CCR (Creative Critical Reflection)

Here’s my CCR! It’s been a wild ride 🤧

No Longer A Portfolio in Progress!

It's finally done! Click here to view my finished foundation portfolio:

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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. 
4. 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.

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:

• 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.

The plot conflict will be introduced when
the main character reveals their hearing aid

WE THOUGHT OF A CONCEPT

So after spending an entire class period brainstorming together, I am proud to say that Lexi and I have finally agreed on a concept that I think is going to turn out really well!!! Here, I'll elaborate for you:

Right off the bat, we established that our protagonist should have a niche--something that makes his/her character memorable and more appealing to an audience (which is important in a drama!)

We took admittedly a long time to carefully consider the various directions that we could go in before commiting to one idea. I felt very strongly that it would be wise to make a movie incorporating things that I am an expert on--for example, I did not want to make the mistake of writing the main character as an art prodigy when I can barely draw stick figures.

Left Side: What I envisioned for the art
Right Side: What the art would have turned out like

The answer was music! The idea came to me in my media class while Lexi and I were spitballing for ideas, blurting out the first thing that came to our minds. It was a desperate attempt to find any suitable concept at that point, as we felt pressure to come up with something quick. I looked at my laptop which had GarageBand open (a digital music software) and that was when I suggested to Lexi that our main character be a musician. 

After spending half of another class period refining our plot, we decided the movie as a whole would revolve around a young musician who inherits a hereditary disorder that causes hearing loss and how s/he would handle the obstacles that arise. In the opening scene however, the protagonists' hearing disability is not revealed until the end--which not only satisfies my needfor a twist ending but also  

stays within genre conventions, as it is not unusual for a drama to peak the interest with a twist.

Group Feedback Reflection:

Today in class my classmates and I formed small groups (each person was from a different portfolio-project group,) and were told to share our concepts and ideas with each other in order to receive feedback and/or constructive criticism.

After going around the circle and listening to my peers' ideas, I realized that we are kind of behind relative to everyone else in class, because we haven't come up with an entire concept that we both agree on. My partner Lexi and I are, however, on the same page about the general vision for the movie: A protagonist who is living a better life now, but had a rough past/background. I wanted to introduce the main character's struggle through the use of flashbacks (super quick jump-cuts to a different setting with the subject in the same position throughout, like the 21 Savage video).

While I have the vision for a number of creative shots, I am struggling trying to come up with a movie plot-line that I think is adequate. I mean, if I am going to be working this hard on a film opening, I want to make sure that it makes sense to an audience! I am really impassioned to create something impressive, but time is running out! Lexi is going to be away for spring break, which starts the 22nd, and the project is due to our teacher the 7th of April...meaning, we have to rush to lock down a concept and just roll with it. Wish us luck.

MORE Research

My partner Lexi and I have decided to change our scene’s genre from horror to drama. The reasoning behind this decision comes from the fact that I believe the horror genre may be too ambitious, as well as not original enough. After discussing project ideas with friends, I soon realized that most of them were going to try to make a scary scene. With this new information, I deduced that if we continue to go in that direction, there would be a chance that our project would have the possibility of being very similar to someone else’s―which we obviously don’t want. Therefore, we are going to continue to brainstorm concepts this week, but this time in the context of drama conventions instead of horror.

1. Genre: Drama
2. Genre Conventions:
1. Content:
1. Realistic setting, characters, and storylines
2. The purpose is typically to tug on the audiences’ heart-strings and move them emotionally
3. Conflicts include realistic struggles depicting hardships, difficulty, and pain
4. A form of realization/epiphany at the end (may or may not have a happy ending)  
2. Production:
1. The use of gestures, objects or people will be utilized to emphasize the deeper meaning that is beyond the literal material
2. Color schemes will be used to signify the overall tone of each scene in a drama
3. “Dramatic” music (strings, soft piano), is often used to affect an emotional response from the audience
3. Institutional Conventions:
1. Marketing
1. Opening scene usually introduces/alludes to the main conflict but does not reveal the resolution
2. Main characters appear on talk shows and participate in interviews and promotional tours to build the hype of the film
3. Celebrity actors appearing in film help increase anticipation
4. Quotes from popular critic sources are typically embedded within the trailer (towards the end)
4. Drama Film Example:
1. A Star is Born (2018) https://youtu.be/nSbzyEJ8X9E
1. This film is the epitome of the drama genre, encompassing several standard conventions of the genre.
2. The trailer vaguely introduces a realistic struggle, alcoholism, but doesn’t reveal the resolution, if there even is one.
3. Production values were quality, showcasing the love story of the characters by including several dramatically intimate scenes of the couple meeting, falling in love, arguing, etc.
4. Lady Gaga appears as the female lead in the film, while Bradley Cooper directs AND stars as the male lead role. The double-celebrity appeal increases audience anticipation.

*LIGHTBULB*

Okay, I’ll admit it, over the weekend I honestly wasn’t actively trying to come up with ideas for our film opening, but I was watching a music video when inspiration just struck. What caught my eye was the video for 21 Savage’s new song, “A lot”. Assuming whoever reading this isn’t versed in the work of rapper 21 Savage, I will include pictures below of the particular element incorporated in the music video that grabbed my attention:

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The scene contrasts the subjects present (golden lighting, formal dress, happy demeanor) with their pasts (blue lighting, sad/angry facial expressions) 

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In the video, a large group of people can be seen around an extravagant dining table. They are all formally dressed and are seem to be enjoying themselves. What is interesting about the scene though, is how the video contrasts between this happy moment and what can be inferred to be the subjects’ pasts (being incarcerated, making drugs). The shots move from present to past while keeping the subject in the exact same position…. I personally think it’s a very clever way of telling their stories, in addition to just being an intriguing shot that captured my attention.

^ In case you couldn’t picture the shots I’m referring to,

check out the video yourself: https://youtu.be/DmWWqogr_r8

Brainstorming...

I am completely wiped out from watching so many sample film openings from our teacher’s archive. I’ve watched so many I lost count...but it’s not for naught! I feel much more inspired and motivated to work on our master plan after watching them. I quickly figured out what I personally look for in an opening scene—the drama of a plot twist. This one sample video I saw in particular did an excellent job at creating what appears to be a dramedy (genre combination of drama & comedy).

In the video, a narrator outlines the life of a successful businessman in a humorous way. At the end of the scene however, there is a freeze frame of the businessman’s face and the narrator informs the audience that he is not in fact living this lavish lifestyle at all. The final images in the scene show the narrator—the assumed main character—as a destitute homeless man who only dreams of living a better life.

The contrast and shift that occurs within this film opening is really striking and definitely sets it apart from the other projects. I would love to come up with an idea for our master plan that provokes the same effect without being too similar to this one.

Check it out for yourself!: https://youtu.be/Ec_rflhTBOs

I also loved the creativity put into the title sequence. It is a simple idea, but stands out in terms of unique quality, and sets it apart from the other projects that I have seen. I would like to do something similar in terms of unconventionality.

Welcome.

Hello viewers! This blog is where I will be posting periodical updates that should provide some insight on my upcoming film project...which has yet to be named. In fact, as we are in the preliminary stages, my partner Lexi and I have only just begun the process of searching for conceptual inspiration from the vast inventory of film opening examples that our teacher has made accessible to us.

We shared some of our favorite projects with one another and now that we both have an understanding of what did and did not work in each piece, we can more efficiently plan for the long road we have ahead of us. I am excited to post about all the progress we make throughout the course of the next seven weeks and eventually see our finished product 😻

However, until that moment arrives, we have a lot of work to do.

Lexi and I have both agreed to do the absolute most when it comes to ideas, planning, and preliminary research because we both wholeheartedly trust the power of a well thought out plan. Although the final product doesn’t have to be an exact match to our storyboards, we know from past experience that it is ESSENTIAL to have a vision and construct a detailed plan that we can work towards executing together.

Read on for more postings about our master plan!