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Dear Jenny

Short Film, 2023

A short film about friendship, distance, and longing. Scripted, filmed, edited, and animated by me. Shared with the University of Waterloo Video Production Club.​

Skills

  • Videography

  • Video and audio editing

  • Animation

Tools

  • Adobe Premiere Pro

  • Adobe After Effects

  • Google Docs

Creation Process

Scripting

The script began as a short monologue inspired by my feelings of homesickness, boredom, and feeling of falling behind as life moved forward. While I had a vision for what the finished film would look like, I kept the shot descriptions in the script minimal so as to allow myself freedom while filming. The only set shots I had planned were the writing scenes and the final scene behind the desk, all of the other scenes were essentially b-roll that I filmed using the environment and props I had available in my house. In total, the script amounted to one page.

Filming and Audio Recording

As the sole actor, director, and videographer, filming was somewhat challenging to do. I filmed everything using a Canon SLR camera set up to record on a tripod, and I watched through the shots immediately afterwards to make adjustments and retake shots as needed. It was a process of trial and error to get the shots I wanted as I was both behind and in front of the camera, but for most of the shots, namely b-roll, retakes were minimal thanks to how simple the scenes were. The final scene took the most retakes as the only scripted shot.

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Audio recording for the voice-over monologue was done separately from filming but also completely on my own. I recorded myself in an audio booth with a recording set-up of a Universal Audio Apollo Quad, a Universal Audio LA-610 MkII, and Apple Logic X. For additional audio effects, I found creative common licensed files on freesounds.org and background music on YouTube Audio Library.

Editing and Post Production

In post-production, I first cleaned and stitched together my voiceover files in Adobe Premiere Pro, then I cut together the visuals to follow the audio and music beats. Other than the opening and final shot, I had no set scenes, so I was able to put together the visuals freely and in the moment. Once the rough cut was finished, I shared it with the Video Production Club for a 1-minute film challenge.

For the finecut, I adjusted the timing of the audio to create more pauses and extend the visuals, since I had more freedom to go past a minute of watchtime. I also animated a simple title in After Effects for the beginning and end of the film, importing the edited audio to time the opening version with the opening words. With the fine cut, I felt the timing was more suitable and less rushed, feeding into the theme and emotion of the short film better.

Afterthoughts

This was a very personal project that I was so happy and proud to have created. Though it may not be perfect (the audio quality could certainly be better), it is a showcase of my progress in video production. I am also so grateful for all the positive support and feedback from my friends and peers and the encouragement this project has given me in continuing to pursue creative film and video creation.

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