Film Opening

Film Opening

Project Upload Link

https://youtu.be/KlYUqRzOCgI

Creative Critical Reflection

Creative Critical Reflection 

After all the wait the project has finally come to a close I present my Creative Critical Reflections

CCR#1

https://youtu.be/v8p6gg1ln5g

CCR#2  

https://youtu.be/M8W2eGmSsaA

CCR upload error

Creative Critical Reflection Upload Error

There was a slight setback while uploading my CCRs to youtube as they were not being processed leaving me in a panicky state but I assessed the situation and took a step back to examine. in the need the projects were fine and there was nothing to worry about but it did make me a bit nervous because if I couldn't upload my projects then I was toast. 

In the end, both CCRs went up just fine and everything was swell but I went into a frenzy trying to try and figure out the google drive upload to make sure it was fine and make sure I had a backup plan. Was not a good state to be in but thank god that everything worked out in the end

Post Production

 Post Production

post-production has been a fluid process mostly done through Adobe Premiere Pro. Post was a long process it took around 3-4 days to fully edit and place all clips together and get it to be a fluid film and really come together and look professional.

Initially, the start of Post Production process was started before the full film was finished being shot. at the start, the main shots that we were able to get were the shots of the night before and the nighttime shots this was due to the non-flexibility of the group's schedules so we worked with what we could. after filming these all the shots were instantly placed onto adobe in the order that they should go and edited the way we wanted them to look as a group 

Of course after the second day of filming was completed the rest of the editing process was able to start and with the time in between we as a group were able to discuss ideas that we would like to see in the editing process so the time in between the editing and the split dates actually benefitted the group.

CCR Updates

CCR Updates

my CCRs have been relatively simple to actually do, and the whole process has been relatively easy, not facing many setbacks. I have made two CCRs one of them being a podcast where a host interviews me and asks certain questions that relate to the question that I have been tasked with answering by Cambridge so the question slots in the podcast without standing out way too much. The other CCR is a PowerPoint with a voice-over, I choose these two types of media due to how I thought they would fit together one being mostly audible and the other being mostly visual.

The CCRs have been finished and the only thing left is to perfect anything in both that I would like to cut out. the other thing that I would have to do is to make sure the post with both links to the CCRs are posted on my blogger page.

Filming Day 2

 Filming Day 2

The second filming day was one of immense progress in the actual filming process. The filming done today was the stuff that we needed to really tie the whole opening together. During the filming day, we decided to get all the cleaning scenes that we would need to really close out the opening. we used a lot of mid and close-up shots to really show that the character was stressed and just to capture the emotion of the character in the scene. 

During the day, we took time to have time to get the scenes and then gave ourselves enough time to clean up the scenes. With us having to film in different areas of the house and not wanting to have so many open cans and broken cups and confetti. Every time we took a shot we would clean up and then take all the stuff and transfer it to another place in the house. most of the cleaning shots were us actually cleaning and us actually cleaning up Aarons house.

Class Group Meeting

 Group Meeting

Today in class we had a group meeting in the group meeting it was a process of giving and getting feedback. In my group, the main topics of conversation were aspects of post-production and talks about script writing for our CCRs. I talked with my group about how I should go about my CCRs because in past blogs I talked about how I was still a little unsure about my ideas however my group really made me think about my ideas I told them I had the idea of doing one of them as a podcast talk but with no video and they told me that videos are the more fluid way to go so I decided to scrap the podcast idea and go back to the drawing board. my other idea of it just being a PowerPoint with a voiceover was well received by the group and is something that the other members of the group are going to do as well.

In the talk which was mostly about post-production, we talked about certain editing techniques and certain camera shots and angles that we all used and the reasons to use them then one of the members asked for feedback on her project as she was editing it in class, we all gave good feedback on the project and I personally really liked the way she used certain close up shots to show the surrounding environment to the main character to show the characters personality as well as show the environment she lives in. 

CCR Update

 CCR Update

as the time to complete this project begins to run out I have begun thinking about my CCR and how I want to have it set up for it to flow as smoothly as possible and avoid the very likely obstacles that one would usually come across while beginning a filming process. I have begun to plan out things such as the script for it and the location in my house that would be most suitable for the focus to be placed on just me and nothing around me.

In my CCR I want to have it be a script read but I also want to practice the script so the speech doesn't come across as unnatural and robotic, I want the speech to be heard as conversational and not as if I'm reading off a script I'm still scouting out the filming location but I do want it to have a change of scenery as to add an aspect to the video. I'm still not fully set on that idea as the functionality of the script would then be completely useless and it would be way harder to memorize the whole CCR. 

As for the actual idea of the CCR, I am not fully set on it. I don't know if I want it to be a director's commentary if I want it to just be me speaking or if I want to make it different not sure yet but one thing is for sure I need to start coming up with good and fleshed-out answers for the questions.

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

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

- How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

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

 

I have ideas in my head but I want to go deeper into those answers so I'm going to need some time to brainstorm.

Filming day

 Filming Day 1

On our first filming day, we finally met up after many pushbacks due to crazy schedules with work and trips but we were able to finally meet up and get some filming done. we changed the plot of the film opening a little just fleshing out the introduction of the characters a little more than we had planned before. Still, we really liked the way it came together in the end and we feel like it really does an excellent job of giving the characters a little bit of background info and just shows the audience who they are meeting and how they have come together.

During our filming day, we decided to really focus on the use of different camera angles to get the best outcome for the overall look of the film opening. We heavily used many close-up shots and over-the-shoulder tracking shots due to the movement involved in many of the introduction scenes. We already have many ideas in our head to really accentuate the great idea through many techniques used in post-production but that comes at a later date. 

The filming process and shot selection for day 2 has already been agreed upon and is being finalized by our group through our group chat and facetime calls this allows us to show up to our filming location on the day and have a quick and short meeting about the schedule set out for that day and have our time used wisely and not be spending crazy amounts of time on the planning process for that day.

spring break filming

 Spring Break Filming

During spring break filming was nothing like how we would've expected it to go it was way more chaotic to get together and finally get some filming done. during the break we had so many things going on like trips and work that filming became nearly impossible. for example i had work every single day of the break until closing time which happened to be very late at night but one day we overcame the late night push back and got some filming done. 

At Arron's house we got some filming done in order to get the ball rolling. The filming process was extremely productive. we decided to  up our idea a little and just get most of the shots the days that we could our film is gonna be a little different most of the party scenes are going to be cut down because we decided to expand upon the set up of the party and to give the story line a little more plot and flesh it out a little more.

We have already decided on another day that we are all free to get the rest of the scenes and really get the editing process started just to be prepared and not leave everything to the final minute. We are going to meet up and finish the filming on Monday right after school to be able to take advantage of the sunlight due to most of our scenes being shot being set during the morning or the day.

A Break

 Spring Break

Spring break is a huge relief for our group the break off most activities such as school sports and just school work, in general, is an amazing break that our group really needed with all our crazy schedules meeting up to get some filming done has been difficult and with the scenes being difficult to shoot it has become even harder with the schedules not lining up but now with the break, it is a huge chance for us to finally get some filming done after not being able to for the longest time but now with the break, it takes the time strain of our filming days off our shoulders and it creates so many more chances to get more filming done in one day and not having to split up what would be a good day of filming into three or maybe even four days of mediocre filming. 

our group decided to add to our forms of communication. we decided that it would be a great idea to add google calendar to the forms of communication this is perfect due to how we won't be getting the text messages lost in our chats about when we are going to film and what to bring to the set the day of filming. with google calendar, it becomes so much easier to locate that information and get accurate updates on certain information for example, if on a certain date let's say march 20th the group needs Javi or Juan to bring a certain object or have certain clothes on we would place that information on our google calendar and then it would be easy and accessible for javi or juan to find the information