Creative Critical Reflection

Last but surely not least, I present to you my two final products: my Creative Critical Reflections. 

I truly had a lot of fun filming both of these. Not only did I get to dive deeper in my metacognition for this project, but I thoroughly enjoyed pretending I was being interviewed (they were very funny to film).

Lastly, I would like to thank Cambridge for this opportunity. The course of creating my two minute film opening project has been one I appreciate very much. I have learned more than I ever thought I would about not only the film world, but myself. The excitement I feel about finally sharing all my products cannot be described in words. 

Once again, thank you.

"Cut!"

Final Film Opening

After weeks of meticulous planning, filming, and editing, I am happy to present my final film opening: Dread.

Enjoy!

Reflecting

Over the course of (roughly) the past two months, I have grown and benefitted immensely from the process of creating my two minute film opening project. Although at times challenging, I truly credit this work with enhancing my production skills and permitting me to better my creative processes. I had extremely high expectations for myself (as I always do) coming into this portfolio assignment. Yes, at times my hopes may have been unrealistic; however, albeit some expectations did not come to life, I remain content with my final creation and appreciate both the hard work and improvement I elicited during the journey. 

As I have documented in my blogs, it can be noticed that my projects underwent changes throughout the duration of these two months. Some of these include the two major sound alterations I revealed yesterday. Previous to last afternoon, I had never considered adding music to my opening; however, after watching the finished product back, I felt there was something missing and concluded music was the best course of action to fix the mishap. In addition, concerning my CCR, although not revealed, I had always had in mind wanting to create a "director's cut" form of production. However, due to scheduling issues, and my final film opening not being completed on time, I resulted into changing these plans as the project needed to be fully finished in order to do so. Instead, I decided on the WIRED "autocomplete interview" and I could not be happier with the results of this creation. 

Reflecting on my process, I also realize the key moments I experienced while working. The very first one, in my opinion, was the creation of my storyboard. Completing the planning aspect assisted me greatly in truly picturing my piece. It brought me one major step closer to the filming process and marked the first time I deeply visualized my opening. In doing so, it allowed me to connect with the product I planned on making and come to appreciate it on a greater level. Another key moment was the day I filmed the majority of my project. This day, as I remember it, consisted of me absolutely falling in love with mise-en-scene. I found myself getting extremely caught up in my character's set and costume design, appreciating and perfecting every minor detail in an attempt to convey my story properly. As a result, I now greatly value mise-en-scene work and am enthralled by my ability to deliver a variety of messages through such simple props such as a notebook, making me appreciate my work and process much more. 

Overall, this project has taught me a lot. I feel completely that this was an amazing learning opportunity for me. I learned not only specific skills, such as production and post-production processes, but also overall, crucial life skills, such as time management. My next two blog posts will consist of publishing my CCR and final film opening; I could not be more exhilarated to finally demonstrate the project I have spent so long writing about. 

LAST MINUTE ADDITIONS

As I stated on my last post, I only had a few final touch ups to complete on the editing of my actual two minute film opening project. Fortunately, I have been able to complete everything I had planned, such as adding the melancholy filter. However, when I thought I had finished, I watched my piece over and felt there was something missing. In my opinion, the sound editing seemed off and spontaneous, not adapting to the tone of my product. As a result, I made some last minute alterations. Firstly, I removed the school bell I stated would play in my piece. For a lack of a better word, the sound effect came off as corny and did not appear coherent with the rest of my piece. Secondly, I added a small clock-ticking sound effect during the therapy scene, attempting to add intensity and a dramatic effect. Thirdly, I included a melancholy, non-copyrighted music. After some YouTube searching, I found what I believe is an extremely fitting song that would add the extra touch to my piece and assist in the storytelling behind it through its characterization. 

Here is the song: 

That officially marks the end of my editing journey! It has truly been a wonderous experience in which I have learned a lot; I could not be more excited to soon be posting my finished two minute film opening product. 

BreakingCopyright. (2021, June 18). Royalty free sad ambient music (for videos)-"Elegy" by @SavfkMusic GB IT  [Video].

            Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHw14PLHJCc

Final Updates

Before publishing my last few posts which conclude my documentation of the two minute film opening project, I figured I should provide a couple updates on the final steps of my portfolio. For one, since last week, I have, for the most part, completed the editing process of my product. Now, I am merely adding final touches to ensure my piece is the best it can be. For example, my next step is adding the melancholy filter that will assist in conveying the tone of my piece. However, this process should not take me longer than a day; therefore, I plan on completing the project by the end of this school week. 

Moreover, since my last blog, I have answered the remaining three questions required of me for the Creative Critical Reflection. In fact, I have filmed and edited both my CCR products already. As a result, I wanted to present the inspirations for the themes I selected for each piece. My first CCR is inspired by the GQ celebrity "replies to fans on the internet" interviews. In my video, I read questions "fans" of my film sent in on Twitter and respond to them verbally. The only major difference between my production and GQ's publishings is that, in my video, my response is not seen being typed up to send out to the individual who asked the question, while on the celebrity interviews they are. Here is an example of the interviews that inspired my CCR:

My second CCR, on the other hand, was inspired by WIRED's "autocomplete interviews." In my video, I respond to the last two questions required for the reflection, revealing them by peeling off paper from a board where the questions appear as a google search, similar to that of WIRED's real interviews. However, as opposed to the real publishings, my interview's board does not depict the title "google." Instead, I made a DYI board where the title is "CCR." In addition, instead of stating "autocomplete interview" at the beginning, I stated "autofill interview." Here is an example of the interviews that inspired my CCR:

P.S: this is one of my favorite celebrity interviews ever; I find it hilarious.

Before closing this off, I'd like to state that my creations are in no way meant to copy these companies' brand or ideas. I merely enjoy both these video types so much that I hoped to model my project after them, hopefully allowing my CCR to be as entertaining as the celebrity interviews I watch so often. 

Preparation for the CCR

As I complete my editing process, it is time I begin pondering the main aspects of my Creative Critical Reflection. Through more technical brainstorming, such as the type of media I will produce, I have dug deeper in my consideration for the main questions required to be answered. One of the questions has caught my attention the most, as I grew very curious to realize my answer upon reading the prompt. The question is: "How did your production skills develop throughout this project?"

This question, in my opinion, is extremely important. From the beginning, I have viewed this project as an amazing opportunity to dive deeper into the film production world and discover the many ways in which my dream career functions. For the most part, I feel my production skills have significantly increased due to this portfolio. For one, I now value greatly the planning process. In previous projects, I lacked in giving much consideration to the beginning steps of a production. However, due to the two minute film opening project, I have learned the importance of planning, and more specifically, storyboarding. My storyboard assisted me immensely, outlining my filming in a manner which allowed it to be completed quickly and cohesively.

Furthermore, I have developed a new found appreciation for mise-en-scene elements. Like never before, I realize how crucial set design, costume design, and a variety of other aspects are to a production. As detailed in previous blogs, the costumes my character wears, along with props and set design, all assist in properly conveying my story. Collectively, these features construct a theme and tone of their own, overtaking my piece and enhancing my project. This opportunity has allowed me to not only realize this, but maximize my use of mise-en-scene. In previous projects, the mise-en-scene production aspect had been a back thought; however, this time, I made it a top priority, an ideal I feel elicits a higher level of skill.

Lastly, I feel my filming technique significantly improved due to this project. In previous assignments, I always encountered one issue: missing footage. I never seemed to film enough, leaving a major obstacle to deal with when it came time to edit. In fear of this occurring again, I made sure to reshoot scenes multiple times, allowing myself to have a multitude of options. I feel this style of shooting more closely resembles that completed in the real film world, also representing a higher level of production skill.

I greatly admire how eye opening this question is. Not only have I grown fond of the process as a whole due to it, but I also feel a sense of pride and gratitude that I was able to learn so much as a result of one experience.

A Step Further Into Editing

As I stated in yesterday's blog, I have decided to complete the basic editing steps on iMovie as opposed to Premiere Pro. In addition, I outlined that I had already completed the lining of the sequence for my two minute film opening project. That was my first obstacle in the editing journey. The following, was dealing with sound. Luckily, other than the scene after the title slide, my opening is pretty much soundless, including only one or two major sound effects. These are the sounds of an iPhone alarm clock and a school bell. After my entire opening was laid out, I began searching for the sounds I preferred.

I concluded that, for the alarm clock, I would stick to the iPhone's default: radar. In my opinion, and in the opinion of most people I know, the radar alarm is an infuriating sound that triggers many. As a result, it is perfect for my film. In the opening, I must convey my character's annoyance with her life and how draining her daily routine is, a theme I feel an irritating sound conveys well. The alarm stretches longer than what is normally heard, also conveying how each day bleeds onto the other. Furthermore, for the school bell, I merely picked a generic sound that presents the idea of school ending in a universal manner.

I am very content with the use of sound in my film opening. It makes me extremely joyful that a further step in my editing journey has been completed.