Production 4

 March 9, 2025

Production SETBACK....

Poor piper....

Hi Cambridgeee!!!! Today we were supposed to film our final scenes for our film opening. Unfortunately, our main character, Piper, got sick. My partner and I decided to meet up and get more editing done instead. Our new filming date is Tuesday. Since we now have less time to record and edit, we made some changes to the memory scenes. Originally, Piper was going to scroll through her camera roll, looking at memories and videos from high school. Instead, we decided that while she was in the bathroom, she received a text from her friend saying, "OMG, I edited a bunch of videos of us throughout high school! Look!" Her friend sends her a compilation of their moments together, and after watching it, Piper decides to call her friend so they can go out one last time before she leaves for college. 

Editing

 March 8, 2025

Editing day1

Heyy Cambridge!! Two days ago, we went through all our clips for the film opening, and today, we’re finally starting the editing process! Like I said in my last blog post, we don’t have everything filmed yet. We figured it’s better to start editing now instead of stressing later and cramming it all in at the last minute.

Since we’re using Adobe Premiere, we had to watch a couple of YouTube videos to get a better idea of how to use it properly. We know the basics, but there’s still so much we don’t know. Turns out, editing is way more complicated than just cutting clips and putting them together. We learned a lot about organizing the timeline, adding transitions, and making sure everything flows smoothly.

One of the biggest struggles was the audio. It simply didn't sound smooth and natural. Some didn't blend the way we wanted, while others were very choppy. We eventually got it to sound smooth after playing with the settings, adjusting, and adding fades. To get the echoey sound for Piper's scene, we also experimented with reverb and other effects, and after what seemed like forever, we were able to make it work!

Overall, editing has been a combination of excitement and frustration but it's so cool to see everything come together at last. Even though there is still much to be done, we are at least going somewhere!

Post-production

 March 6, 2025

Sorting the clipsss

Heyyy Cambridge! Today, we officially started the post-production process! Even though we don’t have all the clips we need to fully edit the film opening, we decided to sort through the footage we have so far. Until now, we had only skimmed through them briefly to check if they were usable, but today was the first time we watched them properly.

We didn’t have much time to work since we all had tons of homework, but we managed to import all the clips into Adobe Premiere. We haven’t started the actual editing yet, though. The clips we have look good overall, but we realized we needed to reshoot a few scenes because our actor wasn’t fully in character (yikesss). She’s supposed to look disconnected, but she keeps smirking in the shots...
 

We’re planning to refilm the necessary clips on Sunday so that we can finally start editing for real!

Question 1

 March 6, 2025

CCR Research for Q1

How does your product use or challenge conventions, and how does it represent social groups or issues?

Hiii Cambridge! Today I was doing some research for my first CCR. There is something about a good coming-of-age film that just sticks with you. Personally, I love the nostalgia, the awkwardness, and the way it captures teenagers in their awkward years between being a kid and an adult. Coming-of-age movies create a comfortable and relatable environment for myself and others. 

Coming-of-age movies allow us to see what various teenage generations cared about, struggled with, and believed in. From the rebellious energy of Rebel Without a Cause (1955) to the raw honesty of Lady Bird (2017). While Eighth Grade (2018) highlighted the challenges of growing up, American Graffiti (1973) captured the joys of youth in the early 1960s. These movies ensure that we all see a little of ourselves on screen whether it's first love, a family argument, or the fear of growing up.

Genre Conventions

1. Relatable Characters: Piper is going through the transition from high school to college, and the film opening shows her struggles more than her excitement. This makes it easy for teenagers to relate to her feelings.

2. Setting: The film's opening includes a teenage party scene, which is a familiar scene that teenagers see. The emotional shift happens when Piper goes to the bathroom, overwhelmed. The audience can see how it's all too much to take at once for Piper.

3. Transitions: Rather than focusing on typical milestones, the film emphasizes a more reminiscent moment as Piper looks back on old videos. This shows her transition from a high school teenager to the beginning of her adulthood.

Production 3

 March 2, 2025

Grad Partyyy

Hi Cambridge!!!! Today my group and I finally filmed the graduation scene for our film opening. We started by decorating the house, but we ran into a little problem. We accidentally bought four graduation tablecloths instead of a graduation poster. I had to get creative and tape them all together so it would look like one big poster. We used them to cover most of the house and only left the front entrance visible.

Then we started blowing up the balloons, which took way longer than we expected. It was honestly so annoying. Once everything was set up, everyone we asked to help showed up. We had about fifteen people pretending to be at the graduation party, which helped make it feel more realistic.

Before filming the party scene, we also filmed a clip of Piper in the car on her way there. While I was driving, one of my team members recorded out of the window while our main character sat in the back, reminiscing on her phone.

Filming was kind of frustrating because not everyone was taking it seriously, but we still got some good shots. Now we’re ready to start editing. We do have one more filming day to fix mistakes from the bathroom scene and film the memories Piper, our main character, is looking at on her phone. But other than that, we are basically done filming, thank godddd. I’m so excited to start editing!!

Production 2

 March 1, 2025

Purchasing Props

Heyyyy Cambridgee!!!! This past week, we’ve been preparing everything for the graduation party scene in our film opening. But before we could even start filming, we ran into a problem. We completely forgot to get a new SD card. We were about to start shooting the bathroom scene when we realized the old one wasn’t working. So we had to make a quick trip to Walmart to grab a new one. 

Once that was out of the way, we moved on to decorations. Since we wanted the party to feel packed, we needed to make the space look smaller. We went to Party City since they’re closing down and everything was on sale. We got balloons, a graduation cap, and this huge graduation poster that covered a big part of my house. It actually worked out perfectly because it made the room feel smaller and the party looked way more crowded than it actually was. 

We also needed snacks, so we picked up some Doritos and Cheeto Puffs. At my house, we already had tortilla chips and red cups to help with the party vibe. We barely spent any money since almost everything we got was on sale. 

Now that we have everything ready, it’s finally time to start filming the graduation party scene. Can’t wait to see how it all comes together.