CCR

 Here are the CCR Thanks again for being with me on this journey! :)

Link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I4LpB7oO7_zfH9YOHRa6U9QIL51ZtNz3/view?usp=sharing

Portfolio Project Final Product

 Here is the finished project. Thanks for sticking with me throughout this journey. 

Depending on what works for you I have two links that you can use. One will give you access to the direct download and viewing of my video and the other will take you to the video on Youtube. Both are the same are just added to provide easy access.

Link 1

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cQQv3WVQMtF0ETdYk166O7BTX9ohmC7x/view?usp=sharing

Link 2

https://youtu.be/g2HG8unW2Jc

Final Reflection

 Looking back at all my old posts it's crazy how much of a journey this was compared to any other projects I’ve done. I’ve learned a lot from my class about developing something worthy of my audience's attention and it's one thing to learn from a screen from a PowerPoint to actually put the lessons into practice.

I’ve made a point to talk about it in the CCR but planning was a big thing for me. When doing past projects I’d make a script and then wing the rest of it but having a plan for every aspect of the film opening would make the execution so much better. I knew exactly what to look for when filming because I planned all of it out. 

Editing was something I am very familiar with but like pre-production, in the past, my post was simply “winging it” but since my edits were so specific in planning it provided a structure that made my opening beautiful.

A flaw that proved itself over and over again was how difficult it was to do everything by myself. As the actor, director, and editor it made the burden of the project much heavier but working with someone has its own hurdles. Even though my project came out as it did the power of a team and the input of others would have been helpful. 

Ultimately I really enjoyed this project and I look forward to others like this one in the future.

CCR Ideas

My teacher made rules for the CCR and made suggestions in order to look appealing. The CCR’s maximum time is seven minutes and she suggested that we don’t do standup. I’d understand why...it’s easy and can be done very quickly; funnily enough that was my first idea when I first heard about this part of the assignment. 

Instead, I’ve figured another way to not only reflect on my progress in the project itself but also answer the four questions assigned which are:

• How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

• How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

• How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

• How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware, and online – in this project?

I can casually answer these questions in a fun interview; let me explain. The name of this part is literally called Creative Critical Reflection and what better way to show off my production’s techniques, gadgets, and overall purpose. I plan to act out at least three different characters to give their answers to questions offered by an ‘off-screen interviewer’ when in fact it’ll all be played by me. I want to make this as fun and transparent as possible about the portfolio project that I’ve nearly completed. I won’t spoil it but I’ve got plans to make this a CCR remember.

Until next time!! :)

Editing

I’ve done the majority of the editing at this point and I’m not disappointed. I was worried that the shots taken weren’t enough despite practically filming everything twice. I’m well aware that none of my cameras hold a candle to a DSLR or even an AC-80 (which I have experience from in the TV club/class) but the shots were fairly decent. I’ll probably go more in-depth with my CCR but I’m not disgusted by my creation; in fact, I might be proud. 

I’m not praising it as my greatest art piece but I’m confident that this is a fair representation of the skills I’ve been taught in Media Studies AS. 

After hours of keying, cropping, and cutting in Davinci Resolve all I have left is to officially decide my music. In all honesty, I’ve been avoiding talking and adding official labels about the music because I wasn’t sure if the voiceover and the diegetic sound from the environment would be enough. I wanted to get a feel as to where this is going in order to pick which music I will officially implement into the final product. I have a bias towards one of the songs but I want to check its royalty-free guidelines before I wholeheartedly commit to using this music. I’ll be sure to let you know. Until next time!!! :)

Filming

Today I filmed all that I planned to. Needless to say, not everything was particularly flawless which is what I expected going into this project on my own. In all honesty, my shots that had to be set up with a tripod were absolute poop!!! But I can’t give myself all the credit, the timing of my family and the time of day were all contributing factors to the disaster shoot. The whole reason I chose my backyard was to have a controlled area but alas my naivete knows no bounds; my family recently decided on the morning of my shooting to move the trampoline in my backyard. Moving it so close to the hammock stole away my vision of a beautiful longshot of my backyard which would cut multiple times to move in on my character, establishing their lively environment. 

It wasn’t a total bust. I was later able to enlist the help of my sister to hold the camera. Being a novice with a camera, I had to be incredibly specific on how I wanted these shots to be. And even with proper guidance filming wasn’t without problems; my other sister and rambunctious puppy made sure of that. One with the desire to be a part of everything and the other who just wants to eat. I predict that there will be a lot of sound being cut out. 

    For the shots I mentioned earlier, the visuals only offer footage for my attempted set up at the beginning and provided some beautiful diegetic sound for the outside; the birds must’ve been having a concert. 

Things seem to be on track! Until next time! :)

Storyboard Pt. II

Continuing the storyboard:

Storyboard Pt. I

So as promised in the first part of the Storyboard of course a lot of these images will not be what’s in the opening but it’s more like conceptual visuals. 

Screenplay

Here is my screenplay as scheduled on the chart. Now I won’t do any more talking (typing?) than necessary so let’s just jump right in:

Opening Scene Tomatoes

[Tight Shot from High Angle]

A tomato is placed on a cutting board. 

VO Begins The fruit of a plant is the carrier of the seed. The seed: new life. 

A hand goes off-screen returning with a large butcher knife.

-Black Screen- [Fade in] Credits

VO Continues To be eaten for another to survive. That’s how it works. A life for a life. An eye for an eye. An arm for ahead.

A knife is guided to rub the tomato (almost sensually) with the hand steadying it.

-Black Screen- [Fade in] Credits

 VO Continues Fruits are naturally bright.  Enticing. Juicy. It is fate that the fruit is consumed; it’s their purpose. And the job of a predator is to consume the fruit; after all, it is their desire. 

Then the cut of the tomato right down the middle (swift chop). 

Slicing continues choosing a half (slice horizontal). Continue slicing until small pieces. 

Dice remaining bits 

[Wide-Establishing Shot of Backyard] 

[Wide Shot of Marlyn on a hammmock]

[Closeup of Marlyn’s face]Her face is stoic, reflective.

[Over the Shoulder of her writing]

[Extreme Closeup] Marlyn’s eyes look up to the camera.

-Black Screen-[Fade-in] Title of Movie 

Script for VO (voiceover)

Abiding by the schedule here is the script for the VO:

VO: The fruit of a plant is the carrier of the seed. The seed: new life. 

[Pause]

VO: Fruits are naturally bright.  Enticing. Juicy. It is fate that the fruit is consumed; it’s their purpose. And the job of a predator is to consume the fruit; after all, it is their desire. 

VO: To be eaten for another to survive. That’s how it works. A life for a life. An eye for an eye. An arm for ahead. 

Of course, this is just a piece that will be incorporated into the screenplay which will explain the overlay of the VO and the visuals that accompany it. This is the only spoken part that will be heard in the opening and will probably be heard with the quiet fade-in of one of the pieces I selected in previous posts. I hope to figure out which piece by tomorrow. Until next time! :)

Final Stretch

The time I plan to film is becoming even closer and the final parts of pre-production will need to be completed. I’m going to layout the official plan for the next couple of days leading to filming; so stay tuned!

Tuesday	Script for VO
Wednesday	Screen Play
Thursday	Storyboard Pt. I
Friday	Storyboard Pt. II

The schedule above is a rough schedule I have to leave the weekend open for the filming. I split the storyboard because it should take up a good chunk of the blog page and I don’t want to overload anybody. If time permits me I would like to reflect before I have to go out to film but there is no guarantee considering how time-consuming the trip will be for this break. Either way, I plan to be productive and maintaining the themes throughout the written parts of the script and screenplay.  Until next time! :)

Genre and Preparation

   During my classes introduction to the CCR or Creative Review focuses on the genre is very important as well as its conventions and how you are going to break them. I'm eager to represent the thriller genre because it is overlooked or misinterpreted as horror when thrillers are known to play a viewer's interest and anticipation. 

    To prepare for the CCR and just to make the concept easier to look at I organized to help me organize my thoughts. Again using a favorite tool of mine as a genre-organizer: Canva.

Beginning of Spring Break

 With the beginning of Spring Break being in full swing in a normal situation, I’d have plenty of time but I do not. Per (strong) suggestion from my guardian I will be traveling throughout the state visiting colleges. With a constant change in scenery and the majority of the props at home, I’ve ruled out the possibility of moving the filming to another place.

Just because I’m on break doesn’t mean I won’t have to work I plan to work on the more specific tools to have before filming: scripting, storyboarding, and editing. In a later post, I’ll go into depth on the plans for achieving these final steps before actually filming. I also want to reflect on all the preparation I’ve done so far. I hope with all the traveling I will have to do that I will still have enough time to relax and focus on my mental health. Until next time!!! :)

Moodboards for Marlyn

Using Canva I created some mood boards for my character Marlyn that highlight the color scheme and major themes in the opening.

Sound Samples Pt.ll

As promised I’ve returned with more samples for sound. I’ve decided it wouldn’t hurt to compile some diegetic sounds in case the scene called for it. In-depth I mean to prepare to capture whatever my filming doesn’t capture-as they say it’s better to be prepared now than sorry later.

First thing first, *Knife Sounds* with the crucial motif of killing signified in the beginning by the cutting of the tomato its vital that I have this. Again the filming, will hopefully, pick it up but should the slicing be too quiet or not heard at all this will come in handy. To begin the search I headed to my favorite place to find anything I want: Youtube. As per usual it did not disappoint with so many different compilations of Copyright-free knife sounds. And the knife to flesh title of course matches up with the theme of it being the tool to cause death. With such a large variety in one place, I almost don’t want to look anywhere else. For now, I’ll accept this and I will expand on it later if need be.

    

    The next resource for Copyright-free was recommended to me in class; it’s called CHOSIC.com. The website has a vast degree of different songs that can fit many different genres. Covering lots of genres but not a thriller; the closest I could get to the genre is between Mystery and Horror. In both sections, I found a song that has an eerie but oddly calming (maybe only to me) named: Come Play with Me. A lot of the others are very intense and don’t really match the energy of hidden darkness that I want to convey.

The Final Touches and Changes?

As the due date for the opening nears I’ve made a point to finalize my props, costumes, and settings. Thus I’ve selected my ‘stage’ for the writing of the character. And to show the finality of it I have pictures to demonstrate:

Here I have the tree where Marlyn will be (minus the blue tarp), unfortunately, an unforeseen addition has been added to the midst. Unexpectedly my mother brought back a hammock from her travels in hopes of giving my family another place to rest; this can add a new element to the production as well as complicate it. 

Add to it by providing alternative camera angles that may make the shot more interactive, and add to aesthetics. Complicated because filming by myself is near impossible at the height that the hammock is on the tree. I do have my family group at my disposal though and I may have to (begrudgingly) enlist their help. 

But I have another site that would work just as fitting for my needs. And it is this one:

Granted it's not nearly as engaging as my original idea and the updated one. Until next time! :)

Character and Costume

     In the short time span that I am given, I have to convey the unstable mentality that makes the foundation for the eventual-off-the-deep-end-serial-killer. Because the first shot will probably be something simple, showing a mundane or simple task that is slightly off the costume of the main character. First thing first, as great as it is to type out-main character-and-soon-to-be-serial-killer a name is needed to make it easier to identify; I’ve decided on Marlyn. 

So the bane of Marlyn’s mind will be her teetering will to dominate over others and do things simply because she can. These thoughts are the staple through which she has had to live by for the past fifteen years, courtesy of her father: an abusive man who found pleasure in tormenting his kids. Having recently been taken into custody by Child Protective Services she battles with her own trauma and what’s left of her family begins to crumble. 

From her story, the use of simple but alluring hobbies, concepts, and style that became her escape is something that can be capitalized on in the opening. But today I’ll focus on costume design; which needs to convey her mental state. Through a costume design with colors yellow and gray which represent insanity and uncertainty.  Another color that may prove useful is the color that may symbolize life and death; red. Which would further help select the props needed to reiterate the theme.

Techniques

 The techniques I plan to use for the opening with this idea are inspired by different traits found during my research. One of these traits that I will be taking inspiration from the opening of Gone Girl; in my research, I spoke of the eerie feel the editing, music, and voiceover makes. I want to create a similar concept with the credits appearing on screen, voiceover, and shots. The other opening trait that I plan to take traits from is 13 Reason’s Why where the story itself, in a way, is the beginning of the end; to elaborate the story itself picks up from the ended life of Hannah Baker with a voiceover that we later learn is a recording she made before she passed and the story begins with the reactions of the people she has left behind. 

The techniques used in both of these openings are worth replicating, to an extent, in hopes of giving my project the best possible outcome. For the credits which will come first if I did a black screen for each major name before moving the other names to be in the upper and lower thirds. The use of synchronous sound in both openings may be something to replicate depending on where I decide to shoot the main character living life before their serial killer days.

Final Idea

     If you’ve read the title you can probably guess what this post will be about: my final idea. After wresting with all the different ideas I had, the victor is going to be a psychological thriller featuring a ‘normal girl’ turn into a renowned serial killer. 

With the two-minute slot for this ‘film,’ I’m going to pull a Shakespeare and somewhat start with the end. By this, I mean to have something that clues the audience as to where the story ends up; with the main character choosing to be a serial killer. Realistically speaking the only reason why I wouldn’t choose to end the story with the main character being caught is that it would be impossible for me to do this with a budget of $0.

A way I can begin with the end without being too pricey would be by having the now-serial-killer-main character in a voiceover that displays the mentality that will be given to them later on. This would engage the viewers as they try to correlate the visual stimulus to what they are hearing. 

Speaking of visuals I want to eventually show the before-the-ending-main character that would be followed throughout the movie but it would probably be safer to put this at the ending. Before that, though I would like to incorporate an eerie and symbolic sequence that will give foreshadowing and thought-inducing reactions from the audience. Maybe slicing fruit or the eating of an apple all the way to its core or the eating of a flower. All of these can symbolize the life that would be snuffed out (like a candle being blown out) throughout the character’s journey.

Before I prepare for actual filming I want to document my strategy for the storyboard and the ‘how and why’ I will make specific creative decisions.

Brainstorming Genre and Ideas for a story Pt IV

    So after the long wait here are some new ideas! These are after reviewing the research I did on the drama and thriller genre as well as taking the advice from the sources offered to me by my school.

    Idea #1 is the evolution of a ‘normal’ girl to a famed serial killer; a good way to start this idea would be a 13 Reason’s Why situation. Start from the ending of something else, it might be problematic in the future to create a scene where the main character would be interrogated but the possibility of an allusion to killing through shadows and lighting techniques there can be a ‘these are the logs of (this character’s name) aka the karma killer.’ 

    Idea #2 would be more of a comedy/ coming of age genre where a germaphobe has to take care of a dog in hopes of managing their germaphobia. Considering the time period we are in it would be somewhat relatable and be a funny premise that shouldn’t be too hard to film. 

    So far these ideas are being added as possibilities until I’m approved by my teacher. Both offer their own challenges but I’m hoping that these ideas are still plausible. If these ideas do end up being in the running then I may go in depth to study more about comedy and drama hybrids. Until next time!