Group Meeting in Class 3/12

     Today marks the day that we are less than 2 weeks out from the final submission of our projects, and today to get ideas, tips, and constructive feedback on our blogs, projects, and CCR's our teacher put us into random groups of 5-6. In these groups we were instructed to share all about our projects and to receive and give opinions. The picture that is included below shows my group and I, The students names Max (me), Arthur (in my group), Robert, Miranda, and Daniela.

   

Through our group discussions, each of us presented our ideas and what we have made for our projects respectfully. By chance, I got someone in my group and I am also working with for the final project, because of this we were able to both spill our brains onto the group and receive twice as much feedback. The opinions that we did receive after demonstrating our projects were mostly positive, but there were things that people suggested we change or work on. For example, in the credit sequence we didn't use full names and that was a mistake on our end, so when my group and I get the chance, we will change this to add full first and last name.

    Moreover, some of the constructive criticism that I gave for other people in my group was that Daniela had what I thought was too long and too repetitive of shots where her character was blowing out a candle in slow motion, I suggested to her that she should either take out one of the shots, or take it out of slow motion. Another suggestion I gave was to Robert, and I told him that he should take into consideration the fact that the movie opening should be indicative of the fact that there is more movie to come, and should feel like it is just the beginning. I told him this because he didn't grasp this concept and I don't think he was taking it into consideration when working on his project, but after I told him this, he agreed with me and is now going to slightly alter his story and filming so that it feels like there is more to come.

Post Production Post (editing)

     The majority of the camera work and editing will be handled by Arthur as that is what he knows very well and he knows much more than both Diego and I, but on my own, I did edit slightly, as I put together all the clips to see how everything would flow and if the scenes would match up (I did this after the first time we shot which was last week). But because of this, we were able to catch flaws and come up with solutions to eventually fix them for the next time we shot.

This screenshot shows the process of me adding all the clips together on Capcut, which isn't a necessarily good or advanced editing software, but it got the job done for what I was looking for.

    This screenshot depicts a similar thing as the last but it more specifically shows one of the imperfections that we found within the shooting. And that is that we think that this scene is slightly too dark (our teacher also told us this), but the thought is good and we are going in the right direction. (We ended up redoing this shot in a different and better-lit location on our next day of shooting and it turned out pretty good we think)

Post Production (editing)

 

    Arthur is the person in our group who is handling all the editing and what he has been doing is putting all the clips together and using very simple but commonly used transitions in horror to create the flow of the movie and set the pace. Furthermore, in the gap that we have set in between shots, Arthur is adding red text that reads the producer, director, and things of that nature. Furthermore, he added an eerie lullaby in the background when the screen cuts to black and as the credits roll, this not only relates to the title and story of the opening relating to a doll, but it also plays into the genre characteristics of horror movies, where there is commonly an eerie song when the credits roll.

In addition to this in class, we helped Arthur time up the shots perfectly so we can use the glass as an indicator of transition because in a few shots, when the main character puts the glass down, the glass is used as part of the transition and it cuts to the next scene where the main character puts the glass down again.

Research for CCR

Research for CCR

    In class, my teacher went over what is expected for the CCR and we went over many tips and things to help us complete the CCR which is what this blog post is going to include.

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

- Start by discussing genre conventions - cite where you found the given information

- Next, discuss why you chose not to challenge genre conventions

-End with a discussion of representation, remember that representation refers to the choices made in how individuals, groups, events, and, issues are illustrated within a production

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

-Discuss how you arrived at your target audience, cite necessary research

-Discuss how your production choices, content, etc. work to engage with your target audience

-Next, discuss how you plan to make your film available to audiences

-Responses should address realistic options for an amateur filmmaker. For example: you would not release your film worldwide to theatres, this is only an option for major productions

    Tips for "How did your production skills develop throughout this project?"

-Reflect on your progress throughout the production

-Discuss how you begin with research and planning, and offer specific details about both of these processes 

-Discuss your approach to production. What did you have to change or adapt as you worked on the project?

- End with a reflection on where you started and where you ended. You may also discuss previous projects completed in class and how they helped you to develop you portfolio project

    Tips for "How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?"

-Begin with discussing any techniques that you used while producing the project 

-Discuss hardware-camera, lighting, mics, phones, tripods, dollies, etc.

-Discuss software, editing, planning, blogging, etc.

    Overall tips

-Time limit for the entire CCR 11 minutes
-Create a script

- Present information creatively, don't rely on the "talking heads"

-You must include research and cite it in your CCR

Production Post

 

    My group and I continued our filming from where we last left off which was the outside scenes. When we were reviewing our footage of the outside scenes we didn't feel as though they were up to par. Because of this, we decided to film another day and dedicate it solely to filming the outside scene after the bar again. In addition to just filming, we changed a few things to make the setting and story fit in more with what we were trying to portray, and a horror movie. For example: one thing we changed was that instead of filming the scene of the main character drunkenly walking into the street next to houses, we went further into my neighborhood and filmed it on a street that led to the main road where there were also cars passing, adding to the realism. Also, the change in location was helpful because another knock we had on the previous takes was that it was too dark, and in the new location the lighting is much better, whilst also still maintaining the dimly lit, eerie, and dark vibe that is a characteristic of horror movies.

BTS of second day filming outside

    This video that is linked shows Arthur as he is filming me acting out the scene of the main character drunkenly wandering. But this isn't the take that we are going to use as we weren't convinced about the acting part and felt as though the trip was unrealistic, so we took another take and we were more pleased as a group all together.

Production Post

 Production Post Speaking on Props

    The main prop we used for the first day of filming, to film the bar scene was this empty bottle of Tequila that my parents had lying around. So, my group and I cleaned it, and filled it with apple juice as that was what we were using to recreate alcohol. In one of the shots in the scene, the bartender opens the bottle and pours the main character another drink, so the prop comes in very handy, and I think just adds and an extra hint of realism to the opening. Furthermore, we chose apple juice as it has a similar tint to a glass of whiskey, and especially with the lighting that the bar features, the golden brownness of the apple looks even more like that of a glass of whiskey on the rocks.

  

    The link shown features a funny fail from the shooting of the bar scene, where I (portraying the main character) try to take a sip out of the glass filled with apple juice (supposed to be whiskey) and a cube of ice somehow comes flowing out of the glass. Moments like these are nice because they provide a laugh break from the seriousness of filming and planning, and really make the whole process enjoyable. There were many more moments like this that took place during the first day of filming, this one is just my favorite.

funny fail from filming

Production Post

 The second part of filming day 1 (outside)

    The second part of our day 1 of filming was the process of trying to perfectly capture the scene of the main character drunkenly stumbling around while walking outside at night as he is trying to reach his home. This part of the filming process came with much more complications than the expected, and than the inside part of filming. For one, my dog could not stop barking at my group members, so I had to put him inside. And sprinklers were going off which slightly ruined the sound that was recorded with the video. Lastly, the overall look of the footage was not up to the par that we wanted, as the filming was too dark and the setting didn't perfectly represent what we wanted for the opening.

(Image of Arthur getting camera ready for outside shot)

    BTS of outside filming

    The link above shows the behind the scenes of Arthur filming me as we try to get on of our shots for the outside scene, but after reviewing all the footage and speaking to each other in class, we came to the conclusion as a group that all of the footage is too dark and we are going to need to refilm all of it, changing up the lighting and shots a little bit, and also shooting it a little bit further down the street where there is more light posts and less houses.