Stuff I learned from making "I Am Facebook Legend"

Last time I posted I talked about producing I AM FACEBOOK LEGEND. The end result was very pleasing. Throughout the process I learned so much. I learned more about color correction in two weeks time than I did in my entire life. My favorite scene by far is the warehouse scene. The natural lighting in there was spectacular, and I would love to film again there in the future.



This video had about 13 audio layers. Needless to say, that made it easily the most complicated video that I've ever made from an audio perspective. Thanks to some great products from http://www.videocopilot.net (Pro Scores and Designer Sound FX), I was really able to make the audio reach a professional level. I also pulled sound effects from a few other websites with free sound effects and royalty free music (freesound.org, soundsnap.com, incompetech.com). Many people made positive comments on things like the color correction, cinematography, the acting...ect, but to me the audio is easily the best and most professional part of the finished video, and is also what makes the video good in my opinion.

My computer is pretty fast, but it has its limits and I Am Facebook Legend pushed it to that limit. By the end of editing, I was pretty sure my computer was going to just explode into a giant fireball.

I had to stabalize a few shots with after effects. Even though I am still light years away from understanding that program or comprehending its limits, it was good to get my feet wet in it.

Above all, I learned a lot about myself through this project. I learned that if I am ever going to do a "short film" again, I don't want to burden so much of, and I want to delegate some of the project to my very talented friends. For this video I directed, filmed, edited, and produced. I thought it would be good to put a deadline on the video, so I released the trailer and gave myself two weeks. However, in the future if it is just me editing and producing the video, I think I will be more realistic with myself...because after I released the trailer I basically spent every waking minute of free time working on the video. I wasn't getting good sleep, I wasn't exercising, and I wasn't spending much time with my family. It was not the ideal situation. This all goes back to me delegating next time or not putting a deadline on it if it is just me.

However, all that said, I would love to do another short film like this again. Finding the time for it is the greatest hurdle. After that, with my friends' help, we could do just about anything! Especially since next time we would use even nicer cameras and equipment. We filmed this with the Canon HV40, and that camera does a pretty decent job. However, to really achieve that true film look, you need more than just great quality. I think great depth of field is such a huge component to that, and that's why in the future I want to start using DSLR cameras as much as possible.

In the end, this is the first video I have ever done that I feel (kind of) comfortable with calling a "short film." Even though there are thousands upon thousands of short films out there that are better, but this was definitely a positive step. I love challenging myself as I try to perfect the art of film making. I have a long ways to go, but this was a lot of fun, and as I said at the top, I'm very happy with how the finished video turned out.