Final Production

 

Creativity Critical Reflection

 

Post- Production

 I'm using the editing process to create coherent meaning from my collection of shots that allow me to review my opening as I edited through it. This process helped us recognize our mistakes and what we can do better. We also like to gather classmates outside of our group and to see any plot hole and what they didn't get from out opening. Editing is essential in creating meaning with the shots. Putting them together, adding coloring, and fixing the framing, all go into creating the meaning and following the convention of the thriller genre. Looking back on the basics and the elements themselves helps to go through the process of creating meaning.

For this project, we used an iPhone 12 to record the shots. At first application we tried to use to editing was adobe but my school district didn't allow the application. The Adobe application was very complicated. It was an advanced editing software. We attempted to watch tutorials to learn how to use it but in the end it was still a bit too advanced for our use. My class decided to switch to the application WeVideo and bought the advanced version for the final round of editing. Though the first few editing attempts, we were using the free version that doesn't allow access to all the tools. This switch made the editing process much easy. I felt as if the software was more user friendly and easier to navigate on my own. Although we didn't go with the first editing software, Adobe, this allowed an insight to watch industry filmmakers use to edit and what they have to learn on top of how to create the meaning they want.  

In my genre thriller, titled shots can be conventional but we didn't use them in our opening. WE used very limited transitions. Most thrillers don't include too many. We included dissolves and ripples to convey passages of time. The titles are in red dark coloring which is conventional for a thriller and pull up and back down from the bottom corners of the screen. The title of our opening appears at the end of the opening in red letter and symbol that connect to the film. We too inspiration from the flatliner's thriller for this aspect. We made our film silent with no talking. The music in the background was high pitched to follow convention. We made sure to find royalty from music. We lowered the light within the shots that didn't include coloring its a dull color pallet is conventional. The flashback or the beginning of the opening was in black and white. black and white is conventional to  evoke feelings of the past. 

Post-production was a hassle. Creating meaning and reshooting was a difficult process. We had to reedit about 3-4 times. I think that having other peoples opinions on the plot and going back to the basics and studying further was helpful. The editing process was the best part of the process. Mainly because it was easy since I had previous experience in editing. Reshoots were the worst part. At a point I got very frustrated with what to reshoot and how to create meaning. My group members and I eventually worked through the process by taking a step back and reviewing what we did and how to improve on it. 

Filming

We started filming on February 22, 2022. We were give 2 weeks for filming. We had to switch around our schedule of filming. On the first day, we wanted to get the hardest scene with the green screen out of the way. After we spoke it over with our teacher, we realized the scene would be much easier if we left the responsibility with Jeremmiah to do it at home by himself. I provided him a ring light that he could place anywhere and hold his phone to get the best shot. He filmed with an iPhone XR. The rest of our shots were filmed with an iPhone 12. We also realized that we wouldn't be able to do three more shots, the empty parking lot and the last two shots revealing me as the main character walking into school. 

I completed the two shot at home using my ring light to hold my phone at the angle I wanted. I struggled greatly with the wind and my hair. It kept covering while I was trying film. I also wanted one the shots to be more centered but I was unable to perfect it exactly how I wanted. We have yet to get a empty parking lot shot. If my group members and I can't find one by the time editing rolls around, I think our shots will still be long enough. During the days we were supposed to be filming the shots we couldn't get, it provided us more time to spread out capturing our abandoned shots. Shonna was the one who captured most of our shots. Getting those shots was very easy. We had our storyboard pulled up on Jeremmiah's phone so we know we angle and what we were capturing.

After completing the shot set by the storyboard, this allowed us to go back and decide if we wanted to keep the shot or changing an aspect about it.  Fortunately, we still planned to film Shonna's shot during the first week of shooting but she continued to forget her change of clothes required for the scene. We thankfully were able to get the shot on Tuesday of the last filming week. I brought a white paper table cloth to school for her to lay on in pajamas or comfortable clothing to demonstrate she was hurt. I suggested putting down some red liquid underneath her to suggest she's dying or hurt in the end we decided against it. we did a lot of retakes for this shot. My arms were too short to take the overhead view myself so Jeremmiah helped. We kept laughing due to the funny position Shonna was in. For the last shot, we attempted to do it at school. We need a door to open and reveal Jeremmiah's face in horror.

 Due to Jeremmiah being the opposite gender we didn't want to use the school bathrooms. He decided to take on another shot to complete at home. We decided to have the shot include movement. During pre-production we already decided that we wanted the major of the shots to be in black and white. Although we didn't stick to our original scheduling and had to overcame some errors, we still managed to finish two days before our deadline. 

Here are some blooper we took while filming

This was taken right after a school drill. We had to wait for many people of the school to return and leave the frame in order to achieve the shot we wanted. The camera also wasn't still enough for our liking.

We were scoping out how to get the shot we wanted. Jeremmiah is in the shot, and the camera isn't straight. 

Branding

 In class last week, I wish introduced to branding. Branding is a short clip or video in an opening to showcase a particular company. For my branding clip, my group and I started off by coming up with a company name. We went their many trials and errors. Our biggest issue was the name already being taken. In the end, we decided on combining the first letter our names together to make "J.A.S". Then then we discussed some adjectives we could use that described our compony. We added dark to the name because we thought it would be a adequate way to describe our thriller based compony. We each individually worked on our own branding clips, shared with the group, and decided on which one we wanted to use in our opening.

I tried to use keyword to create my opening at first. The application is only accessible on a apple device, and unfortunately my apple computer wasn't working. I then switch to PowerPoint: PowerPoint was very easy to use. It's a user-friendly editing software. I've used through out my years in school. The opening I created was too simple for my liking. I then attempted to use the application Blender. It's a very advanced editing software. It allows the creation of very professional looking openings; However, The application wasn't very user- friendly. The application did supply many tutorial for learning but they were a bit too confusing and lengthy. I then downloaded the Cute Cute Pro on my phone. I have previous experience using this app although, it had been more than a year. The transitions and other aspects come back to me very quickly. The fact that the application is very user friendly also greatly contributed. I completed my opening in about an hour. 

I chose a black background due want to keep the dark thriller mood. I though the red lettering would give it a big of a scare factor and contracting with the background. The dripping blood idea was to enforce the thriller and horror aspects to the branding. The flicking elements of dark was add to grab the attention of the viewer a bit. I thought it was suiting to do it with the words "dark" because it can flash to the darkness and back. I was advised by my teacher that the sound may have to go unless it fights in with my opening clip. Once my other group member finish, we will share our branding clips and decide which one we want to use. If mine is chosen, as a group we will make the necessary changes to better fit our project. 

During  this process, the hardest thing was finding a software that worked best for me. I studied a lot of other ones before deciding on Cute Cut Pro. Coming up with an idea and brainstorm what we wanted  our compony to represent was the most interesting part. Creating my opening at first was a bit frustrating. I had to stop and watch tutorials to know what i was doing. In the end, branding isn't one of the hardest aspect to making an opening sequence. It was nice to step back and focus on something else while filming.

Production Calendar and Stripboard

 This week my group and I focused on planning out our time for the production era of our project. We are given a two week period of filming time for our opening sequence. We discussed what shots or scenes we wanted to do on each day and how it would work out with our time frame.

Stripboard

The stripboard was an aspect our a media project I've never tried on previous assignments. We used studio binder which listed out all of our shots. We then set it to organize by scene setting, day then night, and int. to ext. They also color coordinated the shots with what they were sorted by. We were able to add daybreaks to plan out how many scenes we wanted to do in a day. 

Although this was a new point in a project for me, it was very simple. My group and I had no struggles with this aspect because our script was formatted correctly. It look us 30 minutes to clean up the scenes in and make sure everything was in place. The stripboard was a bit relaxing to work on.

Production Calendar

After, we worked on the production calendar. This is also a new aspect that took less than a day to complete. Just like the stripboard, it was very simple. We mapped out the shooting schedule to last around 4 days. That takes up one week of our given shooting times. We will use the second week for any reshoots we need. The days in the production calendar include a check list of shots we are going to complete for that day.

Storyboard

 Storyboarding is a visual representation of shots using single panels. The process of storyboarding  includes listing shot numbers, shot duration, composition sketch, and a brief description of what is happening in the shot. In the description, it's also good to put what mood the filmmakers wants to create in the shot. In previous projects, I've done a storyboard by hand and on the computer. My group members and I agreed to conduct our storyboard for our portfolio project through the application studio binder.

My group member Jeremmiah Acrius and I will be acting in the majority opening. I will play our main character, a 15 year old girl named Kiera, while he will act as the man in the flashback. Our last member Shonna Lauriston, will play the man's dead wife. All she has to do is pose. When planned out the storyboard shots, we worked out the three characters we wanted to include and chose the parts wanted to play. I'm the lead since I'm the most comfortable in front of the camera and have experience from my previous projects. Jeremmiah has agreed to play the man since he also has experience and fits the character we envisioned. The the flashback scene we will prepare a change of comfortable clothes to fit the scene of being late at night. 

My film will take place at school. We want to including abandon and isolated shots of places around the school because it's a big part our storyline. We also wanted to introduce the main character at school. We have yet to decide if the flashback scene in the bedroom scene will be easier  to do in front of a green screen or at home. The bathroom scene will be done at school. 

My film will look like a convectional opening sequence of a thriller. We will first start off with a flashback scene that takes place in the bedroom, with a male character at night who gets a calls phone predicting his wife's death. This is a conventional method within the genre. We will convey this by the background, and the comfortable pajama like clothing of the man. We wanted to include a bedside table next to him with a phone, a glass of water, and a lamp which will providing lighting within the scene. He will also be holding a book. We will then do isolated and abandon shots of the school to establish the setting. The last scene will be of the main character walking in school. We also want to use a tint of black and white within the film. We are unsure of where we want to use that aspect yet. Through out the film we will use high pitch music to stay with convection. 

For the shooting schedule, we will have 2 weeks to film all the shots we need at school. We will be provided a class period of 1 hour and 30 minutes to film. We maybe also have addition time before and after school to film for our opening. We will be using an iPhone 12 landscape to film.

We may need to record the phone call conversation separately the flashback scene so it c
an be heard through the growing music that creates suspense. Other than that, we should be able to find the sounds we need, heartbeat, heavy breathing, and a door creaking on YouTube.