There is a long process when it comes to making short films. Although there are many technologies and strategies we can use to speed up the process as well as creating a well-built short film.
The driving question for this project was “what technology, tools, and strategies can we utilize to create short films.” For this project, our task was to re-create the short film Run! Run is a short horror film about a man jogging in a forest. He seems very anxious, then we find out he is being hunted down by some sort of creature. It ends with a jump scare from whatever was chasing him. I worked together with two other students in my class (Kaden and Meg). Here is the process we went through and what I’ve learned from completing this project.
The first step of the project was about finding your strengths and weaknesses and how you can better contribute to the group. We took a 16 Personality Test. In the end, I found this test to be very accurate. One of my strengths was to be reliable and patient and one of my weaknesses was being humble and shy. From looking at the results from the test, I have gained a deeper understanding of my personality and better ways I can use my strengths and even weaknesses to help me and my group succeed.
The first step was to create a screenplay. Even though we were remaking a short film, It was good to learn about screenplays and how to write them. Creating a screenplay helped us plot out where we would film shots for our video and who should act when. The screenplay that we created helped me become a more Innovative Designer. We learned how to create a more professional screenplay to better organize the plan for our video. We used a variety of different tools to help us format the text into a proper screenplay. These were great strategies to help us remember what the audience needs to see when shooting our shots.
The next step was to plan out the shots that were needed before we started filming. We made a storyboard. We used keynote and created and design each a storyboard with moving scenes. We used a feature in keynote called 
magic move, to make the visuals move. This helped us a lot to get a better understanding of when we needed these shots, where we needed the shot, and what angle we needed the shot to be. Creating a storyboard has helped me become a better knowledge constructor. Using keynote and the technology and tools we had, I was able to not only draw out our shots but create a moving animation to create a stronger storyboard. I now know how important it can be to have a strong storyboard to capture better shots and angles when filming. This was the third step to create an awesome short film.
After, we needed to make a call sheet. A call sheet is a sheet that your group can look back at to see who’s doing what, who’s bringing what, and when you need to do it. The call sheet has helped me become a stronger knowledge constructor. I’ve learned how to create a call sheet using a charting application. I’ve also learned that you can put almost anything on a call sheet. Whatever you think is important for your group to know or look back at, put it in. There are no limits.
Now, that everything is done we started filming. We started by finding a good location in the forest where we had space and some natural props (such as logs). We used our screenplay and storyboard for filming the different angles and shots. Once we had all of our clips, we headed back and I began editing. I used Imovie and started getting creative with the editing. I found some good transitions and effects. Although they weren’t in the original run video, I thought they made the video even more professional. Everything I’ve learned from filming and editing has helped me become a stronger Computational Thinker. Even though there were problems such as missing shots and weather, we were able to problem solve and work our way through them. We used technology to our advantage and with editing fixed these issues. Below is our final product.
Looking back at what our group created, I’m proud of what we’ve made. We made a great recreation of the original run video. Although we’re missing some clips, I think we solved those problems well through the editing. Going back to the driving questions “what technology, tools, and strategies can we utilize to create short films”, I think they’re many different ways we can do this. All of the milestones and stepping stones that led to the final result of this short film are strategies. Also, they’re so many different tools when editing that you can use to fix up your video and make it even greater. I think all of the technology, tools can be found by using your iPad. For creating strategies, sometimes, the best way to come up with one is to look at all of your group member’s abilities and find a way that you can use them to benefit your whole group.
