Ivan Ramcharitar's AICE Media Studies Final Project

The first time that I filmed the scene where the protagonist attempted the tryout exam for the spelling bee, it was pretty dull. It was basically just back and forth of the protagonist stressing out and entering the wrong answers. I wanted this part of the scene to feel like it took forever for the student to pass the test, but in every time that I combined the shots, it looked choppy and repetitive. To fix this, I used the technique called parallel editing. This is where one scene is being filmed, which changes to a different event happening at the same time. To really emphasize the struggle the protagonist dealt with on the test, I decided to take short clips of a clock ticking and insert them in between shots of the student taking the test. This was a little time consuming as I had to wait for a few minutes to pass so that different stages of the clock would appear in the film. This was the perfect solution I needed, because it extends the duration of the scene, and directly shows t...

 Adding in sounds produced from my foley techniques to match in with what is happening on screen is important for creating a realistic sounding and looking film. While I had earlier planned to do was create the sounds while filming the scenes, so that the sounds were already synced with the action. However, this required to use of more people to create theses sounds for me, who I could not acquire. It also sounded less clear than how it would if it were overlayed.  To overlay my created sound, I used iMovie's overlay tool. This made this process really easy due to its microphone capability. Instead of recording the desired sound over and over until it is synced, I was able to create the sound while watching the clip so that it would be timed almost perfectly. As if that wasn't easy enough, I was also able to drag the clip of audio over each scene, until it was in a good and synced placement. Here's what one scene sounded like before and after a sound overlay:

To work with what I already had and to make my film more like an opening, I scratched the opening scene of my project entirely. The previous opening scene will now take place after the new and current opening scene that I filmed, in the order of the real film. Instead of discovering the spelling bee tryouts, his mother will be upset that he failed them and ground him for that. He will then struggle to make his way onto the team and eventually win the spelling bee through the help of the homeless man. The new opening scene of my film will begin as the protagonist gets to school; confident he will pass the spelling bee tryouts. While taking the test, the student struggles while a careless looking student passes easily. After the time is up, the protagonist finds out that he failed the test, and in an act of anger breaks the white board. Feeling defeated, he walks home where the homeless man asks him what's wrong. The protagonist then adheres to stereotypes and rudely declines his off...

When editing my film, I realized that it was sort of dull and needed something further to portray feelings and meaning. The audio I had in the recording of the film opening wasn't loud enough, so to fix this, I practiced and some foley techniques over multiple voice recordings and inserted them into my film. Prior to this, I researched some Hollywood sound techniques that are simple and can be done at home.  In the disney movie, "Inside Out", the sound of a clock ticking was simply someone behind the scenes clicking a pen, so that is exactly the technique I used for my clock ticking parallel editing scene.  Other sounds that I needed, were too difficult to make at home. For example, the sound of a school bell that I needed, was simulated in Hollywood techniques with bicycle bells, or by a metal rod repetitively hitting another metal object in 2x speed. Since I didn't have any of those Items, I used my iPhone school bell alarm, which doesn't contain any copyrights ...

 After editing my video, I realized that the sound choice for the opening scene was a bit boring, as it wouldn't be familiar to young viewers, being that it was an unknown and uncopyrighted piece of music. To fix this, I searched for a more popular artist whose music would be soft enough to use as an introduction, that a younger audience still recognized. This led me to the singer/songwriter named Harry Styles.  Harry Styles is known for his warm toned and uplifting genre of music. Due to his recent appearance on music billboards, I figured that it would appeal to a more modern generation, which the film targets. This song serves as the credit opening score, which opens the movie with an inspiring and uplifting tone.  I stumbled upon his recent songs, called "Golden" whose opening was absolutely perfect for the credit scene to the opening of my film. Its climax is timed almost directly on time with the reveal of the title.

 After the first day of filming my final cut, I edited the shots together and I noticed they were pretty choppy, among several other issues. The flashlight that I used for lighting was visible in some scenes, and the actors struggled to stay in character throughout different shots. I did like some of the angles that I had, but my hands were shaky in some of them, which have to be redone. Some scenes may be usable in the final cut, for example, the outside scene was pretty well, but I still re shot it so that I have two choices of what to use in my final cut. I fortunately was able to re film the following day, as everybody was free, but I had to do it during the school day rather than after. I used a phone flashlight instead of a handheld one, as it's beam was less strong, but illuminated a wider area from further away. I used a different camera setting (action mode) on my recording device, to reduce the shakiness of my hands. Finally, I took longer shits, and recorded a little aft...

When finalizing the plan for the opening of my film, I realized it was sort of formatted as a short story and would contain longer than 2 minutes of screen time. To fix this, I made some modifications to the storyboard, and the overall plot of the film. For one, I cut out 3 of the scenes I initially planned on filming, to slow the pace of the film. Because of this, I will have to fit in more stereotypes into the scenes that I am keeping and focus more on character body language to display this. I added in less dialogue after realizing it was pretty difficult to make my actor's lines sound professional. I will include more angles of each shot, and slow down how frequently I go from shot to shot.   The overall plot remains the same, but will include more side characters than before, to create a more realistic environment. These extras will be people from my casting call who did not get the role but are still able to help me film. With these modifications, the Opening to the film shou...

     When trying to find a day to film the at home scenes, I ran into a couple of problems. The actors in my film barely had any free time due to schoolwork and jobs, so finding a date to film was problematic. Kage, the protagonist, worked every day after school during the week I had planned for filming. As the center of the film, I had to work around his schedule and find a day he was off. This delayed the progress of my film, but thankfully I had planned for this, giving myself extra days in my planning stage.  In the meantime, I filmed the "at school" and "walking home" scenes, relatively easy, as all of the cast members were at in school on the same days at the same time. Some of the days that I had planned for reshooting, however, didn't exactly line up with some of the actors, as they had work or tests during my less-busy class periods. To fix this, we decided to stay after school for a little while, to film the remaining scenes when everybody had time. Th...

 In the world of film making, it is important to record shots and scenes in a horizontal camera setting. This is so that a wider view of the setting is present, and the viewer can fully observe the environment. This is an example of a vertical angle: This is an example of a horizontal angle: These two pictures were taken of the same area, and as you can see, more props and elements of the setting are visible in the landscape photo.  Recording films in portrait mode makes it harder for the audience to maintain focus on the screen, as it is just plain out awkward to watch at that angle. It also invokes a sense of reality, as it makes the viewer feel as though they are in the spot where the camera is.

 To really connect with the audience, I interviewed each actor and learned basic things about them. This technique is used frequently on Disney channel, which has a large success of viewers. Abigail Brandemihl: (Protagonist's Mother) "Hi, I'm Abigail Brandemihl I am 17 and I am 5 feet 6 inches. I auditioned for this role as I feel I have a great and professional voice, perfect for this role. I often talk to horses as I am a competitive equestrian o I learn to manage my tone, so I do not spook them." Kage Capistrano: (Protagonist) "Hi, I'm Kage I am 18 and 5 feet 7 inches. I auditioned for this role because it is a good way to represent my heritage, in a non-stereotypical way. I enjoy boxing, and I spend time fixing my car." Kyle Peter: (Homeless Man)  "Hi, my name is Kyle I am 17 years old, and I am 6 feet tall. I auditioned for this role because I enjoy taking the role of different characters, and in this film, I would be able to play 2, both the h...

The homeless man will wear ragged but still light-colored clothes. This is so that viewers can interpret him as a "good guy" as whiter colors often represent this. In the movie, home alone, the homeless pigeon lady is dressed in dirty multi-layered clothing but still wears a light red colored outer jacket, to show that she is not an evil character. This will be used as my inspiration for the outfit the homeless man will wear. I chose this outfit for the protagonist to wear at school, as it is semiprofessional, but still colorful, and expressive as young children are. The shirt is a red button up with a collar, paired with khaki short pants. His at home clothes are pajamas, as it is meant to be a comfortable environment for him, while also portraying his carefree nature. as the film progressed, I would have him wear more cleaner and nicer clothing to portray the growth of his responsibility.

 The editing software that I am using is both iMovie, and Cap Cut. I have used both platforms before in my past, for social media and for school projects. iMovie allows for simpler ways to clip and overlay videos, which is important for my film as it will contain a scene of parallel editing. It also gives in-depth time stamps, which will help when I am adding prerecorded audio, and a score.  When adding these features, however, I will insert them using Cap Cut. This is because it provides a preview during the implementation process, so that I can match the audio with what is happening on-screen. It also allows me to speed up or slow down audio, which will therefore reduce the amount of reshoots I will have to conduct. I will do my final editing on iMovie, as Cap Cut contains a watermark at the end of the created videos. By using iMovie to do my final editing, I can clip out this watermark, and be able to share the finished opening of my film easier through email.

 The filming device I will be using is an iPhone 13. This is the only type of camera I own, which is available. The dual camera system allows for different perspectives on each shot. It is also equipped with a flashlight; however, I will also use a secondary one for better lighting techniques. I am also already familiar with its features, and how to adjust it for better lighting, sound and editing. Being that the editing app I will be using is on the same device that I am filming on, it will be easier to merge, upload, and connect videos. Some popular short films are even shot on iPhones. For example, the movie "night fishing" was filmed on an iPhone. They incorporated the "movie" video option with night mode to create an impressing 7/10 IMDB rating.

 I know that titles are a key feature in luring an audience into a movie, as it is often the first thing that they will see or read. The title of my movie will be called "the spelling Bee" I chose this title because it is pretty simple but still sums up the content and gives an overall description to what the film will be about. The first thing in my movie will be the title, as the setting is established. As seen in the Title of the recent series, "She- Hulk", the designers of it cleverly designed it to fit the theme of the series. The title itself is the iconic Hulk colored green, so that the audience can see that the series is related to a character they are familiar with. The title also includes a twist to the title, by adding in the word "She" before it in pink lettering. The Hulk is already previously known to be something boys are more comparatively interested in than girls, but by adding in the "She" part in pink, shows how the series cam ...

 Lighting is crucial as I have learned, as it creates the atmosphere and can be used to highlight character expressions in a film. I will carefully plan out the lighting to convey the intended meaning through this micro element. Scene 1: natural lighting to create a realistic environment. The majority of the scene will be of outside and inside the house, so key lighting like lamps will be used. Scene 2: Natural lighting from the window to create a daytime setting. Room lamp to create a background and filler lighting Scene 3: School lights as the main source to create a natural school environment. Phone flashlight as background lighting to emphasize the struggle of the protagonist's face while he fails his spelling tryout test. Scene 4: all-natural lighting as the scene takes place outside Scene 5: Computer screen as lowkey lighting to create shadows on protagonist's face. To make the best use of Natural lighting, I will film scenes from the same side the sun is at, to create sh...

The opening credits that I will include in the introduction of my film, will be inserted directly after the title leaves the screen. They will be displayed over different shots of the setting, to keep the attention of the viewer, so that each contributor to my film will receive the attention and credit that they deserve.  A credit opening seen which I feel does a great Job at keeping the viewer's attention, and displays names in a memorable fashion, is the movie, "Casino", as seen on the website, "The art of the title." This intro contains graphic artwork and animation in the background of the credit sequence, which keeps the audience entertained and focused on the screen.  My film, however, is not as action packed and doesn't fit into the same genre as that one, so I will not include an animated or graphic background, as it may appear boring when fitted into my genre. Instead, I will Include a sort of montage going from shot to shot until I end up into the ...

 The spelling Bee     2/12/2025 1: Opening scene  wide shot of house while credits roll.  "Music playing"                     Close ups of failed assignments while kid plays video games in the background                        PROTAGONIST'S MOTHER:                                                                            KAGE!!!                                                                                               ...

 To create a script, I needed to understand the strengths and weaknesses of my actors. The protagonist's mother will probably be the easiest to record, since it can be recorded multiple times, and doesn't occur in the shot of the film. The other characters, however, will be more difficult as they have a limited amount of tries to get it right, to avoid fatigue from the continuous reshooting of the same scene. Knowing this, I will limit the amount of dialogue I will include, and use small, easy to pronounce and easy to memorize words. I will try to keep the same amount of dialogue present in each scene, so tat no part feels to rushed or too slow. This will also serve as a marker for how long each scene will be. I will also incorporate some of the shots that are occurring and the actions that the characters are taking while they speak, to keep the order of scenes organized.  To further help with this, I will organize each chunk of dialogue with the scenes they correlate to....

To create a more realistic environment, and portray the attributes of each character, I will need to pick out costumes for each actor to wear. These pieces of clothing will be used to represent the personalities of each character, and will blend with the setting they are in. For example, in the school setting, the protagonist will have to wear semi-professional clothes, but still wear something that represent his personality, like shorts or a graphic T shirt.  Protagonist: For the at home scene, the protagonist will wear casual clothing, like loungewear. Asian cultures usually wear cloth or warm knit clothing, so I will find something close to that. For the at school and walking home scenes, he will wear semi normal school clothing, but will have a messy hair and style to portray his irresponsibility. Homeless man/ tutor: this character will wear dirty ragged clothing to make him seem incapable of knowledge, and possible help toward the protagonist. This is so that he is misjudged ...

To further enhance the effect on the audience, I will plan out the audio techniques I will use in each scene. After I have learned how movies like "Titanic" do this through my research, it's time to incorporate it into my own opening of my film. Scene 1: Opening score; the song "teenage dirtbag" by Wheatus. I chose this song because it is a pretty upbeat way to open a movie, especially where the lyrics of the song and the genre of my film fit into the "coming of age" category. Scene 2: Diegetic background noise of Protagonist's friends having fun. Sound bridge of school bell, transitioning to next scene Scene 3: Diegetic sound of clock ticking and pencil writing. Intense incidental music to create tension Scene 4: Diegetic sounds of footsteps and cars passing below is how I created the Foley sounds for footsteps: 

 For each scene, I will plan which shots I will use, so that I can maximize the meaning produced in each shot. For example, in certain scenes I can include close ups on character's faces to display body language, or on key items important to the plot. In the Disney movie, Alice in wonderland, close ups are used to reveal the personality traits of each character. For example, close ups on Alice in the beginning of the movie show her face as expressionless and closed, to reveal her shyness. These are also used in this movie to show the Mad Hatter's craze and unstableness based of his wide eyes and face expressions. Scene 1: Master shot of house to show setting. Scene 2: Mid shot of protagonist to show what he is doing plus facial expressions. Over the shoulder shot to show what he is looking at. Close up of spelling bee flyer. Eyeline match of spelling bee flyer. Scene 3: Tracking to show Protagonist entering tryouts. wide shot to show setting. Parallel editing of clock ticking. ...