Creative Critical Reflection

 CCR Part 1- Magazine

How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

CCR Part 2- Directors Commentary

How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

CCR Part 3- Podcast

How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

CCR Part 4- Presentation

How did you integrate technologies - software, hardware and online - in this project?

Final Brief

 Its finally here!!! Hope you enjoy our long awaited production called "The Secret" by Antonella, Maheen and Melanie!

Production: Editing Day 3

 Hey everyone! Today was our last and final day editing for our film and I will be telling you all about it. As we are wrapping up our film opening, we are so excited to release our final production piece!

Our primary focus today was building text boxes which were dimple and easy to create. We used these text boxes to highlight important things like the actors (Noel and Melanie), the director (Maheen), and the producer (Antonella). After we did this we weren’t able content because it made us realize how much progress we have actually made. 

In order to create a scarier effect, we put the title of our film right when the 3rd scene ends and making them red. This small effect makes a huge difference in conveying the horror element of the story. It increases the emotional effect and set the mood we were hoping to create.

To change the appearance of the text boxes, we used a fill tool so it could match the style of the film. Also, we decided to add a blurring effect called “Gaussian Blur.” We found this tool in the effects panel, and dragged it onto the scene to do this. This helped bring the opening into a finale and demonstrate the skills we have gained while learning about editing. 

As mentioned before, we took a few clips and changed the lighting to kale it “low-key” and spooky. Because of consecutive internet problems, this effect was used at a minimum. We are a bit disappointed that we couldn’t do enhanced lighting changes, we are still hopeful for a positive outcome of a film.

Reflection:

After consistently editing for a while, we realized Premiere Pro was a lot harder than we thought it was going to be. We started learning bout Premiere Prob by just playing with the tools which were very different than us actually having to apply the features. Given the difficulties we faced, we are happy about the way our film turned out. Stay tuned in because very soon we will be releasing our film!

Production: Editing Day 2

 Welcome back to another blog post! We continued our editing process today and I’ll be explaining the progress that we have been able to achieve.

Today we added the clips we filmed on the 3rd day of filming because when we started editing we hadn’t filmed the rest of it. This made us realize how much things we really have to get done to make sure this film is a success.

Music

Also, we added music to our movie, which was very important for our film. Since our final goal was to create a scary horror movie, we had to make sure the music appealed intensely to the viewer. Matching the timing of the film to our music took a considerable amount of time, but it was important at the end of the day, and made a huge difference on the film.

Issues:

When we met up to edit, we had to restart multiple times because of the poor Wi-Fi. This caused us to have a great dilemma and made it super time consuming. Because of this, we weren’t able to add lighting or credits and had to add an extra day of editing. We had to use YouTube as a guide when helping us with the project which made it a lot easier since we had access to tutorials, teaching us tips and new skills.

Reflection: 

By editing today I realized that there are a lot more stressors involved and problem solving skills need to be used to over come it. I came to see that even with little experience, there are accessible tools like YouTube that can be beneficial. This goes to show that even the small setbacks can be faced and overcame. 

Production: Editing Day 1

 Hi blog, welcome back! Recently my group met up to start editing and today I will be discussing the details.

For our first day we wanted to organize our videos and going over each clip deciding if we want to use it or not. We carefully went over each shot since we took multiple so we would be better safe than sorry. Since we wanted to make sure everything flowed it took a long time to make these decisions. It establishes the structure for each scene and although this may seem as something so simple, it way very time consuming. We also wanted to arrange the clips in the correct order so that we could plan out what needs heavy editing.

Next time we edit more, we want to focus on lighting, editing and enhancing the visual appeal of the film. Since our movie is a horror, changing the lighting will be essential to create the creepy mood we are trying to create. The low-key lighting will make the scene look more realistic and tense.

Reflection

By using my research to my advantage, my group and I learned that editing is a lot more than just adding sound effects to create the production. We came to realize that even just designating a day to choose what clips we want to use are essential to the film. Preparing ahead of time and spending time on the little things would do a lot to the professionalism of the film.

Production- Analyzing Day 2

 Welcome back, everyone! Now that we have wrapped up filming, we decided it was important to analyze our second day of filming, as we did the same for the first day. Since the costumes are the same as the first scene for Luna, we decided it wouldn't be necessary to incorporate her costume. However, we are introducing a new character (Thomas), so there are definitely more components that will be noted today.

Scene 2:

Our second scene was held at Luna's house. This is where the dialogue will begin and where the suspicious components will begin to be incorporated. Still, we want this scene to appear somewhat "normal" before Luna's life takes a turn of events.

Location:

(take pic of house)

This scene will take place in the entrance of Luna's house. We are hoping to paint a picture of Luna getting a package that she has been waiting for, but it is actually not what it seems it would be. As she is going inside the house, she can be seen visibly bothered by the message she received. The scene will be short and cut to the next scene right after.

Props:

As the film progresses, there will be two very important props that will affect Luna's decisions. One of the ones that will be slightly featured in the opening and first appears in the second scene is the package she has been waiting for. The second and the cause of a turn of events will be the note pasted on the package. These two will be the first highlights of suspense and fear factor shown in the movie. We are hoping that this takes the audience off guard and realizes that maybe Luna's life isn't as "normal" as it seems.

Since there are no new actors introduced, some elements will remain the same, like her outfit and her backpack. 

Scene 3:

In this scene, we are hoping to build up the most suspense in the audience and then leave them on a cliffhanger. We will use multiple devices to create suspense and will also introduce a new character (Thomas), who will redirect and create a new picture of the movie for the audience. 

Location:

The location in this scene is very important because it will be a conversation between Luna and Thomas over the phone. The catch to this is that although Luna can be seen at her local drink spot and Thomas can be seen inside a car, they're actually at the same place at the same time. By using context clues, the audience will be able to notice that the car Thomas is in is parked at the drink spot. We are hoping that this will get the audience nervous and then leave them wanting to figure out what comes next.

Props:

Throughout this scene, there will be no props that prominently stick out other than the previous note that is mentioned. As she is talking to Thomas on the phone, she will then realize that maybe she shouldn't confide in him after he mentions something that somewhat reflects on the note. This note will play a huge role in this film for the audience to form their assumptions.

Costume:

For the 3rd scene, we will be adding a new important character, Thomas. Like we did with Luna, we wanted him to seem like an ordinary teenage boy that the audience can relate to. Quickly, the audience will realize that despite how "ordinary" he seems, looks shouldn't be the only characteristics people should depict.

Thomas:

Thomas can be seen wearing a golf hat and baseball shirt, which makes him seem like just any other, athletic, popular teenage boy. We did this so that throughout the film, he would be seen as the "popular" kid who could never seem to be the person he really is. Although this wouldn't be revealed in the opening, these outfit choices are chosen statistically. We don't want him to seem suspicious until revealed that there is something off about him. These costume pieces are used to reveal that not everyone is who they seem to be.

Production- Finding Music for Scene 3

As we are figuring out the music for the last scene, we want to make sure it is almost the opposite of the first. Since our film is going to end on a cliffhanger, we wanted the music to be an immediate source of suspense. We want to do this so that the audience is left wanting to know what happens next and almost be blindsided by the way the movie begins.

Scene 2: 

Mirage by Hamlin Naeselius

Since we want this piece of music to be shorter than in the first scene, we want to make sure the beat drop is quick/ sudden. This song does just that exactly, and fully conveys the tone we are trying to do. We think this song appeals to the audience's fear and makes it even more suspenseful than it already is

Link:

https://www.epidemicsound.com/music/tracks/9756e936-659d-4469-b589-022022ae3090/

Return by Everything.

When I heard this song, I really liked the suspenseful beat it has to it. The more we listened to it though, the more we realized that it was a little slower pace than we’d like. Since there isn’t that big of a beat drop, it doesn’t really enhance the information the scene just expressed. I think that a bigger beat drop would probably be more beneficial in making the audience feel tension.

Link:

https://www.epidemicsound.com/music/tracks/aacedec4-7950-4f00-bcc5-3ef5f1d9ef3b/

The Curse by Belladonna Strings

When I heard this song, I liked the eerie mood it created. The beat was very suspenseful, but it didn’t really convey a high-stakes feeling. When we started creating the idea of this movie, we wanted the music after this scene to have a large beat drop. We want this beat drop to reflect the feeling of a heart dropping in an intense, suspenseful moment.

Link:

https://www.epidemicsound.com/music/tracks/1a779f92-0d5d-4cc0-b98c-3b377eb004de/

Reflection:

After contemplating on multiple music options, we decided to choose… Mirage by Hamlin Naeselius. We think that the sudden beat drop works really well with the layout of our movie. Since we only want the song to be no longer than 10 seconds, the beat drop being right at the beginning is perfect. We can’t wait to incorporate this into our film opening.

Production- Filming Day 2

After months of planning our film's opening, we are finally getting closer to the end. Today, my group and I met up at our final spot to shoot scenes 2 and 3. Today was definitely a longer production day because we had to go too 2 different places and they were longer than the first scene.

Planning our production day:

This week, we sent out the final script to the actors so that they could have it memorized and also reflect on the storyboards. Before we filmed, we made sure everyone knew the time, location, and the schedule we had to follow. We ran into a slight problem because we had to switch the camera we originally planned on filming with. At the last minute, we had to ask our teacher if we could check out a camera and use it to film. Luckily, we were able to check out her camera, and it got the job done. The camera we switched to was a Canon EOS Rebel T7. Since we had to switch cameras, we also weren't able to access the mics that would work with it. We had to resort to using a recording device that we will have to import during the editing process. Despite these contingencies, we were able to make our production work and are overall happy with how it went.

Shot outcomes:

While filming, we did struggle a bit to stabilize the shots since we did not have a tripod. Even though this did mean we had to do some shots multiple times, it didn't affect us too much. These are some pictures we took while filming:

After filming and importing the videos into our computer device, these were the outcomes of the shots that we took:

(download pics)

Reflection: 

Although we are sad that filming has come to an end, we are now ready to begin editing our film. We will need to apply things like color grading and audio to our film, so we cannot wait to see what the finalized film actually looks like. We are so relieved we were able to get over our challenges and situations like this, and put into perspective what possible issues could appear for directors and actors. Make sure to stay tuned in for more updates!

Production- Finding Music for Scene 1

  Hi blog! As we have finally finished filming for our first scene, we are slowly approaching to the editing days. Before we actually begin editing, we wanted to figure out things like music and coloring. While doing our research and planning, each of us came across a few songs that we are considering for our film opening. The reason music is so important in our film is that we are only planning on incorporating it in the first scene and the end of the last scene. 

We want the first scene to be fully musical and have no dialogue because we want the scene to look as normal as possible. We want the audience to think that our film is based on a normal teenage girl. We need to make sure we pick a song that is upbeat to ensure that they will have no clue what is coming. 

Scene 1: 

Restless Ones by Sully Bright

When we first heard this, we thought this was a perfect song to use for the tone we are hoping to convey. We thought it really conveyed the feelings teenagers have, and almost like a positive tone. We think this beat would go great with the clips we have. The only thing that we don’t necessarily love about it is how slow the lyrics are. We wanted it to be bright and joyful, but it is more slowly paced.

Link:

https://www.epidemicsound.com/music/tracks/392163f3-b151-45ea-9125-d0f284aedbb3/

Glow by Adelyn Paik

This was one of the first songs we listened to while beginning research. When we first heard it, we loved how upbeat it was. We think this song welly represents a joyful mood that we are intending to convey. Even now, after listening to many songs, we still think this song would be a great choice for our first scene. 

Link:

https://www.epidemicsound.com/music/tracks/46da3827-f001-40c8-8760-017ccf61584a/

Heaven by Maybe

When we first heard this song, we loved the calmness of it. We thought that this song would be a great song to represent a teen girl, but then we realized it is a little too calm for what we are trying to show. It has a slower pace and doesn’t reflect the rush of teenage life.

Link:

https://www.epidemicsound.com/music/tracks/627d8c33-e65f-4f0a-a250-cf51e79da2e9/

Reflection:

Now that we have ruled out some options of music, we decided to meet together and choose which one would be the best. After a lot of discussion, we decided to choose… Glow by Adelyn Paik! We are so excited to incorporate this fun and lively song into our movie and can’t wait to see how it ends up. Stay tuned for more!

Production- Finishing Day 1 Filming

     Hi blog! As I mentioned earlier, we did have to add an extra short filming day because of the camera dying. It was definitely difficult to add this extra day at the last minute, but we all knew how essential it was going to be in the long run to finish it as soon as possible. Since everything we did was practically the same as production day 1, this one will be short but still concise.

Lighting dilemma:

    We wanted to make sure we filmed this around the same time of day as our first shots, and luckily, we were all able to use some class time to record the last few clips. Since the weather was gloomier the day we finished scene 1 filming, we will have to color it to make it similar to the day before. These are some examples of clips we took that will need coloring to appeal to our goal of bright lighting:

(Download entrance clip)

Shot outcomes:

Overall, this short filming day was successful, and we were content with the results we received. Here are some shots of this day's filming that we took.

(Plug in Luna walking with friend and exiting school)

Reflection:

Although the issue we experienced was annoying, it also allowed us to experience different situations that filmmakers may experience and have to overcome. This was a very easy issue to resolve and wasn't to time consuming for us to deal with. We can't wait to film our next few scenes and soon get to see our results!

Production- Analyzing Day 1

 Hi blog! As we are going to begin shooting for our film this week, we decided it would be important to gather all of our elements considering setting, props, and costumes. In my previous posts, I mentioned things like letters and forests. As we began to plan for the film opening, we decided to keep a few elements the same but also use other ideas we came up with along the way. 

Scene 1: 

We decided that we wanted the first scene to have no dialogue and just show the process of the girl (Luna) getting home before her day has a turn of events. We wanted this scene to look casual and almost as if nothing was out of the ordinary. 

Location:

This scene will be at Luna's high school, and it will show how she is casually dismissed in school. We want to include this scene because we wanted the audience to feel as if she is just any ordinary girl, which will later reflect as time goes wrong that there is something "off" going on with her life. We are trying to make this scene relatable for the young adult/teen audience so that they can get hooked on the movie.

Props: 

As previously mentioned, we are trying to make this scene look casual and "normal" to the audience, so we decided to use some basic normal school supplies/ essentials of a teen girl. The items we used are:

 




In the first scene, Luna can be seen using her notebook and is writing things down right before her class ends. You can tell that Luna is concentrated but also bored, which makes it seem like it's been a long school day and she's ready to go home. She is also seen checking her watch, which later cuts to her putting away her stuff in the black backpack. All these key components don't play a major role in the whole story, but it does set the tone and hook the audience. What we are hoping to do for the audience in this scene is get them to relate to Luna's life.

Costume:

We decided to incorporate two individuals in this scene, one being Luna (the main character) and a side character that won't be fully introduced within the film's opening. Both of them will be in casual teenage attire to appeal to the target audience's interests.

Luna: 

In this first scene, Luna can be seen wearing a normal outfit to represent how just any ordinary day can take a turn of events. These costume pieces work together to show that she appears as a normal girl, but in reality, there is a deep secret going on in her life that will slightly be unveiled later on.

Production- Filming Day 1

 After weeks of researching and planning, the day has finally come! This scene was shot at different locations around our school, including our teachers' classroom, hallways, and the entry gates.

Planning our production day:

As we begin the first day of our production process, we wanted to reflect on our storyboard #1 to be able to fully execute the scene. Since my group and I all have the same class 4th period, we decided it would be the perfect day to film our first scene. Antonella (my group member) offered to use her camera for filming (Sony Alpha A3000), and as there will be no dialogue in the first scene, it wasn't necessary to have mics this day. When we got to class, before filming, we designated 30 minutes to plan a thorough overview of what camera shots and movements we wanted in each location. 

Shot outcomes:

As we began filming, we made sure to have our storyboards with us to use as a template for each location. Having this was very beneficial to have because it eased time and made it easier to understand the next steps coming up. Here are some shots from the first scene: 

(plug in pictures when SD card adapter arrives)

Lighting choices:

We wanted to film this whole scene in order, rather than jumping around clips, because we wanted the time to be consistent. As our next days of production go on, we want to make sure each scene is filmed in order of the same idea of time so that it flows and also so that the film's opening is natural. Since there are multiple different clips to film within a tight time period, we decided it was a good idea to start mid-day, so we could receive the natural bright lighting from the sun. Since we started filming at midday, this gives us a wider range of times to film for other scenes.

(plug in hallway clip out of the classroom, and clip of walking through the gates)

Reflection:

    Overall, our filming day went smoothly; however, the camera died towards the end of the filming day. We plan on staying after school this week to just finish those 3 shots we planned on doing originally. This definitely will cause a dilemma for the schedule we had originally created, but it is essential that we finish these last few clips so we can have a successful film. The next step we plan on taking after this is using an editing software to edit the film. As we are filming, we also plan on doing editing at the same time, so that we can order the scenes correctly, and also not be in such a rush to finalize it. 

    In the upcoming days, we plan on filming the rest of our scenes so we can fully produce our long-awaited film!