Music Choice Selection Progress Check 2

Music Choice Selection Progress Check 2

    Yesterday I mentioned that I would blog about my music choice selection progress today. Here I am with not a lot of new information about it. I had sent an email previously to a band called EMPiRE to ask them if I can use use one of their songs in my short film. It had been sent in English, so I decided to try translating my writing into Japanese via Google Translate. I sent them a new email, which is now in Japanese. I tried making it more formal and to the point, and I hope it worked. I am not even sure if they are the ones I should be contacting, though it was a good idea to send two emails to them. I will be checking my email many times in the next month or two for any response from them. Hopefully, I get a response that at least directs me to what email I should contact for permission to use their song in my film.

    In the last hour, I have also decided to go to the internet for help again. I have sent out a post on Reddit asking for a simple way to get permission to use a copyrighted song in my content. I have listed some specific details on it, though I left the topic broad enough so that I have a higher chance of getting a response. There is also another Q&A website that I use called Quora. I have just now posted the same question there so that I can have more luck in getting the response I want. I definitely believe Quora will provide a better and faster response than Reddit. Until it comes, I will keep on thinking about other songs to use for my film. I am an anime fan, which means I have many good songs in mind that I can try using in my film. I will keep on working on my music choice selection.

    Regarding my filming, my new power cable will be arriving shortly and I hope it works. I will most likely start recording the majority of my Fortnite content tomorrow when I am not busy. I will blog again tomorrow, see you soon!

Filming Setup Completion Progress Check

Filming Setup Completion Progress Check

    Just earlier, I have officially ordered my monitor's power cable. I have blogged before that my old monitor needs a power cable that is currently missing. I took the initiative to check the specifications of what power cable I need and searched online for a good one for around 10-15 minutes. I have found one that suits the port on my old monitor and I ordered it. I really thought that ordering the cable now is a great idea as New Years is around the corner and it would suck if my package contributed to make someone stay away from home for the New Years celebration. It will be coming on Tuesday, which is two days from now, and a few minutes exactly. Now with the cable coming and my old monitor will finally be able to turn on again, I have made progress.

    Regarding the Fortnite content, my friend and I confirmed to each other that he will be able to help me to produce the content. It will go well and I hope the quality of the recordings will look amazing. When I have time next month, I will be surely able to start recording. I need to organize a date, my room, and the specifications of how we look and our equipment.

    Yesterday, I blogged about my music selection progress that ties in with my editing process for my film. So far there has been no feedback on my requests from the producers and publishers of a few songs to be able to use them in my film. I hope I can at least use one or two copyrighted songs that I feel will match my film very much. I shall keep searching for new songs to use and I will keep emailing the necessary people to get permission to use their songs. Recently, I have come across an ad on YouTube about a service that gives you access to unlimited amounts of songs to use for your content by giving you different licenses. It costs money and I am thinking about if I should use it. I really am not sure if when my possible subscription to it ends, my license for permission to use copyrighted songs in my content ends as well. I will find out more information and if it seems reasonable, I shall use it if I really need it. Until the time comes when I really need to edit my film and I have a deadline coming up, I shall continue sending out emails for copyright access for songs. Overall, I think the progress I am making is a little bit slow, though it shall surely speed up when I get more good news on my music selection for my film. I will keep you updated again tomorrow, good bye!

The Start of my Filming

 The Start of my Filming

    I have successfully started to film. Today I wanted to start filming something, at least the Fortnite content. I had asked my friends if they would be interested in helping out with this portion of the film. One of them, hopefully, will now be helping me to move on with the trial stage of filming. I had started the game and I checked my storyboard for what content I should be recording. The first thing I put was myself being eliminated in the game. Eventually, as I went into a game, I got eliminated. I recorded 9 minutes and 28 seconds of content and I only needed the last 10 seconds of the recording. When I get into the editing process is when I will be editing my recordings. I play Fortnite at 75 frames per second, because my monitor can't support more than that. Though, Fortnite is actually pushing for 120 frames per second because of my settings. This can cause "screen-tears" so that the recording may look weird. I checked the recording, and the main thing that popped out to me was the choppiness of it. The FPS, frames per second, on it is most likely 30 FPS. This would look terrible when I film myself playing the game.

    Luckily, I know of another way of filming, through my Twitch streams. I can stream my game onto Twitch in 1080p and 60 FPS, which is what I want. When I finish streaming, I can download my stream and save it. I tested out this feature and I streamed in 720p and 60 FPS. When I finished the stream, and checked it over, it looked better than the other recording in terms of FPS. The resolution was not high enough, so when I will switch it to 1080p, it will look amazing. So far I have successfully completed my trial stage of filming and will now begin to film as the days go on. I am more relieved now to be past the trial stage and I can now start filming. I will blog more about other news relating to the music content soon, stay tuned!

(This is a screenshot of my Twitch recording for the test run on the quality of the video)

Preparing to Film Update 2

 Preparing to Film Update 2

    I have been checking my Gmail constantly to see if any of the YouTube channels and music creators/publishers responded to my requests for copyright permission. None of them have responded, which made me a little bit worried. I then took some time of my day to go on one of the songs that I believe would match my film really well. I checked the publishing company and both of them are from the Asia region I believe so I could not find them online to contact. I then went on the band's website to see if I could contact them and there I found their contact. It was in Japanese so I had to translate the page, and when I did, I saw that I could send them an email. I wrote out my message, put in my contact info, and I sent it. Hopefully they respond and hopefully allow me to use their song. I do not want to use the complete song, I only want to use the instrumental version of it. I commented under the instrumental version of the song on YouTube, though there was no response until now so I went and personally emailed the band, EMPiRE. Hopefully they respond soon and that my message will be read well because I sent it in English, not in Japanese.
    Regarding my monitor situation, I have looked online for a new power cord I could use. I noticed that I have one of the pieces to the full cord, and that the other piece may just be something that I missed. I need this cable to make the monitor turn on so my brother can use it in the film. If I don't find it soon I will need to order a new cable. I really need to film soon so I can fix anything that does not look good before I can not fix it anymore. I will continue planning who will play the games and how it will go. I will continue to request songs to use earlier on so I can get their permission to use their music hopefully on time. My brother has to practice Fortnite on a controller still. I will keep my progress preparing to film as time goes on, I will blog tomorrow!

Preparing for Filming

    Preparing for Filming

    My filming process has not started yet, so I am still preparing to film when I am ready to. Recently, I have been setting up a few things around my room to start filming. In my storyboard, I have drawn my room and my brother has his own gaming setup on his desk. I pulled out my old monitor last night trying to set up his setup, though I could not find the power cord to it. I checked in my closet, drawers, boxes, and cabinets for it and I have not been able to find it. I remember I wrapped it up a few months ago and put it somewhere. I am not going to be buying a new monitor for my film when I have one already, so maybe I will find it or buy a new power cord. I already have my Xbox 1 X ready for my brother to use, though he has to know how to actually play on it. I have been playing Fortnite again recently and my skills are the same as before, mediocre. To make my gameplay look good, I should get better at the game first. I also need to record my gameplay. I already have my recording software ready, though my game isn't running as well as it used to. I will go over my settings and make it run at 70 fps rather than 60 fps so it can look better.

    The Xbox gameplay is already excellent and it can record a lot already, so I that is good. Once my brother learns how to play Fortnite on Xbox, we will be ready to start filming. I will most likely start filming in January after break and after we are both ready. Until then, I need to plan some more as my film will not look identical to the scenes in the storyboard as the gameplay is random. Hopefully my brother will be good at playing on controller, so I won't have to change the plot that much. I am also wondering which camera to use because my phone camera is not as good as it used to be. My mom has an awesome phone with a crisp camera, so maybe I can use hers. All these ideas and things will become organized sometime next month.

Music Choice Selection and Progress

 Music Choice Selection and Progress

   Today on the last day of this year's November month, I took the time to find some music to use in my film. Last year, I used copy-right free music in my film with my partner. Now since I have more experience and I want to make my film better, I am looking for copyrighted music to use. Of course I have to ask permission and get permission from the artists to use it in my film. I first wanted to look for action music to use. When I was scrolling through my storyboard Google Slides, I noticed the scenes where I put emphasis on my computer starting up. I remembered that on my Xbox One X console, the startup is a very emphasized boom sound effect. I looked at the sound effect again and I decided it would be a good idea to use it for those scenes.

   Now again back onto the action music, one of the ideas I had was to use anime music. I know Japanese music in a Fortnite film does not seem to match, though using the instrumental versions of the songs could be amazing to use in the film. I decided to check around for different anime opening instrumental versions that have good action beats and a fast paced rhythm. I looked at Black Clover openings and the first One Piece opening instrumentals and they can match the film. I am trying to find better action music, though sometimes soundtracks like these can be a great fit as well. There is also another song I tried looking into and I found a song I listen to a lot. It is under the label of action music for the anime "Seven Deadly Sins", and it is indeed a very nice song to have playing during a fight scene in the show. Though I am making a film about Fortnite and two brothers trying to win a duo tournament for money, and this fight scene music may or may not fit in the overall mood of my future film.

   To first get copyright permission on the music soundtracks, I commented on two videos with instrumental anime openings to ask the channel if I need to get their permission or the original author's permission to use them. I then went on the personal website for the composer of the action song "Perfect Time", which was used in the anime "Seven Deadly Sins". I emailed him asking for permission and if I should have contacted him for permission to use the song. Overall, I am on the right track to get copyrighted music and sound effects into my film, which is a bonus. The majority of songs presently, I believe, are copyrighted and so having access to these songs is better for my film's soundtrack. I hope I get to use songs that I like and that add a good and positive mood to my film, along with the action vibe, too.

(GIF of a scene from the first opening of One Piece)

Marketing Campaign Set Up

 Marketing Campaign Set Up

   I have currently set up my website for my film already. This was done before Thanksgiving Break 11/21-11/29/2020. I personally included in my website four social media links that are at the bottom of each page. I made a social media page called "Nira's Creation Hub", which is my studio name, on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. My website currently includes the name of the film, a synopsis of the film, what our studio is, the suggested movie release date, and reviews on the film. I have worked on creating reviews today, which went along smoothly and successfully. I made two personal reviews from two of my friends. I will continue working on the website, though so far it is set up. Another thing I set up for my marketing campaign, was my studio's design. I took a picture of a nicely grouped up bunch of grapes, a tomato, and an apple. I took this picture and put it as my studio's design and the profile picture on my social media accounts and my website. I am thinking I will eventually change it and make it look more professional, though it feels nice to put it.

   Then of course, over time I will continue adding content to my marketing campaign. I put all the necessary information for my film and my studio so far, though to make it professional, more content is needed. I also want to engage with my future and my current audience more, so I will be posting and replying to them. I am the director of my studio and the film recorder and I need to create an audience to try to make my film successful. So far I have my website, my main social media accounts, and my email setup for my film and/or studio. By the end of the year, I plan to have my marketing campaign nearly done. This will allow me to move forward on my filming and editing process. Some filming and editing has gone into this process, and I will do more of this in the future as I work on completing my Final Task, my short film!