For my final video story, my main focus was on touching up particular scenes to make the transitions more smooth. I also worked on the audio to make it blend more to the film. One spot of awareness that my attention was drawn to was the change in volume after the story climax. The voiceover becomes louder, unintentionally, and created an audio difference that didn’t serve a purpose. Next, I touched up the transition near the end of the story that was visually difficult and unappealing. As Aryn, the character in action, lets the flower fall to the floor, there is a lapse in scenes that does not linearly flow. Easing the transition between them reestablishes the flow of the film to make it connect entirely as a story, and it eliminates distraction.

The purpose of my story correlates with the purpose of my blog, to highlight and promote my young adult novels in the “Pages” series. With the second installment, “Within the Bindings”, soon to be released, I wanted my final project to serve a purpose that helped to bring the book to life. Many of my young adult author friends use book trailers to help promote their new works in its pre-publication stages, and it was a large help when releasing “Into the Pages” nearly two years ago. Seeing the work come together in a different creative front is very appealing to me, and it gives a further glimpse of the inside world of the novels. As the author, it gives me another platform to present the world of Enephelysia and the magic of the storyline. For the reader, it gives a summary of the suspense, the mystery, and the adventure of Amelia’s story.

Creating this film took a lot of “outside the box thinking”. Being at home, I found a way to create a makeshift studio in my room by hanging white sheets to enclose a filming area, and direct and manage the lighting. My sister helped by acting out the role of Amelia, and by talking through different ways to portray the scenes with little resources at hand. She knows the book better than anyone, making her the perfect consultant throughout the process. During the editing stage, the story was easy to craft together. I recorded the script separately, and accessed all other sounds used from https://freesound.org/.

While the story did change from the original story board to fit resources and adaptation, I am proud of the final product. It portrays my favorite scene of the series from two different points of view, combining both “Into the Pages” and “Within the Bindings”, to give just enough context to provide a sense of suspense ahead of the book release.

The updated storyboard can be found here:

I recently received my first copy of “Within the Bindings” in published form, marking a near end to the editing and formatting process. Therefore, there was no better opportunity to see my work firsthand than using it as inspiration for this project! Prior to releasing “Into the Pages”, I released a book trailer to kick off marketing and promotion. With the anticipated release date being the beginning of May, I decided to do the same for the sequel.

In this trailer I rewind to a critical scene of “Into the Pages” where Amelia, portrayed here by my sister, Brooke, comes to a cross roads between truth and lie, and fantasy and reality. Joined in the storytelling is the phantom of the novel, Nix, an ominous and hidden presence throughout the book kept hidden from the outside world by Myron and Aryn Beltran, Prince and Princess of Enephelysia, now telling her side of the story as the voiceover. As Amelia prepares and attends a ball held in her honor with Myron, Nix recalls the night from her perspective, remembering and voicing her disdain for Amelia and the obstacle she has become in Nix’s pursuit of freedom, life, and revenge.

The trailer rewinds to the first book to create suspense and remind the reader of all of the unanswered questions awaiting in the sequel, bringing to life the most intense scene of the story to heighten the stakes of the plot. For Amelia, her journey in “Within the Bindings” will be the difference between life or death.

During the process, I did stray from my storyboard. Overall, the original story remained the same, but some of the script was modified to become condensed and more fitting to the scenes. The changes were minuscule, such as removing more unimportant shots, and I don’t believe they had an overall effect on the outcome of the film.

To begin filming, my sister helped to create a make-shift studio by hanging white sheets in my room and arranging the lighting to create a dream0like effect that represented the recollection of memories from Nix’s point of view. I edited the clips by using the “i” and “o” keys to select desired shots, and used the fade and volume tools to blend all sound elements together so one sound was not overbearing over the others.

The sound effects used were found at freesound.org.

https://youtu.be/kePcA4DPEDM

http://youtu.be/3NJwKfQFDk8

Storyboard: Within the Bindings Book Trailer

When I was first planning how I wanted to create this assignment there was always one person in mind: my sister, Brooke. She has been a part of the “Pages” process since the early creation of the series, even back to when it was only an idea in my head. She was there every step of the process. From brainstorming ideas, to talking through plotholes, to reading scenes that I wasn’t sure were ready, and to helping me through the editing process, Brooke was always there to offer her support. She was the first person to read “Into the Pages” prior to publication, and the same will be true as “Within the Bindings” dusts off the rest of its rough edges. There was no better person to talk to, therefore, than Brooke, and luckily she was able to join me for a quick interview to discuss the publication process of “Into the Pages”, and offer her subtle predictions for the sequel.

In the draft of this project I immediately opened with the first question, giving no context or insight as to what the podcast was going to be about. That is the first thing that I changed when editing the final draft, and recorded an introduction that gave the listener a clue as to what we would be discussing in the next two minutes and forty seconds. I also used a different music selection to open up the podcast to create a different mood than the rest of the interview. The music selection I chose for the interview gives a feeling of hope and wishfulness while the opening selection, in my opinion, relays the effect of gratitude. In thanking Brooke during her introduction, the music adequately reflects the subject.

Additionally, I fine tuned through the raw audio footage and removed any harsh marks that prevented the conversation from flowing well. In the draft, I didn’t eliminate all of the filler words or the silent breaks during our discussion. By doing so, the final draft is more smooth and connected. I left a couple moments of conversational pause when appropriate to the topic being discussed, such as when suspense was building. Overall, however, the audio sounds much more smooth and conversational than it did before with awkward pausing and stutters.

The podcast was a good conversation about how the series is coming together, and it gave one of the first glimpses at the sequel as it begins to wrap up in the editing phase of publication.

The music used during the podcast is credited to:

Sincerely by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5033-sincerely
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

and

https://freesound.org/people/FoolBoyMedia/sounds/503832/

For my audio story I decided to do a podcast-resembling interview with my sister, Brooke, to discuss the “Pages” series from everything covering the publication of “Into the Pages” in August 2018, to the near finished edition of the sequel “Within the Bindings”. Brooke has always been a champion of these books since I first told her my original plan to begin writing a novel, and ever since the first words were written she has been there to support in everyway imaginable. Throughout the process she was always there to pitch ideas, walk through plot holes, and was the very first reader of the book before it became available to the public. She knows this book inside and out, just as I do, making her the best candidate to sit down for a one-on-one discussion of what is yet to come.

During the interview I wanted to get a real reader perspective of “Into the Pages”, as well as thoughts and anticipation for what will occur in “Within the Bindings”. I wanted to ask questions that would go beyond the analysis of a book report and get in touch with the emotions and the connections made between the story, the characters, and the reader. When I read my work I can’t help but always read it as an editor, constantly on the look for mistakes or clarifications that could still be remedied. Brooke, however, read it with none of these obligations. She read it to enjoy a story, to escape into a fictional tale, and to experience an alternate world. She read with no strings attached (my sister is brutally honest, even to me), and so I knew that when I asked her to do this interview with me she would be open, honest, and transparent.

Additionally, I wanted to create a mood of anticipation and “build-up” to the publication of “Within the Bindings”. For those who have not read the first installment, “Into the Pages” ended with a high-level of plot twists and turns that transition right in to the opening chapter of the unreleased sequel. Without giving away spoilers, I wanted to get a reader’s opinion of what they expect to happen, and their predictions for how Amelia’s journey in the story will end. By foreshadowing the second book and asking preceding it with discussion about the events of the first, I think that a sufficient build up was created in the transcript to bring back the initial emotions felt after reading “Into the Pages” to create an eagerness for the publication of “Within the Bindings”. The music choice, which fades in toward the beginning of the interview and is a silent consistent as background noise throughout the tape, created a calming tone that facilitated the discussion while also establishing a sense of anticipation and reflection.

To piece the audio together, I first had to shorten the original footage. The original interview was 3:23 long, and by skimming through the clip and removing filler words, silent gaps, and unnecessary dialogue I was able to trim the interview down to 2:04. Still, through the elimination process, the transition and flow of the interview remains pieced together and smooth. Secondly, I added background music to aid in establishing an attitude underlying the discussion and decreased the audio so as to not make it an overbearing presence.

One thing I do not like about my draft is the lack of creativity. I feel that it has the potential to be expanded upon, and more my final product I will take additional measures to make my interview original. Additionally, I need to further comb through the audio to remove the “rough edges”, such as the abrupt cut off of the music and volume levels.

(Music credited to https://freesound.org/people/FoolBoyMedia/sounds/503832/ )