Submission

Okay, this is the final blog. This post includes my two minute film intro and four CCR's. It's been a blast and I'm devastated that this project has finally come to an end. Please enjoy. 

FINAL FILM OPENING:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17hDYUkqgmTjzzpb_1g0SLP8h_QrV_ST5/view?usp=drive_link

CCR #1:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jn6EZWcHOrK0yRPi8yALoHn6ENqHFt_a/view

CCR #2: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sIPMTK8f_vmh8foFRfT095uI70SWI1_e/view

CCR #3: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FSOR0UVKcD9kXIdQW57d3Vv6Cpqs5oQL/view

CCR #4:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13_CcmeFEbhoek0wr_4WSoKbtp10eFDJU/view?usp=sharing

Interviewer & CCR Camerawoman - Patricia Rop

Film Opening Cameraman - Miles Marti

Directors/Writers/Producers/Actors - Davis Rop & Alessandra Perez

 

Final Reflection

Well, I’m done. After a few months of constantly thinking about this project, it…is…finally…done. What will I do with my time now that I don’t have to brainstorm, film, edit, edit some more, film again and edit again (you get the picture)? It was quite a journey, starting with a basic idea and watching turn into an actual film opening. I learned more than I ever expected about filmmaking. Just having one other person to work with (Alessandra) ensured that we each had to take on every part of the project as we couldn’t really delegate to each other.

One of the biggest takeaways from this project is just how much detail goes into visual storytelling. I know I’ve mentioned this in the past but in the beginning, I thought the script and dialogue would carry a lot of the story. However, we ended up cutting all dialogue from the opening and relying on camera angles, facial expressions, background details, and editing choices to get out message across. I know we are not winning an Oscar for this film, and I know that many other groups took on more in-depth story lines, but I feel very proud that we thought through every single shot, every movement, every little hesitation in our faces.

We tried to make everything mean something, down to the shot of our feet walking together (to show that we were in sync as life-long friends).

I will also say I have a newfound appreciation for editing. I already knew it was important, but I didn’t realize just how much editing controls everything about how a story is told. Editing is responsible for the pace being fast or slow, what the audience is allowed to see or know, building suspense, and so much more. In addition, there were so many ways to share our vision and with that, so many decisions to make. I’m particularly proud of our overlay edit over a fast forward countdown board to decision day. You can see Alessandra in the background of one, studying and me working on my computer on the other.

In the spirit of pure honesty, this project, more than any other, required me to really rely on time management skills. I guess it’s a good thing right before going to college. There were just so many things to juggle and keep track of (organizing raw footage, editing, and keeping an updated list of everything we needed to fix). A two-minute video “sounds” so easy but it really required more planning than I initially thought. Learning how to stay organized, spending time early on developing a detailed shot list and story line, sticking to the shot list, and keeping everything structured in post-production made the whole process way more manageable (but still a bit overwhelming).

Am I glad I did this? Now that it’s done, yes. I stretched myself and completed it. While others may not think a two-minute silent film is a big deal, I do. In fact, I now realize that with all the digital content that we consume every day, it is easy to take for granted what it is we are watching. It’s so easy to forget how much work goes into making it. I can promise you that after this project, I’ll never watch a movie the same way again. Every single film, whether it’s a huge blockbuster or a tiny student project, is a work of art. Much like a painter controls every stroke on their canvas, filmmakers control every shot, every cut, every tiny moment. And when it all comes together, it makes you appreciate just how effort goes into a good story or production.

Post-Production of the CCRs

Imagine this: after filming AND editing the 2-minute film opening, creating scripts for the Creative Critical Reflections (CCRs), filming the segments and creating the screenshots for my voiceovers, I thought that I was basically done, the hard part was over. Nope, I was wrong. Very wrong.

For future AICE Media Studies students, don’t make the mistake in thinking that the film opening is the main product that you will be delivering. Actually, it is the film opening AND the four CCRs. It’s all going to be ok but it’s good to have proper expectations to make sure you manage your time appropriately. It will feel like you are editing a whole different film. You have been warned…

Editing the CCRs can be, in some ways, even more challenging than editing the film. I need to edit myself in shots, create the screenshots or visual components, record voiceovers and then make sure the pacing is right throughout.

Since I am aiming to produce my CCRs in three main formats: a Director’s Cut, a Vlog, and a couple of Online Q&A Sessions, I know I have to approach each edit a bit differently. I am still working on the editing portion of my CCRS so it is currently a work in progress. This is what I am striving to accomplish:For the Online Q&A, I am using text like pop-ups to simulate audience questions and am including cutaways to footage and screenshots so that I’m just not a talking head on camera. This would be boring and would not give my audience any type of interesting visual experience.

For the Director’s Cut, I plan on making sure that my voice will sync up to the images and video I share on screen. I also plan on adding some freeze frames to help teach or make a point.

For the Vlog, the thought is that it will be me popping in right in front of the camera to answer the questions that fans have been sending in. I’m going to give the impression that I got so many of them that I thought it would be a great idea to just answer my fans directly through a vlog. It will be more casual in nature, and it will still contain visual images and corresponding voiceovers to keep the viewers invested in what I am sharing.

This is it - I now see the finish line for real. I’m almost there and I can’t wait to show you everything that I’ve been working on. Stay tuned…

Production of CCR's - What I’m Working On

Now we are at the part of the project where I am working hard on creating the CCRs (Creative Critical Reflections). This is where I explain everything we did and everything we learned along the way. Since I’ve been really sick (great timing, right?), I had to adjust how I’m filming these. Instead of going all out with creative formats, most of my CCRs will look like online Q&A sessions, with a mix of on-camera recordings, voiceovers, and visuals to keep things interesting.

I’m tackling these in a few different ways, namely a vlog style of interaction and a type of online Q&A session where I take questions from the audience. I think I can pull this off because it is not out of place nowadays to do most all interaction online.

What you will see is that I will be talking directly to my viewers and will also be adding voiceovers to visuals that will pop up on the screen. Also, figuring out how to edit everything smoothly and making the Q&A format feel interactive and not just like me talking at a screen is a bit trickier than I expected.

I’ve already created the scripts, and I’ve started to create the visuals. I still have to record myself speaking and have been waiting for my normal voice to return. Having to film most of this while sick wasn’t exactly part of the plan, but here we are.

I have to say that even though the CCRs are technically the "reflection" part of the project, they’re still a whole production in themselves, actually four of them. It is a huge project, but it has been an interesting exercise to really look back and see what we overcame and what we achieved.

Just as a reminder these are what the CCRs will be about:

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

Group Meeting #2

Well, here we are. Next week is the big week: the 4 CCRs are due as well as our final film project. We got to touch base again with some other groups for a final group meeting. It was really eye-opening to be able to hear how its been going with the other people in class. Everyone had at least one issue pop up and everyone’s been working hard: we all shared this in common. I wanted to give you a recap of how some of the other projects have been going. I’ve also included links to their blogs in case you want to check them out.

My Project: Coming-of-Age through Visual Storytelling

For my project, I talked about how we really leaned into visual storytelling rather than relying on dialogue. Because of this, editing became a major focus for us. We needed to make sure that we incorporated visually interesting and varied screenshots to make sure the story comes through clearly. One of the edits I’m most excited about is an overlay shot, where we put in visuals of us studying while a calendar counts down to decision day. We also played around with the pacing of the story to try and make sure that the emotions felt real. Our biggest challenge was trying to tell the story through dialogue in the beginning and we just couldn’t do that well with only two minutes. That is why we went dialogue-free and focused on our visual storytelling.

My Blog: Gotcha, you're already here ;)

Sienna: Coming-of-Age with a Party Scene Aesthetic

Sienna’s project is a coming-of-age film about Piper, who is about to graduate and walks into her own surprise party. The film dives into the nostalgia aspect as Piper looks back on her high school memories. One of these memories was about sneaking out to a gas station with her friends. One of the big challenges Sienna’s group faced was filming a car scene at night, which made lighting really difficult. They also had to shoot formal outfits for the graduation party, making sure the mise-en-scene of the party scene looked good. They were happy with how that came out.

Sienna’s Blog: https://studentblogger325.blogspot.com/

Sarojini: Switching Genres/Vintage Aesthetic

Sarojini’s group wanted to create a horror film initially but decided to switch to a rom-com because they wanted to break away from the usual horror genre. Their movie is inspired by movies like To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and Clueless. It has a 1970s-inspired aesthetic to it. The plot is about a worker named Ethan, who finds a "Help Wanted" sign for a house. He meets Lilly, who is a "dream girl" type character. Their opening is all about the contrast between the two characters’ personalities. They had some issues with lighting while filming during dusk and that required them to reshoot on another day. They want to add a vintage filter in post-production to really nail the aesthetic they are after.

Sarojini’s Blog: https://sarojinicambridgeportfolioproject.blogspot.com/:

Santi: Technical Challenges/Special Effects

Santi’s film is almost completely done. However, he mentioned that they will need to change gas stations, and this will require a reshoot. The reason for this is that there was a gas station manager that was not too friendly with them and had an issue with filming at his site. Their biggest technical challenge has also been filming at dusk. They also struggled with lighting. So note to self, avoid filming at dusk in the future… Another cool aspect of their project is that they will be using CGI using After Effects. This is something not a lot of groups are doing.

Santi’s Blog: https://santisillyblog.blogspot.com/

CCR #4

Hardware, Software and Online Technologies used in Admitted:

Hi again. Well, we are getting close to the end. Wrote a script – check. Filmed it – check. Edited – check. Written 3 CCRs – check. This is the last CCR. I now have to spend this weekend filming and editing my 4 CCRs.
I wanted to share with you the concept and script for my 4th CCR ( integrating technologies—software, hardware, and online). It will be a director’s cut which is where we can give some behind the scenes decisions that were made.
CCR #4
Screen: DIRECTOR’S CUT
Davis talking to screen: Hey, I’m Davis Rop, co-director of Admitted. Welcome to this behind-the-scenes look at our film. Today, I’m breaking down the technologies we used in the making of this project.
So, let’s first talk about Hardware!
Screen: HARDWARE
Davis speaking into screen: Okay before getting into hardware, I need to share that the final filming of our project was done by Miles Marti. He is a college student studying film and happened to be down visiting one weekend. He helped Alessandra and I out by coming to film us. Since we were both in the film, we needed an extra set of hands. We filmed all our past projects with an iPhone so this was a step up. Miles used:
Screen: alternate between images of camera and accessories

Voiceover: Miles used a Canon EOS R – which sounds and looks fancy. He explained that it would produce sharp footage but that it was really all about the lens.


Voiceover: First, he used a 50 mm prime (1.8f). This is good for close-ups and emotional shots. Great for the Davis gets crushed shot and the Alessandra is worried and anxious close-ups.


Next up is the 35mm prime (3.5f).

Voiceover continues: this gives a more natural feel when we needed a wider shot like when Alessandra and I were sitting with our laptops together.

Finally, Miles used a 24-105mm zoom (f4-7.1) lens when we needed flexibility like when we were on the move walking through town center.



He also used a Feiyutech AK4500 stabilizer for smooth tracking shots and a tripod to keep things steady.

With all the raw footage, we started to edit right away. Alessandra on her Macbook Pro and me on my Macbook Air.

Davis talking into screen: Next comes the editing software we used. We worked with iMovie for most of the main editing. It’s simple and reliable and we already have used it many times in the past.

Voiceover: We did decide to use CapCut for our split screen – because we wanted to try it out.
Voiceover continues: Finally, we used an online resource for our copyright-free music on Pixabay (Acoustic Labs) that worked perfectly, and it was the final touch we needed.


Davis looking into screen: And there you have it. How we merged hardware, software and online technologies to create the film you are about to see.

CCR #3

Hi Everyone,

I’m sharing with you the script for the my third CCR (CCR #3: How did your production skills develop throughout this project?). I hope you enjoy!
EXTRA PRODUCTIONS ON BLACK SCREEN…
Davis sits in front of camera ready to address another online q and a session.
Hi, I’m happy to be joining you again. It’s been so great getting so many questions from all of you and I wanted to answer another one that so many of you have been asking.
SCREEN: How did your production skills develop throughout this project?
Davis Voiceover:
The question was, “How did your production skills develop throughout this project?” great question!
Davis Talking Head:
I (we) had to become a jack of all trades. When there are only two people in a group, guess what? Every single part of the project falls on your shoulders. It was both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because we had complete creative control. It’s a curse because there was no one else to blame when things went wrong. I think every aspiring filmmaker should do an entire project themselves at some point. Now that I’ve gone through it, I have a way better understanding of all the roles involved, and if I ever work with a bigger team in the future, I’ll actually be able to talk to the actors and crew without sounding like I have no idea what I’m doing.
There are a few major production skills that developed at warp speed during this project:First, scriptwriting:

• Screenshot: text flashes: “SCRIPTWRITING”
• Davis talking head: I have never rewritten something so many times in my life. We went from dialogue-heavy to barely any dialogue to absolutely zero dialogue
• Davis voiceover: Instead, we had to script every single movement, glance, hesitation…everything. Even objects had to be planned to help tell the story. Every bouncing knee, every slight shake of the head, every little moment had to be intentional.
• Davis talking head: It was exhausting, but it made me realize just how much thought goes into the smallest things in film.

Second, directing:

• Screenshot: text flashes: “DIRECTING”
• Davis talking head: Alessandra and I had to direct each other, which is both great and terrible because we know exactly how to push each other’s buttons. We also had to communicate clearly with our Director of Photography to make sure he understood exactly what we needed.
• Davis Voiceover: After every shot, we checked the footage, and if it wasn’t right, we went right back and did it again.

Davis talking head: Then we have organization:

• Screenshot: ORGANIZATION
• Davis talking head: If we didn’t stay organized, this project would’ve gone up in flames fast.
• Davis voiceover: We crossed off every shot from our script as we filmed it. We grouped our shots by location and kept all of our raw footage organized so editing wouldn’t be a complete disaster later.

Davis talking head: I can confidently say that Future Us was very thankful to Past Us for not making everything a mess.
Next, we have editing:
Screenshot: "EDITING"

• Davis talking head: Having a clear shot list and script made this part much, much easier. We knew exactly where everything went, so we didn’t spend hours searching for the right clips. We also got better at cutting to enhance the story. Editing is really where the film comes to life.

So, there you have it: a breakdown of how my production skills developed. I hope this was helpful!