise. We wanted Renato's voice to be crystal clear, yet still feel grounded in the environment. I experimented with different audio levels and filters until we struck the perfect harmony. Another aspect we paid close attention to was the soundtrack The melodic notes intertwined seamlessly with the visuals, enhancing the emoti

  Welcome back! Today, I'm excited to dive into the process of editing and color grading our film. Color grading, in particular, was a crucial step in shaping the emotional journey of our story. Conner as our tech guy has adobe and is the main editor. He approached this process with a clear vision of using color to reflect the emotional arc. He showed me as he started with a blue hue in the initial scenes, symbolizing melancholy and struggle, echoing the despair. As the story progressed, especially through the training sequences, we gradually shifted to brighter, vibrant tones to signify hope and confidence. Integrating the boxing scenes we filmed was a difficult. We wanted them to seamlessly blend into the narrative without disrupting the flow. One technique we used was an L cut during the interview scenes, overlapping the audio to smoothly transition into the boxing scenes and maintain continuity. This not only helped the film flow better but also trimmed a few seconds off the r

Hey everyone, Finn here. We finally wrapped up filming for our movie. You might remember from yesterday's blog that we were facing a major hurdle with the final scenes, which required us to shoot in a gym with a boxing ring. The catch? None of us had a membership to that gym. But thankfully, our friend Alyssa came to the rescue. She's a member at "The Zoo," the gym we needed, and generously offered us guest passes. We still needed to coordinate our schedules to find a time when all of us could make it. After some back and forth, we settled on a Sunday, and Conner volunteered to drive Alyssa and everyone gym. The scenes themselves weren't overly complicated, but we knew we had to nail them since we might not have the chance for reshoots. Renato's entrance into the ring was all about capturing his determination and readiness to win. Conner set up the camera behind and at an angle below Renato to give that powerful perspective, with the ring in the background a

  Welcome back guys. Today I have some crazy news. As a group we love Kanye West and we thought I would be amzing to use his song in our movie. So Conner did just that. Conner went on a mission to get  "Black Skinhead,"  "Back to Back," and "Lose Yourself"  for our video project. In order to upload the video to YouTube, they complicate things The requirement to upload the video to YouTube complicates things despite our use stricltly for academics and support from the label. This showed us difficulties of copyright laws. The realization of high licensing costs showed us the financial obstacles to filmmaking. By emailing the label we gained knowlege about copyright and its difficulties. Long story short, basically Kanye's label emailed us back, but they wanted us to pay a lot of money eventhough we specified our use. So we kept trying, looking at both licensed and royalty-free songs.   The excitement of picking songs like "Black Skinhead," &quo

  Hey everyone, it's Finn here and I have some exciting updates for you! Finally, the stars aligned, and all of us were free to film together. We decided to head to the beach to work on some scenes that involve the whole gang.  First up was a scene to showcase the contrast between Renato's determination and my laid-back vibe. We roped in our friend Sarah to add depth to the narrative. She and I acted relaxed, soaking in the beach vibes while Renato jogged in the background, all focused and serious. It was a cool setup to highlight our different personalities.  Then, Conner busted out the drone to capture an aerial shot of Renato, symbolically showing him outpacing me in the race of determination. It added a nice touch to the storyline.  For the final beach scene, Sarah and I shared a laugh at Renato's , playing into my character's cocky and carefree attitude. It was all in good fun, and the scene turned out great.  After the beach, we moved to a local restaurant where I

  Hey everyone, Finn here. So, another day of filming is in the books, and let me tell you, Renato and Conner took charge today. Since the weekend freed up our schedules, Renato and Conner decided to dedicate both days to getting some serious work done on our movie. Unfortunately, me and Isahiah couldn't make it today, but we'll be there tomorrow at the beach. So, with just Renato and Conner, they focused on scenes that highlight Renato's character, with a few shots featuring Conner thrown in. Their first stop was LA Fitness, where they planned to shoot some training sequences. We havent yet bought boxing gloves, but that didn't stop them. They figured to work on camera angles for a sparring scene and come back later with the proper gear if needed. Things got a bit tricky for them with filming in a crowded gym. They didn't want to disrupt anyone's workout, so they made the call to switch locations to Renato's house. It turned out to be a good move, as they

It's Finn again. So, today was the start of our filming session, and let me tell you, it was quite the adventure. Renato and Conner had a strategy going in since communication with Isahiah and me hasn't been the smoothest. We decided to tackle as many scenes as possible without us and save the ones we're needed for until later. Renato and Conner planned to start filming after his afternoon practice, which worked out. Conner headed over to his place around 6:00 pm, just as the sun was beginning to set, adding that perfect mood to our shots. We kicked things off with the drone scenes since they were the trickiest, especially with the limited daylight. Their first task was an establishing shot of Renato's neighborhood, captured by the drone. It wasn't too complicated, but they were under a bit of pressure because Conner's drone was low on battery, and he forgot to bring a spare. Next up were the running scenes, and let me tell you, those were a challenge. They had

  Whats up Cambrige, it's Finn again. We decided to film a boxing movie for our final task. Me and Renato are the boxers. Isahaih is Renato's trainer. And Conner is the news reporter. We created a group chat and getting eachothers numbers wasnt a problem. This was due to the fact that this basically the same group as last project, but with Conner. I've known Conner since 6th grade and Renato has known him since 2nd.  We texted in the group chaty to meet up in our class and plan when to film. We were talking for two hours and we decided to meet up in the weekend to film at the beach. Due to our busy schedules we would only be able to film for a short amount of time. Renato is busy on schooldays and Isahiah is busy every second saturday of the month. While I am free only on Sundays. We stayed with the plans from that one Sunday we set on. Everyone was ready and all of a sudden Conner calls the group. He said, "I can't go." And you would think, "oh only one