Taking a Step into CCR Research

   Today is the last day of spring break :(. To wrap up this break, my group and I started diving into the research for our CCR. We have not gotten much research done yet but there are a few points we can knock off the list. 

QUESTIONS 

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

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

3. How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

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

   Let's begin. To begin, our genre analysis and target audience basic research has already been thought through and expressed in another of my blog post. Our film opening is a post-apocalyptic one and our genre is more inclined for male audience but our main character is a female. We wanted to serve the purpose of using a strong protagonist that was a female which is something that is now being used in media as it was not as common before. Our target audience is most likely teenagers and young adults.

   For the distribution part, we would likely use Youtube and/or Tik Tok as they are convenient and popular among our target audience. Youtube and Tik Tok is something I am extremely familiar with as I run the social medias for our television production club at our school. These sites are also a great way to promote out films and would be best for our distribution methods. If we wanted to go even farther with our distribution, we could also submit to ShortCuts. Beacon TV created ShortCuts to allow film students in Florida to submit their videos to showcase short videos and films. This would be another excellent way to distribute our film opening.

   In terms of production skills, I would discuss on how I learned that communication is key and how important planning is. The phrase communication is key is so overused that people forget just how important it actually is. I would definitely be mention it in my CCR as communication was a struggle for my group and we learned to communicate better with time. Throughout the process of the film opening, I also learned about several new websites what are useful for fonts, music, etc and I learned several new effects and aspects of editing that I did not know of before.

   For how we integrated technology, I would highlight all the different websites we used to storyboard, find music, and more. Throughout the whole process of the film opening, we found several new platforms to plan, write, draw, find sounds, and more. Not only would I discuss this, but I would also mention the equipment the team used and I would go over the issues that went with the filming process.

   In my next few blog posts, you will see the final CCR and the film opening!

Weekend Meeting

   After a very busy week, my group and I met up to finish the last touches and see what was missing. We tried to arrange a meeting earlier this week but spring break made everyone a little occupied with either traveling or work. We also ended up using this meeting to check on how everyone was doing. By this I mean, how Sabrina was doing with editing the film opening, how Logan and I were doing with finding sounds, and how Isa was doing with the volumetric lighting effect. 

   To start off with the meeting, Sabrina updated us on how the editing for the film opening was going and she showed us what it looked like for now. She was pretty much done with editing and was just missing a few last tweaks. One of the few things she added this week were the opening credits and a flickering effect to them. She also added a zoom on one of the security camera shots and it matched with the camera sound playing with the clip. She also made all the transitions look extremely natural even when cutting from different locations. This was one of the first times I saw the (almost) completely edited opening and I love it. I am so excited to share it with you guys soon. 

   Continuing along with the meeting, Isa described how she was struggled with the volumetric lighting effect. There was a lot of masking that needed to be used and this whole process was taking too long. We decided in the end not to use the effect even though it would add a cool aspect to the film opening. None of us ever used this effect before and it was just taking too much time to figure out as the project deadline is coming up in a week or so and we still need to do our CCR research and video.

   After coming up with this conclusion for the effect, we followed onto the topic of the foley sounds. This process was the same as the fonts and it was a hassle. I looked through many different websites and ended up finding the ones we needed on both Youtube Audio Library and just Youtube itself. Basically, we were looking for any foley sounds that we needed for our film opening. This included doors opening and closing, footsteps, and anything else. 

Sounds I found:

• For the shot of Sabrina walking inside
• Walking on tile series - Youtube Audio Library
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFOUHkCXnMQ
• Either one of these could work. They would just need to be slowed down and the pitch would need to be changed.
• For the shot of Sabrina walking outside at the beginning and end
• Walking on concrete series - Youtube Audio Library      
• For the shot of the door opening and closing
• Door opening closing (0:19) - Audio Youtube Library  

   These were the foley sounds I had found and Logan said they would work so we finished off with this. If anymore sounds needed to be found, we would go back and look for more but I believe these would work. That basically wraps up the meeting we had, in my next blog post, our CCR research journey will begin!

Fonts

   Since my last blog post, I stated that I was on the search for fonts for our film opening. Being out of town made it difficult to help with the production process so I jumped in with the post production as much as possible. 

   The search for fonts began by first researching other post-apocalyptic films. As stated in my last post, I looked through several different film openings and posters to see what kind of style the genre had fonts. After figuring out a general look for the font, I needed to starting looking for fonts that would best match the opening credits and title screen. I searched through several different websites like Google Fonts, DaFont, Font.com, and more. I was first following the reference of the film Mad Max which has a bold and action type look. I suggest a few ideas with this style, but Logan pointed out that our film opening is more slow-paced. I scraped all the fonts I had in mind and started looking for more a dramatic look. After searching a bit more, I found two fonts that I felt would fit perfectly. My suggestions were for the title, Black Ops One by James Grieshaber, and for the opening credits, Unica One by Eduardo Tunni. I found both of these on Google Fonts. This site was so incredibly easy to use as it has different categories, all different styles of fonts, and it allows you to preview what your specific text would look like. I'm going to give you guys a sneak peak to the font, don't let any of my group mates know!

SHH Secret Reveal

The coloring is just so my team could see the 
fonts better. I put both into Photoshop so everyone could get a good
look at it.

   The adventure I had looking for fonts was definitely a unique one. My group will be meeting up later this week so I will update you guys soon! Until then, I am going to enjoy the rest of my spring break!

The Search is On

   I have to say, spring break has been so relaxing. Not only am I watching several films I have been wanting to see but I am also taking time for myself and just.. chilling. With all this extra time, we have also been able to start our hunt for fonts that we want for our title and music for the film opening. 

Researching for Fonts

   After pretty much being done with line editing, we started looking for fonts and how we wanted out title to be. I have not dove deep into the search for fonts but I looked at several post-apocalyptic movie posters and openings to see what style they follow. The majority is a bold, elegant yet faded look. A few examples would be:

   Once we continue the search for fonts next week, I will takes all these films into consideration to fit our post-apocalyptic genre.

   After searching for fonts and what we wanted, we moved into music and sound effects. Like I mentioned in another blog, Youtube's Audio Library is extremely useful so we looked through a few of those but it was getting difficult to figure out exactly what everyone wanted. I recommended a few on like Wide boys by Underbelly and Ty Mayer but Logan found one that fits what we want but the problem was we need it to be copyright free. What Logan found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsJwQjWS48o. After searching for a while, a few tracks we thought would fit our scenes. The first is a dramatic ambience music on Epidemicsound titled "Murmur." The track is titled "Spring Day Forest," on Youtube Audio Library for around the final shots of our film opening. Also, we used Epidemicsound to get sound effects for the passing train, the flashlight, camera noises, and for transitions. 

   That's all I have to say for this blog! I can't wait for you guys to see the final product and next week I will start researching for the CCR. I am off to enjoy the next week of spring break, see you guys later!

Editing

   Hello! 3rd quarter has now ended and spring break has begun! This week will be a well deserved break since the quarter has been so stressful. But, let's jump into the stuff you want to know about. Yesterday, Sabrina and Logan met up to start the editing. Unfortunately, I am still out of town but I joined Discord as they were editing and discussed with them as they worked through it. 

Let's Jump In

   To begin the process, Sabrina and Logan chose the clips they would use and then continued along to start line editing. It was an eventful experience seeing us decide which shots would be better where and how to adapt since our footage and storyboard were not entirely the same. This was an issue we encountered as we had to figure out what could replace what. An example of this was when we had to decide if a cut away or rearranging our shots would be better. In the end, we ended up placing a cut away but this shows how our storyboard did not flow as much in post so we needed to fix that. After putting together all the clips in order, not only did we see how cool it was turning out to be, but it was also time to start getting down to the tricky stuff. The process to follow started off nice and slow by first creating the visual grain in the security camera shots, adding a time code at the bottom, and under saturating the footage to make the idea of seeing through a security camera more noticeable. After this, the color correcting process started. We tested several LUTs to see which we liked better. LUTs are presets for color looks on footage that makes color correcting quick and more effective. Here is a few examples of our footage with and without LUTs:

   There is certainly more to get to in the next week such as the title, music, opening credit, and more! My next blog post will dive into our music and font research so stay tuned for that!

Group Meetings #2

   Welcome back everyone, spring break is right around the corner and I am so excited yet nervous! So yesterday in class, we got into group meetings again. This time it was with different people and around this point in the project, most groups have already filmed or were filming soon.

What Went Down

   When we first got into the meeting, it was really hard to figure out what to say. We started off by explaining the plot of our film openings and after that, the breakout room just stayed silent. Personally, I just thought I had nothing I needed help with. My group had already filmed and we were planning on editing soon so I figured I did not need anything and was just going to help everyone else. When it came to the point where we were to discuss what we needed help with, no one said anything. It was silent until out teacher came in and pointed out that we just needed to think a bit further into what we were going to need. This got the gears to start turning in our heads.

   After feeling more comfortable with the group and thinking about what we need, the conversation and questions started pouring in. One after another, we each followed up with advice, answers, and questions of our own. A few questions those in my group asked were like "Which editing software is the best? Where are you guys getting your songs from? How can I import fonts into my editing software?" Most questions I was able to quickly answer and guide them in the right direction. Since I am in CBTV, the television production club at my school, I knew how to help them. For example, when it came to questions about songs, I recommended Youtube's Audio Library. It provides a selection of copyright free music, give previews to each song, and is easy to download songs. It is also extremely easy to use and navigate as it allows you to choose the mood, genre, duration, and more! I would definitely recommend this to anyone who needs copyright free music. My teacher also popped in around this time and recommended Purple Planet and CHOSIC. I have never used these but I will certainly check them out when I am looking for music choices later this week!

   Once we finished with the questions about our project, we followed into the next assignment that was coming up, the CCR. The CCR, Creative Critical Reflection, is a video we will start to work on soon for the Cambridge Portfolio. Basically we will be discussing what we did for the project, why we did certain things, and more in the video. This is something I will get into next week so it is not much to worry about now but we answered a few questions like "What should it look like? How long should it be?" and more like that.

   The group meetings definitely were worth it in the end and I now know what to expect for the upcoming week. In my next blog post, I will update you guys on our editing progress but for now, I am going to prepare myself for the end of the 3rd quarter. Wish me luck!

What To Do Next?

   Now that we finished the filming, we can move on to the next step, post production. This blog post is going to be a short goal list of what we should start working on for the next week for two. Before I jump into the list, I am going to mention that all of our footage has been saved onto Google Drive. This will make it easier for any of us to download when necessary. 

What We Plan to do for the Next Few Weeks:

-Isa mentioned in class about trying out an effect in After Effects called volumetric light effect. This will make our shots look more abandoned.

-capture any foley sounds needed

-decide which clips we are actually using as the team maintain to get 100+ clips

-since they could not record the train, we need to establish in post that there is a train through only sounds in the video

-color correct our footage to fit the tone we want

-and of course, finish editing our film opening!! (very excited for this one)

Wrapping it Up

   After going through the planning process with bumps along the road, we definitely learned that communication is key. We decided that we need to start splitting up who does what for the upcoming period. I am extremely excited to see the final product but for now I will keep you guys updated until the end! 

A Weight Lifted Off Our Shoulders

   Welcome back! I took the SAT today and it seems that my team finished the filming too. Even though I was not there to help them, it is such a relief to have that done. After about 2 months of planning and thinking through our idea, it was wonderful to open my phone after testing for hours and seeing the message, "just finished filming." 

RECAP:

   To start off the complicated day ahead, Sabrina, Logan, and Isa planned on waking up early to be able to have as much time as possible to finish everything they wanted to while there was sunlight. They woke up around 7:30AM and were going to meet around 8:00AM. This was where the first problem occurred. Sabrina ended up oversleeping and they only ended up getting to the location at 10:45. Once Sabrina picked up Logan and Isa, they stopped at a store to buy Twinkies and continued to the office. 

   Then the next issue occurred, since we were not able to scout the location beforehand and take pictures for the storyboard like we wanted to, we did not get to really see the location other than pictures from Sabrina and the draws she drew. So, when they got to the location, they did not realize how small it was. Despite this, the team adapted quickly and started to film.

Isa and Sabrina discussing the shot they were about to capture. 

Logan securing Isa as they use a ladder to film our "security
camera shots."

   Then came another issue, the lighting. The office in which they were filming in was surrounded by bright windows and it was a hassle to to get the shot they wanted. They ended up trying to fix it as much as possible on the camera and filmed there anyways.

Here is the office area with the large windows and there is also the missing
posters on the right hand side.

   Overall, the team did extremely well despite all the issues they encountered. I am looking over the footage now and we have a large selection of clips to work with. It seems like the team had a tough day but we are so relieved that have finished that. I will update you guys for our next plan soon!

Preparations for Filming

   Welcome back everyone! The long awaited time is soon coming. My team is getting all of our final things in place to start filming this Saturday. I know it is very exciting news but before I continue, I have to mention that I am currently out of town and will not be able to help my team filming. With this, I will be more active in the post-production process. Despite this, let's jump into the preparations my group and I came up with so the filming process can go as smoothly as possible.

What We Have Planned

   Firstly, the mise-en-scene and final additions we want to use during filming. To start off, for Sabrina we wanted to make sure she looked the part and that the items we planned on using were ready to go. This includes any of Sabrina's clothing that we thought would fit the film opening (such as boots, beanie, backpack, makeup, bandage, etc.), the Twinkie for the office scene, and the missing person poster. We also needed additional items to help with filming like a ladder (for the security camera shots) and more. Isa printed out the missing person's flyers that we figured out be an excellent add on to the set as it would incorporate the idea of Sabrina, or Aria, being alone in the world. 

This is an example of one of the missing person posters Isa printed.

   Secondly, we wanted to make sure they had all the right equipment and anything extra they needed ready to go. An example of the equipment would be cameras, SD cards, tripod, rode mic, small light kit, and an extra camera battery with the charger just in case. With all of this equipment, the team should be good to go for Saturday. Not only did we decide the equipment, but the roles of each person on Saturday was "assigned." Basically, Sabrina would be acting, Isa would do most of the filming and camera work, and Logan would direct. Of course they would help each other out but that is the overall plan.

   Thirdly, we were already thinking about our, CCR, Creative Critical Reflections, while planning to film. Due to us now knowing of what the CCR is and what we have to do, the team filming brought an extra camera to film themselves on Saturday. This would help us while creating our CCR because we would have extra b-roll to put on top of our reflection video. 

   That seems to recap about all of it. We definitely learned so much throughout the pre-production phase about planning and communication and I can't wait to see how the filming goes! 

Unexpected Change of Plans

   What's up everyone! Unfortunately, we were unable to go to the office on Saturday to take the pictures and start planning out the storyboard like we intended to. This was discouraging as we were excited to move forward and be even closer to filming. Despite this, we realized that we still wanted to finish up the draft of the storyboard one way or another. 

   We first began by looking through the internet to see where would be the best place to storyboard. After a few minutes, we found a site called Aggie.io, which allowed us to import photos and draw at the same time as a group. This website allowed the team to create several boxes in which they could draw the shots and better visualize what they wanted to do while filming.

Storyboard:

   The storyboard was extremely time consuming but it was a relief to have it done. Even though this is a draft and it can be changed whenever, my group and I are pretty much set on this idea. Now, with the storyboard done, we can start planning for our next goal, to film! 

Target Audience

   Something extremely important I have learned from my AICE media class and through other programs is that having a target audience is essential. Each film or piece of media is fit for a specific target audience that was chosen to guide the excerpt into a certain way to intrigue the viewers more. So for our post-apocalyptic film opening, we decided that the target audience should be for older teens and adults so around 16 to 24 of age. Since our film would include aspects of violence and have bits of terror in it, the film would not be made for a younger audience. Even though the genre of our film follows the target audience of around 18-44, we decided that 16-24 would range our piece better since our main character is around that age. 

   Normally for post-apocalyptic films, there is a male demographic and the main character is normally white. We wanted to switch this up for our film opening. Instead, we had our main character, played by Sabrina Ares, be a hispanic female. In hopes of attracting both a female and hispanic demographic, we also hope to show how a teenage would fend her way through an abandoned world.

Another Update

   Yesterday in class, my group and I hopped right back onto the next step of the project. We collected our final ideas and brainstorming to start our shot list. We planned on using the class period to cement our foundation and create an efficient shot list that we could access during filming. When we first started throwing ideas onto the table for the shot list, we soon realized it was much harder than expected and we were getting all scrambled up and everyone was extremely confused. The problem was that not only have we never been to the location in which we were planning on filming in, but we also had no idea what the layout was for both the factory and the office was. We wanted to make a shot list but we were inferring off an idea we had and we did not know what the location actually looked like. After a brief run-through of what we talked about, one of our group member, Sabrina, started sketching the office building layout on Photoshop. She lead us through the rooms and each hallway so it could help us decide how we wanted each shot. This allowed us to better visualize the area so we could continue on. My group members are going to visit the location this Saturday anyways but having an idea of the location helped us tremendously. Sabrina also informed us that there was birthday decorations hanging up so it could be a perfect use for us to add more to the idea where our main character is abandoned. Since we were struggling on how to make our character seem isolated in the apocalypse, the decorations would add to the atmosphere if they are still up. After getting a run through of the building, my group and I decided that it would be much easier to finalize a shot list when they visit the location. Being at the location would allow for them to look around and take pictures of where each shot should be. 

Ideas for the Title

   In the same class period, we also decided that we would follow through with the name "Losing Track." We also decided upon a font and used its appearance to resemble our characters inner thoughts or how our character is losing themselves. The name also relates to trains which is what our film opening also revolves around. In my next blog post I will be mentioning out target audience so we have another aspect of our film opening to help us along the way.