Creative Critical Reflection: Current Progress

 CCR: Current Progress

    Hey everyone! I am back with a progress update on my CCR. So, as you may remember, I chose to do a presentation with a voiceover, and then an interview that is self-run, like a Q and A session. So, I will first be talking about the approach to begin working on the CCR, and then how I began working on the actual two media products, and then what my next step would be. 

Approach to the CCR

    Starting a big portion of the Cambridge Portfolio Project is definitely overwhelming to think about, and a lot of time has to go into the CCR. So, I took a few days to think about how to start the CCR, since there is so much to it. I ended up deciding to type up my responses to the four questions of the CCR...

    - Question 1: How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

    - Question 2: How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

    - Question 3: How did your production skills develop throughout this project? 

    - Question 4: How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

    I typed these answers onto a word document so that I could make the rest of the process easier for myself. I have inserted screenshots of the word document below...

    So, as you can see from the screenshots, some sentences are red, and others are highlighted yellow. I used some color coding to help organize my thoughts onto the word document, and to prevent myself from getting confused. So here is the rundown of what the colors mean: 

    -White: Any white sentences just mean that they are part of my response for the questions. (Nothing too special behind the meaning of this)

    -Red: Any red sentences mean that they are research that I took from either previous blogs or other websites. These will help me when I have to cite where I got my information from. 

    -Yellow Highlighter: Any highlighted sentences mean that they are one of the four questions I had to answer, or titles for other sections of information to avoid confusing myself. 

Media Product #1: Presentation w/ Voiceover

    Anyways, after typing up my answers for each question, I knew that I had to begin transferring the information onto my first media product for the CCR, being the PowerPoint Presentation with the voiceover. For the PowerPoint, I knew that I did not want the slides to look super busy, but I still wanted them to look appealing with a variety of color, resembling Stella's bright character. I also chose to do this in order to make the presentation engaging. I used the following colors: yellow, green, orange, blue, pink, and white. Below, I have a video of the PowerPoint (without the voiceover) to show you all how the slides are looking as of right now...

    I still have some things to add, and some things to remove from the PowerPoint, but I wanted you all to be able to really see the progress, and see the changes I make along the way, so I decided to share what I currently have. For instance, I want to remove some words to make it more concise and add the citations for the research I did. From here, the only thing I am missing is to edit the PowerPoint a bit more and create/ add the voiceover onto the presentation. 

Media Product #2: Interview

    Moving on to the interview of the CCR, I decided to write the script for the dialogue I will be using during the recording of the interview. All I did was edit my responses from the word document, modify the language to make it sound natural for an interview and put it in script form. Below I have screenshots of my script that I created, that I will be using during filming to guide the production process... 

    While I did modify the language before transferring the responses, I still will be revisiting the script just in case there are any mistakes that I missed before. However, from what I have seen so far, there isn't too much that I have to change. But having the script ready for now, means that my next step would be the production process, where I film all of the shots that I have to film for this interview to come to life. So, soon I will have to film the scenes for the interview, and I will have to record the voiceover for the presentation. 

    Anyways, I will be moving on to filming/ recording what I need to for both of the media products for the CCR. So, stay tuned for my next update on my progress as I work through the CCR!

Creative Critical Reflection: Group Meetings

 CCR: Group Meetings

    Hey everyone! I am back with an update on my Creative Critical Reflection. So, as you all know, I have had some doubts on what two media products I should choose to create my CCR. Well, I am pleased to say that I have officially chosen my two options, and I have chosen them with the help of a group meeting that my AICE Media Studies teacher created in class today. 

Group Meeting: Discussions 

    The purpose of the group meetings is to be able to share your ideas and give feedback to your peers. So, during the group meetings, i decided to take advantage of the fact that we were receiving feedback and decided to express my concern/ doubt on my CCR options. I told my group that I wanted to choose two options that were the least time consuming, but that were also the most engaging options. I was looking for a balance between these two options, so I was not sure where my CCR was headed. 

    My peers were telling me that they recommend the talk show option and the presentation with a voiceover. I was told that the presentation with a voiceover would go well with the first two questions that I have to answer for the CCR. While the presentation does not require me to stand directly in front of the camera, it will have its visual aspects with the commentary, making it an engaging option. This option also would not be as time consuming as other options because it does not require any storyboard planning to film anything. 

    They also recommended the talk show, because during the interview sections, I did not have to look directly at the camera since it is normal to look at the "host" of the talk show. This would also mean that I would not have to memorize any lines of my responses, especially considering how complex the answers may be. My only doubt with these options is that I would have to plan out the shots, since I have to actually film this, and that I would need another actor to play the host of the talk show. However, I could just ask a family member or a friend to help me out with the part. Even though this would be engaging, I would not want to rely on finding another actor to help me out, so I will be doing an interview where I read the most trending questions about me or my production. The only thing is that I have to memorize what I will say because I would not want it to look like I am reading off something. I just want it to seem natural, like a normal interview. 

    So, my final options will be the presentation with the voice over and the interview.

Moving Forward

    Having the options that I have now chosen; I have to begin working on my CCR. For the presentation with the voiceover, I will be using PowerPoint, since I am experienced with using it, and it has a voiceover option, making it easier to work with. For the interview, I want a plain background with just a few props that may help give away the idea that the video is an interview. For now, I will be finishing up my answers that I typed out for each question, and then modify them as I begin working on my actual CCR. 

    Anyways, that is all for now as I wrap up the planning process for my CCR. Stay tuned for my next update on my CCR!

Creative Critical Reflection: What is the Plan?

Creative Critical Reflection: Plan

     Hey everyone! I am back with an update for the Cambridge Portfolio Project, as I will be moving from the Film Opening Project to the Creative Critical Reflection (CCR). So, starting now, my main focus will be the CCR, and I have been using my notes that I took in my AICE Media Studies class on the CCR, which I have put below for reference...

    These notes really helped me get a better understanding of how I should be approaching these questions and ensuring that my responses answer every part of each question. While I know that I have to choose two different media products through which I share my responses, I haven't been able to pick my final two. Here are my options: a presentation with a voiceover, a talk show, and an enhanced podcast. Since from these three options I haven't been able to pick my top two, I decided to hold off on the decision for a bit and in the mean while come up with my responses to the 4 questions. 

    My only final decision from the media products is to do the enhanced podcast, but I am not sure about which one my second choice would be. However, for the enhanced podcast, I am planning on answering questions 3 (How did your production skills develop throughout this project?) and 4 (How did you integrate technologies - software, hardware and online - in this project?). So, whichever media product is chosen as my second option will be answering questions 1 (How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?) and 2 (How does your production engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?).

    I do have a few doubts on the media products that I can choose, so I will be asking my AICE Media Studies teacher on Monday whether or not my plans would work. Based off of the advice I get, my choices for the media products of the CCR may change, but by the beginning of next week, my plans will all be sorted out. 

   Anyways, stay tuned for my next update with me in this journey of completing my Cambridge Portfolio Project!

Film Opening Project: Post-Production (Editing)

 The Editing Process

    Hey everyone! I am back with an update on me and Natalia's journey through the film opening project. Right now, we have just finished a very important step that brings all of the shots we have together, the editing process! Just a reminder, me and Natalia filmed all of the shots with her iPhone, and we edited everything on her iPhone using the app, Cap Cut. So, let me begin bringing you all along through this process. 

Step 1: Making Choices

    The very first thing that we did while editing was place all of our shots onto Cap Cut to get an idea of how much content we have, versus how much we can keep. We started with a total of nine minutes, when the maximum length of the film opening can be two minutes. This was definitely overwhelming to work with, considering how much we had to remove, but I feel that it is better to have more than less content. Me and Natalia looked over the clips several times, and each time we deleted shots that we feel are repetitive or added little to no significance to the story.

    These are screenshots of all of the shots we had for the project, and many of them are lengthy, which made much more difficult to choose was should go and what should stay.

    After a while of contemplating what we should keep, we ended having the project be under 2 minutes, which was the goal, since the addition of the credits would add more time to the project. So, now that we have chosen which clips to keep, we then had to establish the order of these shots...

Step 2: Establishing the Order

    Establishing the order of the shots was also a very time-consuming process, since there were many orders that we could go about choosing. To approach this idea, we first discussed which shots would belong in the beginning, the middle, and the end. This would help lessen the amount of content we have to work with, making everything clearer. Think of it this way:

    Beginning: Credits, Close ups of Stella

    Middle: Documentary scenes/ interview sections

    End: Stella's emotional scenes, title insert, bedroom scenes

    After doing so, we then just experimented with the order, and then watch the video over and over, until we found the best option that we both agreed on. When we finalized our decision on the order, we added some fades to a few transitions between any shots showing Stella to give off the idea that lots of time is passing.

Step 3: Credits/ Title

    Once we had all of the shots in place with the right transitions placed, we knew that the film opening needed credits and a title. To start with the credits, we knew that we needed to mention the following...

- Producer

- Director

- Cinematographer

- Editor

- Writer 

- Main Actors

    For these credits, me and Natalia put both of our names for all of them except main actors, since I did not show my face on camera. We paid special attention to our font choices for the project, as Cap Cut has a large variety of fonts to choose from. Below is a screenshot of just a few of many fonts that we were able to choose from...

    For the font of the credit, we wanted to make it simple, since the font of the title later on should be what stands out more. However, the white text we used over the black, outlines the words to bring the viewer's attention to the names. Also, we edited the credits to make them change on beat with the audio, which I will be discussing shortly. 

    

    Moving on to the title, we wanted to make it stand out, make it seem more dramatic. The title is Stella, the main character's name, which also means "star." For the color of the font, we chose yellow, since that is usually the first color that one thinks of when thinking of a star. Also, yellow is associated with happiness and pleasure, which in Stella's character, is challenged throughout our film. 

    We also decided that it would be best to insert this title within an extreme long shot of Stella sitting by herself in the movie theater, as a way to further emphasize the idea that the film will revolve around her only, and her journey of trying to become something more in the acting industry. Below is a photo of what the font looks like over the extreme long shot...

    After finalizing the credits and the title, we had the last, yet very important part to this process, being audio.

Step 4: Audio

    Once we finalized all of the visual components of the film opening together, we had to work through the auditory components of the film opening. In the film opening, we used both diegetic and non- diegetic audio. Our diegetic audio would be any audio from the film that Stella is watching in our film opening. Our non-diegetic audio would be the score that can be heard throughout the film opening. We first wanted to tackle the audio that deals with the documentary/ interview scenes from the film that Stella watches. 

    Due to background noises heard during the shots we filmed, we had to use a separate device to capture audio, meaning that we had to sync the visual shots to the audio of the interview. We had to transfer the audio over the video, and keep moving the audio by seconds, until we were able to perfectly sync them together. This did take a while to perfect, since we wanted to ensure that it looked like the actress was really speaking directly from the video. 

    We then decided to take separate audios from the same "interview" and place it as a voice over that plays across the film opening during the close-up shots of Stella. This way, the viewer would know that Stella is already watching the film and can understand what it is exactly that the actress said that moved, Stella. The voice over also adds a nice touch to the overall production, considering how empty it sounds, even with the score in the back. 

    To add in the score, we had to create layers of audio so that the voice overs and the score wouldn't clash with each other. Below is a picture of what the layers looked like...

    Now you might be wondering, "Where did the score come from?" The score that we chose comes from a website that offers a variety of tracks that are copyright free music, called Uppbeat.io. One aspect of this website that we truly appreciated was it its organization; it was very easy to find an audio that suits our video, as below each track there were two words that described them. Below is a screenshot of how this looked like...

    To choose the audio that we were both satisfied with, we played each track we saw and after a few seconds, we said our opinions. Once we found a track that we were both satisfied with and felt suited the film opening, we added it to our film opening. For the intro of the film where the credits are, the score was slightly louder than in the rest of the opening, because we were concerned about the score being overwhelming and blocking the voice over. After inserting this audio and adjusting the volume, we officially completed the film opening project!

    Anyways, editing is quite a tedious process, but it is definitely an important one. That is why I felt it was important to explain each step, to clarify how exactly we went about each part of the process. This concludes the work for the film opening project, as I now have to work on my Creative Critical Reflection (CCR). 

    Stay tuned for my next update on the Cambridge Portfolio Project, as I move along to work on my CCR!

References

“Free Music for Creators.” Uppbeat.io, uppbeat.io/?rt=ppc_bing_search_general_usa&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=search_general_usa&utm_content=&utm_term=copyright%20free%20music&msclkid=b5d57820d69b19e303d21c3bbb816e2a. Accessed 22 Mar. 2023.

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Film Opening Project: Final Shots

 The Final Shots

    Hey everyone! I am back to fill you all in with the progress of me and Natalia's film opening project. This is officially the last thing that me and Natalia had to do in terms of the production process. So, right after this, we will be jumping straight into the editing process. But for now, I will be explaining how we went about filming the last three shots. 

The Last of Filming

    So, as you all know, most of the shots were filmed at our school auditorium to resemble the theater, and the rest were filmed in my bedroom with a set design that represents Stella. However, there is a small moment in the film opening that uses an eyeline match from Stella to a shot of what she is watching. The film being played on the screen is super important, since it hints towards Stella's inner conflict towards the journeys of her future with acting. That is why we decided that the film Stella is watching should be a documentary of a famous actress (Patricia Sarmiento), who in the documentary is shown describing her journey while reaching success in the acting industry, while also giving advice to aspiring actresses like Stella. 

    The reason why these scenes were pushed so far back was that the person playing this part wasn't going to be available until this week. Now you may be asking yourselves, "Why didn't Hannah or Natalia play the part?" Natalia could not play the actress because she was already playing Stella, so it would confuse the audience since there would be two of her showing. I didn't play the actress because I am not comfortable being in front of a camera to act and am in recovery from a surgery that limits me from doing so. For those reasons, we decided to wait until the person playing the actress was ready. As soon as the person playing "Patricia Sarmiento" was ready, we took her to a nice location with lots of plants to set up the documentary scenes where she gives influential and emotional advice that moves Stella. 

    Thankfully, filming these scenes did not take too long, since it was only three short shots of Patricia giving out advice. Even though it was not time consuming, we ran into two issues that we were luckily able to fix. We had two major issues...

Two Issues: How we dealt with them

#1: Audio

    The first issue that we ran into had to do with the audio. When we were recording the scenes, we decided to do a test run, where the actress for Patricia says anything, and then we make sure that everything is okay with that shot. So, after doing the test run, we noticed that we could barely hear what the actress was saying, as there were many background noises, making her speech inaudible. When trying to brainstorm ideas on how to fix this, I thought of using the little microphone attached to people's clothing during interviews to capture their dialogue, but we do not own one of those. Then, we came up with the idea of putting another iPhone very close to the face of the actress, but far enough so that it does not show in the video. With this technique, we were able to properly record Patricia while capturing her speech clearly.

#2: Memorization/ Shots

    The second issue that we ran into had to with the actress herself. English is not "Patricia's" first language, so it was challenging to have her memorize a whole speech to repeat while looking into a camera. After several test runs, it was clear that we had to think of another plan. We then thought of the idea to have her wear sunglasses, so that her eyes do not show when she reads off the script and to give her more of an "I'm famous" look. Even though this did help block her eye movement, it was still obvious that she did not memorize a script and was reading off of one. Which is why we than decided to separate the shots, showing different angles of Patricia's face. This would help separate the lines that she had to memorize, which was much easier for her and ended up working. With this technique, we were able to film the documentary while making it look like she was not reading off of a script. This also means that we had to sync the video with the audio, which wasn't too challenging...

    This is a screenshot of how we edited the video with the synced audio below! However, this is one of many aspects to our film opening project. I don't want to spoil too much of my next update, since I will be talking about the editing process. 

    Anyways, stay tuned for my next update on our journey towards the completion of our film opening project!

Film Opening Project: Editing Software Options

 Editing Software Options: Which One to Choose?

    Hey everyone! I am back with another update of me and Natalia's journey though the film opening project. I realized that I had never talked much about editing, specifically on which platform we will be using. So, for this post, I wanted to walk you all through our original choices, our thought process along the way, and the final decision. 

What were we considering?

  Adobe Premiere Pro  

    The first option we were considering was Adobe Premiere Pro. We both knew that out of the three options, Adobe seemed to have the most flexibility in terms of creativity, as they offer the most variety in editing options within the platform. However, this is what causes Adobe to seem intimidating and overwhelming, considering how complex the platform is and how unexperienced the both of us are with this platform. Even though there are many tutorials online on how to use the platform, we would rather use a platform that we were both experienced in using. 

iMovie

    The second option we were considering was iMovie. The main benefit that me and Natalia would have from iMovie was how we are both experienced with the app, and we are well aware on how to use it. One issue that we have with iMovie is how there are times when the features of the iMovie platform do not support our projects. There have been times in the past where at least I have had to change editing platforms so that I could edit any videos in a way that iMovie couldn't do. So, based on our past experiences with this platform, we don't want to risk anything. 

Cap Cut

    The third option (the winner!) we were considering and will now be using is Cap Cut. Like iMovie, Cap Cut is also an editing platform that both me and Natalia have experience in based on past projects. In terms of the variety in features within the platform, Cap Cut would be in between Adobe Premiere Pro and iMovie. Cap Cut has a good amount of features for editing, but it does not reach to an overwhelming amount. Me and Natalia also have not had any major issues with Cap Cut, so it also feels like the safest options. 

    This research on our editing software options has ensured us that we will be taking the least number of risks during the post productions process while helping us create a quality film opening project. Anyways, stay tuned for my next update on our journey with the film opening project!

References / Photo Credits:

Thinglink. “Adobe Premiere pro Was Used in Post-Production for the Ed...” Www.thinglink.com, www.thinglink.com/scene/904356246851682307. Accessed 20 Mar. 2023.

‌“IMovie App Logo - LogoDix.” Logodix.com, logodix.com/imovie-app. Accessed 20 Mar. 2023.

‌Service, App Customer. “Popular Photo Video Applications.” App Customer Service!, appcustomerservice.com/category/6008/photo-video. Accessed 20 Mar. 2023.

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Film Opening Project: Production Process Part 2

 Production: Part 2 (Filming)

    Hey everyone! I am back with more updates on me and Natalia's journey towards the film opening project, and I will be specifically talking about the filming process after setting up everything. However, before I begin, I would like to clarify that we did film lots of shots for the film opening, but I won't have to many visual examples to show due to some technical issues I have been dealing with on my part (since we filmed on Natalia's iPhone, a very new and high quality phone, none of my devices can support the quality, so I was not able to transfer many examples on to my devices). 

The Majority

    Since a big part of our film opening is reliant on the emotions and character of Stella, our most used shots would be close ups. The whole point of our idea is to introduce our character, Stella, without creating an actual, proper introduction. We just want to throw hints at the audience that relate to Stella's emotional connection to acting. Again, I would put more examples, but I was only able to grab a few that my device can handle, so here they are!

 

    Here is a close up of Stella's face as she watches the film being played on the screen. This is one of several close ups filmed throughout the opening.

    Here is an extreme close up of Stella's eyes as she watches the film and feels captivated and influenced by its message. 

Lighting

    Now some you may be asking yourselves, "How did you and Natalia manage to show light on Stella even with the auditorium lights off?' Honestly, all we did was project a film of our choice on the screen (we chose Rocky Balboa) so that it would look realistic, as if Stella is actually watching a film. However, it did take a while to find the appropriate scenes in the film with the brightest lighting, because in some shots, one could barely see Stella. And although the lighting is supposed to be dark at times in a movie theater, this is not a visual that we wanted to show, as we wanted to make sure that Stella was shown clearly throughout the film opening. 

    And then again, you all may be asking yourselves this other question: "Why didn't you and Natalia just display a bright photo onto the projector so that way you guys don't have to worry about finding bright scenes?' Honestly, this was brought up as an idea after struggling a bit with the film being projected, but we felt that the film opening would lose its realism because the light reflecting on Stella's face would remain the same. And usually, when you watch a film, the light changes on your face, so we decided to avoid this technique. 

    So, even though the way we worked with the lighting was more time consuming, we do feel that it does add to the film opening's quality and detailing. 

What Now?

    Me and Natalia have decided to meet up in the beginning of next week to carefully revise everything we have filmed and make sure that we are satisfied with what we filmed. If not, they we may refilm a few scenes that could use more work or inspire us to add more to it. From there, we will then have to edit the film opening, which includes the credits and title inserts. We will also be keeping the instruction next to us so we are 100% that we meet all of the requirements for the high scoring film opening. 

    Anyways, I am definitely looking forward to continue working with Natalia on our film opening project, so stay tuned for my next update on this journey!