Critical Reflection

 1. How do your products represent social groups?

    Over the course of my journey through the planning, story-boarding, filming, editing, and uploading process I was able to think about what I wanted or hoped to get out of the film. Overall, I had multiple scenes that I had to cut out of the finalizing of the film as it was just too long and way past 5 minutes long. I tried to make my film as concise and easy to watch as possible. I really wanted my film to have three different and unique woman of different ages and personalities reaching their goal of taking down Itai a man who has been giving Ace the main female character a bad reputation on her soon to be insurance company Rawling Rivers. I wanted my movie to inspire young girls and women that we can have such positions and work our way to the top which in this case was to get their hands on a document that Itai has been hiding as it could possibly expose his true intentions. People also in any business work force could also relate to the fact that businesses also don't always play fairly with others especially their competition. I wanted to make the leading roles, females as I believe not enough women have such leading and important roles so I wanted to change that by even casting myself to play a male role. Another social group I believe my film might also inspire or relate to is teenagers as I am myself one and tried to brand my social media sites with lots of pictures and an attracting description to attract my audience as much as can. I also posted mostly on Twitter and Facebook in hopes to attract more mature audiences as much as I can. 

2. How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of "branding"?

    I didn't start thinking about branding my movie up until I started doing my storyboard and thought about all the different ways I could advertise and different content I could post on my social media sites and even YouTube. Once I actually started filming that is when I realized how much harder it really is and why most companies and businesses have people that are specifically working on that department. Once I started posting was when I realized that I am probably not the best at keeping up with social media and keeping up with my followers making sure that content is always available for the audience. Looking back, I am glad that I was able to start learning about branding as I really didn't know how much goes into making a brand stand out such as Paramount for example when you see the iconic opening of the mountain and stars around. If I were to be honest I don't think I was able to brand anything specific from this movie except for the constant use of the fact that this movie is an empowering movie to women. I felt like if I was given a longer duration of the movie I would be able to convey a more direct message about it unlike the way that I was able to for my final production. If I were to continue branding my movie from the point forward I would most likely have my friend Amy be a part of the process and make her the director of social media as she constantly posting and on social media all day long. If she were a part of this process she probably would have done a better job than I have done but I am still proud of my progress and what I have done for my movie. 

3. How do your products engage with the audience?

    The only aspect that truly is interacting with my audience would be through the website for my movie and the social media links that I made live on the website. Through the movie I tried my best to not look at the camera and make it feel like a real movie than just a short introduction like last year. I learned that through social media such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube I will have the most interaction through the comments, posts, and stories that go up. I also made sure that the interaction between me and my audience will be a positive one as I made sure to mention in the description box when uploading the final movie to keep it positive in the comments and to spread kindness. Another interaction later would be through the sales of merchandise and CD's or even through streaming platforms since everything is online now due to the pandemic, but that will be further done the road when I have certain amount of following and based on the reviews. This is another aspect that I could improve on as I feel like I had little interaction and could have used more by taking advantage of what I had on social media. If only I was more confident and understood how to use social media to its fullest potential that is when I think I would have had the most interaction with my audience. I wished I would have used as much as of the time I spent filming and editing on the interaction with my audience to make sure they are engaged and truly are excited for the films release. 

4. How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?

    Originally the time that I spent researching for the thriller genre of my film and the conventions that I also researched to make sure my film challenged or used conventions did not go according to plan looking back on it now. My movie doesn't feel like a thriller mainly because the scene that would have probably defined it I had to cut out due to the film being way too long. I had to cut it out and put the important details that defined the entire film more than it would have defined the genre of the film. Overall I am proud of what I have produced and posted for all of you to see, it's just I feel like I could have done way better if the film was longer and I could fit all the scenes that I had to cut out. My film really felt out of the box and definitely challenges most of the traditional thriller aspects. I had a character named Rish in the film portray the thriller aspect through her personality and actions. Rish is a 17 year old chaotic teen that is a high school dropout and is street smart. She has a fun yet angry personality in which she does things that either will help her boss Ace out in the long run or to help herself. The only thriller aspect of the movie was cut out in order to help the audience understand and have a more enjoyable time watching the film. I learned that I really need to think about the genre and conventions for a longer time before I start creating as I tend to change things up later in the film or end up forgetting. I need to learn to take a more daring and risk taking approach to make the movie truly feel like a thriller and get the audience to feel suspenseful. 

Editing, social media, and all the updates

     Today I am going to do a basic update on what I have done so far for my short film package as I have been researching and finalizing my final movie to be published. I am going to update my social media tomorrow as I have had a lot of homework and work to focus on today so my mind was not thinking about my film at all today. I have been editing every single chance I can to have it peer reviewed and re-edited if necessary. So far I am almost complete and all I really need to do is add the titles and make sure that my film is 5 minutes long. I am going to post pictures that I took from the days we were filming and I already have a caption prepared all I have to do is just upload. I kinda feel bad that I am going to be spamming it all tomorrow but its the only chance I will have to do so. I also will be publishing the final movie once I am complete editing it onto my YouTube channel that I created for the film. I will also be posting a short film package on my blog giving you the access to everything related to the film through my blogs. I can;t wait to provide you all with everything I have and this is the first time I ever branded a film and created an actual movie with a beginning, middle, and end so I am excited. I also can't wait to watch my classmates films and see what they have created and branded as well.

    I also want to have a separate blog where I provide you all with my screenplay just because I want you to see my full thought process and idea I had for this movie, just in case something in the film is cut out which I am keeping in most so that the story flows. I am going to probably do it over the weekend so that I can either insert it as a word document that can be easily opened or through google slides. I am also going to be working on my CCR over the weekend as well as taking some time to take a break and edit my film. I will also use my break time to check up on my social media's and upload on them. There is so much that I still have to learn about branding and promoting as I am not a huge social media person so I have much to learn in order to be an expert at it like most kids my age are. I understand and know the basics but when it comes to being all fancy online I have trouble doing so. This project as definitely taught me more about the internet and how much social media influences us especially during this pandemic. As for my website pictures I will not be making any new additions to it as I want most of the surprise to be revealed on the social media links on there and through the film. I just remembered that I also will work on Sunday on my post card and will be adding just the post card onto my website. I hope you enjoyed my little update, its not much but just to keep you informed and Hidden Behind a Woman will be coming out soon. 

Editing for my film

     Ever since I finished filming for my short film I have been editing every single day on IMovie to make my movie reach perfection. I have come so far from the last time I have edited as now I feel that the movie is coming much more together. My sister actually really enjoyed the film and liked the way I edited it as it is now less choppy and has a smooth transition between each cut. I finally was able to include free copyright free music and sounds into my film from a free website that I have found. I still have little touch ups to do to make sure my film is perfect. Over the weekend I am going to finish up editing my film and get it peer reviewed from my friend Allison and ask opinions from my parents as well. I am also going to work on my post card over the weekend and focus on uploading lots of pictures on my social media page. I never got the chance to upload them and I will hopefully upload tomorrow or Sunday. I will probably spend most of my time on Saturday editing and working on my post card. I will also have another blog uploaded tomorrow with a social media update hopefully.

    I can't wait to present to you my film package as I am super proud of it right now. I also have my website presented for you to see and read about my film and getting to know the cast. I am also kinda sad that we are near the end of the filming project but I am excited to move forward and work on the essays which is the second portion of this class. Although my film is not the same quality as that of a typical Hollywood film, I am still proud of the work I have done and super grateful that I got the chance to learn and experience something new. I am also grateful to my sister and friends that helped me out and were a part of the film, I had so much fun and enjoyed filming. I still have to edit a couple of more scenes on IMovie and then I also have to cut some out as it is kinda too long right now. I know that the film has to be five minutes long but so far my film is 7 minutes long and I have to either cut some scenes out or shorten them out. Originally I knew that was going to happen as in my screenplay I believe I had about 13 pages of dialogue and explanation of what is going on in each scene. I wanted my film to be detailed as possible but I tried to keep it simple with one goal throughout the film which I believe you will be able to catch up on. I know for sure that I will get everything done by the deadline of January 12 of next Tuesday. 

Editing Time!

     In conclusion of filming yesterday I am going to be editing from here on forward on my movie. I am going to be posting tomorrow on my social media sites since I have finished editing all the photos which are ready to be uploaded. Today was a very relaxing day as I spent most of the time editing with music in my headphones as I found a quiet spot to do so in my balcony. I exported all of the recordings from yesterday's filming onto my sister's macbook so that I can continue editing on IMovie. IMovie so far has been very responsive and has been so far the best when I edit my film. Today I worked on organizing and trimming the newly imported shots and placing them in the correct order based on my storyboard. I am going to upload soon on a separate blog my screenplay so that you can follow along and understand what I was trying to show through my film. I worked on fixing the lighting's of some scenes in case it was too dark or too bright which there wasn't much to fix on that part. Lastly I worked on the sound and background sounds making sure that you can hear everyone clearly and muted or even lowered any diegetic background noises. I didn't work much on the cut scenes of each shot or scene as I am going to work on that over the weekend. 

    The main task I did today in editing was researching and finding different websites that provided copyright free music that I can easily download onto my computer to use for my film. I found a couple of websites but they turned out to be click-bait as in the end I had to sign up or download their app in order to use their sounds or music which I didn't want. I found two useful websites to use that I saved onto the bookmark of my laptop for easy access. I found a couple of free songs and sounds to use in my film but I am not too sure of which one to use. I also thought about using multiple different musics as the score in some of the scenes but I have to make sure it fits with what is going on with that specific part. When i finished editing for the day I got my sister to review or look over what I already had so far. She said that it still needed a lot of work to be completer but that so far it looked good taking away all that I still haven't finished. Looking back at it I do agree with Sabrina that there is a lot still needed to be done in order for it to be perfect. I am wishing everyone to have a Happy New Year and hopefully I will be done with editing soon enough and the film will be complete. 

Editing pictures for social media

     Today I worked on editing the pictures I took from the last three days of filming so that I can post this week. I also logged in all of my social media websites and accepted any requests and followed back any other person that I didn't form the list our teacher provided us. In my previous blog I said that I wouldn't start editing the film until I completely finish filming all the scenes. Today I worked on editing the pictures that I will be posting on all of my social media sites. I also came up with some captions that I will write underneath each post. I did start editing that I wrote about in the previous blogs but it was mainly trimming and organizing it to fit my storyboard. We are going to film this Thursday all the scenes we have left so I can be officially done with the filming process. This whole winter break I was super productive and working on my schoolwork, volunteering, and filming for my movie. In today's teen society it is very important to edit and appeal people and your audience with appealing posts. I want my social media sites to be aesthetically pleasing to the eyes and a page that will have the audience coming back for more. 

    I am trying out a bunch of different editing apps especially for pictures and videos so I can make my posts appealing. I even watched YouTube videos of how to edit posts and make it look all fancy and pretty. Today was mainly a fun break day from all the work I have left to finish my film, since social media for me is like a break for my mind from work. To be honest I don't really know how to work social media as much as most of my friends do since I only really use Instagram to check updates on my family, friends, and even news with celebrities. The second most social media app I use is Snapchat so I really don't know how to work Facebook since I never had one and not even Twitter. I am learning and always asking my friends how to work it especially Amy since she is like the queen of social media based on my friend group. I am going to do most of my updates and posts through my Chromebook as it is much easier to just login in through here than it is on my phone. I hope through this experience that I learn a lot more techniques and new features to use. I can't wait to other students from my class to post so it can really feel like our movies are real one's. Although this isn't much of an update I will be back with a filming blog in the next one. 

Editing for the first time this year!

     All day today I have been working on editing everything that I have so far for my short movie film. I also have been packing what I need to bring for tomorrow's filming since we will film at a clubhouse near Allison's apartment and won't have easy access to the things we need if I were to forget them. I had so much fun editing today especially when I started after going shopping with my mom as a little break. I have two different laptops one is my new one I got for the holidays for school since my old computer is really old and slow. I decided to edit on my sisters computer as my Chromebook doesn't feel equipped to edit in a way. I got permission from Sabrina to use her computer since she has a mac-book and has the app IMovie that I can use to edit my film. I already exported the shots from the SD card onto her computer and I already sorted out between the clips I will use and which one's I saved for the bloopers. On IMovie I played around with some of the features and messed around a little before I actually started working on editing my film. I have worked before with IMovie so for me it was very simple to get the handling of it rather quickly. I popped on my headphones and played some music while I was editing it because I just focused on cutting or trimming some shots that were too long or needed to be. I also focused on organizing the shots I already have so that when I import the new one's after filming tomorrow it will be easy to organize it like my storyboard.

    After an hour of just moving and organizing my scenes and trimming it I also focused on the lighting making sure that it was clean and visible. I also practiced making a split screen as there will be multiple split screens regarding the scenes where the three main female characters are talking on the phone. I really want to show how much I have improved on my editing skills as I never liked sitting and editing it as most software's were so confusing and hard to use. I want this movie for be perfect and really show case my potential and hard work. My sister Sabrina also has requested to give me critique's and ways that I can improve some scenes, but for now my goal is to finish filming completely and be done with that section so I don't to constantly think about getting it done. I am also working on the pictures for the social media links as I have been taking pictures every time we film so I can have updates for my followers. I have the pictures that I want to post in a separate folder on my phone so some time this week I will be uploading them. Once I finish filming I also will have the time to work on my social media pages and really make it lively and active since I haven't been on it recently because of filming. I can't wait to see how my followers will react and can't wait to full throttle ahead and edit completely my film. I am super excited for tomorrow and can't wait to finally finish filming and focus my mind on one thing which is to continue editing. 

Filming for short film 📸

    This winter break I needed to film for my short film as I wasn't able to during the Thanksgiving break. In my last blog I stated that I was going to have my friend Amy to play the Assistant and maybe ask Ben my other friend to play Itai in my movie. Plans changed and I decided that Sabrina is going to play the Assistant as she was begging me to cast her and I am going to play Itai based on my dads suggestion as he didn't want to be filmed.  On the first day of filming we filmed mainly the scenes that required us to be inside the apartment such as the meeting in one of the scenes and multiple mini phone call scenes. Allison came to our apartment around 3 in the afternoon and after eating lunch we right away went into my room to prepare our outfits and start doing hair and makeup. The first thing I did was put the camera to charge while we figured out the outfits for each scene and when we needed an outfit change. Allison brought a whole box full of different outfits, jewelry, makeup, and even a hand held steamer for the clothes. We went through each scene and tried on the outfits and labeled them and placed them in my closet so we know each outfit and who they belong to. Once we finished the whole clothing ordeal I sat everyone down and we did a run through of the script and made any changes along the way to make it more comfortable when speaking and acting. Once we finished the run through it was time to get everyone ready which I am thankful for Allison who I made makeup artist for our film for getting us looking good in less than an hour. I also was in charge of doing my sister's hair as she didn't know how to style it.

    We ended up finishing filming around 8 in the night which I was very proud of what we accomplished in the time we had to film. After we finished filming we quickly discussed what scenes we were going to film on the second day of filming. I want to get every other scene completed except for the office scene which we will film on Monday next week. Our filming location for the first day of filming was in my apartment and so is the second day of filming. The third day of filming will be at the location near Allison's apartment since they have a clubhouse that she believes will be perfect for the office break-in. In the outfits when you see I wanted them to be bold, fashionable, and completely different than what we normally would wear. Rish, Ice-T, and Ace all have a different style and personality that will be captured in the film. There is also an important message near the end of the film that I wanted to bring to light especially with empowering woman. I can't wait to edit the film and bring the film into light and actually make this into a 5 minute short movie. I also will be updating my social media sites which can be located on the film's website https://hiddenbehindawoman.wixsite.com/mysite

Music for the film

     Throughout my film I plan to have a lot of dialogue and score music. I also want to use as much diegetic sound as well to make the scenes and movie feel even more realistic and more movie like. Yesterday I was able to find a free download link converter that I placed in a bookmark of my laptop so I can convert any links. I plan to use copyright free instrumental music throughout my film as I find it easier than contacting the actual producer or singer for permission. I also find that some copyright free music are better than going through the hassle of getting a copyrighted song approved and then working it into your film. I still need to research safe websites that are legit that I can download non-copyrighted music for free. I also want to research and see if the editing software I am using have free music that I can use that comes with the software. For music I am not that specific or picky about because my movie revolves around a lot of dialogue from the characters. The main plot of the movie is conveyed through the dialogue. Originally I wanted to use a copyrighted song for my movie, but because I wasn't able to film this week and have been really busy this Thanksgiving I had to change my plans and now I will be using non-copyrighted music.

    My plan is to find an instrumental background music that can easily be amplified in scenes when there is no dialogue and played lightly in the background when characters are speaking. There will also be scenes when the score music will be cut out and diegetic sound will be heard in some shots. I want to improve on the sound of my film as last year for my introductory film project, wind and lots of background noises could be heard which is distracting from the actual dialogue. I want the dialogue to be clear and the main focus for the movie to progress in the plot. So far I have one website for music which I used last year but I wasn't a fan of how confusing it was to download the music so I am going to look for a new one. I want the music to start of calmly as we are first introduced to the characters. Once the movie progresses and the audience finds out what is going on in the movie I want to put music that will be suspenseful to create the mood. I do think it is important that the music conveys the mood throughout the film so that the audience knows how to feel in that certain situation. For me, music and sound is an important factor for a film and I want to be able to show that through my film. I will do lots of research and put in work to make it happen. 

Why we did not film

     Over the long Thanksgiving break I planned to have filmed at least half of the shots that I needed, but plans changed when I found out that one of the participants from my movie wasn't going to be back in Florida for Thanksgiving. I found this out right on that Friday when we started our week long break from school. It wasn't until Wednesday I found out she is actually going to come today from New York. Amy who was supposed to play the Assistant in the film will be added to the website under the cast as she will be able to be in the film now. I plan to finish filming before Christmas break as I want to use that time to edit my film and then do a peer review with my friends for any changes that need to be done. This week I have been talking with Allison one of the cast about costumes, makeup, and hair that needs to be done for each member. I also was reviewing to see if I needed to go and buy any props this week for the film so that we have once we start filming. I also have another friend I have to ask if he wants to play the role of Itai the main male role in the film. Once I get the chance to speak to him and hear his decision I will add him to the website as well if he says he wants to be in the movie. This week I also used the time to speak with my friends about their schedule so I know what dates specifically we can film on since most of them have a job or in college. In my mind I feel like I am behind and that I have a lot to do, but then again I can't control what life brings to me on a daily basis and I can only take one day at a time. I know that my friends and I are super excited to actually film as it feels like childhood when we would make skits when we were younger. 

    Starting Monday I am going to have everything planned out even though I had a rough sketch of how our schedule was going to be like earlier in November I have to make rearrangements. By December I will have the website updated of any new casts added and I will have a set date of when we will be filming. When we do start filming I had this plan of filming all day from morning until the evening and I also planned to order pizza for everyone for working hard filming the movie. I want the filming experience to be fun for all of us and something we can enjoy together. I don't want any of us to feel irritated and annoyed because the filming process can be long and sometimes tedious. I want to make this film something my friends and I can look back at and be proud of what we were a part of. The only person I am not set on for the movie is my guy best friend as I haven't spoken to him in a long time and don't know if he would agree to be in the movie. I hope he says yes because it is a short part he will be playing and probably will only take 1 hour or even 30 minutes to film his part. If he says no most likely one of us will try to play the male role. I can't wait to actually start filming and I will be using my storyboard as a guideline and I know we will have fun and content to share. 

Marketing campaign for short film

     A week ago before we started our Thanksgiving break we were told to create social media sites and a website for our short 5 minute film. I was super excited to go through the process of designing and editing my own personal website. I realized how much time and effort needs to be put on creating your website to make it appealing and creative to attract an audience. The hardest part of creating a website was understanding the tools that they provided on wix.com to edit and personalize the look and style of your site. The hardest part in creating a social media site was creating one for Facebook as I had to create under one of the characters name and couldn't do for the film itself. When I was creating my website I had so much fun making it, as I was playing music on my mini speaker and just taking the time to be creative and have fun with it. I also had many ideas rushing around in my head of what I wanted to post in the future on the social media accounts and how I wanted to market my movie. The rushing ideas that was enveloping my mind helped me narrow down how I want to handle and move the movie forward because of the social media ideas that are sure to attract an audience. I wrote all of them down as well so I wouldn't forget and even had a collective call with everyone that is going to be in the film to share them and gain feedback. Before I could even create my website I had to come up with a captivating name that would make people want to watch the movie just by hearing or reading the name, I decided on the name Hidden Behind a Woman as it was the most voted on name from my friends and family. 

    In the future when we start filming this December I want to post lots of fun and exciting posts about the movie such as behind the scene footages and bloopers while filming. I do believe that allowing the audience to see what goes on behind the scenes and off camera or in a different perspective attracts people because they see how real and close with the audience you are. I also would love to post bloopers because they can be super funny and something for the audience to enjoy. My sister who is playing Ace in my movie came up with the idea of each character having a takeover, this means that everyday a different character will have control of the social media for the day and can give the audience an insight on the actors and the characters in the film. When I heard that idea I was in shock of how good it was and can't wait to see it happen. I also want to post a get ready hair and makeup with the cast just like some movies have done with their casts. I remember watching a video like that and knew I had to do something similar but unique for social media. I plan to post consecutively once we start filming on all the social media sites I created which include: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. I also want to post and do a mini photoshoot with the whole cast and also to have to so I can create and edit the movie poster for the profile pictures on the social media sites. I have a lot planned before Christmas break and I can't wait to go through with them.

Storyboard for short film

         This whole weekend and including days from last week I was working on my storyboard as it has to be 10 to 15 pages long and understanding me, I know I would have waited to the last minute. I made sure to start ahead of time so that I can use these days to finalize and fix my storyboard in case I wanted to cut some scenes out as I had too many scenes that would be past 5 minutes long based on my screenplay. In my screenplay I had about 13 pages of dialogue and action for my movie, but my teachers said to add as much as we can because it will be easier in the end to cut scenes out than it is to add them. Once I finish storyboarding I hope we can start filming especially because Thanksgiving week is coming and I can use that time to get together and start filming. I am going to film all scenes from my screenplay including the one I already planned to cut out just so I can have in case. I wan to have everything organized so that this process can be easy on not just me but also the participants that are going to be in my film. My storyboard is a bit rough but I am far from an artist, I understand that my drawings are a little hard to look at but I tried my best to get the overall scene onto the paper. I do believe that on camera and on film it will look much better than that on my storyboard. I already have in mind how I want to film and direct each scene. I was super happy to see the email from my teachers stating that they have extended the due date for our storyboard because I was able to work and focus on it this weekend which I was happy about.

    Drawing the storyboard did take some hours out of my time and I even brought it with me when I went dog sitting yesterday at my family's friend house. This whole time I was storyboarding I made it a fun task by blasting music and just using the time to de-stress and just draw how I want it to be since it is my movie. I ended up having 10 pages because I plan to elaborate more in my film but I drew all the main scenes in my movie onto the paper. What I did first was label all the 10 paper I had and wrote over each box what I was going to draw. I then proceeded to draw everything out first before I wrote what type of camera shots, movements, angles, editing, and sound for each box or scene. Storyboarding for me is not my favorite part of the filming process mainly because I can barely draw so I find this part of the process boring. I can't wait to actually start filming because my mind is bursting with creativity and ideas that I want to bring to life for the movie. I hope you enjoy overall my storyboard presented through Google Slides as I worked super long and hard on it. I am actually happy that I am official done with my storyboard for my movie and that I can finally work on filming once my teacher gives us the okay. I am also excited that tomorrow we will start our social media for the movie, I can't wait to upload and promote my movie and give fun behind the scenes footage of the process. 

Planning for short film

     Two classes ago we worked on our screenplay assignment where we had to produce a script of our short film that had to be 6 pages long, that we can easily cut out scenes if needed too. We also did a peer review of other students screenplay assignment in which we had to read and give our feedback and send it back to them for changes. For today we had to start our planning progress for the short film, which I am super excited about because we can finally start filming after I finish planning and storyboarding. For my schedule for this movie I plan to use today and everyday up until November 13 to storyboard as it had to be 10 to 15 pages long. Once I finish storyboarding on November 13 and finish blogging about it, I can finally meet-up with the actresses that are gonna be in film and start recording. On November 16, I want to start recording and meeting up to film and since Thanksgiving break is coming up I plan to use that time to re-film any scenes we messed up or just needed to be re-filmed. Since it is corona time I limited the amount of people that can be in the film to ensure everyone's safety which is why we will have masks on when not filming. My parent's will be monitoring us and we will have a first-aid kit on hand in case of any accidents which hopefully won't happen. The main character Ace will be played by Sabrina, Rish will be played by Me (Stephanie), and Ice-T will be played by Allison. Itai the main antagonist and the secondary character the Assistant will be played by Amy. Those will be the only participants that will be seen the movie. 

    The location for most of my movie will be at my apartment because it is the closest location for all of us since Amy lives 2 minutes away,  Allison lives 5 minutes away, and Sabrina is my sister so she lives with me. The location will consist of my sister and I shared room, our backyard, the narrow alley that leads to the pool in our backyard, our balcony that consists of an office desk, the living room, the sidewalk in front of our apartment, our kitchen, our dining room table, and the parking lot. My parents wanted to keep the location at home mainly because of corona and to not interfere and get in other people's way especially since my neighborhood consists of elderly individuals that are at a higher risk. I wanted to respect my parent's decision and kept that in my when planning and all the participants in my film agree. Props will include all of the furniture that is stationary in the house the only real props that will be used throughout the film is a cell-phone, messenger bag, fake files and confidential papers, empty luggage's, iced coffee, and fake ID tags. Each of the participants that have a role in the movie are responsible for their own costumes so I don't have an exact answer of what each character will be wearing exactly. The only thing I know is the concept I want each of them to wear is such as Ace to be dressed in business casual most of the time, Rish to be dressed in crazy colors and baggy styles of clothing, and Ice-T to be dressed in outfits that are stylish, bold, and colorful. Itai will be dressed in a business outfit and the Assistant will be dressed professionally in a business outfit. As for Makeup Allison will be in charge of the makeup department and she will be doing everyone's makeup for the film. I am super excited to start filming so much is going to through my mind and I know my friends are also excited to be in the movie. I also can't wait to open up the social media sites for the movie so I can start promoting the film with fun content and behind the scenes footage. 

Short Film vs. Feature Length Film

     I just want to start off by saying that I totally recommend watching the short film and full length film of 9 because honestly it was really amazing. There were many differences of both films as one was 7 minutes long and had to have all the plot in a short amount of time. Whereas, you had the feature film which was an hour and 13 minutes long and had the same plot from the beginning to end but in depth with the characters in the film. After watching both you can obviously tell that there were improvements in the character development in the film. In the short film you were introduced to two rag-dolls, 5 and 9, but did not get much interaction between them and the fact that they did not talk. However, in the feature film you were introduced to a wide range of rag-doll characters that were able to talk and had different personalities from each other. In both of the films you can see how important the details and surrounding was important to the director and his team because they maintained that idea for both films. The overall mood and feel of the movie remained the same. I also felt like there was a difference in the special effects because in the short film it was very subtle while in the feature film they used as much lighting and sounds to create the special effect and make it more stronger than the short film. The hologram near the ending of the movie for me was the best special effect and helped me understand what was going on through the explanation of the scientist.

    For both of the films the consistent use of diegetic sounds remained which I don't mind. The only difference I felt was that more score music was used in the feature film than in the short film. The biggest difference for me was the endings because in the original short film I felt as if the ending was rushed and lacked emotion. In the feature film the ending was the same except it was extended and there was lots of emotions because there was character development and closeness that made you feel happy but sad when watching the ending. The feature film for me had a more clear and strong opening and ending of the film compared to the short film. Another thing I noticed was that the opening and ending credits of the feature film really set the mood and fit the movie perfectly where in the short film the opening with the director or creator really didn't fit for me. If I had to choose which was my favorite I have to choose the feature film, as I can see myself watching again over the short film. I believe that both of the films were beautifully done and made me curious, but came down to what I would watch again and that is the feature film. I am so happy that my teachers assigned this research assignment I really enjoyed watching the movie and I can't wait to watch it with my friends soon. If you haven't watched it, you should I promise you will love it.

This is Stephanie signing off!

Research 9, the feature film

     I was super excited to watch the feature film version of the short film 9 that I researched about in the last blog. I used my teachers suggestion and was able to access the film through Netflix. The movie was amazing and I fell in love with the style and concept of the film, it made me crave others similar to this. There was definitely an improvement and you can see that a lot of thought and depth went into the movie. The very first thing that I noticed throughout the movie was that they finally gave us character development and actually introduced to all the rag-dolls that was seen in the ending of the short film. Each character had a unique personality such as one was the inventor among the rag-dolls, one was the stubborn and angry rag-doll,  another was fearful but learned to be brave, and so much more. I loved seeing the characters grow from the beginning of the film to the end, it almost felt as if rag-doll represented a different personality of the same character. This was later proven correct as all the rag-dolls represented different parts or personality of the scientists professor from the beginning of the movie. The little details and setting of the film really popped out to me and made me appreciate all the work that the designers designed in the film. Although there was dialogue in the film it was a right balance and I loved how they kept the silence in the very beginning except for the scientists professor talking a little in the beginning of the film which made me want to watch it more and more. 

    The special effects in the movie such as the lighting and the sounds of the machines clanking and the monsters roaring was phenomenal and adds to a scary yet suspenseful mood. I felt that the dystopia created in the movie of machines and metals versus humans made it feel so real as technology is enhancing at such a accelerated speed in real time. There was a relief in the film as you got to meet new characters and when they had heart to heart conversations with each other that turned the movie form suspenseful to a theme of teamwork and unity of the rag-dolls. The plot of the film was spectacular honestly, where you have a concept that science is evil and turned against the human race as you see flashbacks of the creation of the machine and dead bodies throughout the film. The ending of the film was so sad and beautifully done I started to tear up. As you watch the film you learn to love each character and grow attach to them wanting them to succeed and defeat the machine. The special effects and length of the ending was perfectly done and was a sense of peace to see the rag-dolls souls be free and at peace. The entire movie had a futuristic but past vibe where the audience feels like this could happen one day but not entirely because our society is more advanced. The realism in the film and setting, draws the attention of the audience and opens up our eyes to the creative ideas the director and staff had for this film. You see a lot of creative freedom and factors that really made this film 10 times better than the short film. 

This is Stephanie signing off!

Research 9, the short

     Today, I watched a short film called 9 as a part of my research for my class. As I was sitting there watching the short film from Shane Acker I jotted down some notes of how I felt throughout the short film and what I thought was really interesting for the director to use. This was definitely a short film style I never watched before, so it was really refreshing and interesting, it also made me really curious of other films and movies like this one. Throughout the short film I loved how there was no dialogue at all, I feel like it makes it even more unique and special as you have to focus on other details and background to understand what's going on. As I was first watching this short film I felt creeped out as if I was there, but the quality was low from my teachers uploading it onto canvas, so I tried to ignore that factor and just watch the short film for itself. On the topic of creepiness, the silence between the two rag-dolls, 5 and 9, in the film added to the creepy effect of the film. The special effects throughout the entire 7 minutes of the film were very subtle and straight to the point. I also felt like the special effects added to the plot of the movie which was a machine versus the rag-dolls. The constant use of diegetic sounds such as the wind, machines clanking, footsteps and the growl of the machine beast was something that I loved throughout the film. In the background you can also hear a low score in the background but overall the diegetic sounds overpowered the instrumental music in the background. 

    The fact that there was no dialogue and an abundant amount of diegetic sounds I truly felt as if the world in the film was wiped out of the human kind and just made it feel surreal. I wished that the short film had more character development of the two main rag-dolls in the film which were 5 and 9. We knew as the audience that they worked together because when rag-doll 5 passed away, rag-doll 9 was upset and shocked at what happened. In the end rag-doll 9 defeated the monster machine and brought justice to all the rag-dolls that were killed. Other than that we truly see the growth and development of the characters in a sense of personality and likeness. The only scene that I felt like truly made me see who they were was when rag-dolls 5 and 9 worked together to build a lightbulb or light source from sources around them. This made me see how resourceful they were of their surroundings. In the ending we are revealed to a whole bunch of rag-dolls other than the main rag-dolls 5 and 9 which the audience were introduced to. As one of the audience, I assumed they were other rag-dolls that were effected by the monster machines. The ending to me felt rushed and didn't really feel like an ending that I would want to re-watch. I wished there was more emotion and detail to make it really stand out from other short films. Overall I loved the short film and super excited to watch the actual movie based off of this short film. I hope everything is explained and in depth from the characters to the plot of the film.

This is Stephanie signing off!

Genre Choice for Film

     It has finally come, the time after all my research and reflection to decide my genre. I have come to the conclusion that I will be producing a thriller movie. I am super excited and I really did give it a lot of thought, making sure I wasn't making a mistake or before it was too late to change my mind. I chose thriller out my three genres that I narrowed down to, was because it was the best fit for my movie idea and I feel like my movie and pitch will completely portray a thriller style movie. The main character in my movie that will be revealed soon, has that mindset and personality of most characters in a thriller film and also the story is very suspenseful just like a thriller movie would be. I stated in a previous blog post that thriller films are out of my comfort zone and I believe its the perfect time to take risks and explore different genres. Since we are slowly reopening and getting out of quarantine, I wanted my movie to be something that the audience can comfortably enjoy while at home but have that feeling as if they are at a film festival or the movies. I am going to make sure that my movie sticks to the thriller aspect and I will plan out the movie when it comes time to storyboard based off of the anticipation and suspense found in thriller movies. I made sure that when I was thinking about the genre I had my pitch next to me so the decision could come easily for me, so I made no tweaks to my pitch. I also hope you enjoyed the Google Slides of my genre research because I wanted to give you something fun to look and read other than paragraphs. I also included pictures throughout the slides for your entertainment and for the fun of it. 

    I was inspired by my friend to get out of my comfort zone and try new things even in media studies class. My friend is currently and college student in New York and her moving there made me realize to do as much as I can in life and even in school. When I was deciding on my genre that was going through my  mind and also my pitch. I pray that in the end it all works out for me and for you since my movie will be presented to you. Another thought that also inspired me was that this is my last year of high school, so why not do something that in the end might be memorable for me but also for you. My teachers always inspire me especially my media studies teacher because both of them gave me the push that I needed and look now I am taking A- Level Media Studies with the most amazing students and teachers. My movie for sure will surpass and be the most best thriller movie there can be, at least for me it will because I will put my hard work and sweat into this. I will be sure to add a thriller effect to my websites, social media sites, and post cards so that the audience can right away know the type of movie it will be. I will continue researching and discovering new information and I will try to get myself this weekend to watch some thriller movies to get me in the mindset so I can plan my own film. In the end I was swayed away from choosing the mystery genre and now stuck on a thrilling ride.

This is Stephanie signing off!

Genre Research: Mystery

Genre Research: Thriller

Genre Research- Action

Genres I Would Like to Research

     On October 5, 2020 our very first research assignment to do for our short film was to think about three different genres that would relate to our pitch or idea we wanted to convey through our film. I took the time to look at the pitch I wrote and sat myself down to actually think and write out what I wanted my film to be while being simple and concise. I decided on the genres: action, thriller, and mystery because, I truly felt that those were the only one's that my future short film would fall under if it were released. I wanted my short film to be based on a genre that I myself and others would prefer to watch. I wanted to do a similar genre that I did last year in AICE Media Studies because I want to improve from last time, but the only difference is that its based on my own personal creative idea. I want to show that I have grown and learned from my past filming and editing mistakes, and improve on the film's overall look and sound. I want to make sure that my film is perfect since we will also include social media sites, a website, and a post card. I want to make my short film suspenseful and intriguing to hook the audience and have them wanting more. Honestly the Thriller genre is out of my comfort zone, but I included it because why not give it a try and maybe in the end the short film might end up being on track under that genre. The assignment given to me from my teachers will rely on me to research all three genres and choose the best match for my short film. The best part about it is that, this time we are making a complete film with a beginning, middle, and end and we can choose whatever genre we would like.

    To introduce you to the genres I defined each of them and basically will give you an overview of each of the genre that I chose which is again; action, thriller, and mystery. An action film is a film genre that has a protagonist portrayed and is always placed in situations where violence, fights, chases, and physical abilities or assets are necessary. A thriller film is always fiction, and bases off of the mood of the audience by feeding them suspense, excitement, anticipation, and surprise. A mystery film is fiction and revolves around problem-solving, such as detecting a person's death or a crime to be solved. I will go in depth of each genre from research in my next blogs and I will have a Google slide prepared for each one. I did my best to research and try to look into each genre in the perspective of looking at the genres dynamic and consistent techniques of different movies. I am excited to do my research and discover a gem that will spark an interest in me to pick it. As of today, I am definitely leaning towards the mystery genre, however, I have to go back and really reflect and think over the planning of my film and afterwards make a valid decision. I can't believe that we are entering the planning process of the film making process and I can't wait to continue on my journey. I will return with my final answer and we will see which genre didn't make the cut.

This is Stephanie signing off!