CCR #3

Happy Friday bloogggg!! The best time of the week has come, the weekenddd! For todays blog we will be breaking down and answering question 3 of the CCR. "How do you integrate technologies - software, hardware, and online - in this project?" This question is pretty straight forward and based off technology used throughout the whole project. This questions is asking how we included different technology techniques into our project as a whole and in our actual experience filming this project. Its asking to cover topics such as hardware (physical tools), software (programs), and online (resources).

In my film technology played a huge roll from filming to editing. It was involved when pre planning such as audio and is still involved finishing up editing. I used a mix of different resources and equipment to produce the final product.

Hardware:

For hardware we used an iPhone 14 for part of the filming and for the other half a Nikon d3100 camera. Although that camera is better for photography rather than videography we needed it for clear extreme close ups such as the text message notification coming up. I'm very glad we ended up deciding to use it because without it, being in a yellow lightning room, the clip would've come out pixelated and wouldn't be as clear to read. However the iPhone 14 did do a relatively better job when filming in brighter lightning in the  gym. They both truly did a great job.

Software:

For software I used Adobe Premier Pro. I have a friend that takes the class Cypress Bay Television and she had taught me at the beginning of the year how to edit and had been guiding me to reahc my best self. Due to this when we got assigned the project I asked her what she felt would be best when editing.   She recommended to use Premier Pro due to all the different abilities it has and how simple it is to manage around it. So that's exactly what we did. It ended up coming out perfectly has hoped and worked great when managing pacing to keep the hyper beat up and keep that strong dedicated tone relevant to the film. 

Audio:

For audio we found all our sounds including the background music from Pixabay. We used it due to it being copyright free and being super accessible to us. We were able to find all our diegetic sounds and music. With some layering it all ended up working out and turned our great. It also allowed us to avoid the doubt of if the sounds were copyright free or not.

Online:

Lastly I used online resources like YouTube. I used YouTube not only through out the whole process for research and learning on factors such as audio, different techniques etc. But also for editing sport dramas. It truly has guided me all throughout these past 7 weeks. I've used it for most research blogs and its impressive how much you can find and how useful resources like these can be. It truly has played a huge part when pre planning and editing this project.

Overall, through out this whole film we were able to integrate technology to every stage of the production. With much decision making and working as a group we were able not only us technology but use it effectively to reach the production we hoped to have and have all the elements we wanted to be illustrated.

 Group Meeting #2

Good morning Cambridgeee!! Today March 13 and the due date keeps getting closer and closer. Scary. Today we will be taking a break from all the CCR and editing blogs. We just had our 2nd group meeting! In this meeting we were able to share how were doing, ask for others oinion, and advice. With CCR's coming up thats what the conversation tended to be most about. Lets break it down.

In my group we were a group of 5. Rehan Khan, Sofia Brown, Lucia Trinidad, Alexis Lee, and me, obviously. All of my group members shared that they're all working alone except Rehan whos working with another partner. In the group, I was the first one to speak. Out of all of us I was the one with most done. This truly did comfort me knowing I wasn't falling behind and getting everything sent by the due date was possible. With most of my editing done, I began by showing them my film opening. They loved it. Hearing those words come out of someone's mouth when showing somethings that's such a big deal to me and have truly it so much time into feels extremely reliving. Although I did ask for feedback none of them had anything to provide me with. We did all  agree on the fact I should change the font of  the credit sequence since the background is pretty chaotic and colorful it gets sort of hard to read. They really liked all the inserts and how everything falls on beat, specially for the gymnastics part. I them proceeded to tell them on my idea for one of my CCR's. I explained how I would dress up as Dorthy and walk down a yellow brick road while explaining my project I will run into challenges as in the movie and have characters such as the tinfoil man represent my team members. Once all is done, that yellow brick road, will lead me to my Wizard of Oz, my project. I plan to end it by doing  focus pull to a usb drive when saying those words. As well as the film opening they thought it was a great idea. This made me extremely happy since I also am super excited about my idea and think it could work for that creative factor. Once I told them my idea I explained my worry on the other CCR. As I would love to do another creative piece however I can't tell if it will end up being too much work to do both well and in time. They recommended me to do a talk show and just add a lot of sounds to make the talk show funny. I will definitely be taking it into consideration.

Rehan Khan was then next to tell about his project. Rehan is in the filming and editing part of his project. He still needs to film some clips but ha recently learned to edit and has been putting it into practice. He showed us the makeup they needed to do for the film and wow it turned out amazing, super realistic. Rehan seemed to be on board and  everything to be going smoothly. He didn't say much for his CCR as he isn't really thinking on that and focusing on finishing his film opening which I agree to be the correct decision. He didn't really ask for advice as he did give a lot of it. I was really surprised to hear that he said h usually hates editing and found it impossible however he has recently been receiving classes from a friend and is now able to edit his own piece well and feels it isn't as complicated as he had set it to be. Overall, Rehan seems to be doing well and  doesn't look to worried on what's to come.

We then moved on to Sofia Brown. Sofia is in the editing and filming section. What she explained to have been doing is while filming her scenes she goes adding them together to avoid making it feel too overwhelming. She explained to us that she did have some struggles filming as her story wasn't coming together as he expected but has been working around that issue and it's working out. For CCRs she just knows she's planning on doing one from her characters point of view. I think this was a really cool idea especially since her character is more of an investigator I feel as if it can end up turning out really cool. She asked for advice for the clip to use when the title of the film goes on. We all agreed on one which I believe helped her out confirm her decision. She explained to us the process it took for her to use the lettering she used and I have to say it really payed off because it genuinely looks so good an fits the film so well. Sofia seems to be rolling good and her projects seems to be going smoothly even after those few bumps she's had along the way. 

Alexis Lee and Lucia Trinidad both are in the filming and editing stages of their film. I don't have much to say since they didn't mention much. Lucia hasn't thought out of her idea well enough to explain anything to us for her CCR while Alexis has thought on doing a documentary but isn't too sure either. Alexis was able to reflect on our projects and our progress to this day makin her realize how's she's under filmed and is needing more clips. I'm glad by even just explaining our project she was able to use it to her own benefit and  apply it to her own. There wasn't much said from their part I just advised them to try to get filming done as quick as possie to give themselves time to edit and do their CCR's. 

I personally think group meetings are a great idea and resource and help reflect on your project through others while having the opportunity to feel comfortable to speak your mind.

 CCR #2

Hey blog! For the 2nd questions of the CCR we are being asked, "How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?" When answering this questions to go about it, mostly depending on everyone's piece. Therefore, I've decided to split the questions and digger deeper on separate questions.

How My Film Engages the Audience

We will begin with how my product engages with the audience. With my product being a sports drama, the target audience is older teenagers since they are the ones who can most relate to the struggles faced in the film having to do with academic validation and social pressure. With this being said, there are 3 ways our piece engages our audience, firstly including our relatable underdog character, Gianna. Gianna is set to be a dedicated teenager who is fighting against adversity and aiming for a goal. This type of character has been set from the beginning which can allow the audience to connect with her journey since its on hard work and risk, engaging the audience to watch the film. As well as a relatable character, the opening being fast paced and upbeat will add to drawing viewers in. The high energy sport sequence, in this case gymnastics, will attract athletes specially gymnasts. This connects the audience to the film as well as sets a tone for the rest of the film. Another key point to engage the audience would be the music. This adds to the fast pace and upbeat opening since in our case our music is a more hyper music which then lowers to be a slower paced song. However, those first few seconds of the upbeat music combined with the fast-paced scenes definitely motivates the audience and engages them with film.

How My Film Would Be Distributed

Moving on to the second part of the question. Media pieces can be distributed in various different forms. However today we will be searching for more accessible ones for smaller films. Film festivals are a huge way for smaller films to be distributed and be let out to the public. Festivals such as Tribeca and South by Southwest are both festivals where creators can showcase their work. These festivals present may different film genres including sport dramas. These are very accessible and low budget options. Another smaller festival would be the Indie Memphis Film Festival. These festivals take place in New York City, New York, Austin, Texas, and Memphis, Tennessee. They are annual and focus on independent film and work. However, the issue with distributing with festivals only is not being able to reach a global audience. Platforms such as YouTube and Vimeo are free and anyone can watch it. This is accessible to watch it and with some help of social media marketing spreading the word wouldn't be a problem.

Script:

Good afternoon everyoneee!! Today I will be addressing the second question concerning engaging audiences and the films distribution. My film is targeted to older teenagers who can relate to the pressure of academic validation and social expectations. This audience is engaged through 3 different key points. This firstly includes Gianna, our protagonist, being a relatable underdog character who is fighting against adversity to achieve her goal. Her risk and commitment inspire audiences, especially those who have experienced similar challenges. Secondly, the beginning of the film is quick and filled with action, including match gymnastics. This will engage sport audiences, especially gymnasts making them want to keep watching. Lastly, music as a huge part in drawing in the audience. The beginning has a fast paced, upbeat music that enhances the quick action and making it exciting. As the music slows, it builds suspense, leaving the audience wanting more.

For distribution I would prioritize festivals and simple online platforms. Festivals such as Tribeca, South by Southwest, and Indie Memphis are all film festivals that are super affordable and are a great way to reach an audience. These festivals take place In New York, Texas, and Tennessee allowing for different parts of the country to have the possibility to reach the film. As well as festivals, I would distribute my piece through platforms such as YouTube and Vimeo where its accessible for everyone and its free! This would all be paired with social media advertising to then hopefully be able to reach a more global audience!

What Is Vimeo & How Does It Work - Audiosocket

About The Sundance Film Festival- sundance.org

SXSW Film and TV Festival | SXSW Conference & Festivals

About Tribeca Festival | Tribeca

 Post-production #2

Hey bloggg!! This blog will close up week 6, lets end it on a high note! We finished editing! I am extremley happy and proud to say are film opening is officially done. This now allows us to give full focus on our CCR's.

We began with selecting the different clips and separating them by the different scenes. We then divided them into different categories of gym and my house. We then cut and balanced the clips the create a smooth layout. We then moved on to the more interesting, exciting parts!

Fonts

Choosing fonts did take us a little bit longer than expected but the ones we ended up deciding on were Filmotype Honey for the parts where it said for example, "produced by" or "starring". Then for the actual name credits themselves we used Futura. And lastly for the actual title "Obsessed" we used the font Marker Felt. Although this small detail did take us an extra amount of time, I personally do this it was worth it, but the credits are placed on beat with the song to add to that pumping beat. I think it was a really nice touch and made the credits appear on and off the screen a lot smoother. Another cool detail I thought was pretty neat was that we used a mask to have one of the credits disappear from the screen when Gianna does a flip on the bar wiping it off the screen. To me small touches like those show how thought-out films are and how attentive the creators are to what's going on screen.

Extras

For audio we had some change of plans. You still do hear the Pixabay song in the background as the volume is then lowered as exiting gym. However, we weren't able to utilize all the diegetic sounds we had planned as they either wouldn't match, or it would just sound bad and cheap. We did still use the diegetic sound of the text message since we wanted the audience to notice the notification and not just look past it. We did also use or foley sound of the door knock. The clock shown while crossing out days on the calendar is there to emphasize time going by which I think was captured nicely. The clock was found on Vecteezy and is copyright free. For the rest we just arranged clips and played around with them to our liking! And now that's a wrap for our production editing!

Post-Production

After much time put into producing and filming, my least favorite part is next, editing. Editing to me is just something I was never able to be fully engaged to, partially because I don't have the patience to visualize and create different editing techniques and partially because I'm truly not the greatest at managing the different systems. However, it definitely does have to get done and I know putting time into this stage will end up being worth it. We have started editing and are working backwards by starting with her in her room rather than the gym since we are hoping that will allow us to enhance the small details since those will be found later into the film opening and not so much in the beginning. Although we haven't gotten far into the editing, we have already set all the clips up and have adjusted their length to assure that the clips don't stay on screen for an excessive amount of time since that was some feedback we received on our last project. We are also trying our best to arrange everything to fit under the 2-minute time limit which can get difficult at times due to the number of different clips we have since we made sure to overshoot everything.

For editing techniques, we are definitely focusing on mainly using jump cuts and inserts. Editing techniques are ways to cut and set up clips to tell the story. They can control the speed and flow of a movie which can lead to it being more interesting. However, Jumpcut's are the most common cuts and cut showing two sequential shots that are similar in composition, usually used to develop timing and jump ahead in time. Jumpcut's will be used mostly in the gym when switching on the landings and from floor, bar, and beam. This will also be done to show the time going by and show her presence being in the gym for a long time enhancing her commitment and hard work. Inserts are shots or scenes that are filmed from a different angle. This allows to see action from all angles. In our film we will be utilizing inserts all throughout the film to add extra details to help tell the story more clearly. This will allow to have objects, actions, and reactions stand out more and provide visual context.

 

 CCR 1

We are officially in the CCR making!! While we are still editing our film opening, we can start moving on to our CCR's. CCR stand for creative critical reflection. It's basically media forms where you present your overall reflection in a creative manner that suits you to show the overall post project thoughts. It contains of 4 different questions, 2 being more complicated and 2 more simplistic. This means we will be creating 2 different media pieces, 1 for every 2 questions. Today we will be focusing on the 1 question on genre conventions and societal issues included in our project.

Genre Conventions:

Our film is sports drama meaning when researching genre characteristics, drama played a huge role into that process. Some drama characteristics we portrayed include:

Conflict

Clear Plot

Mise-en-scene

Intense relatable characters

 Connection with audience

Pressure on main character

In our film, conflict is a huge deal since it tells a story on a teenage girl, Gianna. who's in need of a scholarship from gymnastics due to her poor grades. When the moment she is able to receive exactly that at competition, she is unable to compete. Her injury and need of the scholarship are huge conflicts through the whole film. Like any good film, a plot is necessary and has to be noticeable. Has mentioned in previous blogs, our plot is the Un expectancy of her ruining her knee at competition causing her to not be able to play gymnastics which then leads to her recovery and overcoming. Creating a relatable character did take us a good amount of time since we wanted Gianna to be relatable for teenagers in specifically. We came up with her being a sneaky, poor grades, dedicated to her sport teenage girl. This character is extremely relatable to teens in a society as the one we live in and can allow the audience to have sympathy for her and understand her situation. This leads to a connection with the audience. Lastly, mise-en-scene was something we truly tried to emphasize and used props such as a calendar, medals, knee wrap, etc. This all added to the creation of not only the character but the film as a whole. We stayed away with characteristics like emotionally driven characters since with such a short time span we wanted to make sure those whole 2 minutes were given to Gianna and herself a character. This then didn't allow us to develop other characters in our film opening. We also avoided exploring different topics since we wanted to emphasize her passion for gymnastics and for the audience to be able to understand her dedication which took away from her interest in school.

Sport film characteristics:

Focus on singular sport, sport setting, shows hardship

With our film being a sport drama, all these characteristics were met. Our film was filmed in TAG USA, a gymnastics gym where Gianna is able to show her skills and commitment which would fall under sport setting. For focusing on only one sport, we made sure to focus on Gymnastics and gymnastics only to emphasize her "obsession" with the sport which is where the films name comes from. We then showed Gianna's imperfections with schoolwork as well as with her injuries to make the film seem more realistic. 

Social Groups/Issues:

The characteristics used in the film all emphasize different social groups as the main one being Gianna's rebellion. This issue is on many teenagers experience in our society which we thought would go well with making the film seem more relatable. Gianna goes against her coaches and mothers' orders to follow what she thinks is right even though she knows there can be consequences and knows she shouldn't be doing that. This is highly represented in today's lives by going behind elderly's backs foreshadowing her consequences once done so. Our second social issue is on the athlete side of facing an injury. This represents the struggles athletes face when recovering from an injury in doing what best in choosing health or what their heart desires when choosing passion. 

Characteristics of dramas

Genre Conventions

 Creating the setting 

  Welcome to week 6 bloggg!! Let's begin with a quick resume on week 5. Last week we were able to finish filming and prepare ourselves for our next step, editing. Although it felt like a roller coaster and we might've gotten dizzy in the process, we did it. We are now moving on from production but before we do that, I have 1 more blog coming your way.

When filming the different scenes, setting was a hug part. And although we have already spoken on setting, I'm talking more about those small details in the background that most people don't notice but without them the film would feel as if it's missing a touch of something. On shooting day 2, we didn't have many of those setting details that we needed to create or develop since the setting was in a gym and there wasn't much to add. However, on day 1, that was a whole separate story. Before Arianna and Oona showed up to film I prepared Gianna's room and set everything up. We wanted to make sure to create her room based off of her obsession with gymnastics. That was when we decided to add medals, picture collages, and images of her younger gymnast self. With Oona being a gymnast we were able to get a hold of medals pretty easily. I placed the medals all around places where I knew we would be shooting scenes in so the medals would be able to appear in the background. Places like these were, the head of the bed, on my mirror, hung on the wall, and on some hangers, I have next to my door. I then printed out pictures of my younger self at TAG USA doing gymnastics and just leaned them on the nightlight on her benight table to show that Gianna's has been doing this sport since she was very young. I then moved on to the actual creating, the collage. For the collage I researched different pictures of the American gymnast, Simone Biles, and printed out images of her most important tricks she has done. As well as Simone, I included pictures of other American gymnasts winning a gold medal. Next to that I added what seemed to be a picture of a newspaper saying the American team had gotten first place. I then continued to print images of gold medals and the Olympics symbol as well as a quote from Simone Biles to show she has a goal, and her dedication put to reach that goal. Once printed I stuck them all on the wall making a small collage next to her medals and calendar. I placed the images there since the calendar would be there it was the place where it would most likely show up. I lastly needed to create the failed exams that appear when she is sitting down to sign the consent form. For this I just used old homework, tests, quizzes, etc. I made sure to erase my name and replace it with Gianna Diaz as well as changing the dates to match up the dates that "Gianna" was crossing out on the calendar. I then continued to write F's and Ds with a red market while making them obnoxiously big so the camera would pick up everything effortlessly. Once everything was put together although this all might seem necessary, they truly do stand out on the film and besides the brainstorming the actual creating process was relatively easy and quick. I now hope this week rolls smoothly and that all these small throughout details do payoff in the editing and later overall product.