Short Film (Culmination Project)

Project Description

            For my Culmination project I plan to be the video editor and sound engineer for a project on a short film based on a character just walking down the sidewalk looking at car pictures which is tied to the hobby of his friend that he hasn’t seen in a long time. The main character then meets up with his friend within their friend group to get his car back after lending it out. He starts to reminisce about the times when all three of them would hang out together. He then continues his day a bit sad driving around waiting for the moment to know if his plans with his friend group is happening that day. He ends up wandering various places to pass the time until he finally gets a text on his phone asking when he was going to show up. and from then on, he has brightened up and excited to finally hang out as a whole group.  I’m completing this with Brannon law and Charles Mandell. This idea came about 2/15/22 during our 2022 spring semester as we were all in the same class and thought it would be cool to do this given the skillsets, we have acquired thus far during our college journey. I plan to use avid media composer to complete this project and I would need to make a Gant chart to set deadlines I would need for when I could potentially start editing this short film. Charles, Brannon, and I will be using a Gant chart to plan out this process and it will help us stay on track with a timeline of when we need to gather equipment such as the cameras for the shoot and when the script for writing the commercial should be completed by. 

In this project I will be assisting with writing the script as well as doing editing for video and sound on the short film. We would come together after there is a draft of a script that we all deem would be excellent and then finalize it. Shortly thereafter we will begin planning for when we would like to gather the camera equipment necessary for our shoot with Charles’s car. My timeline for this would be to get this done within 57 days, this amount of time would be necessary as it would enable my partners and I time to get the video equipment and start shooting which would be the pre-production segment of this short film. Once pre-production is done and I’m able to get the footage necessary to start the video editing it should take me approximately 40 days to get the video editing done as I’m the main editor and Brannon would be co-editing. The idea behind this story behind is to invoke emotion about someone who has realized that there is not as much time as there used to be to hang out as a group of friends as there once was when they were younger due to everyones lives getting busy. 

In conclusion, from the project the outcome will allow me to gather experience as I eventually matriculate into the field of video production where I can use my knowledge and expertise to create great bodies of work. The expected length of this video is projected to be about 8 minutes long where with this project based upon how my partners and I execute it would allow me to see areas where I can improve and areas where I excel already based off how we structure our timeline with this project. I will be using DaVinci resolve to color grade as this is one of the industry leading programs to do so and I’d like to deliver a compelling product with the edit I create.

Methods

I’ll use avid media composer to complete this short film using the skills I’ve gained in video editing skills and advanced video editing. I will then use Ableton live 11 to mix some music that are royalty free to use as background music in the film. With avid media composer I will be using it to create a sequence that has rhythm and can invoke the emotions based upon my editing on screen. The sound aspect will drive the feel of the film that is not necessarily portrayed by just looking at the actor.

Project Deliverables

My timeline for this would be to get this done by the end of November as this amount of time would be necessary as it would enable my partners time to get the video equipment and start shooting which would be the pre-production segment of the short film. Once pre-production is done and I’m able to get the footage necessary to start the video editing it should take me approximately 40 days to get the video editing done as I’m the main editor. Brannon would be co-editor. Complete video editing using avid media composer and DaVinci resolve. Mix sound on the video to deliver a compelling product for consumption.

Calendar

GANT CHART : One More Ride Darnell McKenzie, Brannon Law, Charles Mandell  
TasksStart DateEnd DateDuration
Script Writing and shot list creation9/1/229/16/2215
Shooting Footage9/17/229/19/222
Tech advisor meeting9/23/229/23/220
Shooting Footage 9/23/229/25/222
Tech advisor meeting10/7/2210/7/220
Shooting Footage 10/16/2210/16/220
Shooting Footage10/22/2210/22/220
Begin Editing 10/23/2212/2/2240
Tech advisor meeting11/15/2211/15/220
Master Video12/2/2212/2/220
publish video12/3/2212/3/220

Estimate

QuantityUnitMaterialUnit costExtended Cost
11AVID MEDIA COMPOSER9.999.99
11DAVINCI RESOLVE295295
 1 1MACBOOK PRO PERSONALPERSONAL
 1 1ABLETON LIVE 11 PERSONALPERSONAL
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Subtotal$304.99
8.875% Tax$27.07
Subtotal 2$332.06
Contingency$33.21
Total$365.26

Culmination Project Agreement

Tech Advisor Meetings

Table of contents

  • Project Description
  • Methods
  • Project deliverables
  • Calendar
  • Estimate
  • Culmination Project Agreement
  • Tech Advisor Meetings

Reflection

As I sit back and reflect on my culmination project, I have gained experience in something that I hope to continue and make a career out of long after I graduate. This project has taught me the importance of planning, meeting deadlines and collaboration with other individuals although our schedules may clash. I’ve also learned to just try things I have never done before although things may not come out perfect there is experience in doing something and failing to get better at it. With this project there were some high points and there were some low points but now that I’m at the conclusion of this project there are somethings, I would’ve done differently given there was more time available to complete this project.

            Starting out with the shooting of this film we should have had some reflectors for the main actor. This would’ve allowed for more separation between the dark scenes and the actors face when going into post-production to do color correction. We made the mistake of not checking the camera settings before shooting in the future I was thinking that there should be a sheet that would have all the settings we need, and we make sure every time we shoot those settings are locked in place as we didn’t check and there wasn’t enough time to go back and re do shots. Organization in that regard would be best as it will help keep us on track from a technical standpoint. Time of day was a significant factor in this film as during certain scenes you can tell it was not all shot on this same day. Professionally looking at the time we would have to shoot, getting a better gauge of the weather and the time would also help us in keeping continuity in between scenes. With my color grading one thing I could’ve possibly done although I was out of time was make a cut out the main character and color grade that differently than the background to make sure everything in the scene was balanced. This was above my skillset but it’s something that I could’ve researched had I had known about it and done it the best way possible I could. The last change I would have made is just leveling some audio just to make things sound consistent throughout the film. 

            My final thoughts on this project are that it was a good first step in my career. I’ve never done something on this scale where I must plan out an entire pre-production and postproduction.  I have gained valuable insight as far as creating budgets and making a timeline for a project when I’m working with a company. I would Like to thank my classmates Brannon law and Charles Mandell as without them none of this would be possible. I would also like to thank my technical advisor professor Ryoya Terao with his direction and guidance on this project I was able to complete this and make it something I could look back at as a steppingstone. I plan to get my certification in avid media composer, and I plan to practice color correction a lot more so that the next film I work on will be even better. 

One More Ride Film