Reflection on Final Product:
Our film is a drama, therefore our final product incorporates several conventions the drama genre, Such as the use of a realistic setting, a relatable protagonist, and a theme based on real-life issues. Throughout the film our hard-of-hearing protagonist Debra represents the teenage social group as she is is introduced to Deaf culture for the first time.
Drama films generally aim to tell an honest story of human struggles. As Lexi and I are both students of ASL, or American Sign Language, it was especially important to both of us to not only showcase Debra’s struggle with her identity as a musician, but also the adversity that hard-of-hearing people may encounter in a hearing society. The film opening may not directly establish these concepts, however, they are implicit through the foreshadowing and build-up of the initial 2-minutes, which is typical within the drama genre.
Due to the wide range of drama films, the target audience may vary by sub-genre.
While our film does not quite fall into the categorization of any these subgenres, Lexi and I anticipate that our film will appeal to 15-21 year olds, as the protagonist, Debra, is a teenager and advances the entire plot through her perspective. This production also engages with audiences through the inclusion of a plot twist and a realistic struggle that viewers of the Deaf or hard of hearing community may be able to relate to. As a media text, we would choose to distribute our product through streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu, as Lexi and I feel that this allows us to connect to our younger target audience, who frequent these sites more than any age group.
My production skills have advanced substantially throughout the making of Resonance. Prior to filming, I had little experience directing a production, other than the small projects that we had to complete in class. I definitely credit all of the AICE Media concepts and terminology we learned this year to the success of my production. With this knowledge, I was able to plan out my entire vision and apply techniques that I learned, and with the combination of Lexi’s help, we were able to make something that we are both proud of and tell a story that we felt needed to be told.
To film the production we used my Samsung NX mini camera which is portable, compact and provides crisper quality than our iPhones. I also demonstrated the integration of technology with my manipulation of the studio software GarageBand, which I used to record the film’s vocal and instrumental tracks.
During the editing phase, my partner Lexi and I collaborated to edit on iMovie, a film-editing software that we both agreed was easier to use than the online software WeVideo, which we had been introduced to in class. Additionally, one of the biggest aspects of this production was the creation of a 7-week blog documenting the whole process in detail. In my blog, I recorded the ups and the downs of film-making, and now I realize reflecting on the project’s every minor detail allowed me to grow as a media student and film-maker.
SPRING BREAK (but not really a break)
School is currently out for spring break, but all I can think about is the time crunch that my partner Lexi and I will face once she gets back from her vacation... We've planned to start filming Tuesday April 2nd, because neither of us have prior engagements that day and school will be out that day.
I realized we shouldn't simply worry about the future ( but instead plan ahead like crazy so that our project will turn out how we want it to. Thus, in this blog post I will be organizing the details that will go into our film opening:
I realized we shouldn't simply worry about the future ( but instead plan ahead like crazy so that our project will turn out how we want it to. Thus, in this blog post I will be organizing the details that will go into our film opening:
- Casting: Lexi and I have agreed from the start of the project that scouting an actor/actress to represent our protagonist would cause more stress than necessary. We decided that I will fulfill the role of the main character (the musician) and my dad is going to play the role of the father.
- Costume Design: After considering ways that the costume and makeup design could reflect the tone of the film or convey/foreshadow the main conflict, I decided that the character should be wearing clothes that reflect her status as a modern young musician. Since there will be two different settings (the park scene and montage sequence), I will have to choose two different outfits to promote the illusion that they were filmed at separate times.
- Title Sequence: First we need a title!!! I've considered suggestions from friends such as "To Be Heard" and "The Sound of Music" (LOL) but I definitely have to run all the ideas by my partner Lexi before we make a final decision...(to be continued). Anyway, regardless of the movie's title, we have to think about where the placement of the title is going to be. Perhaps this is a job for after filming and during the editing phase.
- Equipment: Although the camera quality on a newer iPhone is exceptional, Lexi and I have agreed that we prefer the crisper quality of my sister's Samsung camera and will be using it on Tuesday when we begin filming.
Making A Movie About A Musician, Almost Forgot The Music
The irony. I almost completely forgot about the music in the film opening. We wanted a diegetic piano track (sound is presented as if it originated from our film's world) to be playing in the titular scene of the film opening... however, I have yet to compose the track and record it. As the tone of our film is melancholic, it would make the most sense to use minor chords and play something slow and sappy, in order to follow drama conventions and create an appeal with the audience.
Luckily, the process of making a track/song isn't incredibly complex for me. I mentioned in a previous post that the software GarageBand was my initial inspiration for our character's musicial ability. Being musician myself in the real world, I have learned my way around the software. It has the capability to record what I play on my piano keyboard and saves it as a file that I can email, text or AirDrop to myself, which makes the process of recording minimal.
The process of composing is a different story. What should it sound like?? My partner Lexi told me to "just do some slow piano melody"... which wasn't very helpful. I'm pondering the idea of playing some soft minor chords coupled with some ambient vocals (me going "oooOohhh" or "aAHhhhH") for the title sequence, and then the rest of the film opening be the solely the piano instrumental. I of course have to run everything I consider past Lexi, but I really do think she'd love the idea.
I don't know if you can tell from the screen cap, but the music track essentially has two nuances to it. Initially, I created a piano track of the same 4 repeating chords and laid down a ambient vocal track on top of that. After that was finished, I made the instrumental track by muting the vocals and lowering the sound, and then recorded my character's monolgue on top of that track. Simple right?
The process of composing is a different story. What should it sound like?? My partner Lexi told me to "just do some slow piano melody"... which wasn't very helpful. I'm pondering the idea of playing some soft minor chords coupled with some ambient vocals (me going "oooOohhh" or "aAHhhhH") for the title sequence, and then the rest of the film opening be the solely the piano instrumental. I of course have to run everything I consider past Lexi, but I really do think she'd love the idea.
Screen-capture of GarageBand final product 💁:
I don't know if you can tell from the screen cap, but the music track essentially has two nuances to it. Initially, I created a piano track of the same 4 repeating chords and laid down a ambient vocal track on top of that. After that was finished, I made the instrumental track by muting the vocals and lowering the sound, and then recorded my character's monolgue on top of that track. Simple right?
Group Feedback Reflection #2
So today in class we worked in groups to discuss our projects for another feedback session. Going around in groups and hearing what everyone was working on was really inspiring...but also incredily stressful. One group is literally almost completely done with filming already and it's not even spring break yet! I have a disadvantage with my partner being gone on her vacation, but I have faith that we can rush the filming process if the planning is perfect. One girl from my group showed us her blog and it was so in-depth--there were so many pictures and of her asesthetic inspiration as well as behind the scenes from when her group was filming it was amazing! I'll be sure to take similar pictures and post them in a blog post:) Stay tuned!
~The Vision~
Welcome back to the Portfolio in Progress. Now that Lexi and I have overcome our major problem and actually have an idea, we can now begin the process of refining and adding details in this week so that we can start filming next Tuesday, which is a super testing day so we don't have school.
I will do my best in this post to articulate the vision for the 2-minutes:
I will do my best in this post to articulate the vision for the 2-minutes:
- Establish the main character as a musician in the first frames with diegetic sound of a piano melody playing (I'll either use a pre-existing track or create a new one with GarageBand)
- The sound of the song is interrupted by the protagonists' father who gestures her/him to follow him
- Scene cuts to a brief montage sequence which will build the character development of both the protagonist and her father. Narration will also begin in this sequence, which will continue for the duration of the 2 mins. Lexi and I have discussed the montage and are thinking that it will include shots of a father playing guitar and watching the protagonist play piano.
- The script has yet to be written, but we have decided that the protagonist must narrate something to reveal the bond between the protagonist and their father, as well as their corresponding relationship with music.
- The scene will then take a shift and begin explaining otosclerosis--the genetic disease that caused the protagonists father to lose his hearing. The narration will explain that their father was an aspiring musician like them but had to give it up.
- The next shot will cut back to the initial setting and reveal that under the protagonist's headphones there is a hearing aid...the narration will divulge the main conflict of the movie that will follow: the musician has inherited his/her father's disease and will continue to lose her hearing.
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| The plot conflict will be introduced when the main character reveals their hearing aid |
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