Final Links

 Finally, the day i've been working so hard for is here. In this google drive you will find the final film opening, and the 2 CCR's. Hope you enjoy :))

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10jSXimiRXEvErFFIQcpvKlCIfZUwnMAI?usp=sharing

Final Reflection

Hey blog! No words can describe how much I enjoyed doing this product and watching out idea come together exactly like we wanted it to. As you know, from being with us throughout the whole project, we had a few bumps in the road, but everything came together. I learned a lot of working and time management skills, so many editing techniques, filming techniques, the importance of mise-en-scene and lighting, and even a little acting ;))

If there is one thing I learnt, its that with a lot of teamwork and patience, anything can be resolved, and that is exactly what we did. I am extremely grateful for getting to work with partners like Maria, Santina, and Julia, and I am so happy with the final result. I would also like to thank my teacher for being so supportive and helpful throughout the whole process. Every question we had she was glad to answer, and she was so much help when we had our problem mid way through the project. The people I got to work with showed me the true meaning of team work makes the dream work.

This project has made me realize how under-appreciated all actors, directors, and producers are for their work. Every movie has a lot of little details that can make or ruin its success. I got a better understanding of how much hard work and dedication actually goes into each and every film.

In regards to my CCR's, I do wish they where a bit more creative but I tried my hardest to make them as entertaining as possible. I tried to answer all the questions in depth and give all the information needed. I do think they turned out very good, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I did making them!

It was a very long and stressful process, we dedicated all out time and effort into making it the best it could be. The next blog post will be my CCR's and finally, the film opening!!

 

Post-production of CCRs

Now the final part, editing. 

My first CCR, I would say it was the hardest out of the 2 to edit. I wanted to have myself on frame at the same time. I watched a tutorial on how to do it, and it came out pretty good. I am very happy with the result. Here you can see a sneak peek on how it turned out:

The one thing I didn't like how it turned out where the voice overs of the close up of the interviewer shots. You can tell it is a voice over but I tried everything and it didn't sound good, so its the best I could do. I also tried to add inserts, to make it visually engaging but to a limit. Im happy with the result overall.

For the second CCR, it was way easier to edit. It is also shorter and I could add way more inserts. IM really happy with the results. I names the seres "Lights, Camera, Action: Starring ______". I didn't name it something like ___# questions because it was just 2 major questions asked, so it wouldn't make sense. Since its a series asking questions about movies, I thought the title would fit best.

Im very excited for you guys to see how the finished products look, stay tuned for the final results!!!!!!!!

CCR's Script

These are the 2 scripts I will follow for my CCR's. The first one will answer the first 2 questions, the second (talk show) will answer the last 2. They might have a few alternations, but overall i'll be following them.

CCR 1 (F: Fatima, I: Interviewer)

Camera approaches

F: *walking out the door* 

I: Hey! 

F: Hey how’s it going!

I: Good! I was just wondering if I could ask you a few questions? If your busy don’t worry ill come by another time

F: No no! Don’t worry, I’m just going out for coffee! Wanna come? We can chat there

I: Yea of course

*Getting in car*

I: So Fatima, I heard about your new movie that going to release, I just wanted to ask you a few questions about that.

F: Sure, ask me whatever you would like to know

I: Alright so first thing I would like to know about your movie! What is it about?

F: So my movie actually tackles something very important in today’s society. It’s based on a teenagers mental health, and how she is having suicidal thoughts. It is a film that falls under the genre theme, Maddie, the main character, her best friend moved away from the country and she feels very lonely. Her dad also works all day, and she doesn’t get to see him, also feeding into the sadness.

I: Wow that’s actually very interesting, since you mention that. Can you tell me a little about “How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?"

F: Well, Some of the genre drama film conventions are lighting, dialogue, monologue, set, costuming, and entrances/exits. Our film focuses a lot on the lighting. If you notice, we use a lot of cold lighting to portray the feeling of sadness. You want coffee?? Im going to go get some

I: Wea sure 

*Comes back with coffee*

F: Here you goo

I: Thank you! Alright so what were you telling me?

F: Right, as I was saying our film challenges the convention of a drama movie because the opening doest contain much dialogue, it mostly focuses on expressing Maddies emotions and how she is feeling. We also incorporate a bit of coming-of-age genre, blending the two together.

I: That’s so cool! Can you go bit more into how it represents social groups or issues?

F: As I had mention, Maddie is a teenager in today’s society. Our film represents social groups of issues by tackling the mental health in teenagers.  It incorporates how social media can have an impact on teenagers more than some one knows. Being depressed in todays society is not something that is talked about a lot, and our film can make teens that feel like this feel heard.

I: That really interesting, when is the film coming out?

F: *giggle* Well, I cant say much, but what I cant say is that really soon

I: If you can tell me a little more, my next question is “How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?”

F: Of course, as I said before Many teenagers even if some don't realize they might go through this on a daily basis. I think the film opening would make them feel represented, and heard. It would engage them to watch it. Seeing people in the same situation as you makes you feel better about it, and seeing how Maddie will tackle on these challenges will bring an audience. 

I: Alright, pleaseee tell me about how it will be distributed. I want to know how to watch it when it’s released!

F: Since this film is something small it probably wouldn't have a big launch. The film would get distributes by a small independent film distributer.

I: How are you going to get people to know about it though?

F: We will make a lot of advertising on social media, especially because that's where the teenage audience is. We are going to post teasers on instagram, tiktok, twitter and snapchat. 

I: Where can I watch it?

F: The film will begin to play in the local small theaters, and if it gets fame, and does good, it will eventually play around the state and maybe even country.

I: Well, thank you so much for the coffee

F: Yea, anytime!

I: One last question, what’s the film name?

F: Dear Diary;

I: Dear diary? Why

F;* 🤷🏻‍♀️*I guess you’ll have to wait to find out

I: *giggle* Alright, I’ll be waiting! Thank you for answering my questions. I really hope the film does good, and I’ll be waiting for its release! Cheers!

CCR 2 (H:Host, F: Fatima)

*Show Intro*

H: Helloooo everyone and welcome back to another episode of (shows name). Today we have a very special guest, we will be accompanied by an amateur film director who will be talking about her new film “Dear Diary;”. Let’s please welcome with a round of applause……Myself!!!

*clapping*

*I walk in waving*

F: Thank you for having me 

*we sit*

H: So, this is you first film you have directed right?

F: Yea! I actually also acted, and did the editing

H: Tell me, How did your production skills develop through this project?

F: Well, Two major things where developed. My editing skills, and my filming skills.  We learned a lot on how lighting played a huge role in the quality of productions, and how important it was to have a steady camera. 

H: Did you guys film this yourself?

F: Yes, my partner Santina did the major camera work, but we all contributed something. We used a tripod to film, it was total game changer. It kept our shots steady and makes them look good overall

H: Sounds interesting, tell me more

F: I also improved my production skills by applying all the techniques I learned in my aice media class. All the shot types helped develop the story and make it well, make sense. I incorporated many close ups, over the shoulder shots and mid shots.

My editing skills improved a lot too. I learned how to add text and make smooth transitions. I also learned how to add music into the film.

H: What about time management? 

F: Time management was also a big struggle for me. I have so many activities afterschool and it was hard to get everything done on time. But overall, I think this project helped me learn many things that will help with future production

H: You mentioned a camera before, could you tell us, How did you integrate technologies - software, hardware and online - in this project?

F: Of course, as I said we recorded this all in on Santina's mom's old Canon camera. We thought this was the best idea to make the shots look more professional, serious, and just give it a better look overall. We felt it looked more put together if the clips had better quality. In one of the shots we also used my phone. It can be seen in the scene where Maddie hesitates to ask her friend to hang out, and than see they're all at a party she isn't invited to. 

H: Cool, what about online. This graphics were really well done

F: An online design tool we utilized Canva a lot. On canva we made the template for the original Dear Diary;" title, and the production studio logo “Look for productions”

H: What do you mean by the “original” title?

F: Well, when it came to editing, I added the title and sent how it looked to my group. We really wanted the title to have the written on effect, so I decided to changes thing up. As another online technology, I used an app called procreate. I screen recorded writing the tittle and than imported it into the project. It turned our so good we ended up replacing it with the canvas title

H: That’s such a creative idea, I would have never come up with it. You said you took part in all the editing right? Where did you edit the film?

F: Since i'm not an experienced editor, all I had to do was add the clips, cut them and add the music. Everything else I pre- edited it, so that it wouldn’t be hard

H: Thats looks like so much work and effort put into the project

F: Yea I’ve been working on it for 8 weeks now, and I can finally say it’s complete. The film will be out soon, make sure to go watch it! Thank you so much for having me

H: Of course!! * “look at camera* That's all for tonight! Don't forget to check out “Dear Diary;” playing in... well, my media class and cambride! See you next time!"

CCR Productions

     Today I finished recording my second CCR, yesterday I did the first one. All I have to do is edit them now. It was a struggle filming the first one alone, but thankfully everything ended up well.

CCR 1: Interview

This was a struggle to film, since I was playing both parts it wasn't that easy. I had to record both parts twice. When I recorded the sitting down part I couldn't move the camera, since I wanted to do the half and half effect on screen. Than I changed outfits again, and did my close up shots. Here you can see a picture of how my camera was set up:

When I recorded the close up shots, I had a script to glance at every time I forgot what to say: 

Everything ended up going well, although I looked back at my close up shots of the interviewer, and I realized there was no sound. When I edit I will just voice over it, so its ok. I am excited to see how it turns out.

CCR 2: Lights, Camera, Action: Starring Fatima Dumit

Myy second CCR as you already know I got inspired by the "73 Questions by VOGUE" interview. My friend helped me record this, and it was much easier than the first CCR. We recorded in 3 settings. The first in the front of my house, second in the car, and lastly in front of a coffee shop. The hardest part was in the coffee shop. A lot of people where always walking by or in and out of the store, so it was hard to get it to be quiet, but we pulled through an finished it.

One of the struggles was the lighting, we recorded this in the afternoon, and the sun was about to set. We didn't want to run out of light, we rushed and got it done before it was night, so everything was fine. For this CCR I also had a script, so we printed it out and and my friend would hold it up while she recorded so I could see it:

Editing Film Opening Complete!!

 I am so happy to inform you guys that I am done editing the film opening! Doing this definitely helped me develop many new skills and get more comfortable with editing things. I added all the music, foley sounds, title, credits and production studio title. One thing that was challenging was not going overboard with the time. We have a lot of clips, and since we wanted this to be very slow paced, it was a struggle to not go overboard. Luckily, I managed to make everything and fit it into 2:03 min. 

We had a little trouble deciding the credits scene section. We only ended up deciding on 4 clips, to shorten up the time a bit. We decided to put shots of the most important elements in her room, we put the diary, the picture of Maddie and her dad, the calendar shot (to make sure the audience knows its summer), and the picture wall of Maddie and her best friend that moved away. I blurred out a bit the back where you can see the items, this helped add emphasis into the words so they wouldn't get lost with the background. Here you can see a sneak peek of these shots.

When I began to try to do the Title part, I knew it was going to be a challenge. I watched several videos on tutorials on how to do this write on effect, but it just wouldn't budge. I had to improvise. After some brainstorming I came up with the idea of writing it myself. We thought it would be cool if the title was actually Maddies handwriting (mine), so I got to work. My idea was to write it on my ipad and screen record it, thats exactly what I did. I used an app called procreate, which is for drawing. This is how I did it:

All I can say is that I am really proud of how this all turned out, this is was the title ended up looking like:

CCR #2 Idea

For my second CCR, I’m going to do a talk show style interview. I got inspired by "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon." The thing about my "show" will be that i’ll be playing both the host and the guest, and I would be switching outfits to make it feel more real an entertaining. I’ll set up a simple talk show set in my living room. I can put two chairs and a table in the middle with two mugs, Like in the Ellen DeGeneres show. Something like this: 

The video will start with an introduction like the ones in a real talk show. I can put some music in the background and make a title to put onscreen. The host (me) will say something like, “Welcome back to (The name of my show I still haven't decided)! Tonight, we have a special guest! A new filmmaker who just finished an amazing project. Give it up for… me!” I think that touch would add some humor, and be a little turn of events. Then i’ll cut to another shot of myself walking in and sitting down. Throughout the whole interview I would add audience sounds laughing or clapping like in the real TV interview shows. Something a little like this: 

Finally, the interview will go through the last 2 CCR questions, but in a fun and engaging way. The host will ask the questions with a lot of energy and I’ll answer as the guest. I will add jokes and short clips from my project. At the end, the host will end the show saying something like “That’s all for tonight! Make sure to check out Dear Diary; playing nowhere except by my teacher and in Cambridge! See you next time!” I’ll add some applause sound effects to make it feel like a real show.

Research for #4 question of CCR

 For the 4th and last question of the CCR, I will also be answering it in the interview with myself. The question asks:

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

Software

The whole project was edited on Adobre Premire Pro, which was a software we used. I put all the clips and cut them to fit the time frame, and to match the storyline. Here you can see a little bit from when I started editing the project.

Hardware

The whole project was shot on Santina's mom's old camera. We thought this was the best idea to make the shots look more professional, serious, and just give it a better look overall. We felt it looked more put together if the clips had better quality. In one of the shots we also used my phone. It can be seen in the scene where Maddie hesitates to ask her friend to hang out, and than see they're all at a party she isn't invited to. 

Online

When we were done filming everything, I uploaded all the clips into a google drive. Here you can see all the shots and some of the takes we took of everything in our last day of filming, after we had the whole problem.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1T1uA7N50cjpLoT6V5vSzHST_XZGMhcLu?usp=sharing

Google drive was a software we utilized. Lastly, as an online design tool we utilized Canva a lot. On canva we made the template for the "Dear Diary;" title, and the production studio logo which you can see here: 

Research for #3 question of CCR

For my 3rd question of the CCR, I have decided to make a different CCR. This will be and interview with Maddie, except I will play the interviewer and the guest. I think it will add a humorous touch to the interview to make it more engaging, and more original and just asking someone to do it with me. I plan on using a lot of shot counter shot between the conversation of the two on screen.

One of the 2 questions I will be answering is:

 - How did your production skills develop through this project?

Two major things where developed. My editing skills, and my filming skills. We learned a lot on how lighting played a huge role in the quality of productions, and how important it was to have a steady camera. We used Santina's sister tripod to film, for the third time, and it was a total game changer. I also learned that you can do many things on Canva to help you with editing words or screen pop ups, like the title and credits. We also learned a lot about mise-en-scene, and how important it is to make everything look put together, and in place. One thing we would have to improve is in some quality of the shots, and how to focus the camera more, for example in this shot of Maddie. Its not super bad, but it shows room for improvement. She is the main thing on frame but its un-focused, making it look wired:

Time management was also a big struggle for me. I have so many activities afterschool and it was hard to get everything done on time. But overall, I think this project helped me learn many things just from trying it out. I will definitely be incorporating these for future projects to make them the best I can.

Research for #2 question of CCR

The second question for the CCR is:

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

I plan on answering this in the same way as the first question of the CCR, doing the 73 Questions with Vogue. I would answer the two questions while I do this. Our product is very focused on Maddies teenage years, and how she is getting through it, which would be seen throughout the film. Many teenagers even if some don't realize they might go through this on a daily basis. I think the film opening would make them feel represented, and heard. It would engage them to watch it. Seeing people in the same situation as you makes you feel better about it, and seeing how Maddie will tackle on these challenges will bring an audience. This is a chart of adolescents suicide rates in the US in the past years, it has increased by 35% since the year 2000. 

Since this film is something small it probably wouldn't have a big launch. The film would get distributes by a small independent film distributer. We would make a lot of advertising on social media, especially because that's where the teenage audience is. We would post teasers on instagram, tiktok, twitter and snapchat. The film would begin to play in the local small theaters, and if it gets fame, eventually around the state and even country.

Group Meeting #2

 Today we had our 2nd general meeting in class to discuss about our projects. In my group I got paired up with Octavio, Adriana, Julian and Gabriel. Throughout all our discussion I took notes on my laptop to then write this blog post for you guys :)) Here you can see a screen shot of everything I jotted down:

We all began talking about what we where doing for our projects. We than got into our filming process, than CCR's, our blogs, how were editing, and than our film actors. Here is everything we got from each group member:

Octavio

He is doing a film opening about a couple that is going through a rough time in a relationship. He told us he was working alone, he is directing and filming everything, and his friends will be his actors. The title of his film opening is "Mending," he told us he chose this name because of the meaning of the word, he says that he wanted it to be related to the content of the film opening. He picked mending because he says the word means repairing, which is just what the main characters want to do with their relationship in the film.

The film opening consists of some fights between the couple and than the aftermath of the fight, than next day. The girl goes on a run and runs into someone she knows, it focuses on developing on her character. Octavio told us he is basically done with his project, he showed us some of his clips, he already has all his shots to begin editing, he said he will be using premiere pro. He says he wants to begin adding foley sounds and maybe some music at the beginning. When we where talking about how long our film opening where, he realized his was too short, and he didn't have any credits. We gave him ideas on how to make it longer and where to add the credit scenes.

For his CCR, Octavio told us he wanted to do some sort of a short film, or just him talking with pictures inserted into screen to make it engaging

Adriana

She began telling us about her film opening plot, its based on a toxic, abusive relationship. She tells us how the film takes place in a party, the guy is a drunk, and he doesn't remember hitting his girlfriend, but she wants to finally end it with him. He production title is "Turbulence." She told us they where supposed to film some time ago, that her group partner was going to host a party and they would film there. Something happened and they couldn't host the party, so they will film today. Adriana also told us she wasn't going to be participating in the film, her cousin and friend where going to be acting.

For her CCR Adriana told us she wanted to do an interview with a teacher. Her partner and her would both be in it, 2 questions she would answer and use for her CCR, and 2 would go to her partner. The second CCR she wanted to do a power point with a voice over.

Julian

Julian's film opening is inspired on the video game "Hello Neighbor," they want to do a video game type horror genre. The concept of the film opening is that the main character goes into the game, and has to escape the bad guy. If the bad guy catches him her will throw him into the basement, and the point is to escape. He told us he was going to play the kid in the game, and his partner would be the one chasing him. 

Julian told us his problem with their film opening, they didn't have a title. We all brainstormed and thought about some ideas. We told him he could name it something like "Escape," for the purpose of the game. Or Gabriel came up with the name "Game Over," since it is based on a video game, he wrote down our ideas.

He told us they had already filmed 3/4 of his project, they're just missing the last part and editing it. 

Gabriel

His film openings name is "Airball," its based on a boy who's brother is a super basketball athlete. They kid wants to be as good as his brother but is always in his shadow. He wants to be as good as his brother and struggles with that. He tells us he is the only one who doesn't appear in the film, his other 3 group member. He told us he is going to be editing in premiere pro. For his CCR he was planning on doing an interview or podcast with his dad. 

We saw each other blogs and gave each other feedback, its very good, he has a lot of information in detail about the project and I like how he includes pictures, it makes the blog posts more entertaining.

This is us working on our blog posts about the group meeting:

Feedback/Constructive Criticism

I told the group the group my idea, and Gabriel looked at my blog. He told me he really likes the research 1 post, and that its a good idea for my CCR. He told me I should add more research on the actual question. He said its good that I have been editing. He saw how I did a whole post on the problem we had with the project, and said it was a good thing how I was honest about it. He also enjoyed watching how we fixed problems creatively, like using the vanity mirror for better lighting in the production post. Lastly he told me I could focus more on talking about the techniques we use and go more in depth with that.

Octavio gave me the idea to create the title on Canva, and than insert it into the project making it look like it was written on. This really helped me because I didn't know how I was going to edit this in. I also mentioned how my group and I where struggling with adding music to out project, Adrian suggested to make it diegetic maybe Maddie turns on a radio or something, to make it smoother.

This group meeting really helped all of us, and I will be doing many of the things I mentioned to improve my project. Here you can see a final picture of our group during the discussion: