The final links are finally here!! I can't believe this journey had already come to an end. I've gained much insight from this experience and I won't forget it! Here it is!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_Kgf5aJk4Kis73tCSGe4AgcG8Wqg5ZCS/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WNljpnaSx8de_5UMuGq66YttRbNspXmv/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u3qC8pjrbwcyQQJgnMJ8uo47rN1JqR42/view?usp=sharing
Hello everyone! In this post, I will be talking about the production behind my CCR videos! Remember, the two style of videos I did was a director commentary AND a interview.
First, I had to plan how I wanted to present each CCR.
For the production process for the interview, I wanted to be more creative and have my friend play as the interviewer. Thankfully her sister ended up being the one to film everything and told us how to angle ourselves. I trusted her judgement ;) In regards to making the video look like a interview, I had two chairs facing each other when having conversation. My friend, Meliyah, who played as the interviewer, wore nicer clothes to fit the overall setting.
This format made everything feel more natural and conversational, almost like a real interview with a director discussing their work.
Filming the CCRs also came with a few challenges. We had to make sure the sound was clear and that the camera framing looked good. Sometimes we needed to fix small mistakes. Even though this took extra time, it helped improve the overall quality of the final product.
Regarding the director commentary video, before recording , I first reviewed my film and focused on moments that clearly showed the thriller conventions used in the film, such as the scene where the character Asher is in the park before the murder occurs. This scene was important because it establishes tension and also shows Ashers' character a bit.
The next step in the production process was recording the voiceover commentary. While the opening played, I recorded myself explaining my decisions as the director. I tried to speak clearly and naturally so it would sound like a real director talking about their work.
Overall, creating this director commentary helped me reflect on my role as the director of Pushover. It allowed me to see my own choices and how it contributed to creating the opening :)
The script for the interview:
Hello everyone! In this post, I will be sharing the post-production of two of my CCRs and all of the behind the scenes!
During the post-production stage of my CCRs, I focused on editing the footage to create the product for my responses. For one of my CCRs, I created an interview-style video where my friend Meliyah acted as the interviewer and asked me the third and fourth CCR questions. After filming the interview at her house, I looked at the footage and selected the best clips to use in the final video. I focused on making the interview flow smoothly by trimming unnecessary pauses. I also made sure the clips were arranged in a order so tthe audience wouldn't get lost and would understand what they're seeing.
Where I trim some footage since you could hear us planning how we want to film a certain shot:
Editing for the director commentary (inserting the audios):
Hello everyone! This week is the final week to work on our portfolio projects, and time flew by. It’s been a long process, and I’ve never worked on a class project for this long before. In this blog post, I will be sharing my final reflection on the project.
Overall, I’m happy with the final product that we created, and I’m glad I had my group members to work with throughout the process. We all shared our ideas about how we wanted to present our portfolio project, and it helped that we had similar ideas during production. For example, we agreed on how we wanted the lighting to look and the type of emotions we wanted the scenes to express.
If I were to do this project again, I would focus more on organization and planning. During the filming process, there were many interruptions that slowed us down, and I think better preparation could have prevented some of those issues. I also wish we had more clarity about what exactly we were filming before doing anything. Despite that, we used our storyboard to keep us organized and stable in where we were. Even though there were challenges, I still put in as much effort as I could.
Another thing I would change is the environment we chose for filming. I would have preferred a more realistic and controlled setting. For example, filming at the park right next to the road and near the playground was not the best location for a project like this because there were many distractions and background noise. What we did to try and get rid of the sounds to the best of our ability was by using adobe premiere and selecting a clip and trying to get rid of the background noise as best as possible.
Lastly, I wish I had revised our script more. The dialogue did not always feel as natural as I wanted it to. I also realized that I don’t have much experience writing scripts, so in the future I would look at more examples before writing one myself. This project helped me realize the importance of studying examples and planning ahead when working on creative projects.
Overall, this experience taught me a lot about collaboration, planning, and the filmmaking process. Even though there were some challenges along the way, I’m proud of my group and the fact that we completed this project together. :)
Hello everyone! Today I will be discussing the fourth CCR question for our portfolio project. I will be explaining how we intgrated different technoloiges thorughout our portfolio project :D
4th CCR Question: How did you integrate technologies- software, hardware, and online- in this project?
My script:
Throughout the process of creating our opening , technology played a major role in helping us plan certain things, edit, and share our project. From the equipment we had to use while filming to the software used during editing, everything helped us improve the overall quality of our production.
One of the most important technologies we used during the project was the editing software Adobe Premiere Pro. This program allowed us to organize our footage, clips, and change different aspects such as brightness and color. During the process, my group noticed that some of our footage appeared too bright and did not match the darker tone we wanted for our opening. Using Premiere Pro, we used different tints and brightness levels until we achieved a darker color grading that matched the suspenseful atmosphere we were aiming for.
Another technology that helped us during the editing process was Canva. We used Canva to design our production logo in the beginning of our opening. I remember during class, we were testing out different fonts, and we were trying to find a way to make it more engaging to the audience than a regular production compnay. We did all of that on the application Canva.
Hardware also played an important role in our production process. We used a camera to record our footage, which allowed us to get the different shots needed for our opening. Being able to film digitally and having a memory card meant we could review clips immediately in that moment and refilm certain scenes if something didn't look right.
As for research, we analyzed scenes from thriller films in order to understand how suspense and tension are created. For example, the film Nightcrawler uses dark lighting to create a tense and unsettling atmosphere. The way the film uses shadows helps emphasize the mysterious and serious tone of the story. Seeing the techniques they used gave me an understanding of what the audience would see form their percpective.
Overall, technology was integrated into every stage of our project. From filming and editing to researching and usinf different digital tools helped us develop our production. Without these technologies, it would have been much more difficult to have the perfect footage. Technology eventually allowed us to transform our idea into a finished media product that reflects the skills we developed throughout this project.
Citations:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2872718/
https://www.plotexplained.com/movie/nightcrawler/info
Hello everyone! For this blog post I will be discussing my CCR production ideas based off of my portfolio project :D So I have to create two products that would answer 4 questions for the CCR just to give you an idea.
For our CCR videos, we need to come up with a style or format on how we want to answer these questions. Since I was the director for the opening, I was thinking of doing a director commentary video :0 In this video, I wanted to play pieces of our opening while pausing at important moments to explain the decisions behind certain shots. This would work because it allows the audience to see the exact scene that I am referring to while I explain it. During the commentary, I would talk about how our opening uses conventions of the thriller genre, such as darker lighting and specific camera angles that help create tension.
For examples, I searched up on youtube and looked to see how other directors commented on the way they made decisions. One video I saw was Guillermo del Toro commenting on the movie "The shape of the water", and he explained how he wanted to show certain details to the audience, and explained why it was the best choice. That sort of commenting style is what I would want to go for.
The commentary video I saw:
Overall, these two different videos will allow me to answer the CCR questions in different but effectivly. The director commentary focuses more on explaining the creative decisions within the film itself, while the voiceover reflection focuses more on the process and what was learned during the project. I believe that these two different styles of a video will clearly demonstrate the important aspects of our portfolio project .
Hello everyone, today I will be researching and providing the script for the 3rd question of the CCR!
The 3rd question for the CCR: How did your production skills develop throughout this project?
Throughout the production process, my skills developed in several ways. Our project came with some problems that we had to learn how to solve in the moment. For example, as the director of the opening, there were times when things we planned couldn't be done because of environmental reasons. Sounds like cars passing by, kids playing by the park, or airplanes flying above us; these were things we couldn't control. Because of this, I had to learn how to think quickly and come up with alternative solutions so that we could continue filming. For example, we had to take breaks in order for this sounds to just pass on by, and we did it as much as we could. This experience helped me understand that plans do not always go exactly the way we want them to, but there is always a solution :D
Another skill that was developed during this process was learning how to create the right atmosphere for our genre. Since our opening is meant to have a disturbing and suspenseful tone, I focused a lot on the setting and the small details that could help achieve this exact feeling. When we were filming inside Asher’s home, we specifically tried to make the environment feel unsettling. I saw that the lighting was too dark to see Brennan, but I wanted to add some sort of lighting that would highlight the creepiness of Asher's room. This involved paying attention to things such as lighting and camera angles so that the audience could feel the tension we wanted to create.
In addition, my teamwork and collaboration skills improved throughout the project. Film production requires constant communication between group members. For example, Brennan did most of the editing for our opening. However, he would regularly ask the rest of us for feedback on what changes should be made. We would discuss ideas and suggest certain changes, and then those suggestions could be added to the project. This showed how important communication and cooperation are when working as a team, because everyone’s input helped improve the final result :D
My script:
For the third CCR question, which asks how my production skills developed throughout this project, I would say that my skills mainly improved in problem-solving, creating atmosphere, and teamwork. At the beginning of the filming process, I understood what needed to be done through research and more research ;) However, during the production of our opening, I had to apply those skills in a real filming environment.
One way my skills developed was through problem-solving during production. As the director of the opening, there were times when things we planned could not be done because of environmental factors or unexpected issues during filming. These were things that were outside of our control. Because of this, I had to think quickly and come up with alternative solutions so that we could continue filming and stay productive. This experience helped me learn that filmmaking requires flexibility.
I also developed my understanding of how to create atmosphere. Since our opening is meant to feel disturbing and suspenseful, we focused on details such as lighting, framing, and the setting inside Asher’s home to help create that unsettling mood for the audience which we aimed for :D
Finally, my teamwork skills improved throughout the project. Brennan worked on most of the editing using Adobe Premiere, but he regularly asked for feedback from the group. We discussed ideas together and communicated about changes that could improve the opening. Overall, this project helped me better understand the collaborative process behind film production.
