CCR!

This my CCR hope you enjoy :) I included two links just in case!

-https://drive.google.com/open?id=1GPCzXw3bt0cNE9KzY00r4em_wVKH7Z8I

Affliction

This is our final portfolio project! There are two links just in case:

- https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Iy4H1a-ThQjcj3mbLfA9v4YQad1WD83_

good things must come to an end :)

Hello my amazing bloggers ! Sort of sad because this will “technically” be my last blog :( but I will recap my journey and what I’ve learned and gone through during this project! When I first started this project, I was very worried, I didn’t know if I could handle the stress of blogging, filming, and editing! I will admit it was hard having to fit filming days and editing days into my regular school life but I figured it out in the end with my group and we got it done. Essentially, with the unfortunate circumstances happening I could finish editing with a bunch of spare time on my hands. While filming we had so much fun, especially with our behind the scenes videos where we talking about what we were filming and recording what was happening behind the camera! We spent a lot of time together with our group and we became even closer! On our last filming day we didn’t know it would be the last time we would be able to see each other, so we had originally planned on editing together as a group! Therefore, when Quarantine took place I had to begin editing but we still communicated through our group chat, asking if they liked the font I chose or if the filter was good enough. Obviously I tried to fit what everyone thought was perfect for our project! Then we began to choose our music, sadly we originally wanted to place a Coldplay song but they were two months too late and we had already chosen our new song by Micco. on YouTube ! Finally on my last editing day, I made sure everything was perfect and began to render it and upload it onto the YouTube platform. The last and final thing I did was work on my CCR which worked out perfectly and I created a small intro and outro for my video! This project has really helped me reflect on learning new editing techniques and film some new shots that I had never done before. Ultimately, I really enjoyed this project and the group that I was working with! Special thanks to Mrs. Stoklosa, my group, and Cambridge for allowing this to happen!

Editing my CCR

For my CCR, I first decided to cut my clips through iMovie to make my life much easier! There was a lot to trim but it was only minute small details that were sort of unimportant. Afterward, I placed my clips onto After Effects where I began to create my Intro and Outro. I wanted to make these to fit my aesthetic and personality! I used some overlays from youtube and used the font that fit my style.

Completing my CCR!

So today I woke up bright and early to complete my CCR! As shown in my previous blog, I created a script and stuck with it. During filming, I combined reading my script and seeing what I wrote but putting it into different words because I didn't want to seem like I was only memorizing what I had written. There were some difficulties as sometimes I would say the wrong thing, so I would have to restart. Additionally, I think I may have over spoken because after finished, I viewed how long each video was and they were 5 minutes +... oops. I may have to figure out what to cut out during the editing process. Ultimately, I decided to film outside in my patio because there was much less noise and it was also really nice outside! I used a tripod to film on my phone and had my laptop next to my phone so I could visibly see what was written.

our final song

Good news and bad news! So today I received an email from the head of composition on behalf of Coldplay where they mentioned what the song would be used for and how we would be using it. Unfortunately, I have already arrived at the final stage of editing, where our song is already in place. After hours of searching, Jessica and I tried to find the song that would best be a match for our film opening. We finally found one by creator Micco. on Youtube, this creator allows anyone to use their beats and it is a non-copyright song. I do wish that we could've used the original song by Coldplay but unfortunately, they answered a month late and by then I had already finished the video. Additionally, I would have to contact the record label that holds the rights to the sound recording of Coldplay, which would most likely take another month. Therefore, we are sticking to our amazing youtube song!

prep for CCR

Hi everyone! Today I've begun writing my script for my CCR, where my main idea is creating a simple recording of myself answering the questions with specific research and images included. I will make the editing creative and match my personality! Mainly my strategy is viewing what I've written in my blogs and doing even more research to support my answer! I will be filming outside because there is SIGNIFICANTLY less noise than inside my busy house.

Final script

We had created a script during the first week of production but today it was finalized as we are almost finished editing.  I understand this may seem long overdue but with our current situation, I had to finish it by myself.

Fonts!

Hi everyone! so today I wanted to talk about what font we've chosen/ why we chose it! For us it was really important to choose a font that represented what our film was going to be about, therefore we picked something simple and natural: Handwriting. We didn't want to pick anything extra or too in your face because we want people to focus on what on the screen rather than the text. I found this font through Dafont.com! I have a video down below explaining and showing more of the use of the font.

Editing day two!

Hi everyone! Today I chose the color palette and filters I wanted to use over the video! I also cut out some extra pieces and whatever was necessary! I first started out with using orange/yellow-ish tones for the happy memory sequence, then blue/grey cool tones for the reality scenes. The cool tones represent the absence of the father and the warm tones represent the happiness that existed when the father was still there. Here is a time-lapse of some of the editing I did today:

Editing day one!

Hi my fellow bloggers, so today I took the advantage of the amount of time that I had and I decided to edit mostly what I could of our film opening. Today I mainly just composed all the clips together, cut out whatever was necessary and placed in the non-copyright music that we are going to use for our project. ( I will make a separate posting about that situation ). I am extremely happy to say that we are on the route to almost finishing our project!  The only things left that we have to do is find a font, complete the editing process, and choose what color palette we want for the different scenes. This video down below is a short time lapse of me editing some parts of the opening!

The struggle

Hey my self-quarantine pals! I wanted to create a blog post just talking about the struggle of not being able to really work together due to the situation occurring in the world right now. We are trying our best to still communicate but it is difficult when not everyone is active using their phones. Currently, I’m trying to find the best song for our production due to the fact that UMG and MGM did not answer us over the song Sparks by Coldplay :(. This is really upsetting but it’s okay!! We have other options such as non-copyright music from youtube. Since I am the only one with access to the editing program, I have to begin working on the project alone unfortunately. Hope you all stay healthy and safe, until next week!

use of technology

Hello my fellow self-distancing pals, hope you're all staying home and keeping yourselves healthy! Today I want to mention the different technologies we have used/will be using during our production.

Editing

For editing, as mentioned in my last post, I will be using the software: Adobe After Effects (for more info. view my last blog). Additionally, to fully be able to edit I will be using a MacBook Air (Apple product).

Filming

Since we already filmed, the device that we primarily used was my Canon t6i camera to film our opening! Additionally, for our behind the scenes clips, we used my iPhone 8 to document, as well as Jessicas phone. 

Pre-production

When we first began to plan out our film opening, I used the technology offered by our school, Cypress Bay High, to plan out everything. As well as using google docs, the mood board application, and Youtube to choose our song.

Editing

Due to having lots of free time because of the unfortunate circumstances occurring in our world right now, we have decided to take advantage of it and begin editing. Today we just accumulated all the clips, named them correctly by scene, placed them with different colors, and put them in order! The editing program we’re using is Adobe After Effects. I really personally love this program because I’m very used to it since I usually like to edit on it for fun! I understand that it’s a very complicated program but since I’m comfortable with it, it’s simple to create a film opening on it!

filming day two!

    Hello, my fellow bloggers! Today we filmed the rest of our project and placed all of our clips onto the editing program (Adobe After Effects). Here is some of our filming progress with the entire group:

target audience

During our pre-planning stage, we had already chosen our target audience from day one. Due to our films' heavy subject matter, we understand that mainly teenagers or younger children may not be able to sympathize with it or enjoy it. Therefore, our target audience is ages 18-30 years old making it a more mature audience. One great example of a story that inspired us and has a heaving subject matter is Marriage story by Noah Baumbach, where we can see that the rating is R, meaning that the target audience is older and directed towards younger adults/ adults.

Marriage story by Noah Baumbach (2019)

Additionally, we want out target audience to consist of middle-class individuals, both males and females (typically drama genres involve males as well but females are more targeted towards), college and working individuals, and again, as stated, ages 18-30. 

Representation

As our group is all Hispanic/Spanish ethnicity, we felt it was very important to incorporate some of our culture into the opening. Jessica and her family are from Cuba/Colombia and they really enjoy expressing where they're from! According to research done by The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at USC, they found that "of the 100 top-grossing films each year from 2007 to 2018, only three percent featured Latino actors in lead or co-lead roles." Additionally, our lead character is a young girl, as well as the opening being directed, produced, and edited by an all-woman team. Therefore, we wanted to make something meaningful that is not as represented in film.

In reality, typically in Hollywood Latinos are represented in a stereotypical way.  According to MarketWatch, "Some 28% of top-billed Latino actors and 24% of Latino speaking characters were portrayed as either violent or non-violent lawbreakers with 62% of these law-breaking characters taking part in organized crime." We want our project to represent a Latino family that is accurate and depicts what we actually are like.

costume design

Before we began filming some of our scenes, we decided that choosing certain outfits that correlated with the situation was very important. For example, during the memory sequence, we used clothing that had a pop of color or was very colorful, such as the Christmas scene! Additionally, with the first scene that we filmed of reality, it was very important to use dark clothing representing the sadness within the character.

pancake scene ( felt that a colorful shirt was
useful to represent happiness)

Christmas scene

Driving scene

reality scene- waking up

Filming day #1

Unfortunately, today Jennifer and Milena could not make it but the show still must go on! We began to film scenes that were indoor shots due to the fact that it was rainy and windy outside-- which would not match up with our happy scenes-- therefore, we only filmed what we could.

We also decided it would be fun to film some behind the scenes!

Mise-en-scene elements

Setting

- We are mainly using Jessica's house as the set design, where there will be a sense of a home feel and to set up the correct atmosphere of the opening. Ex. the cooking scene will be filmed in Jessica's kitchen or the soccer will be filmed in her backyard (a large green field).  

Outfits

- With our costume design we want to include symbolism and a color difference! During the happy, past moments the family will mainly wear brighter colors: whites, yellow, pinks etc.. opposed to the darker, present scenes where Jessica and her mom will wear dark shades: Black, grey, dark blue etc..

Lighting

- With lighting, we want to create a bright, natural light or high-key lighting during the memory scene, and with the present scene, low-key lighting will be used to create little light and somewhat darkness.

Coloring

- With our project, we felt that color was very important to differentiate reality vs. memory. During our memory sequence, we want to include browns/orange tones to create a dream-like aspect to it and a warm, heart-felt feelings. In contrast, we will use blues and darker tones to show the sadness that the mom and daughter feel. Here are some great examples of the types of colors we want to embody from @colorpalette.cinema on Instagram: 

Group meetings

Today we did a group discussion where we discussed about each of our projects and we really talked everything out and gained a new perspective on how we can better our openings. After explaining how our film is about the struggle of losing a parent, a peer explained how they recently lost their parent as well. While hearing their experience and how they felt throughout the process, I really gained insight on how I could add new ideas to our group. I also really enjoyed hearing and giving advice to other people, which helped them understand how to make their project better. One interesting thing that we did was compare the film openings to certain movies we thought could be related to them. Such as with one of the projects being about being a social media influencer and a teenager with the movie Eighth Grade by Bo Burnham. Overall this was such a great experience and feel like it really helped me think of some new ideas!

new storyboard

This new storyboard shows our new ideas planned out in a rough sketch. Personally, I'm a very get the list done type of person so I prefer to create a list of shots that we definitely want to use in our video. However, this is our visual version of the shots!

big updates!

Today we made a big jump, as we talked to Mrs. Stoklosa on ways that we could improve our film opening. We were sort of stuck in a pickle thinking it was going to see cliche or cheesy due to the memory sequence, but after discussing we decided to include certain memories which include different emotions: happy, sad, nervous, frustration, etc. Additionally, we are including a mother to emphasize the loneliness of the family.

Our main story

The opening begins with the memory sequence about the entire family. We will start off with a black screen, and the diegetic sound of laughter. Following that the first memory scene will start.  This will include our credits and our title ( we may title our story Affliction). Then our next scene will be the loneliness, where the mother will first be shown alone in her bed and a few sequences of the mother and daughter in silence.

Music rights!

Today I reached our towards UMG to see if I could use Sparks by Coldplay as our main song during the memory sequence. Hopefully, they respond to my license request and we can use that beautiful song!

Finding our actors

I am happy to state that we finally found our actors! We were hoping to include the application portion but we realized it would most likely take a lot of time and we must start filming. Therefore, Jessica and her parents have volunteered to be our actors.

Finding emotion

We felt that it was very important to include actors who could really capture the emotional aspect of our film opening since it does include an emotional sequence of family memories and the young girl crying about her past. This will allow us to engage the audience whenever they are viewing the opening, where they can feel empathy for the character.

Finding our actors

We are using different methods to try and find our lead actress, such as creating a "tryout" form where we can ask people through our social media if they would like to participate and share their experience. Recently, I've gotten a few people who have reached out and want to participate!

Changes to our project

During our group discussion, we decided we wanted to keep the storytelling of losing a loved one, but incorporating past memories. We believed that the original story-line might cause people to become bored since it was about the main character getting ready throughout her day and finding out about the loss of her parent. We wanted to create something with more emotion and that can grab our audience to become intrigued. Our main message of the story now is how a young teenager will discover grief and how to move on with her life.

 First, we want the main character to first be looking at photos from the past, and the time and setting changes to that certain photograph. Then as the memories are shown, we will incorporate a golden (yellow/orange) color palette to show a warm feeling of happiness. Suddenly, it'll change to a blue/dark coloring to distinguish the difference between fantasy and reality.

Additionally, we decided to incorporate a mood board, therefore, we can branch out with certain tones that we want or ideas that we can add on.

storyboard sketch

While planning out our ideas, we decided that creating a rough draft storyboard would really help our imagination on certain techniques and shots that we could possibly use in our final project.

 The scenario that we planned out is from Jennifer's point of view. She first wakes up in the morning and has a completely normal day, but throughout she has a weird, lonely feeling. We included a plant as symbolism in our story, where it represents her father's passing. Jennifer then comes home sees the plant in a dying state and receives a phone call from her mother about what has occurred. This is just our first rough draft, we plan to include more detail and various shots but this is our beginning ideas.

Our shooting/planning schedule

During our time in class, we decided to plan our entire schedule from day one to our final day (February-March). As you can see in the first two weeks, we are using our time dedicated to planning out our ideas and such as well as discussing important elements. Additionally, in March we will begin to film and edit. 

Research!

During the research process for our film opening, we have decided we wanted to base our film on something we can relate to Coming-of-age Drama movies. While discussing in class, we quickly realized we wanted to create something meaningful about our teenage struggles/ life processes. Jennifer mentioned to us that her father passed away a few years ago and that she wanted to show her struggle of going through it. We developed a real-life depiction of what Jennifer felt when it first happened. This is a very important story to Jennifer and our group, and we want to show exactly what someone might be going through behind closed doors. 

The Edge of Seventeen

We felt like this most resonated with our story, where Nadine's father passes away and she lives with that struggle of living with it. It is also a coming-of-age story about a teenager growing up.

The struggle of losing a parent

“When a parent dies when you are young, it’s like you are left to free-fall without a parachute while everyone around you is getting helicoptered-parented well into their 30s.”

- Huffington Post.

We want to create something meaningful that would at the same time help anyone who can relate to the feeling, where they will know- they are not alone. Additionally, according to an article on Vice, "An estimated 1.5 million US children lose one or both parents by the age of 15, comprising about five percent of the population. In younger children, grief often manifests in anxiety. Because children rely on their parents to meet their basic needs, kids who have lost a parent may ask who will pick them up from school or make dinner. They sometimes worry about their surviving parent dying, too."