CCR

The CCR is done! Thanks for coming on this journey with me!

Film Opening

Here is the opening! Hope you enjoy!

Last Post: Project Reflection

As I finish the last edits to my opening and CCR, I have learned so much from the experience and how to be better in concepts particular to this subject, and in other facets of learning. 

One of the main things I learned is the value of time management. With planning this project, my partner and I were on top of many parts, such as the idea making, storyboarding, and recording of half of the storyboard. As this process was something new for the both of us, we wanted to make sure that we took as much time as possible to make all parts of the project as well done as possible. With the current pandemic going on, I am glad that my partner and I kept up with the work, and were still able to manage finishing the project in the social distancing conditions that exist. 


In terms of production of the project, I learned what to focus on when making an idea into a tangible plot. With an opening, it was important have a plot that that be developed and had enough information to interest the audience to watch the rest of the "movie". If we were to develop too much or too little information, the opening would not convey the necessary tone or tell the story needed to be told. When coming up with our idea, we wanted it to revolve around the topic of sadness and grief. Constructing an idea to not explicitly tell what message to convey, but to present it in terms of an event makes the story relatable, and applicable to the target audience watching. When coming up with the idea, we had gotten the imperative advice to focus on situation instead of a character or setting. With focusing on the situation as the main character getting ready for her deceased friends funeral, we were able to talk about the feelings experiences, physical appearances, the age range of the characters, to contribute to the overall tone of the piece. 

I learned much from this experience, and gained a new found interest for video production and the creation of a story that is valuable to for audiences to learn. Also, I found out that I am decent at acting, and will be more confident in my skills. This project showed me the variety of careers that are available to me, separate from what I set out to do. I really liked the finished product, and hope everyone will enjoy it as well!

Progress on CCR

I have developed a outline for my CCR. I have been able to answer all the questions, but am still working on the one about integrating different technologies. Our filming process consisted of our phones, the editing software WeVideo, and the set. We had some control of the light through the blinds in the room and the light in the bathroom and outside, but we did not use as many technologies as I thought we did. 

I find this to be to our benefit, as we were not completely experienced at video production, and to learn some of the hardware technologies was not in the plan for us. Also, our opening was simple in many ways, but had a message that can resonate with viewers. It was not something we needed, and may have caused us more difficulty when getting through the project. So even though we used fewer things when it came to hardware, I am proud of the product we produced. 

Just a thought I guess. 

CCR Time

So our opening is finally complete! I am so happy with the final product, and am really proud of the work Colin and I did. Now its time for the Creative Critical Reflection!

Throughout the project, I kept in mind the four questions in order to base my whole project process around. This helped as the process for creating this is much easier. The most interesting question to answer is the first one, about genre conventions and representation. As a piece in the drama genre, it does not have all the norms of the piece, specifically with the age of the cast. It deals with a heavy topic, which is the loss of a friend, from the younger standpoint. As discussed in the previous blog post, we found that representing teenagers became a big part of the representation for our piece, as we wanted to depict them in a more solemn way.

Originally, we had thought to expand on the feeling of anger with the loss of the friend. But after some discussion with other students and peers in my class, we felt that this was a little harsh to go about it, and can feed into certain stereotypes of teens being "overdramatic" or "immature" in a sense. We wanted to show them in a more responsible way, dealing with the grief and sorrow more mature than the older population may think.

Also, in terms of representation, it was not a explicit thing we wanted to do to make the characters of minorities. It just happened that we are both of a minority, and researched and saw that the representation of our race is not always present in movies in the drama genre. It is something that I am thinking of including in the CCR, just as another layer to the meaning of our piece.

These are some of the ideas I am thinking of the first question, but more is to come for the rest. I will be highlighting my progress of my project in the next post, and be posting my opening and my CCR very soon. Stay tuned!

Last Edits+CCR

Colin and I worked on editing the opening by adding the music and the credits. We found that some of the foley sounds we were recommended to add by our teacher had already been recorded. This was great, as all we had to do was add them where it was deemed necessary. We were recommended by our teacher to alter one of our scenes by recording a scene again, in which the main female character interacts with the pictures on her bulletin board, in order to establish the sense of who the opening is about from the very beginning. Also, we have added the credits so it shows up thorough the opening, and in a way that does not alter the tone of the piece.

This means that our film opening is at its last stages of being done! Now it is time to work on the CCR. In terms of the questions, I feel like our opening caters to all the questions, that can be backed up with extensive research. We have multiple forms of representation such as females, teenagers, and races such as the Indian and African races. In the genre of drama, there are not many productions that deal with this combination of factors, which is something that challenges the genre conventions. In term of audience, it would resonate with audience in many ways, as it caters to topics that deal with young adults to older adults due to the age of the main female character and the subject matter. As mentioned in my distribution post, it would be distributed in places where new filmmakers work can be featured, such as YouTube. With the last two questions, I still need to develop a definite answer, but will come to a final decision in the next couple of days.

Almost done with the opening!

We had the meeting with our teacher today.... and it went well! She responded well to our opening, and liked the music choice we had selected. She had given us some critiques about certain scenes and the addition of foley sounds, which we will be adding soon. Also, she said my acting was good... which is such a relief! I am glad our opening turned out well.

The only thing we are missing is a title. We had originally thought of the title "The Memory of Happiness", but it does really encompass the tone and plot of the piece. The opening deals with the main female character getting ready for her best friends funeral, but the rest of the plot would involve her dealing with the emotions that come with losing an important person in ones life. The main female character is a teenager, so her emotions would be unique to show, as they are different than the ones of an older woman. As mentioned in the "Representation" post, teenagers emotions can be subjected to some scrutiny by other people older than them as being "melodramatic". This opening showcases the main character in a way that a way that is representative to the stages of grief, as someone who is the denial and experiencing overall dejection in the situation.

Some of the title openings we have thought of are Overflow, The Story of Zacharia William, Say When, and Never Alone. All of these titles have a common theme, which involves the story being told from the deceased friend or the main characters point of view and feelings. I will have to discuss this more with my partner, and come to a final decision.

Productive Day

We currently finished filming and have been working on editing. As mentioned on the blog posts before, I was having some trouble with the editing. The clips were considerable choppy, and did not have a consistent flow. Though with some more work between Colin and I, we were able to get the editing better by changing our storyboard around to evoke the emotions of grief and sadness that we intended to do from the beginning. The opening turned out well, and I am really proud of the work we did!

Tomorrow, we will have a meeting with our teacher to get her critique on the current opening we have. Colin and I still had a question about the music. We had a choice of music selected, but wanted to get our teachers opinion just to make sure. Since our opening has no dialogue, the music would be a pivotal transitional device to progress our film opening, in order to evoke the feelings of sadness and despair the main character is feeling.

I am nervous though, cause I am not completely sure if my acting is good. I have done projects where I have acted before, but it was a first time to do something of this subject matter. I really tried my best, and we will see tomorrow what she thinks!