Creative Critical Reflection

 This will be my final blog post and I'm grateful for all the things this project has taught me. This project had its ups and downs with lots of struggles I had to overcome but in the end it worked out.

In this blog post I would like to reminisce about all the obstacles I had to overcome and give reflect on my journey. 

The first obstacle I faced was the planning of my project. Off the bat I knew I wanted it to be a crime and mystery film but actually writing the script as well as the storyboard was real struggle to me. I had to research a lot to come up with inspiration for my films as well as learn about the techniques that would fit in my genre.

The next obstacle I would face came with recording. I had a lot of visions for my film that didn’t come to fruition due to it being too hard to film it it not looking like I would’ve hoped on film. This mean I had to go back and rewrite a lot of things as well as improvise some of the scenes so they would fit.

The final obstacle I would face came with editing. While editing their were a some scenes that I couldn’t make fit like i visioned and this caused me to have to go back and re-record some of my scenes as well as edit them in completely different ways. Editing was quite a struggle for I have never been quite good at it and it required a lot of research so I could learn some of the techniques within my app.

As instructed I will leave the links to my creative critical reflections, I hope you enjoy.

Part 1: https://youtu.be/XgR-GsW1OVs

Part 2: https://youtu.be/2gq8JKvgxI4

Film Opening

 I am happy to finally say I have completed my film opening. I finished all my recordings Thursday and over the last three days I've spent my time editing. 

I originally said I would be editing with adobe premier pro but decided to go with iMovie instead. I am much more comfortable with this app for while I am familiar with adobe premier pro there were some aspects I couldn't figure out. So instead I decided to use iMovie and everything went smooth from there. Editing while tedious wasn't much of a struggle, for while I did have a few moments I had to search up something or had to go re-record a clip because I didn't like how it fitted it was rather easy and I did get it done in the end.

I am happy with how my project turned out and it was a fun eight weeks. This project has taught me many important things and it was definitely different then the short term projects I'm used to. I hope everyone enjoys my production as much as I did and I'm excited to see what everyone else created.

YouTube link for film opening: https://youtu.be/Ynltd15e18E

                                        

                                               

Portfolio Project Blog Post # 22

This week I focused my all my attention to finish filming and I did do so yesterday so I wanted to discuss the process I went through while recording.

Having already recorded my first and second scene before this week I had to record my third and 4th scenes. Starting out with my 3rd scene I had my mom dress up like a detective so we could make it more realistic, and had my sister record us. It took us a couple tries to get the dialogue right and we tried the scene at a couple of different angles until I was happy with was recorded.

Next we set up a few pillows with a white sheet over it to replicate a murder victim, as well as using ketchup on the murder weapon to portray how the victim was killed to the audience. We set up caution tape around the murder victim to portray the investigation to the audience. It took a couple tries to get right as well as I kept screwing up my lines but in the end we got it right.

I'm glad recording is over and I'm ready to edit my film. I plan on using adobe premier pro and hope it goes as smoothly as recording did.

Portfolio Project Blog Post # 21

 Today my family finally arrived back from their vacation so I took the opportunity to finally start recording the first scene with them. I am not entirely happy with everything we have and definitely want a second recording session to finalize them.

While recording I had my mom lay on the ground so I could take photos of different body parts to portray a dead body to the audience but still keep an element of mystery by not taking a photo of the victims face. I took a photo of her leg and hand most importantly and pictures of other body parts as well. I still need to take a photo with the fake blood but for that scene I realized I would need a tarp or something so the blood doesn't stain the floor if we were to do a blood pool photo which is why I waited to do that photo till the second session. I still want to edit the photos some to give it a gloomy feeling and need to pick the choice of music still that will go over the photos.

My mom unfortunately had to leave soon not leaving much time to record so I am still not done with this scene but am happy I at least started since I have struggled finding time to do so. I am ready for the rest of the production to come and hope it will be smooth sailing from here.

Portfolio Project Blog Post # 20

 Unfortunately again my family is out of town as well as my stabilizer not arriving yet so I haven't been able to do any more filming. So today I felt that I should expand on my characters and give them a better backstory so I can better implement them into my film.

Starting off with my protagonist, I decided he would be a detective with many emotional issues to add to the conflict of the film. First off, I felt it would add to the film if the protagonist recently went through a divorce. I feel this could add to his obsession with the case as he tries to get his mind off of his home life by obsessing over the case and putting his full focus on it. Next, I thought maybe I could add to his emotional problems by making him an alcoholic. I feel this goes hand and hand with his divorce and is used as a coping mechanism for his hardships. I feel it could add detail to the film as he battles his addiction, home life and the murder case all in the same film. I might try to hint at this in one of the ending scenes if I decided to go with this backstory which would set up the rest of the film.

Next the confidant. I feel it would make a much better film if the protagonist and confidant had a relationship that went way back such as childhood friends or something. He could be a key role in the protagonist overcoming all his emotional issues as well as making their dialogue roll more smoothly as they are already acquainted with each other.

Finally, the teenager whom I will call Jake. I don't feel I need to give him much of a backstory as he will be a victim in my film but thought it might help me decide how to execute the final scene. I decided he would be like any regular teenager who likes to party, hangout with friends as well as play sports. This would give the audience an idea that the killer is not choosy with his target and will leave them wondering what the killers true objective is adding to the mystery element of the film.

 

Portfolio Project Blog Post #19

 Unfortunately, I have struggled finding time with my family to record scenes for my portfolio project due to them being busy with work, softball, etc... So today I would like to discuss some of the things I have done to make sure my project turns out the way I want it to.

First off, I ordered a phone stabilizer. One problem I realized before even filming was that I did not own a tripod or phone stabilizer so If I tried to record any moving scenes the camera would be rather shaky due to it being hand held. Knowing this I decided it would be in my best interest to order a phone stabilizer so I my scenes would look smooth not shaky.

The next thing I've done in preparation for recording is set up a date and time for my final scene. For my final scene as we know I will need a lot of my friends to partake as this scene is a friend hangout before the victim goes off on their own. I let my friends know if next week while hanging out they would mind being in my film and they agreed. This gives me one less thing to plan and going into recording I just have to find time with my family to record.

Portfolio Project Blog Post #18

 Today was officially the first day of production as I recorded my first scene today. I decided to start out small with my second scene since it doesn't require anyone but the protagonist in it. I will record the ones who require other characters later since sometimes it can be a struggle to find time with them to record.

This little scene even was a lot harder to record then I anticipated and I took a couple tries since I didn't like the first couple whether it be the lighting, angle the shot was recorded or just my acting in general. 

The first thing I had to get right was the lighting or the mise-en-scene. I have an adjustable light switch where I can choose how bright I want it to be and for this scene I decided to leave it rather dim to emphasize the mysterious feeling of the piece.

Next thing I had to get right was the angle of the shot. The shot was a close up recorded at a low angle that showed me picking up the phone and talking but didn't show my face. This took a couple tries and a lot of adjusting to get it to where I felt it was just right. This was again used to reinforce the mysterious feeling of the piece.

The final thing I had to get right was my overall acting. A lot of the tries I scrapped were due to poor acting and after watching them over I just felt they weren't believable. I took many tries just making it seem I am really receiving a phone call but also leaving a feeling of mystery when answering it.

Overall, recording this little scene but into perspective what the rest of production is going to look like. Even this little scene was hard to record and it's going to take many tries to get a scene I like. Once I discuss it with the other characters I am ready to record and am excited for the next scenes.

Portfolio Project Blog Post #17

 Today I would like to discuss some changes I made to my portfolio project as well as discuss some of the editing techniques I haven't discussed yet. 

First off, regarding the third scene where the camera is panning with the characters as the walk to the crime scene, I decided to scrap that and instead set up a stationary mid shot as they walk since I don't own a stabilizer and the scene would be rather shaky and hard to record. 

Next change I was thinking about was maybe instead of the protagonist finding a marking on the victim they perhaps find something else in the crime scene like a entry point from the murderer or a murder weapon. I am still not a hundred percent sure about this scene and this scene is still definitely subject to change.

The next thing I wanted to discuss was my choice of music for the opening scene of the film. I have struggled with choosing the sound track for this film and still not a hundred percent sure of what I want but I thought I would search for some tracks I like. I went on to YouTube and searched for some non copyrighted mysterious detective tracks. I found a track that was used in pretty little liars that I like quite a lot and feels fit in with the opening scene but am still searching. 

Portfolio Project Blog Post #16

 Today I finally received my amazon order for my film opening. Since it's already late I decided I wouldn't start recording today but rather discuss some of my plans for the film.

First off, I would like to discuss who the actors are going to be for my film opening. For the protagonist, I will play the role for that's the biggest role in the film and I am the one comfortable with what's going on. 

For the confidant, I will likely have a friend of mine play that role. I feel I need someone around my age to make it feel realistic. But if I can't find a friend to play the role I can always ask my sister to as shes always available.

Next for the victim I was planning on having my mom play that role. I feel having an adult play the role of the victim will again make the film feel more realistic as well as more believable.

Then finally for the group of teenagers in the final scene I will have my friends play that role. They of course would fit the role perfectly since they are teenagers, and we often go out to town center to hangout so it wouldn't be hard to get my friends to film a quick scene with me there. 

The next thing I wanted to discuss was how the props were going to be used in the scene. For the caution tape, it is pretty self explanatory that it would go around the crime scene or victim. The caution tape will likely be hung from wall to wall since they are already relatively close together. For the fake police badges I ordered I received 3. These badges will be for the protagonist, confidant, and hopefully for a background police officer not directly involved in the film if I can find someone to fill that role. And finally for the fake blood, it will go on the ground as well as leak through the shirt of the victim indicating that she was stabbed.

Having this done I feel there is nothing more to cover concerning my film opening except for production itself and am now ready to record.

Portfolio Project Blog Post # 15

 Touching off on the last blog post, I decided I would finish the script today so after I get all my props I could start recording my film opening. Nothing I have written is finalized and some of it will likely be changed when recording, but I feel this a good basis to go off of and am happy with what I've written.

In the last post I explained scenes 1-3 and what I had written for those scenes. Today I finished scene 4 which is the final scene of my production. This scene is intrinsically different then the previous 3 as it involves a different group of characters as well as setting. This scene contains a group of teenagers hanging out and saying goodbyes before the main character of this scene (the victim), goes off by himself. This sets up the rest of the film as the scene takes place at night time and gives the audience a sense that something bad is going to happen as he goes off by himself.

As well as completing the script, I finalized what I am going to order for my production. After taking it up with my mom I found out we already had some fake blood from Halloween so I could use that. So all I had to order was the fake police badges as well as the caution tape.

Having all of this done I am officially ready for production and am excited to see how production goes next week.

Portfolio Project Blog Post #14

 Going into production, one of the things I have been dreading doing has been making the script. So today I decided I would just sit down and try writing some things down until I was happy with what I came up with.

What I came up with so far was for the first scene, there would be no dialogue as the credits roll and the pictures set up the mysterious element of the film.

The second scene consists of the protagonist speaking a short one line reinforcing the mysterious element of the film

Then the third scene it would be the protagonist as well as the confidant discussing specifics about the crime before they make a discovery about the victim. This gives the audience some background information and gives them an idea about what the film would be about.

This is what I’ve came up with so far and still need to finish as well as finalize before I start recording my film opening. I feel this is a good start and am happy with what I’ve came up with so far.