Creative Critical Reflection

My CCR

Hi all! Here is the CCR, or Creative Critical Reflection, for my project. It has truly been such a fun ride, and I hope you enjoy it! 

My CCR :)

Film Opening

The Final Product!! 

    Without further ado, it's finally here! My film opening!! My creation has finally come to fruition! I'm so excited to share this with you all, and I hope you enjoy. 

Click here to watch my film opening: 

Snapshot

Goodbye :(

 Hasta La Vista, Baby 

    Well, this is it, folks. My last actual post for this project. The only other posts after this will be my Creative Critical Reflection and my Film Opening, so this is really the last one where you'll be hearing from me like this! Wow, what a ride this project has been. It feels like just yesterday when I had no idea what I was doing and didn't even know what genre I wanted to do. Let's take a look back and reflect on this project together, shall we? 

The Beginning

    At the beginning of this project, I was between two choices; doing a thriller or a coming of age piece. I liked thriller because I wanted to make something suspenseful and entertaining to watch, but I also liked coming of age because I thought I could make a creative story and it would also be easy to make a film opening out of. I decided to go with thriller because I realized I had more inspiration to pull for that genre than the other. I had just watched Megan Is Missing recently when this project was given, so that plot was stuck in my mind for weeks. I realized that it was the shock factor that had me stuck on it, and I wanted to create something that caused the audience to experience that shock factor as well. Upon doing more research, I decided I wanted to do something where the main character gets kidnapped. I took inspiration from Megan is Missing as well as one of my favorite video games, Life Is Strange for the plot, and developed research on thrillers for the production.

                      Life is Strange capture of gameplay; characters in "the darkroom".

                                                        Megan is Missing poster 

Creation of Story and Planning

    At first, I really didn't know how I wanted my story to transpire. I actually had this whole elaborate plot of them meeting and then my character getting kidnapped and blah blah blah. After having a meeting about my plot with my teacher, Mrs. Stoklosa, I realized that this is a film opening, and I can allude to the kidnapping, but I don't need to do so much. This was a relief to hear, as I was overthinking the amount of work I needed to put on. After this meeting, I finalized the vision for my plot very early on. I knew from the beginning I wanted to do the eyeline match with the cross-cutting, and although I explained to many people and no one really knew what I was talking about, it ended up looking so good in the final result; lesson learned to always trust my gut. She suggested that I use a playground as the setting, so I wrote the plot around that. 

    Once I did research on my target audience, I started to develop my characters. At this point, I knew I was going to need my friend, Ryan, to act in my film. I called him up and when he said yes, I knew we were in business. I started to develop their backstories so the characters were easy to play, and I planned their costumes/style as well. I utilized mis-en-scene here to show the audience what type of people the characters are; the younger sister wearing pigtails and overalls, symbolizing her young age, and the older sister wearing mom jeans and a tight fitted shirt and jewelry, representing that she is a teen that keeps up with the style. For the male character, I made the clothing cover him up, to represent how he's closed off and mysterious/creepy. I also included necessary props for this character that we used in the film opening, such as the camera bag, camera, and photos. I wasn't very creative with the character's names, for a literally just used mine and Ryan's middle name for the characters, but I knew that those names would match our faces. Once I had the plot and characters set, I wrote out the planning of the shots. Once this was done, it was time to film!

Ryan and I have been friends for a long time, so he was the perfect choice to act in my film!

The Filming and Editing Process 

    On filming day, Ryan brought his camera and we were ready to film. It honestly took about half the time I thought it was going to take, and only took us around an hour and a half. The shots looked so good and the camera was so nice, so props to Ryan for letting me use it. It was very hot that day, so we were trying to wrap up quickly as well because there was so much sweat dripping from my face and I didn't want it showing up in the shots. Other than that, things went pretty well! There were no issues with the camera or anything like that, and we saved all the footage on the SD card, and we were ready to edit for the most part. The only scene we needed to film would be filmed the following week; the kidnapping foreshadowing scene. 

    Before filming that scene, I basically edited everything. I don't have Adobe Premiere on my computer, but Ryan does on his. So, I went over to his house a couple times to use his computer so I could edit my project. As described in a previous blog post, editing without adding the cross-cutting was actually pretty simple. I just cut some clips and used them sporadically so the cuts went back and forth, and then just put other clips next to each other. I then just found some copyright-free music, but matched the intense parts of the music to the intense parts of the scene. I also added a camera overlay effect and some clicking sound effects on the part of the film where it was the camera POV. Editing went generally smooth. 

    When the filming day arrived to film the last scene, Ryan and I went into the auditorium after school. Honestly, were we supposed to be in there all by ourselves? Probably not, but Ryan's mom is the drama director at our school and gave us permission to use the space. Ryan closed the curtains and turned off almost all the lights in the auditorium and then we used his phone camera flashlight as the primary light source. As for mice-en-scene, I made my mascara look very smudgy and messy, as well as used dark eyeshadow on my eyelids and under my eyes to make my face looked a little more bruised. I also brought a facial spray to make my face look sweaty. I also brought some yellow duck tape to put over my mouth. The yellow wasn't necessarily an artistic choice, for it was basically the only ducktape I could find on hand, but I think it ended up being better, for the yellow really popped against the black background. 

    The above picture (a snapshot from the actual film opening) ended up being the final look. While I was editing, I actually got a little freaked out about how realistic it looked. Editing this part was a little more difficult only because I had to get the timing right. But, after playing around with the timing, I managed to make it look like how I wanted, foreshadowing what would happen if they met (which they do lolz).  After that, I was so happy with the final results! 

Final Thoughts 

    Honestly, this project was so fun to complete. At the start of this project, I was about ready to gouge my eyes out looking at how much work was required to produce a good piece for this project. But after tuning into my creative side, I actually really liked working on the project. Writing the blog posts didn't feel like work, and I really enjoyed it. It was just so awesome seeing something that originated in my brain come to life. I'm so grateful to Ryan and my little sister for helping me by acting in my project as well. Thank you, Cambridge for allowing me the opportunity to create something that I'm truly proud of. 

Thank you, for staying tuned to find out. <3

Planning For Final Filming and Editing

 Getting Kidnapped! Fun! 

    Hi everyone! Well, we're getting down to the wire here. Spring Break is over, as I'm writing this at around 8:00 PM on the Sunday before school starts up again. This upcoming week, I'm going to be majorly busy finalizing this project. I have to add the opening credits and plan for the CCR as well.  I  also have to film the last scene this week, either Tuesday or Thursday. This is because Ryan and I need to utilize the auditorium to film this scene. The scene we're filming is the scene I'm going to cross-cut of her in the "darkroom". This is being filmed to foreshadow future events in the film and hook the audience in. 

    After this scene is filmed, I'm going to quickly try and finish the film opening so I can start planning for the CCR. I'm going to write out a script for it and want to finish it this upcoming weekend so that I won't have to worry about it at the last minute. So, I need to do some preparation now. 

Filming Preparation 

    When preparing for filming my last scene, I need to think about mise-en-scene a lot. The outfit/makeup and the props mixed with the setting are what really are going to sell the scene. 

    For my character's look, I want her to have smudged makeup and messy-looking hair. Obviously, for being kidnapped, Raquel isn't going to be looking like a fashion model. I believe the makeup and hair will add to the distress and suspense of the overall opening. 

    As for the outfit, I'm thinking just a black tank top will suffice. The scene will be filmed only from about the waist up, so the bottoms I wear won't really matter, but I'm going to probably wear black leggings just in case. 

    As for the props, Raquel will have a strip of ducktape over her mouth. I'm also going to be bringing a facial mist to put on my face to replicate sweat. I think all of these aspects mixed together will fully encompass Raquel's desperation in this quick flash-forward of the "film". 

As for Ryan's character, Willam, I'm thinking of him wearing just an all-white shirt with blue surgical gloves. William's character is prestigious with his craft and wants to be careful not to smudge his "art". 

    This footage will only be up on the screen for a couple seconds, but it adds extreme uneasiness to the scene, creating an overall intense atmosphere and tone. After I film this scene, I'll worry about making it look seamless while transitioning into the overall project. After that and adding the opening credits, it'll be done! After that, all that's left is my CCR. Crazy that this project is almost done! Time flies! I'm really hoping the final product will look good and will turn into something I'm proud to share. 

Stay tuned to find out! 

Choosing A Font

 Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Mo 

    Hey all! So, for today's posting- I have to start thinking about the type of font I want to use in my film opening. It is required that we put certain credits at the beginning of the film opening, such as the producer/production "company", the director, editor, actors, and etc. I need to select a font that clicks well with my film. In order to do so, I need to do a bit of research in order to understand the type of font style that will best coincide with my film opening. 

    I think that everything in a film opening adds to the tone and how the audience perceives it, including the font of the credits. A font can easily be used to grab the attention of a viewer, and it also gives the audience an idea of the type of genre the film is. 

   

 In the film opening to "16 Wishes", the font used is peppy, with a white color outlined with a bright purple border. It sets the tone that the movie is going to be a bit silly, as well as targeted at girls. 

My film genre is a thriller. So, what font types can I utilize? 

    In the opening sequence to "Intruders", the font is white and thin, with small gaps in between the letters. This white against the contrasting black undertones in the footage behind it gives for a nice contrast and creates an eerie feeling. 

    Keeping in mind these specific aspects of fonts, I'm thinking I will have a white font as well, since my film opening is muted in colors and has a grey-ish overtone. I'm thinking thin letters as well, since too thick of a font will take away from the footage. I'm hoping I will find one appropriate enough that I'm able to seamlessly integrate into my film. 

As always, stay tuned to find out!! 

The Process of Editing- Part 1

 Crediting the Editing 

    Hi all! Hope everyone is doing good! So last week, Ryan and I filmed most of the footage I wanted to use in my film opening. So, this week I started editing! Fun! I went over to Ryan's house a couple of times because he has Adobe Premiere on his computer. I've used Adobe Premiere in 8th grade when I took film in middle school, so I was familiar but a little rusty. But, luckily the editing I've completed so far wasn't too difficult to do. 

Starting the Editing Process 

    Besides stringing clips together, to make it look and appeal better to the audience, I added some aspects to *spice* up my project. I added a camera filter to some parts of my clips to make it look like the audience is seeing the character through the camera lens. I also changed the lighting and saturation in some clips to make them have a darker tint. 

    On top of that, I added a musical track to make the film sound creepier. The musical tracks I chose to include crescendo at the intense moments to add to the suspense factor I want to give the audience. 

    Above is a screenshot of the camera filter that I added to a part of the film. On the side, one can view the audio file of camera clicks that I imported as well to include sounds of the camera flashing while in the POV view. 

    I had to make sure the timing was right, so I cut some clips and made sure there was continuity within each clip. I was able to cut back and forth to create a more professional look within clips, so the transition from clip to clip was smooth. 

    I added an adjustment layer as well. This was used to change the aspect ratio of the video, in order for it to look more cinematic. I also had to include audio transitions to lower background noise from the park as well as make a seamless ut between clips. I then used color grade to change the color/tone of all of the clips. 

    Editing so far has been not too difficult. I still have to film a small scene that I then have to cross-cut, and I'm kind of worried about that, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Hopefully, the rest of the editing will go smoothly and I'll be able to film that small bit and then everything will be good in the world. 

Stay tuned to find out!

Filming Day Reflection

 Ryan and Keira Take Over Gator Run Park

    Hi y'all! WE (almost) FINISHED FILMING!! It was so much fun watching my ideas work out. The day went really smoothly as well. I met Ryan at the park (with our masks on) and we picked a good spot to film. The only thing that was a little bit worrying was that part of the park was under construction, but we were able to film everything without getting any construction workers in the back. The day was very sunny, so we were wary of shadows and made sure there was no camera shadow in any of the shots. It was also very hot, and poor Ryan was about to pass out in the sweatshirt I made him wear for his costume. It was actually so hot that I was worried my makeup was going to sweat off. Other than those small inconveniences, filming went great. 

    Upon arriving, Ryan showed me the camera he brought. It was really nice. I don't know much about cameras, but I do know that it's about a billion times better than my iPhone camera. The camera also had a tripod and a handle to steadily do pans. The camera quality was also VERY nice. I'm really lucky to have a friend who was willing to let me borrow it AND be in my project. 

    Filming only took about an hour and a half. I thought it was gonna take a bit longer, but Ryan and I were prepared to get in and get out. I also already knew what shots I needed and was familiar with the area, Gator Run Park, so I knew good places to film our shots. Oh, for the record, we kept ourselves safe by wearing masks in between shots. It was also better and made my parents happier that the location was outside so it was more COVID safe, so that was also a plus. As you can see from the video above, the park is pretty large and we had a lot of space to utilize within every shot. It was also pretty funny because pedestrians walking by were looking at us weirdly. Pretty funny.

    Here are some behind-the-scenes footage videos of our filming. My sister helped us film scenes that both Ryan and I needed to be in. Ryan also brought a really cool tripod for the iPhone to use for one tracking shot we did. The tripod allows the phone to keep steady and eliminate any shakiness. We stuck to the shot list for the most part, and I'm going to start editing on Adobe this upcoming week since I have a lot more time (Spring Break). 

    Here's a funny video Ryan toon of me when he tricked me to keep being in character when we already finished the shot. :D

    Anywho, I'm hoping that the editing will go as smoothly as the filming did. Probably not though, because I'm not as experienced with editing. But we'll get through it! 

Stay tuned to find out!