Research + Script for #1 CCR question

Okay, hi guys! For my CCR questions, I decided to merge question numbers 1 and 3 into one media type while leaving the other two for another video. Here we are going to talk specifically about the first CCR video, which will be the Wired autocomplete interview. In order to go into more depth about these videos, I needed to really understand the visuals and the types of questions they asked....Therefore, I started my research.

I became one of their main consumers for at least 1 day. It did become a little overbearing, but what I got from watching a lot of these videos was that the questions were simplistic. This gave me the idea to cut question #1 into 2 parts, and that they were pretty open-ended. All these celebrities had a very natural charm which made it easy to watch. So in some type of way, I was forced to embody that too. 

WIRED PAGE

In terms of information, I already know the specific social groups that I was representing and the specific issues that I targeted. So it was fairly easy to build upon that. My film opening depended on loss and trauma. Now, during my analysis, in the script, I had to make sure to explain why I chose to do certain things and the ultimate reason behind every single action. I tried my best to keep it nice and short.

I feel like there was not much to research on this one, but my overall thoughts and summaries are on my script. Please click below...

Question being answered!

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

Link to: CCR SCRPT (#1 and #3)

Just in case it is easier to access with copy and paste:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EGLCz2ErqRaPwMvqj8OlO5AmuS7GLjcyhdCL7l0FO88/edit?usp=sharing

Overall, i really just wanted to have fun with the CCRs and reflect on my project! That became my main goal. 

Post-production editing process (audio)

For audio, I approached it with careful planning by checking the teacher’s recommendations and decided to use Pixabay for my main source of sound effects. This lets my film have a wider range of audio. I didn't get the chance to do anything other than the voice recordings at the beginning and end. I had to rely on the audios that were already there and were copyright-free.

While editing, there were some difficulties with layering and synchronizing them with visuals, but it ended up working out through trial and error. I think I was able to enhance the atmosphere with voice and music. Especially when it came to diegetic and non-diegetic sounds, such as the ringing in the ears and the eerie music. I also played around with the echo in the flashbacks and in distressing situations (when Sienna was holding her bfs baby)

I recommend the platform and will use it for future projects; it was incredibly useful for someone who desperately needed it.

Here are some videos of me editing and using the platform!

Post-production editing process (visual)

 This project was my first time doing color grading in Adobe Premiere Pro (or at all). At first, the number of tools available to me felt extremely overwhelming. There were so many things I was not familiar with, so it was very daunting. Because of this, I used more minimal techniques which focused on adjusting the brightness and contrast. But I made sure not to limit myself, and used the internet to guide me whenever I was curious about a specific tool. I played with everything, and I mean everything....except for the S-curve. This honestly served as a motivation to color grade other things in my images.

Although I had a simpler approach, it helped me understand how this technique can make a huge impact on the mood of a film. Next time, I will further expand my knowledge and expertise by using more advanced techniques!

Down Below is a video of me messing around with color grading on Adobe Premiere:

Filming Day 3 (production process)

 I’m not trying to be negative, but this day had a series of unfortunate events and challenges. Again, we had bad weather; there was so much rain. Even after it stopped raining, my actresses had to sit down in the wet dirt. Not so fun for them. Although there were some uncomfortable conditions, it was okay because they were good sports, and the filming went by pretty quickly because we had already gotten the dialogue out of the way on the previous day. 

In addition to the environmental challenges, we also experienced a couple of technical difficulties. Our SD card ran out of storage and was preventing us from continuing to film using the primary camera. Instinctively, I made the decision to stop all filming with the camera and switch to filming certain shots on my phone. We had to keep going and keep filming because the sun would be going down soon.  

Another challenge was the professional atmosphere on set. Of course, these people are my friends. Because we are close, it felt like another casual hangout instead of a structured and organized shoot for a while. Eventually

, we all found our focus and “locked in” until we had all of the shots that we needed. Some other minor issues involved costume inconsistencies. Kat forgot her cowboy boots, and she had to wear Crocs for some of the shots. In the end, it did not matter because you could not see them anyway. 

Even after all of that, I still loved this entire process. A major highlight of the whole day was that we had more resources in terms of the SFX department. Kat was able to get her hands on some fake blood that you spray on. This significantly enhanced the realism and emotional impact of the final moments of the film; moreover, it made Maya’s death scene one of the strongest. Overall, the blood was really useful and valuable to developing my problem-solving skills and technical skills. 

Filming Day 2 (production process)

Today begun the actual filming process. 

The second day of filming was definitely stressful, but overall, we made a lot of progress, and it was one of the most productive days of the entire process. 

One of the main challenges was finding a location. I wanted to find a place that would resemble an isolated world in ruin. A mise-en-scene that communicated decay and abandonment. Something that didn’t look like a normal suburban environment. Basically, nothing like Weston. While we initially thought that we had found the perfect spot, it turned out to be a little more public. People kept passing by and walking through our shots, interrupting our takes. I guess it was not as secluded as we had hoped. These interruptions made it more difficult to maintain consistency in the scene. 

Staying on the theme of setting, the environment also seemed to be working against us. It began raining unexpectedly; this slowed down the production and affected the physical aspects of the location. The ground was muddy and difficult to work with, which made tracking shots hard to master. I also ended up stepping on some poop! I still don't know where it came from… The day seemed to drag on. However, not everything was bad. 

Despite some troubles, it was still a fun and incredible experience, which gave us a bunch of high-quality shots, which were essential while I was editing the film to look like a deserted world. I was surprised by how cinematic the footage looked. Another plus was that we finished all of our dialogue scenes that day. This accomplishment allowed us to focus more on the establishing shots. This was also a major milestone for us and set us up for success on the next day of filming. 

SPECIAL THANKS TO MY ACTORS!!!

(I wouldn't have been able to do it without you)

Beggining of Filming + Camera Choice

This was actually quite a hectic day, due to the absence of one of my main actors, so we had to rely on doing Flashbacks. We were forced to film individual flashbacks because we did not have the option of having another actor. I decided to take this into my own hands and add a filming location. Here, I gave Sienna an extra part of her storyline, and I added more depth to her backstory. Of course, like every other flashback filmed, it had to be during the moments of sunset. I wanted the sun to be in an exact spot where it looked ethereal in my camera. I absolutely fell in love with this shot and was extremely grateful for where the sun was at the time. I think the sun served as such an ideal aid, which boosted the warmth of my flashbacks. 

Overall, the beginning of filming served as a reminder that not everything goes as planned and that there is always room for mistakes... It's about what you can do towards your goal that can help you triumph past challenges.

 Camera Choice: Sony Handycam

I decided to use this old camera that my dad kept hidden in the corner of our house instead of an iPhone because I wanted the realism and professionalism that it provides. I also only have a tripod that works for cameras only, so choosing this type of hardware made it easier and more efficient to film.

Drone Shot Day!

 Atlas the day has come! Before I start talking about the day i want to give a special thanks to my friend Max for making this day become possible. I appreciate you helping me out and I am extremely grateful that you taugth me how to fly a drone! 

Hi blog! Today I want to introduce you to Max. I just met him this year. Max is a junior in higshcool and has started his own succesful bussines called "Max SoFlo". He is a verified user on instagram, he has hit 28.1K followers and is on his way for a rather great future. If i know anything about max is that he is a great influencer and hard worker. His ethic rubbed of on me and made this drone shot possible. 

His socials: max_soflo_unlimited

Max has a very tight schedule. He is booked and busy which meant i would have to work around his appointed services. We kept having to reschedule our "drone day" because I became extremely busy when teching for Mamma Mia and Bettlejuice, 2 student directed shows, that needed my support and help with mics, set, and props. Teching this show had me coming home extremely late, and i wanted to make sure that the drone shots were done when the sun was still out. Regardless, we found a day that could work for both of us...and we begun working. 

Location. Max lives near a bunch of trails and abandoned farms. He said the place that he wanted to take me was familiar, and that it would be the perfect place to teach me how to fly a drone (at my begginer level). Altough, i dont want to disclose the information of the location because it is quite litteraly really near his humble abode...i am more than comfortable with sharing a few pictures and ALL the footage that we have from that day.

These are a few pictures from that day. I have one of me flying the drone, another one of my best friends reaction to me actually being able to navigate it, a picture of the set up, and 2 pictures of the location.

This day was extremly exciting and a one in a lifetime experience. Although pretty hard, this experience gave me the opportunity to make mistakes! And that something I could never take for granted. Here i want to include a few videos of me flying the drone. In it you can see that i did infact crash the drone, but even so Max remained confidence in my ability to get a good drone shot. Again this was my first time flying such a tiny machine, but with guidance I was able to create a product in which i was proud of.

Senior Assassin Dilemma

I wanted to start this post with gratitude. I am extremely grateful for my actors and for them having a flexible schedule for filming days. My one problem was that the senior assassin had begun during my filming stage...and since both of my actors were seniors, I definitely knew that it would be a challenge.

What is a senior assassin? 

Senior Assassin is a duo-based elimination game where players (in teams of two) have to attempt to "eliminate" their assigned targets using manually loadable water guns while, of course, also avoiding elimination themselves. Each team is given their targets location, which is refreshed every 10 minutes. Knowing that my actors where ub constant danger unless holding the baby, pushed me to come up with a solution. 

The baby, which had to be 12 in, was the game's safety device. Your assassin could not get you if you had a baby. Therefore, if I wanted to guarantee that my actor was safe, I had to kind of evolve my story. As we know by now, I had wanted to use the pair of yellow rainboots to symbolize the different stages that the main character goes through...innocence, challenge, death. And because of that, I wanted to use the blood to represent death, and dirt/grime to represent the character going through challenges. I wanted to use the boots as a clean canvas. But of course, we can also infer that it was a hard item to locate...I went to at least 3 thrift stores, and they did not have anything that caught my eye. Therefore, to guarantee my friend's safety and use something easier to find, I will replace the rainboots with a plastic baby doll from Walmart!

Company Logo

 Hello guys! Lately, I have been thinking about my company logo. 

As I have been doing my research, I  have decided that I want to make a small animation. For years, I was in an animation class, so I should be more than qualified to mess around with my idea. In terms of simplicity, I want it to avoid looking like minimal effort. I want different components to work together in terms of harmony. Another goal for my animation is for it to be colorful.

I am currently taking visual tech, and in the next few classes, we are focusing specifically on animation. This works out perfectly for me because the course will enhance my art skills for this part of the project. I'm currently not sure if I want to take the stop motion or the animation route.

I am obsessed with the meaning behind a spiral, and I am in love with nature. The best optimal result would have both of them for me. Therefore, I have decided to try to see what I can do. 

For starters, I needed to go to my Art Teacher to find my medium. While I was looking through her classroom, I decided to use the newspapers in the back. With the newspaper as my medium, the options for my animation were pretty broad. I started grabbing a few papers and took them home

Although I do want to maintain a realistic and professional aspect, I also want to make sure that I make something that fits my overall aesthetic. Here are some pictures of the final product and my process.

I actually had a lot of fun with this side project, and I loved individually picking out every letter. I also made sure to include different colors and tried my best to cut out different ratios of paper. When animating it, I had to do it a few times because my platform kept moving. Even though having challenges, I still had a lot of fun.

Location Scouting

Hi blog! Today we are going on location scouting for the opening of my movie. In order for the setting spot to work fluidly with the time era of the film, we need basic characteristics that can ensure that our audience has been "fooled". 

The "NEEDS" for location:

- Looks abandoned/empty

- Overgrown Nature

- Industrial Spaces like drainage canals or train tracks

- Empty Roads (Isolated Places)

- Rusty Metal, Cracked Paint, Worn Down 

Before I started looking for locations, I was positive that I would have to depend on tighter framing when showing my setting. But now, because of my different variations and amazing options, I feel as if I won't feel as limited to using long shots or even extremely long shots. Let this be a teaser, but I have planned to meet up with my friend for a drone shot of one of our locations. I really want to expand on the vastness of the post-apocalyptic world, and hopefully, I can do it right with the locations.

The first location that my friends and I decided to check out was Vista View Park. This was located right outside Weston and, from above, looked pretty isolated. Just like any other person, we decided to walk around and take advantage of the windy airfield. This is likely the main location of our filming. Its vastness and the fact that it looks so dry and run-down. I would say the only con would be that to get to most of the spots, it has to be by feet, so establishing a tripod on this rocky terrain would be harder than if it were flat.

Here are some pictures and specific places in the park that I thought would be a great addition to my film. 

I am in love with the overall aesthetic that the overgrown nature and weeds gives to the wooden fence. I think this moving shot would look absolutely beautiful when the wind hits the plants.

This one has to be one of my favorite spots. I think the "attention" sign and the sattelitle really added a survival-focused aspect. 

Our second location of the day was this plane near the road. Every single day on my way to school, I would pass this piece of land. To me, it looked extremely aged and malnourished. It mostly gave me the creeps, but it also served as a place of inspiration. What happened there? What can happen? Although ignored by the human eye today, it is mostly seen as something that needs upkeep and to be modernized. I kept seeing it every single day, and it served as a catalyst and a source of creativity to film this. I am not going to lie...I was extremely terrified to explore this area. Not only was it off limits but it looked so overgrown that there where probably multiple animals and insects (biggest fear) living there.

These powerlines brought me back to life. When i went to check them out on foot rather than a moving vehicle, the sight was incredible. I also took my video camera with me, so i was able to see "my vision" come to life, and if I'm being honest I cannot wait.

Baseball Field. For my film, I want to include flashbacks to give a bit of context on the props and maybe even just the character. My main character will be carrying a baseball bat to protect themselves from the environment in the post-apocalyptic world. therefore from one of the flashbacks when the traumatic event is happening, i am planning to film a little baseball analepsis!!!

Another blog is yet to come about Malcom Park (drone shots!!)

Overall, looking for locations was extremely successful, and I had so much fun. And it helped me expand my limits on my creativity. It also forced me to make a few changes to my storyboard.

Special thanks to Kat Diez and Enzo Sequini!!! Thank you so much for coming with me to explore countless spots.