Filming Blog Part 2: The Setbacks Were Nothing Compared To Our Comeback

To my surprise, my aunt did not recover from her sickness fully to the point where she felt comfortable being filmed. As a result, I had to enact my back up plan and stand in the gap for her role. At first, I was a little frustrated because we had to refilm all of the scenes which she was previously apart of. It felt like all of the hard work we put into those shots simply meant nothing because I could not utilize them. Regardless of this complication, I kept my head up high and preserved during the process of reshooting. It all went really smoothly because my other two actors were already familiar with what they had to do and with the timing. My cousin also contributed to the success of the reshoot. I am so grateful that my cousin was so eager to help once she heard about our problem. My cousin offered up not only herself as help but her tripod so that the filming would be steady and look more professionally done. Within no time we were able to film these scenes over and perfect all the mistakes we saw in the previous version. This including correcting the angles, lighting, and even a few changes in gestures. With those shots being done, we moved on to the bulk of the filming for the music video. As we moved from scene to scene the execution and difficulty level continued to rise. There were some scenes that were simpler and easier to shoot here and there but for the most part, the scenes were increasingly getting harder. Using what we learned from our first film session, we played the clip from the song as we recorded to get a stronger sense of the timing. This method worked throughout our entire filming process but as the lyrics got longer and faster it was difficult to keep up with the music. Due to this, we kept filming the scenes over and over again until they fit the music and everyone was happy with how they came out. Although this did make filming a little longer than expected, I am glad that everyone working with me was understanding and did not complain about the longevity of the filming day. Once we finished all of these shots, we moved on to the scenes which needed a green screen as the background. We started by taping all of the green posterboards we purchased on the wall. While doing so we ensured that there were no gaps between the posterboards so that it would look like one big green screen. After we finished creating our DIY green screen, we proceeded with the filming. I was able to witness our growth and confidence when filming as we made little to no mistakes. We managed to finish filming the necessary scenes in no time. But concern began to overtake us as we worried how well the green screen would end up performing. To ease our doubt, we reviewed each scene over again and even refilmed as better ideas were proposed and everyone agreed to do them over. I admire how willing they were to work on this project with me and make it the best that we could. I could not have filmed this music video so effectively without their help and suggestions. Even though we felt a sense of defeat when we had to start filming from the beginning, we did our best and stayed strong until the very end. 

I can't wait to start editing my music video and see how the green screen effects turn out! I know you are just as excited as me to see the final product. The next time we talk, it'll be all about editing. See you next time!