Creative Critical Reflection

This is my last post for this portfolio project! I'm very relieved, but also sad. I spent all day working on this video, and I hope you enjoy my Creative Critical Reflection :(

Click here to watch my CCR!

Have a good life! Stay safe and be careful!

Portfolio Project Reflection

This has been a long journey.

Since the beginning of the year, when our portfolio project was introduced, I had been wondering what my film opening was going to be about. I knew that I had a stressful year ahead of me, and I thought realistically about my film skills. I knew I had to pick something that was right for me and my situation.

In February, when it was time to start pre-production for our projects, I wanted my film opening to be silent! To be honest, I was considering this option because then I wouldn't have to worry about audio. I'm glad I switched it up, though! I remember sitting on the floor of my room self-reflecting so I could come up with an idea that mattered to me. I filmed a video where I talked to myself to brainstorm, and I came to an idea that was similar (similar, not identical) to an experience I had in middle school.

And then...the Coronavirus pandemic happened. Some time in March, my actors and I met up to film. This was before things became scarier and drastic, so we weren't too worried about going outside to film. After that filming day, when I started editing, I absolutely hated what was on my timeline...and it was only 40 seconds. I had two options: try to refilm with my actors or come up with a completely new idea. I tried getting them together, but they were wary about going outside and I didn't want to make them uncomfortable. The virus outbreak had become more serious, and the last thing I wanted was to put them in danger, so I eliminated my original idea. This was after my entire TV production team and I flew up to Washington D.C. for a national competition, which got canceled our second day of being there. And with school being canceled too, I had to pick up the slack!

It took some time to come up with a fresh idea and plan how I'd be able to pull it off. I'm really grateful for my family because when I asked them to act for me none of them hesitated. Granted, it was frustrating at times to direct because they don't know any terminology or anything, but we managed to pull through! I've been through the filming and editing process before, so it wasn't a new experience for me. I only wish I could have used better equipment, but that doesn't necessarily matter for this project! It's all about the story. When I had my new idea, I tried to incorporate aspects that mattered, like Hispanic representation, post-modernistic ideals, etc. I was going for a Deadpool vibe :)

Anyway, this project has definitely shown me a lot. Film may not be my forte, but I was able to create a project I like all by myself! The whole process of creating this project was definitely as difficult as I thought it would be.

Bad Moon Rising - Final Cut

Here is the official version of my film opening for Bad Moon Rising!

Click here to watch it!

It's Done...

It's done!!!

It is done!!!

Complete, exported, ready to go...it is done.

I finally finished editing my film opening! I've had to export 8 times! My Premiere Pro timeline was very clustered, so I decided to export a rough cut, then a color grade cut, and then the final cut with all necessary title graphics. So I had 3 exported videos, but then I decided to change my opening sequence.

In my original cut, I had my opening shot of Chris riding on his skateboard with a bloodied shirt and a knife. I had put multiple audio tracks of a heart beating, ear ringing, and a slow dramatic song playing very faintly in the background. However, I realized once I watched my final cut that I had totally missed what I was aiming for! I wanted to incorporate crude humor, and the purpose of this opening sequence is to show Chris's character as a desensitized, chill teenage hitman! So I switched out all the audio tracks for a song that I was going to use for my previous idea.

I also edited my opening to fit in a 4:3 aspect ratio, like good ol' films! This was for aesthetic and stylistic purposes, but I did some research on why 4:3 aspect ratio for films are coming back into the media world. This article breaks it down like this:

"The 4:3 format can help the portrayal of your characters’ motivations, keeping the audience close to your actors. It’s all about aesthetics and intention. Like any artistic decision, intentionality is always the backbone, but we’re talking about literally creating a movie that is unavoidably different-looking. You know immediately that the film is in 4:3, even if you’re not super familiar with aspect ratios and film formats. You just know something looks different about the screen. The 4:3 format could just be a product of the growing accessibility and popularity of filmmaking. Everyone’s got a camera on their phone, and other models are easily available on the market, so anyone can shoot something. That means there’s a lot of content out there, and 4:3 is just another way to stand out."

American Honey (2016)

I'm going to upload my film opening in the next blog post, so be on the lookout!! :)

CCR Planning

Happy Thursday!

I'm currently in the editing process for the film opening, it's coming out really well (I think)! I'm a little bummed about how some of the shots are really grainy and a bit of the detail is lost. I'm also bummed about the camera quality, but that's not what's important!

Anyway, I need to start planning out my Creative Critical Reflection. The due date was extended to the 17th, which is really nice because it gives me more time to plan out how I'm going to make this reflection. I gotta think outside of the box... Mrs. Stoklosa gave us some important questions to answer in our reflection, so I'm going to type out my answers to the questions. That'll be my base for my CCR script if I end up creating one. I will most likely film it on my Nikon D3400, which is what I used for my film opening.

These are the questions I must answer:

• How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
• How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?
• How did your production skills develop throughout this project?
• How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

We shall see how it goes!

Update

This is a little update for how my project is going so far!

I'm using Adobe Premiere Pro to edit my film opening. I've already started laying down the shots onto my timeline. I need to clean everything up and, of course, add everything else to the project like audio, effects, and color grading! 

I haven't been able to edit since this week was our first week doing online school. I've been working on all of my assignments, and I'm trying to find the right schedule for me to follow so I can be productive every weekday! 

Anyway, hope everyone is doing okay! 

Filming Day

The production process is over!

Last weekend, I filmed my project with the help of my family as actors. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of us during production. I'm a one-woman crew and my family was all over the place anyway, so it was hard to get everyone together! My mom was cooking dinner and my dad and brother were playing video games. I was focused on finishing production, so I never asked anyone to take a picture, haha!

Everything went smoothly, though. Filming mainly took place in my parents' bathroom. 

My only concern is having grainy footage because I wanted to use natural lighting. I don't have any supplies to properly light my bathroom, and the light in the bathroom is yellow and not at all what I was trying to go for. I tried to tape a blue shirt over the light on the ceiling, but the light wasn't strong enough. I also thought about using a big flashlight, but I don't have one! So, I used my phone's flashlight and put a blue-colored piece of tape over it. It wasn't very strong and doesn't come out that well on camera. I'm a little disappointed about it, to be honest. I think it could still work, though. I, unfortunately, can't refilm it because I ran out of the supplies I need for the bathtub scene. In this scene, my brother has red food coloring on his white shirt acting as blood, but I ran out of food coloring.

The reason why I ran out of food coloring is because I had to refilm the opening shot of my brother riding his skateboard down the street. I used up all the red food coloring, and I hadn't thought about the option to refilm the bathtub scene. Anyway, I reshot the skateboard scene because I didn't like the framing of the original shot. I rode in the trunk of my dad's car with the trunk door open to get a smooth tracking shot. I really like how the shot came out the second time around!

Time to move on to the post-production process! Let's see how it goes! :)

New Shot List and Script!

Happy Monday!

I know. Maybe it's a not-so-happy Monday.

Mondays suck, but I'm trying to look on the bright side of things!

Today, Spring Break is officially over. My school has started "Distance Learning," which I'm hoping will work out well for me. I honestly prefer being at home, having the whole day to do my work. I will miss the social interactions with my teachers, honestly. I look forward to going to most of my classes because my teachers are genuinely great people. Most of my teachers are really funny and fun in class. I'm sad about that, but I think "Distance Learning" is better suited for me, so I'm looking forward to it and maintaining an efficient schedule.

SO...

I've worked on a lot of things since my last blog post. I decided to split up my list into two blog posts (for the sake of it being too much to scroll through). 

First things first, I updated my shot list. I will not lie, I rewrote my shot list at 2 AM. I'm not sure if it was because my creative juices were flowing or because I was stressing out about wanting, needing to update it. Here it is:









After I finished editing my shot list, I created a script. The script was more so for my actors, who are my family members. The main character is being played by my generous brother, and my mother has a role in the opening as well. My dad and I are voice actors! I had to make do with what was available to me since my community is in quarantine. Pretty much the whole world is in quarantine! So here is the script I wrote up using Celtx:

The process of editing my shot list was quite extensive, and may I admit, a bit difficult. The way I attacked the situation was by creating a basis: What standard shots and dialogue do I need to represent the story? Once I covered the groundwork, I incorporated creative techniques, like specific camera movements and transitions, to spice up my project. I had to think critically, basically rerunning the project in my head in hopes of "seeing" a smooth layout. And being creative? Phew! Haha! 

I'll create my next blog post later this week. Stay safe and healthy! Wash your hands and stay inside!!

Moonstone Productions

This is the logo I made for my production company, Moonstone Productions! I'm planning on filming this week, so I thought I would spend some time working on other parts of my film opening. 

I went through this compilation on YouTube of various production companies' animated logos from the 1980s for inspiration. I also looked on Giphy because I see retro GIFs on Twitter a lot, so I thought I could source my ideas from the site. 

I'm personally a fan of retro film, the style and aesthetic of it all. The retro 70s to 90s style is making a comeback in modern media. This article published in November 2019 explains that "cinematographers have been looking for ways to add convincing grain to get the feel of film" ever since digital cameras have become the standard for television, cinema, and video production. In everyday culture, the retro film aesthetic has captured the attention of all types of creators, from a photographer to a videographer. I know this because I see this with my own eyes every day on social media...and also I can basically describing myself. I'm just a retro film enthusiast. All my work and projects reflect that style if I'm being honest!

While on my quest for inspiration and ideas, I found these GIFs that spoke to me. I've attached them below.

I honestly fell in love with these specific GIFs for reasons I cannot explain, to be honest. So, I went to good ol' YouTube and searched up tutorials on retro logo animation. I found this tutorial that was perfect for helping me recreate the GIFs above! 

Since I have experience editing with Adobe software, I searched for a tutorial using Adobe After Effects. I actually have never used After Effects before, but I'm experienced in Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe Photoshop, and I've always wanted to learn how to edit in After Effects! 

I followed the tutorial and created the grid and animation for the text, then I imported it into Premiere Pro where I edited the logo to resemble the VHS look! I'm honestly in love with how it came out. I came up with the name "Moonstone Productions" because it is one of my birthstones! #JuneBaby

Later this week, I am planning to do more research in order to solidify my film opening. Talk to you soon! 

Time for a Change

So...

I've been working with my actors to see if we'd be able to film today. But, I've decided not to put anyone at risk or in any harm whatsoever. I think I'm asking too much, and they've been really helpful throughout this whole pandemic crisis. I don't want them or their parents to be worried about being outside all for my project. That would be really unfair.

So, I'm going to switch up my idea. I've been sitting in my room trying to think of other ways to stick with this idea. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to come up with anything solid.

I'm changing my idea to be a weird teen drama about a teenage vigilante with a supportive family. I want to go for an unsettling and weird, yet dark-humored film opening. I've come up with my outline for this idea. So here is the shot list for...

Bad Moon Rising

Update Time

Hello! So, unfortunately, we weren't able to film yesterday. I'm planning to film next Tuesday, I am just waiting for my cast to get back to me. My teacher has extended the due date another week, but hopefully, we can film next week.

I've also decided not to make my project a silent film opening. I think it will be better if there was audible dialogue, that way my actors will have an easier time of getting the story and idea across.

I've been looking at my shot list nonstop thinking of ways to improve it and make sure it fits within the two-minute time frame, but I'm still a bit worried about it not coming out as well as it plays out in my head. Hopefully everything works out!!