Tuesday, April 11, 2017

creative critical reflection

To the end of this wonderful experience... here is my CCR.


BRINK

Here's the complete and finalized film opening I spoke of for so long! I hope you enjoy watching just as much as we enjoyed making it! Thank you to everyone who helped out... I present to you: Brink 






Friday, April 7, 2017

audio

Thank god for Ross Budgen

After hours of waiting around for email replies from the managers of those artist we wanted to utilize for our video we decided to go another route. We found music that already has approval for the use of the song!!! At first finding a song that fit the video was challenging but thankfully we came across the perfect song. And it truly fits the video even better than the songs we had originally chosen. I'm so happy with the outcome of hoe the song matches the video and how it flows perfectly with the voiceover. I highly recommend giving Ross a listen. After listening to some of his other work, I have grown to appreciate his pieces and i'm so thankful to his kind generosity of disposing it to the public!
Below I have attached the song we utilized for the video along with evidence of the song rights!




Tuesday, April 4, 2017

profile: adeline cieslak

Get to know our model...

   



Name: Adeline Cieslak
Age: 17
Height: 5'7




   Not only is Addy one of my best friends, but also the best person I could think of to play this role. Thanks to the help of my wonderful friend, shooting was a breeze. We had no difficulties what so ever, and Addy was able to comply with whatever instructions we gave her. The character she was playing was the leading role of course, the girl in the red coat, and the role consisted of footage of her living in what seems to be her "element". Through meticulous recordings, we were able to achieve exactly what we were going for! The girl in the red coat is a mysterious yet easy going and free spirited character, and thankfully we were able to capture that with the help of costumes, great technology, correct choice of location and of course the best actress!  

Monday, April 3, 2017

song approval

Well we have been left on 'R' basically. Sony management has yet to reply, and I think we're going to have to rely on a song that is already approved to be used. The email we sent for multiple song approvals was sent over a week ago and it seems we are not going to be getting an answer soon which is a problem... we are not freaking our yet because there is still some time but we are definitely looking into other options.

For those who don't know, in order to use a song for our film, we must first get approval from their representing company. Unfortunately for us, Sony is a very large company and it seems they are too busy to reply to our email(s). But after talking to a couple classmates, we found out that many artists, primarily independent artist, allow for public use of their content as long as credit is given. So I think what were going to be doing the next couple of days is researching which artists do this and find a song that fits our video. 

 Chance the Rapper is an example of an artist without a record deal. Although he's highly successful, Chance has remained an independent artist throughout his career. These facts lead me to believe that his content is available for the public use but i'm not sure of this. Even if we could use his content, it is all hypothetical because rap music wouldn't fit in with our video. I kinda just wanted to talk about how amazing Chance is. 


Sunday, April 2, 2017

coming to an end

Since the end is approaching, I thought I should write about what's left to do and when I plan to get them done!

-write script for voiceover and record (do by 3/3/17)
-shot last scene (do by 3/4/17)
-plan and record ccr (do by 3/6/17)
-send emails for song approval (do by 3/3/17)
-finish editing video (do by 3/8/17)
-overview and finalize (do by 3/9/17)
-turn in project (3/11/17)


The task that will be most challenging is going to be the ccr I think. Although this will require the most time, it won't be too hard to handle! Hopefully all the deadlines will be met since I will be out of town this upcoming weekend and won't be able to progress much throughout that time. But thankfully, my partner and I advanced ahead and all of the major parts are covered! Tune in next week for updates, wish me luck!!

audio

  Music is important. It sets the mood for the piece. It's essential for enhancing the film along with creating elements of emotion. 

  According to an article for BBC Arts & Culture written by Helen Stewart "How do film-makers manipulate our emotions with music?", "Far from being a purely aural experience, scans suggested that the regions of the brain that light up with music are those linked to euphoric stimuli. Blood flow in the brain is responding to areas associated with reward, emotion and arousal."

   For this reason, I find it very important to find the perfect song for our film. In order to use a full length song for our video, we must ask for permission and that's why my partner and I have to decide on the song we're going to utilize like yesterday. 

some possible song options:

intro - the xx 


















moonrise - zimmer







Stewart, Helen. "How Do Film-makers Manipulate Our Emotions with Music?" BBC News. BBC, 13 Sept. 2013. Web. 02 Apr. 2017. 

Thursday, March 30, 2017

updates

  I can't believe this project is already coming to an end. Bittersweet I guess. But I have a lot of updates for you guys!

  Shooting has pretty much been wrapped up for two weeks now. We've been editing, getting song approvals, finding sound effects, etc. For the time being it has be awesome. Although I do have to say it's also been pretty stressful as well. I think the most "annoying" part of it all is trying to edit the video without knowing for sure the song that's going to be used and figuring out how everything will look together, but nevertheless I am very content with the way the footage is looking, which is great! 

  Here is a short clip which may or not be seen in the film opening:



Although both my partner and I both love this clip, we're not sure if it will fit into the video just yet, but I'm uploading it so you guys can get a feel of what the video will look like! 

Through the process of editing, thankfully, we have not come across many problems. I think our biggest concern thus far has been smoothly transitioning from contrasting scenes. But I think everything will really come together once we have a set song and apply sound effects, etc. I will continue to update you guys on the progress of the video! 




Wednesday, March 22, 2017

sneak peak

Filming has begun!!!

  I'm so exited that my group member and I have begun filming. I've been looking forward to this part of the project for a long time, and i'm very happy with the way it has been turning out. Although some things have not turned as we thought they would, all is well! Due to some complications, we decided to film in a more proximal location rather than our initial location (Miami). Also some of our scenes have slightly changed, but I'm content that what I have envisioned is still being captured. 

  Filming took place this previous weekend. We filmed in a variety of locations ranging from our local Burger King to a place so called the "hobo hole". We filmed with both a Canon camera and a drone. The drone was mostly utilized to capture the setting of the scenes, but we also used it to take some photographs of our protagonist. I will attach some of the photos down below!! Hope you're all as excited as we are! 



Sunday, March 19, 2017

locations

Where better to film than the beautiful city of Miami!

  Miami, located in Southern Florida. The city that should actually be the capital of the state, but that's another story. As of 2015, Miami had a population of 441,003 people, but the city has kept growing. According to Miami Beach Magazine, "Miami and Miami Beach both have a rich history of film and TV production due to the area’s scenic beauty and shear number of desirable filming locations. Miami’s film industry goes back to the 1920s when several film companies produced movies here in South Florida." Making it the perfect location for a variety of movie genre productions. Thanks to Miami's large diversity we'll be able to shoot in a variety of locations within the city 





"Movies Filmed in Miami & Miami Beach Florida." Miami Beach. N.p., 08 Mar. 2011. Web. 19 Mar. 2017. 

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Storyboard

Organization is key

  What is a storyboard? A storyboard is a graphic organizer in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence, according to Wikipedia's definition. Although it may seem like an extra step, taking the time to create a storyboard, even if it's very vague, will help play out an imagine in your head which will make the filming process much easier! 
  
Here are some tips I found on Goanimate which really helped while making my storyboard:

  • Show, don’t tell Use the storyboard as a litmus test to determine if your story is truly being visualized.
  • Be cinematic Does your video do things that movies do? Do people, places and things move or stand still? Does the camera move? Keep these factors in mind and bring them all together to create a cinematic video.
  • Make sure it’s logical and coherent You’re creating a story, so the video should look visually consistent from beginning to end
  • Pick a theme If you want to create a video infographic, add relevant charts and graphs. Want to highlight a customer pain point, show a character on screen and take them through a journey.

For more information on how and why to make a storyboard check out Goanimate.com on "What Is A Storyboard And Why Do You Need One?"

Here's a sketch of my storyboard













"What Is A Storyboard And Why Do You Need One?" GoAnimate Resources. N.p., 22 Sept. 2016. Web. 15 Mar. 2017.

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

filming


Shooting begins

In order to stay organized, my partner and I decided that creating a schedule for the days we will be shooting and editing is a good idea. And this is what the next couple of weeks will look like:

Week of 3/13-3/19
-Throughout the week we will be planning where the filming will be taking place, contacting the people that will partake in the video, gathering costumes and makeup, and organizing all the tools we will be utilizing to record
-Saturday and Sunday will consist of filming

Week of 3/20-26
-Monday through Friday will be focusing on editing footage we filmed the past weekend
-Sunday will be another day of filming

Week of 3/27-4/2
-Most of the film opening footage will be covered, editing will be a big part of the week
-Any missing footage or scenes we want to re-do will take place throughout the week
-We will be recording the voiceover for the video on Friday
-Saturday we will be writing our scripts for the screencast CCP
-Sunday we will record our CCP

Week of 4/3-4/9 (LAST WEEK)
-Probably the most stressful week, not excited for this week
-Finalizing the video editing
-Finalizing the CCP
-Hoping and praying for the best posible outcome







Sunday, March 12, 2017

characters

Producing the perfect protagonist

  Getting the characters to be liable and relatable are key. Most people will be able to tell you all about their favorite fictional character and why they feel a connection towards them. In my case, one of my favorite characters of all time is Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean. I've never been able to explain why, but I have a profound love for Pirate of the Caribbean, and Jack Sparrow in particular. According to an article from the Mary Sue, the reason people get attached to  fictional characters is because of empathy. "If you Google “why do we get attached to fictional characters?” 2,800,000 results are returned. Some of them are articles like this, asking questions about the psychology, the philosophy, of how we relate to our favorite characters. Others, however, are a slew of message board posts and blogs where people wonder rather frightfully if they are “sick” for developing very real emotional responses to characters that they know, intellectually, are not real.", the article says. And such claim is true, but when it comes down to it, I believe that we do get attached to characters because we empathize them. 

An idea of what protagonist will look like:

Carolyn-cox. "The Psychology of Fandom: Why We Get Attached to Fictional Characters." The Mary Sue. The Mary Sue, 19 Aug. 2015. Web. 12 Mar. 2017. 


inspo

Inspiration

  A while back I viewed a short film, of which I don't remember the name of. As I recollected the memory of this short piece, I got inspired. The film my partner and I will be creating will focus on the narrative of a mysterious young woman and her distinctive red coat.  The red coat will not only create a lot of contrast with the scenes we will be shooting but also it's very symbolic within itself.         We decided that a very important aspect of our piece would be the visuals and a lot of our focus will go towards that. In order to achieve a visually appealing film we will need to gather things such as a tripod, a high definition camera, a pro editing application, etc. Since we currently do not own any of these items we will probably need to borrow them from our trusty friends (donations are highly appreciated). Nevertheless, we will make with what we have and hopefully the outcome will be successful and as we imagine.


Something similar to this <<

Thursday, March 9, 2017

only just begun

Only the beginning...


   I'm doing the process all wrong. Usually when a movie comes about it's because an inspiration arose and a film followed it. In my case, i'm going to research and research and research and come up with an idea that I don't hate. Although I have know about this project since the start of the class I have yet to gather all my ideas into a concrete foundation for a good film. I also thought it was a good idea to research the most profitable and viewed genres of the moment before I get started. 
  
 I began my research first by looking up what genre was most popular at the moment. According to the New York Film Academy, in the United States, comedy is the genre with the highest grossing films. As the source said, "it’s clear that people in the United States prefer family-friendly comedy movies". 

If I were to be doing this process in foreign countries:

  • Germany- Action/adventure
  • India- Adventure
  • Italy- Comedy
  • France- Comedy
  • Australia- Action
  • Japan- Fantasy 
  • England- Comedy




Academy, New York Film. "12 of the Most Popular Movie Genres By Country." Student Resources. N.p., 13 Aug. 2016. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.