The CCR Plan

     Hello, and welcome to today's blog post regarding the creation of the first CCR! I'll get the small details out of the way first, and then I'll move onto the big ones, like equipment.

    The combined length of the CCRs can not surpass ten minutes, so I'm going to evenly split the length and have five minutes for one and five minutes for the other, but I can easily accommodate if one is longer than the other. Next, there are a total of four questions that must be answered within both of the CCRs. I'm going to do another even split here, having two questions in each CCR.

The first will have:

• How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
• How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

The second will have:

• How did your production skills develop throughout this project?
• How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

    

    As a change of plans, I'm going to have the first one be the interactive one and the second one will be the informational, presentation-like one. This is because the first two seem like they would be questions asked to a content creator during a Q&A. They could be answered somewhat casually, which fits with the casual tone of a podcast like this. Furthermore, the second ones would be easier to answer with pictures and other information shown on screen. I'd be able to show the technology that I used, like Blogger, my stabilizer, etc. I'd also be able to show how I solved some of my problems when editing or filming.

    Moreover, here are the plans for my first CCR. This one will be the personal podcast like one. I'm able to borrow a microphone from one of my friends, so I have no need to worry about hardware that is used to film this, as my laptop has a built in camera. The camera is obviously stationary as well, so I don't have to worry about needing a friend to help film my project. In other words, there are no external complications that can mess this up for me, unless a meteor hits my equipment. I'm so sure that I even have a backup plan where I can use my headset's microphone if my friend can't give it.

    Seeing as how I have everything except for the mic (which again, I have a backup plan) I could start filming this CCR today if I have time, which would leave me extra time on Sunday to make finishing touches on my project.

    Moving on, here are the plans for the second CCR. This one is the technical, presentation-like one. Unfortunately, the headset would not fit well here, so I have to rely on my friend letting me borrow his microphone. Since this is presentation like, there will once again be little motion, which is honestly a life saver for me, as I don't want to risk a friend not being able to come again. I can put my script next to the camera so that it's not too obvious that I'm reading from a script. Aside from that, when I get home I'm going to install an app that allows me to screen record and show myself scrolling through websites with information, which is a perfect segue into something else that needs to be talked about. I can't use my full five minutes on this CCR because I need to include a few seconds to include all sources shown within the CCR, because if not I wouldn't be crediting the authors, and that does not work to either of our benefits.

    This one will be worked on either Saturday or Sunday, depending on what time the first CCR is worked on. (Probably Sunday because I have a doctor's appointment today) I also have to get the mic before I start filming this one, so my bet is that it will be completed on Sunday.

    

Thank you for reading, and like I said in my post from earlier today, make sure you come back tomorrow! I will be discussing my first finished CCR. Once again, farewell!

Progress Update: Music, Editing, and the Creative Critical Reflection

Music:

    Honestly, I'm not too proud of the way my cover of Zero-Two's theme came out. I was able to play it without any errors, but it goes too slow, even when given the context of the film. I might end up just asking my friend with three years of guitar experience if he could cover it, as it would most likely be able to convey more emotion if it was played better. There's not much else to say about the music department.

Editing:    

    Yesterday, I began editing the project with one of my friends, Alex, who has a decent amount of experience with editing videos. It is currently going well, however I'm still trying to figure out the situation with sounds. I had the idea with the heartbeat slowly getting faster and faster, but I also have the idea of the music in the background, as well as the random talk in the background to show that this is a hospital. I'm worried that it might be too cluttered. On the other hand, it could work in my favor because of the anxiety feeling that I'm trying to produce. I'll try with and without some of the sounds and see what works out the best. Besides that, there have been no large issues with editing, which gives me a breather after the mess that was filming. There's only a few finishing touches left, so I'll be done today.

Creative Critical Reflection:

    Above all, my goal is to finish editing quick, so that I can begin producing the CCR. It takes up a large portion of my grade, so I need to make sure I complete it and do it well. I plan to begin tomorrow, and have already thought of how the two videos will be presented. The first one will be me answering the questions, having it switch between the facecam and information that will be shown on screen. This would be for the more technical questions that require sources and data that I can backup. The second one will likely be in the form of an interview or possibly a podcast, however it has to be something interactive compared to the first video, which would mainly be informational.

    Tomorrow I will finish one of the CCRs, and I'll do the second one on Sunday. It would give me adequate time to complete and edit both of them. Make sure to come back tomorrow for how the CCR will be done, as well as the script to it. Once again, thank you for reading and farewell!

Filming Day 3

    Hello, today we completed the filming of the movie introduction. We were able to finish whatever we started yesterday, and now have all the footage needed to create the final product. Our main goal was to show the main character (officially named Mateo) appearing stressed, which was shown through him messing with his phone and moving his leg.

  Besides the videos we took, there's not much else to say about the filming. The next step is editing, which I will complete somewhere within the next five days. Once I finish that, my movie introduction will finally be completed! Farewell, and make sure to stay tuned for my next blog on editing!

Filming Day 2

 Hello, and welcome to today's blog post, which is a continuation to the latest filming post. 

    Today, my friends and I filmed the flashbacks that are shown in the introduction. We wanted to show the protagonist enjoying himself by doing things he enjoys. I chose activities that I believed were fit for young adults who don't currently have a major goal in life yet. The main activities involved were music, exercise, and gaming.

    The gaming, guitar, and piano scenes were easy to film, and we were able to get them all done within the second or third takes. The main challenge came from the pull-ups and boxing shots.

    With the pull-ups my idea was to have a shot similar to the ones that are used in training montages in several fighting based movies. We had a hard time making it look good though, so we strayed further from that idea and tried something different but still somewhat similar. The ending of it will be cut though, so ignore the part where it zooms out.

    The boxing shot was also hard to take. This was not because of the angle though. Instead, the main issue came from the environment. We had trouble finding a place that would fit and look good on camera. Indoors felt out of place and the garage did not have the best lighting for it. We chose outside because it had great lighting (we were filming in the morning) and because the setting gives off a happy tone.

   There is also a shot with the main character riding a skateboard. This was one of the initial ideas, but after we recorded it we decided that it doesn't look natural. It may be used, but I'm heavily leaning towards cutting it. On top of not looking natural, it also might take up too much time within the introduction.

    And that’s everything we did with the flashback scenes. I believe we accomplished the goal of setting a happy tone, and I'm especially happy with the guitar playing part. I'm excited for tomorrow, because we finish off filming and I'm able to edit the project together. Make sure to stay tuned, as I will be posting the remaining footage tomorrow. Thank you for reading and farewell!

First Day Filming (Featuring a Bunch of Problems)

     Hello! I recently started the filming of our introduction. Unfortunately there were many issues, but we were able to fix all of them relatively easily.

    As I predicted, there was an issue with one of the actors. Dillon got sick and was not able to appear at the filming. He notified me in advance though, so I was quickly able to change roles. Sergio, although having little experience with acting, now plays the main character of the film. The final product may not be as good without Dillon and his knowledge in film, but I can make it work. This left the issue of no longer having a cameraman.

    As a result, I asked around and found another friend to take up the mantle. He goes by the name of Mateo Mendoza Garcia. He is currently in a film class within Cypress Bay and thus has a moderate knowledge of how to operate a camera. He was also the only one who responded. 

    The next issue that arose was a lack of organization. Unfortunately I had to change location because my aunt was remodeling her house, so we worked in mine. There was also the issue that Mateo did not have the app needed to operate the stabilizer, so some time was used just downloading it. Finally, they could only film for a few hours because they had to go somewhere else. 

    In the end, we were able to film a few parts (about 15 seconds) but took most of our time today discussing other things. For example, Sergio has about three years experience with guitar and was able to teach me a few techniques that will come in useful for polishing my rendition of Zero Two's theme. I also taught Mateo some of the more advanced techniques that can be used with the help of the stabilizer.

    Overall, we did not get too much of the film recorded, however we made great progress in several other aspects of the projects. I believe we did well despite having so much happen on such a short notice, which does remind me that I forgot to mention clothing. Sergio had fitting clothing for his role and my doctor's outfit came together pretty well. 

Me wearing my doctor's outfit

    It's not the most comfortable outfit, put comfort is not the main goal of the project. Unfortunately, I was not able to take a picture of Sergio's outfit.

    We begin filming the flashbacks tomorrow, so expect to see a blog post on that in the near future. Farewell, thank you for reading, and make sure to continue reading, because this is where the filming starts to get good!

Casting

    Hello, and welcome to today's blog post regarding the casting of the characters in my production. I've squared up dates with my friends and have finally settled upon who will join me in creating this movie introduction. 

    There are three main roles that have to be played. Two of them are roles as the characters of the movie and the last one is the cameraman.

    To begin with, I'll get my role out of the way. I will be playing the doctor within the film. This is for a plethora of reasons. First, I own the outfit the doctor wears and am able to wear it to the production. Furthermore, I know hot most of the mice-en-scene elements are used, so if one of them is used in the final project I know how to operate it and make it look believable in the film. Moreover, he has less screen time than the protagonist. I can act somewhat decently, but I would most likely not be able to portray the feelings of the protagonist too well. I feel that me being the protagonist would be detrimental to the film, and the role should be left to somewhat else who can do justice to the character.

    This leads into the next actor. The person who will play the role of the protagonist is my friend Dillon Dreyfus, who currently goes to Western. He has taken several acting classes, as well as film production classes. He also creates some short films in his spare time, which have come out pretty well when considering that he has an extremely low budget. I know he's able to bring life to the character, and he looks somewhat like how I imagined my character. I can also supply him with a black jacket if he needs it, but he most likely owns most of the clothing worn by the character.

    Finally, I have chosen Sergio Hernandez, who goes to my school, to be the cameraman for my film. Honestly, he does not have too much experience with film-making, however I did work on a short film project with him in 6th grade that came out decent. He will probably learn how to operate the stabilizer quickly. Also he was one of the only ones not on vacation, which did play a large role in me selecting him. 

    So that's my cast for this project. I do have some back-up friends who can fill in if they don't make it, so I'm not worried if something happens and they can't come. Sergio and Dillon are good at being responsible, so I know we won't be wasting much time when it comes to filming. I especially have faith in Dillon after viewing his past short films. Filming starts really soon and I'm excited to see how it goes. 

    Thank you for reading and I'll see you all next time! Farewell!

Equipment

     Hello, and welcome to today's blog post regarding the equipment that will be used in the film. (This is not to be confused with mice-en-scene equipment, which is usually not used to create a film.) I decided to blog about this due to the rapidly approaching film date, which is next week.

    Initially, I believed that there would be a large amount of tools needed to film, however as I was ruling out options I was able to limit it to two things, as most of the other goals can be achieved without special equipment. These tools are my iPhone and the DJI Osmo Handheld Stabilizer.

    The most important filming tool is my iPhone, an iPhone 11 pro. Due to me not owning a camera, it's my best option. It also has great quality and a variety of features to toy with, so I'm not worried about the video being choppy. It also makes it simple to transfer the videos to my computer to edit, as I could just email myself the files and import them to my editing software.  I'm not completely knowledgeable with traditional cameras either, so I feel that the product might not end up the best it could be if I used a camera rather than my phone. On top of this, I have a backup plan in case the quality is not good enough, as I could use my Mom's phone, an iPhone 12, which has fantastic video quality.

Image of the iPhone 11 Pro

    The other important piece of filming equipment is the DJI Osmo Handheld Stabilizer. Due to the phone being my main way of recording, this stabilizer is necessary to make sure my camera is not too wobbly. Although appearing to be a normal stabilizer, it has many features that work together with the phone for a great product. If you install a certain application on your phone ,you can control everything from the stabilizer alone. This means you never have to lay a finger on the phone. With so much control over the camera, I'm able to create some unique shots while the camera still retains stability.

Image of the DJI Osmo Handheld Stabilizer

    

    Filming starts in only two days, so having these tools prepared is crucial. My phone is not an issue, but I made sure that the stabilizer is charging and at the ready for when I film. I've only used it once before and came up with several unique movements, so I'm excited to see the other ways I can play with different shots and angles. Farewell, and thank you for reading! I hope to see you all in tomorrow's blog post!