18th April 2025

• Filmed scene 2,3,4,5,7,8

Problems I faced:

• We couldn't do scene 6 (bike outdoor scene) because it rained so will do it tomorrow.

• I looked back at the scenes and I don't like how some look in terms of acting - the protagonist is very slow in some movements, making the clip longer than it should e.g. when she goes brings out the box and writes her 2nd wish (scene 5). So I'll have to reshoot that.

Filming went smoothly because I planned prior all what I will do that day and I used my phone to record all the dialogue so it won't have background noise. This is something I learnt from my FMP last year as I didn't do that and there was severe background noise.

19th April 2025

• Filmed scene 1,6,9 and reshoots

Today we filmed at Papworth library. The slight problem was that they open from 10am-1pm. I had an appointment this morning at 9:20 and arrived at the house at 11am. Despite this, today went well because the librarian allowed us film and it wasn't that busy. 

When doing the slow Dolly in shot, I struggled slightly because I used a suitcase and put the tripod inside to do this movement. I had to keep positioning the tripod so it's not wonky. This caused slight delay and panic. It took a few tries before it looked accurate. I had already practiced using the tripod and suitcase prior.

When we got back to the house, we did reshoots of scene 5.

Despite the suitcase struggle, the library scene went well in terms of shot types being accurate. I felt glad that the dolly shot turned out good.

ROUGH CUT EDIT

• (Scene 1-4)

I wanted to see how the beginning of the film would like.

What I need to change / add for the final edit:

1.  Add instrumental music where necessary.

2.  In scene 2 at 1.09, there is a cut from mum to mum instead of mum, Blossom, mum. This needs to be fixed as I need to have the mum say "Blossom where did you go" in one clip instead of two separate clips.

3.  Each scene see if you can make it a bit shorter e.g. 7 seconds 4m 43-50 we already know she’s going down the stairs so you can cut this out.

Whenever someone is walking up or down the stairs, I should cut it short.

4.  Add title at the start and credits at the end when done

Feedback from teacher:

Why is she taking the box? Stealing it? If she’s checking out of the library

Either have a scene where:

BLOSSOM goes to checkout desk and librarian checks it out 

BLOSSOM goes to electronic checkout desk and checks it out, then we see her at the table putting it in her bag

BLOSSOM sneakily goes to a corner and hides the box in her bag

VOICEOVER – BLOSSOM

"The librarian let me check it out – I don’t think he/she even realised it was a box not books".

This will help the audience understand exactly why she takes the diary because it looks like she is stealing it even though she isn't.

Update:

I'll do the voice over of Blossom.

20th April 2025

• Filmed scene 17. 

This is when Blossom's wishes get reversed.

I planned to start filming between 2-3pm and finish by 6 or 7pm.

The actors went out(mum and Blossom) and when they came back, they wanted to rest before we start filming, this took about 3 hours. We didn't start filming until 5pm and we finished at 8:45pm which was later than expected. 

We had to reshoot some things along the way; I replayed every clip on the camera to make sure it looks good. I'm happy that we completed the scene and it looks good. Today went well because the camera shot turned out well and we didn't wait till the next day to do reshoots - we did it as soon as I spotted it was wrong.

21st April 2025

• Filmed scene 10-16

The plan was to film from morning to afternoon. 

A minor problem we faced was the weather was about to rain. It was good because it was just a bit wet but no rain. However, there could have been a hazard of someone slipping but that didn't happen. 

The day before filming this, I notified the actors dad on what time they should come (9:30 - 10:am). It was good they arrived at around 9:55. However, the actor playing Blossom lost the yellow belt for her dress so we had to start looking for it causing  a slight delay. 

I postponed this because the actor that will play Christina (Blossom's friend) is free today but not on previous days. 

Today went well because they arrived on time and we finished at 2:30pm. I felt accomplished that these scenes have been completed. I like how I did the dialogue back and forth scenes.

Problems I faced:

• Due to the weather being spring, it took a long time for it to be dark outside so 8:30pm is when I could take the shots 

In the edit, I'm going to add text that will appear on the screen to show the audience what time of day it is in the film world. To capture these shots, I took it from the window in the house.

2.  This problem occured in the early stages of filming when I put the battery of the camera inside and turned on the camera. To fix this problem, I removed the lens and clicked the photo button - making the error disappear. 

To prevent this continuously happening, I made sure the battery doesn't fully die and then the camera is off before I insert a new battery.

3.  Prior to the easter holidays, I wanted to book a school camera over the holidays but they said they don't allow it. I have a Nikon DSLR camera already but the problem was I only had one battery so if it dies, I'll have to wait for it to charge then resume filming. I initially wanted to school camera because they can give several batteries alongside a charger. 

To solve this problem, I bought 2 extra Nikon batteries which was very helpful as I was able to film almost everyday in the easter holidays and make the most of a full day.

Post production

• I decided to add a title and the actors' names in this scene since it's quite long. This technique will make the audience not be aware of how long it is and concentrate on the titles. I also added light child-like music to connote innocence of Blossom looking at books then finding the box. I think the music  is effective because it sets the tone and mood of the scene.

PROBLEMS I FACED

• When doing the VFX object reveal for the bike in scene 6, I tried adding the pink particle effect like I did for in my action research but it kept turning out wrong even though I followed the exact steps. I tried several time but it was not working. I think it's because when I was using the pen tool to mask the bike, it's a more complicated object than the teddy bear I did. 

• To solve this problem, I skipped the step of adding the pink effect and left it as this to appear gradually without it:

Next time, I would have used the bike to try it as action research since that's the object I'll use for real life than the simple teddy bear but the bike was unavailable at the time. I'm a bit disappointed that it didn't work out.