CCR Creation

 Week 8

And the final part of the project is here. CCR Creation. I sure had fun making this project and learned a great deal.

IN TWO DIRECTOR COMMENTARY.mp4

Podcast.mp4

Film Opening

 Week 8

    After several weeks of hard work, the film opening is complete. I can't believe it's already finished. I'm glad to have been able to work with Camila on this project. Here it is!

https://1drv.ms/v/s!At4-BDjwhV7mvCnSMXRiDqTSiGPb 

Group Meeting #2

 Week 8

    Today's group meeting went splendidly. We all passed around our ideas for our videos and how much we've progressed in our respective projects. 

    Josh, a fellow peer of mine, showed me his progress in his sport film. I thought he had many interesting ideas, one of which being incorporating a sport commentator over clips of the main character playing basketball. I also viewed the project of a peer that was in my past group meeting. I can see that she stuck to her storyboard and was able to succeed in her plans. This is something that I did not have as much success in.

    As seen in past blogs, our story had changed significantly. I would say that half the scenes we recorded were not included in the original storyboard. This had pros and cons. 

    Due to us changing scenes, we were held back a bit trying to come up with ideas for the story. A pro was that we were more free with our project to experiment. This was for the best because our project came out pretty well (in my opinion). Overall, I'm glad we did what we did.

    Once again, the group meeting has proved helpful. It seems like we just started our projects yesterday. 

EDITING

 Week 7

    I have almost completed editing. So far, I have compiled all the clips, cut them to the appropriate length, insert clips where they should be and even done color correction. Camila told me she would take care of audio work which is a huge help. As of now, I am experimenting with how I will insert the title cards. Here's how I thought of going through it.

    

    My thought was to animate the text. As seen above with the "BBBB" (placeholder), I am animating each 5 frames or so and changing the position of the text. This gives it an interesting dynamic and prevents the text from being intrusive and out-of-place. This is no easy task though, each movement needs to be minute to prevent the animation from looking, for a lack of better words, dumb. It is very time-consuming, but this time spent leads to a better project.

    The font is also a placeholder. These small little details are very important and we were bound to face them in the end of the project, once we were finished with the important stuff. I expect we can finish this whole thing earlier next week, and then move on to our CCR. I thank Camila for being patient with me and my little crafty mind.

Reflection

 Week 7

    Two weeks ago, I made a reflection on the how the project has been going. I explained on how pre-production, planning, and storyboard had gone. Now I will reflect on how Production and Editing has gone so far.

Production

    Camila was in charge of production. She worked closely with her sister on scenes and mapped them out over several days. I think her having someone close to her helped her be more confident on camera and allowed her to experiment more with her ideas for the video. 

    I was also given a great deal of artistic liberty in the editing portion. Like I said in my last post, I have been implementing editing techniques that help display symbolism, which is pivotal for the Drama genre. This is what I have focused on during the making of this project. I appreciate that Camila allowed me to do this, I have always wanted to experiment in editing and I'm glad I got this opportunity.

   Pre-Production

    I have been editing for the last few days in accordance to the clips Camila has sent me. I have focused more on compiling the clips and cutting them appropriately as opposed to doing audio work. I've enjoyed this as it makes the editing process much more manageable and in turn enjoyable. I hope to incorporate more unique editing techniques and experiment more with symbolism to drive the Drama genre to great lengths.     

    These reflections have done wonders for my project. Having a guide to look back on helps give confidence in my ability and a plan I can stick to. This project is close to finished and all that's left after editing is CCR.

 Week 7

    For the past few days now, I have been focused on editing the project. Camila finished up filming for our video recently and I've been working on compiling the clips, cutting them, and adding techniques to help amplify our films message. One of the most important techniques for our project is the "Match on Action Cut". This editing technique can do two things. The first is move the story along and introduce a seamless cut through keeping the audiences eyes busy, or tying meaning between two things, be it symbolically or literally. 

    The two examples shown above are examples of Match on Action Cuts. The first is a scene from Scream. During a dramatic sequence, Casey is frantically going around the house and locking doors. By using a Match on Action Cut, the film stays focused on the action and does not remove the audience from what is happening on screen. The next example, from 2001: a Space Odyssey, is a symbolic scene, showing how humans have evolved from "bone" (primitive technology) to being able to reach space. 

    In our film, I used this editing technique a few times, the most prominent way was during the scene where Isabel, our lead, is about to inject herself with heroin. Before she does, the scene cuts to a memory of her little brother drawing. This juxtaposition of a depressing scene to a happy one is contrast that leads the audience to make inferences on the story. The audience's eyes are focused on the movement on the screen of the needle slowly moving towards Isabel's arm. This allows the following cut to be almost seamless and instantly direct the audience to the next scene. I'm going to add an audio-shift along with lighter colors to show that the scene is from the past.

    SOURCES

Craven, Wes. Scream. Dimension Films, 1996.



Geduld, Carolyn. Filmguide to 2001: a Space Odyssey. Bloomington :Indiana University Press, 1973.

Filming Flashbacks

 Week 6

    Today's was quite the interesting day. I filmed flashback scenes for the film opening, along with the help of my little brother. These scenes will be important within the story since them flashing in the right moments will aid in giving background to our main character, Isabel, and her life story. We did a variety of flashback shots of "nostalgic memories". This included drawing together, cooking pancakes together, and playing soccer together. While these scenes are all valuable, the most important was the drawing memory.

    

    The drawing is somewhat similar to the one hung up on Isabel's wall.

    

    This hints to how Isabel is still emotionally connected to her brother despite his passing. The flashbacks are used like memorial flashbacks, highlights of happier times. This allows the audience to come to the conclusion that the brother passed. 

 

   This goes along with the "show not tell" idea that I have been blabbering on about in all these blogs. I think that famous Pixar filmmaker, Andrew Stanton said it best during a TED Talk, "Make the audience put things together. Don’t give them four, give them two plus two. The elements you provide and the order you place them in is crucial to whether you succeed or fail at engaging the audience." This absence of information helps make the story "inevitable, but not predictable.".

    

    I had a great time filming with my little brother, it is not often that I hang out with him but I am glad he was so eager to help me film. These little moments are what make me appreciate the process of filmmaking. I might need to re-do some of the shots since he's meant to be the main character's older brother, and I recorded him as more of a younger brother. Not to worry though since these shots are simple and fun to record.

Source

  Stanton, Andrew. “The Clues to a Great Story.” TED Talk. TED Talk. https://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_stanton_the_clues_to_a_great_story?language=en