Final Project and CCRs!!

I am so very happy, and so very sad, that this project has finally come to an end. It's almost bittersweet making this post. I feel as if I've grown a connection to my work, and finally saying goodbye and sending it out as a finished project, I feel like a proud dad. This project has really opened my mind and helped me discover myself; I discovered new things about myself along the way, from the beginning planning to the final revisions. I learned how much I love being in charge of cinematography, and how much I like sound design.

Film Opening

    LINK: Final project

Creative Critical Reflection #1

    LINK: CCR #1

Creative Critical Reflection #2

    LINK: CCR #2

I'm grateful to have been given the opportunity to work on a film in this school environment. This class has not only taught me lessons that will stick with me throughout my whole life, but also taught me about myself as a person, and helped me grow. I hope you will enjoy my project as much as I did while making it. Thank you.

Final revision

The time has come, and it's time for the final revision. Overall im happy with how my film opening turned out. Going into this project, I had a basic idea of what I wanted to do, but my ideas developed over time during the process of filming and editing. The final product reflects that entire process of personal growth between my group and me.

For me, the biggest improvement was my skill in editing. When I first began, I knew next to nothing when it came to sound design or color grading. However, I was able to teach myself the basics and come up with something that I was very proud of. Over time, I got the hang of how the little things, like sound effects or cuts, can all come together to create a tone or feeling in a film.

Filming for me was also a learning experience as I paid more attention to the angles and shot composition I was using during the shooting. It all came together quite well in the end.

If I were to do this again, I would probably plan things out a little more in advance so the process is more efficient and also comes out more polished. Overall, this project was definitely a learning experience and was a great tool for me to improve my skills and get a better understanding of how films are made and put together in post-production.

[Still shots of the final product]

CCR #2 Production!

My second CCR is done! My second CCR focuses on questions 3 and 4, which talk about my growth in skills and technology while producing the project. In the video, I voice over a screen recording of the film project file explaining techniques, my choices, and what I did to create the film (aka color grading, sound design, and editing)

This CCR is my favorite of the two, as this one I feel like I was able to really show off all my hard work,k and I was able to give credit to helpful YouTubers who gave tutorials on how to use Davinci Resolve. The filming of this went pretty smooth I only had maybe 2 clips that didn't make the final cut due to stutters and my dissatisfaction with the clips.

This photo shows me rendering the final CCR #2 product which is a screencast of the original film project file. Its almost like inception, its Davinci Resolve rendering a video about Davinci Resolve.

Video tutorials I used

Roberts, J. (2023). Fairlight audio basics in DaVinci Resolve [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvJ_4VaZYnI

Batal, D. (2025). DaVinci Resolve’s Fairlight page for COMPLETE NOOBS! [Video]. YouTube.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxLz6r-Vqms

Faris, C. (2025). How to start color grading in DaVinci Resolve: Total beginner’s guide 2025 [Video]. YouTube.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wc6EAZp7pzQ

CCR #1 Production!

 I have officially completed the filming for my first CCR. The first CCR was almost like a Q&A style director interview, where I went over questions 1 and 2 regarding my film. I can't believe this project has finally come to an end. I have also finished the editing of my first CCR and it pleases me to say that I am very proud of my project and mt reflection

[photo of editing software]

This photo was me at the beginning of editing the ccr and putting everything together. This process honestly took around an hour total I would say for putting all the clips together and finding background music and inputtiong clips from my actual project

[Photo of editing software again]

This photo shows the final result after around an hour of editing, and as of now, CCR number 1 is finally finished!

Music Problem

I knew music would matter, but I didn’t realize how much it would shape the entire edit.

My first instinct was to use something that sounded intense and dramatic. I tried it under the opening scene and it didnt fit well with the comedy. The actors were doing unserious things but the music treated it like a serious action and it felt off.

Then I  tried something obviously goofy for the audio. That was worse as it felt forced, like the music was trying to tell the audience how to react instead of letting the scene speak for itself.

I still haven't found a good audio that I can say I like for the clips I have. Finding an audio for this film is actually really hard, and I dont know if I should even keep looking for one as it might be a waste of time. Some people might think any audio at all would make it worse. Im still thinking on it but I might not put an audio in.

As well, many audio tracks that would fit in to the film opening are copyrighted, which makes this even harder. This is proving to be a big challenge in the editing process and has become really unmotivating. I'll push through and still try to find audios or music tracks, but as of right now its not looking good.

On a positive note, the edit is coming together, but I’ve watched it so many times that it’s hard to judge it objectively. I think so far it's alright, but thats okay as I have more time to work with it until I am satisfied with it. Although, I do have a history of saying my editing projects are not good, but then have multiple people say that in their opinion it was good. Either im dissapointed in my editing skills, or I looked at the video too many times and saw too many minor flaws that others won't see. Either way, progress is being made.

Starting the Editing Process!

I finally sat down to edit and I spent more time than I should have on the beginning of the film.

The opening was the first issue. I started with the driving scene since that’s technically where the story begins, but I didn't like it. The audience doesn’t know these characters yet, so thirty seconds of them arguing feels random. Althoug the original plan was to start with the TV News Report scene, I tried the car scene first anyway just to get a feel. Although in the end, I ended up putting the TV news report scene first

I then spent another 20 ish minutes aligning, cutting, and making sure the clips fit well together and weren't abrupt in between. It wasn't hard, but it was kind of a tedious task, although it came out well in the end.

    (Photo of timeline)

Sound ended up being the biggest challenge. I’d focused too much on the visuals that I didn’t realize how uneven the audio was until I started editing. Some lines were too quiet, and others had background noise I didn't notice while filming. Cleaning that up took more time than I expected, but it made a huge difference.

This was a pretty short blog, and the editing was brief because my group and I were mindful during recording how the clips would come out. This made the editing load much easier. Although, I still have to figure out the music/audio tracks, and thats proving to be a real big problem.

Group meeting #2

Today in class, we got together in groups to do group meetings. Each group has members that were all a part of different projects which allows for multiple perspectives on our project and also allows me to share my ideas to other people's projects. This group meeting I looked forward to because this time I have work to show for and not just ideas, so we had real problems to solve instead of just hypothetical ones, and I was excited to share my all the filming I had so far.

We went around sharing where everyone was at with their projects. When it was my turn I showed some clips from the library scene and the car scene. The feedback was actually useful, someone asked how I would edit 2 clips, one of the inside of the car and one of the outside, so that it looks like both clips represent the same time in the film. This made me think about what I was going to do, and the other group members helped refine my ideas too. 

We also talked about pacing because we were all worried about hitting the 2 minute mark. I found out that with the clips I have that I wasn't doing bad on time. Someone suggested that I could extend the driving scene with more which could work, but I also don't want to drag it.

After we went over my project, we went over another group member's project which was about a typical romcom except the first 2 minutes of the scene were a girlfriend and boyfriend would have an argument and break up. However, I pointed out that 2 minutes was not enough time to fully capture an argument that warrants a break up, and thats on top of the fact that there still needs to be credits and an opening scene. I gave the idea that instead of an argument it could be that the girlfriend gets ready for the first minute to go out with her boyfriend, but when they go out to like a party, the girlfriend sees her boyfriend with another girl and that could be the end of the film. I felt that would fit much better in 2 minutes, and the group member agreed and she changed her idea of the film. I gave good insight and guided her in the right direction so she could make her own ideas but now she would be more mindful about her time restraints.

After this meeting I left feeling motivated instead of stressed. I was happy with how it turned out and I got some useful insights into my project and I was also able to help others with my ideas.