Farewell...For Now

It’s time for this all to come to an end, I’m afraid.

At least, for the next couple of weeks.

I think that after working on this film for about two months, I am suitably sick of it. I have had my fill of editing, storyline, actors and dialogue. I need a break away from this thing before I can even consider bettering it.

Now, let’s go over the things that I have learned and/or am pleased with.

I learned that recording sound separately from the video betters a film considerably. (Especially when one is using a camera one’s grandmother bought from an infomercial.) Also, I learned that having a set script is much better when wanting to switch up some scenes of characters talking, in which dialogue is imperative to storyline. I also learned that editing takes forever and should be given more time than the actual filming process. I learned about where to find special effects online for free. And where to find sound.

I think that this film brought on a huge learning curve about sound, which was incredibly unexpected. I had set out to make a film and explore some special effects components. Instead, I got this huge battle with sound. It was epic. I made a playlist for it. I think that I finally understand the importance of sound in a quality film. I had heard the concept repeatedly, and as a viewer understood, but as a filmmaker, I really get it now. Sound is half of the film. No question about it.

Another unexpected happenstance was the lack of special effects that I actually put in. Partly due to a lack of time but mostly because I enjoyed the acting way too much. My friends are actually good actors. And they gave something extra to the story that I hadn’t anticipated. I no longer want to distract from their performances. I am quite happy to let them garner so much attention. Kudos, guys!

Things that I intend to change are abundant. I would like to fix the timing a little bit more in one of the beginning scenes. Also, I want to add another special effect in, just to communicate the proper emotion and events in the story. I might even explore a bit more of an abstract approach to this. I’ve found abstract to be easier since the them is: there’s a method to madness. I love that idea. It gives me room to put in some random symbolic shots, which I love. I might tweak the sound just a bit more. I actually have some audio software that would be beneficial to what I consider half of my film. I want to tweak some of my timing especially. I’m not sure that the words completely match up and some of the cuts seem a little fast to me.

The general implication is that: no, I am not completely satisfied with the end product. However, I let’s chalk that up to my desperate need for perfection. In the great words of one of my friends “there is always something more to be done in the editing process, we just have to reach that point where we say ‘I’m done’ and return to normal society.”

I intend to come back to this project after a couple of weeks. But for now, I’m pretty satisfied with the end product.