Production post (week 2/23-3/1)

     Although I have already finished my project I have decided it is important to clarify something to prevent confusion down the line. As I was editing this project, I realized just how constricting 2 minutes really is. Because of this I decided to completely remove the typing scene that was going to be used in the first half of my project. While this sequence of shots sounded good and engaging in my head, I realized that it was difficult to execute in a way that was stimulating to watch. On top of that, the clips that were recorded in the office proved to be so much better and more enticing that it felt like I would be a poor decision to sacrifice some clips for the sake of keeping this typing scene in the project as intended. 

    If I were to add this scene exactly as originally intended, it would have eaten up half of the project time and it would have made It impossible for the other sequences to be implemented properly without feeling forced. As a matter of fact, I decided to compare and contrast the project with this scene and the project without it and realized not only did the pacing feel more natural without it, but it also helped build the storyline and further assist in the cliffhanger I added to the end of the project. This decision of mine hopefully ends up paying off by boosting viewer retention and engagement while playing as a source of inspiration for myself to not feel demotivated by this minor hiccup in the process.

An image of my current timeline, the duration is hovering at that 2 minute mark leaving no room for adding any additional clips.

Post-production (Editing) #2

     While lighting was the primary issue that was hindering the quality of my work and it needed to be fixed urgently, their are other tweaks and little things that I incorporated to make my project feel more meaningfully done. I went through the timeline again and again looking for any imperfections that were in my control to fix (like the lighting previously mentioned) and what I could add to make the project even better, quality at all costs. One thing that I played with allot during my time editing was the audio sector.

    As I established a couple of weeks ago audio sets in a very unique place where it is very easy to implement, but difficult to do in a way that is considered memorable or impressive. Here, I will go through the things I did to make the audio more elaborate and detailed. Firstly I incorporated a new soundtrack to use in the first half of the project and one that I am using at the very end of the project (the links bellow takes you to were you can listen to them). These help add yet another element to keep the audience engaged while also adding a way to provide an anchor for changes in tone throughout the entire project.

    Lastly, I used allot of saddle diegetic sounds throughout the entire piece, such as a car accelerating or a door creaking open. But, there were come diegetic sounds that were especially important for development of context or for retaining the viewers attention throughout the piece. Because of this I incorporated a simple way to make sure they stood out, I made these parts short, yet significantly louder than the other diegetic sounds. This allowed for depth in the audio of the piece while giving these specific sounds there own space to be present and noticed in the project. (Image bellow is an example)

here a car door is being closed, I added a clear emphasis on this sound and started the soundtrack at the same time to make it feel seamlessly integrated.

Soundtrack used in first half of project

Soundtrack used at the very end of the project

Post-Editing process 1(Colors)

    Now that I have completely edited my entire project, it is important I write down some important things that I did to improve my project. In this blog post I will be talking about shifts that I made to colors and in the next blog I will talk about how I was able to mess with and integrate sounds and other minor tweaks to further assist in the quality of my work. My project was filmed exclusively during the night. This was a very much intentional decision since like I have mentioned previously, it helps with creating the ominous atmosphere I was aiming for. However, this possess a problem for when one is trying to film with a smartphone and not a dedicated filming camera    

    Because the sensors found on modern say smartphones are so small, commonly less that 3 quarters of an inch in size, they cannot let in enough light in these lowlight scenarios to properly focus on a subject without the assistance of at least a little bit of light or a internal sensor to mesure depth. These issue only grow larger as the subject becomes smaller. Because of this, I had to add more light to scenes with smaller subjects. While adding more light helped with keeping subjects in focus it did present a new issue, that being colors. Because of this part or my efforts while editing where adjusting the colors so that each frame came out looking more consistent. Bellow I have provided two videos, the first being the original sequence and the second the edited sequence with -25 exposure and +16 contrast specifically.

It is not rare for smartphone cameras to be this small.

Video sequence before color edits 

Video sequence after editing

CCR question #1 research

    Now is the time to talk about the second half of the project, the CCR's. Before I do the CCR's, it's important I do my research about how to properly answer these questions. Starting with the first question, which is "How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?". This question is essentially being asked so that the examiners can analyze my understanding of genre conventions and my ability to integrate them into my project. I will be in this blog post showing the research I made and its correlation to my project.

    My genre is action/mystery, which typically includes fast-paced editing, suspense, low-key lighting, and is made to build tension or create excitement. My project follows these norms by building tension with the concealment of information throughout the entire piece, and creates a weird sense of excitement by leaving the viewer on a cliff hanger, which is very intentional to make it feel like a opening scene rather than a independent piece. 

    Typically, movies revolving around an experienced hacker use an adult to represent the position. This is because teenagers are typically represented as immature and dependent. However, I challenge this convention by using a teenager to represent this position, straying away from the beaten path and presenting a new viewpoint to a traditionally adult dominated position. This allows the piece to immediately be more appealing to a younger audience and it also brings a modern touch to the piece. However, my discussion of using a teenager for this position makes a lot of sense this job typically is associated with being rebellious, which is something that teenagers are notorious for.

This is the typical representation of a hacker, a fully grown man.

My different approach using a teenage for the position

Bellow I will provide the script I will be following for when I film my first CCR:

My opening scene, CyberMonday, works largely in coordination with the action and mystery genres by using fast-paced development, keeping the audience on edge feeling, and low-key lighting to create focus on the charters mysterious demeanor throughout the entire piece. For example, the scenes where the mysterious person is hacking a computer are designed to make the audience feel even more hungry for more as the hacker is actively doing things while concealing allot about himself, then when he drives away and the screen goes suddenly black, it keeps the audience with a million questions in its head, at least, that was my intention.

However, my product also challenges conventions by focusing on a younger character as the main hacker, rather than an experienced adult. This makes the story more relatable to a younger audience and adds a modern perspective.

In terms of representation, my project highlights themes of technology, privacy, and control. It shows how young people today are highly connected to digital systems. 

Sources:

Critical Creative Reflection (CCR). (2018, March 27). MEDIA STUDIES. https://ngocanh6899.wordpress.com/critical-creative-reflection-ccr/

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Group Meeting 2 (Reflection)

     Today, I had my second group meeting. Now that I have experienced this before, I came in with a different perspective before. This time I was actively thinking about how to use the time as effectively as possible instead of questioning the effectiveness of the activity like I did last time. My new approach to this activity helped me used this time to the best of my ability. This seemed to have reciprocated equally among everyone in my group since we all ended up having a more complete and quality conversation.

    We went down sharing our progress and our ideas in search of second opinions and suggestions on how to make the most out of our ideas. I started, I shared my idea that I have talked about extensively in this blog. As I spoke and showed off examples of my project, my peers gave contrastive feedback about how I can make this project better than how it is already. I received a lot of differing opinions on the issue, but everyone seemed to agree to a certain extent that I had to fix the lighting in my project. Also, they told me that the idea to conceal the information of the character is a good one and I should pursue it to its full extent. 

    Now on the topic of my peers, they all had very bright ideas. One thing that I found very interesting is that they all had one thing in common, including my idea. We all had ideas the circled around the characters that where on the younger side. Even tho mine might have been about a teenage hacker and another one was about a girl that was all messed up, each project circled around a plot that was very easy to advertise to a younger audience.

Bellow is an image of us during our discussion and links to my classmates blogs. 

https://luca1234567.blogspot.com/

https://thisismybloganditsverycool.blogspot.com/

https://fionasfeed67.blogspot.com/

https://stepious.blogspot.com/

https://blogaicemedia-p1.blogspot.com/

https://ranveerblogisthebestintheworld.blogspot.com/

Production development, some saddle changes.

     After going through the full process of filming my project for the first time as a test run, not only did I realize some things that needed to be changed on a compositional level, which was talked about in the last blog post, but also some changes that needed to be done to the overall script. I realized that there were some things that were either too difficult to express or they were too difficult to execute properly. Because of the complexity of these factors, I decided to change them so that I did not have yet another factor that can hinder on the quality of my piece as a whole. These are mostly subtle changes to the overall plot which will significantly help in making my project feel more complete by removing or adjusting certain aspects that would have made the effort of my piece feel less balanced.

    Primarily, I decided during the recording process that recreating an environment that felt like a governmental building would be very difficult to execute properly. Because of this, out of need to make the piece feel more balanced, I made the decision to completely remove the government part to the project. Rather, the character will be breaking into an unspecified office building with the intention of hacking into one of the computers. Apart from this, the rest of the piece will be relatively similar apart from some small tweaks that are simply added, but don't hold much significance to the storyline
. The only things that will also be adjusted are the lighting aspects that were talked about on the previous blog post. Bellow I provided a video of one of the scenes that were filmed outside of the office. This is where I started to consider the change since the outside really does not look like a governmental building.

 

Video Example

Beginning of production

     This was the time I was building myself up for, the filming stage of my production. I have established that I am aiming to make a production that is to the highest standards and quality possible. Because of this, I decided to do an initial test run of my idea. The point of this was to record everything to prove that the idea worked, a majority of these clips will likely not make it to the final production as they were not made with that intention. As I went through the paces, I took mental notes on what worked right of the bat, and what I can fix on my next attempt, which will be made with the intention of being the footage used in the final product. 

    Like I previously mentioned, this proved to be a very insightful and learning experience. If I did not use this moment to purposely treat it like a test-run, I would have been stressing about factors that I could not have previously factored in. One thing that I think I executed and predicted well was the lighting, I really like how the lighting came out in the first half of the filming of this project, It perfectly represented the feeling and atmosphere I was trying to go for. However, on the second half (filming in the office) I ran into issues with the lighting being too dark in some key moments. To rectify this issue, I will next time bring a flashlight and use more POV shots so that I can have good light in these moments, while still keeping the dark and mysterious atmosphere I am trying to aim for. Below I provide a example of when I think the light worked very well (the video), and an example of when the lighting did not work in my favor (the image).

Company logo

    We have talked extensively about what my opening scene will be like, but we have not talked about the theoretical company that would make this project possible. So, I got to work on making a company name and logo that helped reflect not just my overall personality as a producer, but also reflect the overall vibe of the production. As a Spanish first speaker, I decided I wanted to be creative and make a company name that mixes both English and Spanish in a way that sounds logical and meaningful. So, after a lot of trial and error, I decided to use one of my favorite Spanish words, "Primavera" and added the English word "Productions" as it is frequently used in the name of production companies. At the end of the day, I ended up with the name "Primavera Productions" for my project.

    Now on the topic of the company logo, I decided to lean heavily on the "Primavera" or in english spring. The theme of spring is where I got the idea to design a multilayered flower, expressing the vibrant nature of the time of year; further exemplified with the green leaves behind the flower. However, I also wanted to incorporate some atmosphere derived from the opening scene. Because of this, I added the dark background to introduce strong contrast to the logo, correlating with the dark overall theme of the piece.

 

Planning Blog (Titles - Fonts)

    When one thinks about the opening scene of their favorite movie or piece of media, the credit sequence is likely not something that comes to mind, let alone the font of it. However, this is very much intentional. If one does not think twice about the credit sequence of a movie, that means the creator did a good job. This is because the credit sequence is all about, as the name subjects, giving credit to those who were involved in making the piece possible. But, the people who made it possible aren't necessarily usually important in terms of building the context of a storyline in a movie, so it is important for it to feel seamless and intuitive with the piece, rather than forced in. One major way that this can be achieved is through simply changing the font in the sequence. 

    For my portfolio project, It is important that I make the credit sequence achieve the same effect. I decided to look at some opening scenes that match my genre (mystery/action) and I realized that they tend to prefer to keep one consistent font throughout the entire opening scene, something that is a important note I did not really think about before hand. I also realized that allot of these tend to like bold fonts. With all of this taken into consideration I was able to consolidate my options for what font I would like to use for my project. Then, I started to think about what font matched with my project in the most seamless way. 

    Since my opening scene revolves around a person hacking into a high stakes computer, I ultimately decided that I will make my font as similar to one of traditional hacking or coding as possible or I will be using a very minimalist, modern font to make the font match the very tech focused world my movie would theoretically revolve around. After a prolonged reanalysis of these two options I realized that the first option would be the best at fitting into the overall feel of the opening scene. Bellow I will show the font and color I am most drawn into using so far.

This is the color and font I am most likely to use

Here are some productions that I looked at for inspiration and guidance:

Top Gun Opening Scene

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

Audio

     Close your eyes and picture the last time you watched a powerful scene that was truly memorable. Now imagine it without any audio. Pretty difficult to feel the same way about it now right? The visuals can be impressive and impeccable, but without the presence of audio; something would feel different. Almost like the soul of the movie was missing. It is an indisputable fact that audio plays a powerful role in how a piece is perceived and interpreted by the viewer. For example, music can help build tension in a scene, but if you change the melody in the same scene; it can all of the sudden feel sad, casual, happy, or humorous. In other words, with only a change in audio, you can change the whole meaning and trajectory of a film.

    Because of this, It naturally came to my attention from the beginning of this project that audio is highly likely to play a significant role in the success of my project. I must take my time in this part of the piece to insure that the final products execution is effective in making the piece feel even more engaging and complete. I will be using 2 types of audio to make up the audio section of my project, that being diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. Specifically, I want the non-diegetic sound to be a melody that is simple composing of a sequence of sounds that build tension, the music would ideally lack mids so that the diegetic sounds I want to incorporate would sill stand out. On the other hand, the diegetic sounds that will be used are going to be used to further exemplify the things that the viewer should be focusing on. In the typing sequences, the will be a emphasis in the sound of typing, when the person is receiving a notification, that sound will be amplified, and when they click a mouse the sound will be brought out to name a few examples of how I want to incorporate diegetic sounds.

    Although writing it out does not sound that difficult, I acknowledge that I will have to put in a lot of effort and execute a lot of trial and error in order to be able to come out with a final product that effectively represents my idea while feeling as seamless and appealing to the viewer as it sounds in my head.

Examples of Non-Diegetic Sounds I may use

(I was particularly drawn into one called "Into the void")

Mise-en-scene #2

    In my previous post, I talked about two important mise-en-scene factors that I will be implementing in my portfolio project, and how I would be using them. Those factors were costume and set. Today, I will be discussing two other factors in mise-en-scene that I will be incorporating in my project, lighting and props. These are two parts of a good film that the average consumer does not really think much of, but makes a big contribution to the composition of a piece and its effectiveness. When one thinks about it, lighting and props are big parts to making a piece make sense.

    First, I would like to talk about lighting. like I mentioned previously, lighting makes a big difference in the context, ambiance, and feeling that the audience gets from a scene. When investigating how to incorporate lighting correctly in my project I decided to look at some pieces that are of mystery genre. I realized that a majority of these that matched most similarly to the idea of my project used allot of low key lighting. Because of this, I decided that my entire piece will lack proper lighting. In other words, I plan to make all scenes have only one source of lighting. This will allow more attention to be drown to the main characters actions to the viewer of the piece. Bellow I made a rough recreation of how I plan to use only one source of light (this case being the laptop screen) to create the effect I want for my project.

Now, on the topic of props. Props are vital to adding depth and context to any piece, and good ones reserve there props to only the ones that are strictly necessary. With that being said, with my project I will be using 6 primary props to grow the storyline: A laptop, a desktop, SD card, hone, latex gloves, and black gloves. The laptop will be used in the coding section of the opening scene, the SD card will be what hold the code information, the desktop will be the theoretical device being hacked into, and the gloves will be used as a way to leave the viewer on a cliffhanger. The gloves will help the opening scene fell like one, they will make the scene fell like its being interrupter rather than being brought into a close.

Mise-en-scene #1

     Any good film must properly incorporate mise-en-scene in order to further achieve the goal they want to achieve with the audience. My opening scene, revolved around mystery and action, will use this heavily to further assist in creating the atmosphere I wish to invoke on the audience. For this first blog, I would like to discuss specifically the realms of costume and set design. 

    First, in the topic of costume design. For allot of genres, this is an overlooked sector as it does not have that much impact in specifically developing the character. However, in a genre like this one, mystery, the costume design is the easiest and most recognizable way to express to the audience the ambiance of this film. The costume design is going to be simple, bold, yet immediately brings attention to the character. The young man will be wearing all black clothes, shoes, and gloves. Intentionally, the discreet nature of this costuming will naturally bring more attention to what the character is doing rather than hiding his intentions. 

    The piece will take place in 3 distinct locations. The mans room, his car, and an office. All 3 locations will have limited exposure to light and be very minimalist environments. Similar to the motives of the costume design, the ambiance of these locations will bring further attention to what does have light and interrupts the tranquil environment, that being the characters actions. 

Character Development

    As I quickly approach the filming stages of my project, another thing that is important to have sorted out is how I plan to effectively build a solid character development. As perviously stated, the opening scene for this fictional film "Cyber Monday" is centered on only one character. Since there will be no other characters present in this opening scene, it will likely be alot easier to make a proper character development. 

    First, we should talk about who this character is going to be specifically. Generally, experienced hackers do a good job a hiding their identity in any way possible. Because of this, the character in this opening scene will not express much characteristics that invoke a personal connection with the audience, to further assist in the feeling of mystery, suspense, and curiosity on the viewer. However, some things will be revealed about him in this opening scene. The man will be on the younger side, anxious, fidgety, and have a very discreet demeanor. The younger age gives an impression of someone who might have been coerced into the situation, allows the viewer to feel a level of sympathy with the character. The character will be dressed in all black, invoking a sense of mystery at the same time.  The fictional character when he runs away from the sound of a simple knock will help assist in the feeling that the character al always on edge. 

   These things will be developed throughout the entire opening scene, slowly adding layers to the peace that draw the viewer in. This slow climax like build up will make the viewer anxious to watch the rest of the film, exactly what an opening scene should achieve. 

General Idea for my project

     As I further progress in making my portfolio project, it is important that I write down my final idea for what I want my opening scene to be like. Although this is pretty much the finalized idea, I do expect to make some subtle and small tweaks as I progress in turning these words into a finalized video. I originally had the idea of making either a romance or sports tailored peace, but those idea where eradicated pretty quickly as I realized I did not know how I wanted to or even would do them in a quality manner. Instead, around a week ago I decided I wanted to make my final project one that leans heavily on both the action and mystery genres. 

    My idea is to make an opening scene for a ficcional movie titled "Cyber Monday" that is about experienced criminal who tries to hack into U.S. government systems with malicious intent. Since this is supposed to be just an opening scene for the movie, it is important I don't develop the movie plot that much. Because of this the general storyline of my opening scene is simple and to the point. The piece will start with a series of different shots and angles of a mysterious man typing away on his computer, the man will not have a visible face throughout the entire segment as well as he will be warring black gloves the entire time. After a little while, he will finish and click the enter key (close-up) on his computer. He will then take out a SD from his computer and the camera will make a close up on the ssd specifically. The man will then drive to a location, presumed to be a government facility and walk to one of the computers. When he arrives to one of the computers, he will take off one of his gloves are replace it with a latex glove to be able to better use the computer. He then inserts the ssd into the computer and hovers the mouse over a file. He clicks it and waits for the destruction he planed to occur. As he waits, he hears a sudden banging on the door. He frantically takes out the SD card and runs away. The next clip is him entering his car and driving away, but then the camera cuts to the black glove that he left behind, then the title screen. 

Although this is entirely my own original idea and it was not inspired by any opening scene in particular; My thought process on how I want this peace to feel for the audience was heavily inspired by the Apple TV series "Hijack" and the movie "Inception", suspenseful, unpredictable, and memorable.

Script/Storyboard

    Bellow I will be going into greater detail on exactly what the composition of each shot will be in the opening scene for my portfolio project. This is not only an important post to further advance my blogs, but it will also likely prove to be very helpful to look back at when I get to recording my piece. As I mentioned in my previous post, I do expect myself to make some changes, but this is the general idea of how my piece will be structured.

(Dark environment thought out the entire project)

Shot 1:

Panning over the shoulder shot of a man and him typing away on his laptop.

Shot 2:

Medium shot of the same scenario, side angle of laptop.

Shot 3:

Close-up shot of hands typing away on computer.

Shot 4:

Close-up on the "Return" key on laptop as the man presses it

Shot 5:

Medium shot of the computer screen running through a series of commands, then it stops.

Shot 6:

Close-up of a hand taking out a SD card from computer.

Shot 7:

Close- up of same hand holding the SD.

Shot 8:

Tracking shot, man waking to car, side angle, full body. Car turns on and goes away.

Shot 9: 

Over the shoulder shot, focusing on shoulder, general driving.

Shot 10:

Car arriving to scene.

Shot 11:

Tracking shot, man walking towards a door, first half side.

Shot 12:

Close-up man texting someone on phone. 

Shot 13:

Other side of door, sudden beep then the door opens.

Shot 14:

Tracking shot man walking through office.

Shot 15: 

Wide angle, man walking into office

Shot 16:

POV shot, man sits in chair

Shot 17: 

Close up of hands, man switches one of his black gloves for a latex glove

Shot 18:

Man typing away on computer with one hand.

Shot 19:

Close up of file appearing on computer.

Shot 20:

Tracking shot, extreme-close-up of mouse cursor going towards file, hovers over it.

Shot 21:

Back of man and office chair, sudden banging noise (or other noise to call for attention).

Shot 22:

Close-up, SD card being quickly pulled out of computer.

Shot 23:

Full office room in frame, wide-angle man leaving room and out of frame.

Shot 24:

Tracking shot, man walking into car and speeding away

Shot 25:

Close-up of the black glove he left behind, slowly zooms out to in segments.

Media theory implementation

    All good films have multiple key factors that are used simultaneously throughout the entire piece to make them as good as they are. Whether you are on the edge of your seat watching an action movie, in tears from the ending of your favorite drama show, or restless from the horror film you watched the night before. All pieces of media regardless of genre, need to incorporate some sort of media theory in the foundations of their production in order to be a good one. My project is no exception to this rule hence why I would like to incorporate a media theory to my project.

    The theory that I have decided I would wish to incorporate into my project is the Character theory. This theory states that characters are classified into specific roles. According to the inventor of this theory, there are 7 types of possible characters: hero, villain, dispatcher, helper, donor, princess, or false hero. My peace is gonna be entirely focused on an antagonist. In other words my opening scene will be focused on the person who works against the protagonist or the "good guy". In my case, the antagonist is going to be a skilled hacker, who hacks into a government computer with malicious intent.

Partially inspired to use this media theory by this opening scene

National Treasure (2008)

Group Meeting #1 Reflection

      Today, I had my first group meeting with my peers. I came into this experience initially with a bit of criticism and doubt. I thought that my idea had little room for improvement and that this experience would not be as useful and meaningful to me as it ended up being. We all took turns expressing our ideas in hopes to receive constrictive, honest, and quality feedback. Starting with me, I came in with the idea of an opening scene about a fictional movie based on a cyber attack on the U.S. government. The meeting ended up being very insightful because I was able to listen to 5 different peoples perspective at the same time. This allowed me to consider flaws in my plan that I would have not thought of previously. One factor that they considered in particular that stood out to me. Making a government setting with people my age would be very difficult. Because of this and other helpful insights given to me, I am now actively restructuring my idea to better work and rectify the venerabilities in my idea. 

    In terms of the other people in my group, they had very bright ideas, but we all benefited equally from this meeting. Although we all had vastly different ideas, we all seemed to have one vulnerability in common. We all struggled to some degree in limiting the plot of our ideas. It was easy for us to forget that this is supposed to be an opening scene of a fictional movie. Because of this, we cant develop too much in terms of the plot. With this is mind, a majority of our conversations circled around simplifying our initial ideas instead of adding depth to them. This was a very insightful experience for me and my peers, and we will all use the intel and inspiration gathered from out conversations to make out projects even better. Without this quality feedback I was given, half of my project would have had a issue that I did not even think to consider.

Links to my peers blogs:

Peer 1

Peer 2

Peer 3

Peer 4

Peer 5