Creative Critical Reflection

Behind "remains;"

Here is also the accessible link.

Talking About "remains;"

Here is also the accessible link.

Film Opening

Finally, I present........... my opening, "remains;"!!!

Here is the accessible link.

Reflection

 This project was genuinely the most freeing project I've ever had, on terms of being able to do whatever I wanted on the creative sense, these past 9 weeks have been stressful, but fun!

I got to work with my friends, laugh together, and get frustrated together. It doesn't even feel like 9 weeks since I got this project, It's only felt like 2! Time passed by wayyyy too quick and now I can't wait to submit my opening. Honestly, being the first project where I was in control of everything, I kind of felt like it would turn out bad. It wouldn't be surprising, since this is something completely new to me, but after I put all the clips together it seemed to all work out and look way better than I imagined! All of my friends who have this class also agree that even though we were stressed, we also had more fun doing this than any other school project before.

I've actually learned things through the course of the project, which is pretty unexpected since it was just really Andreina and I, 2 highschoolers who had to come up with a story from scratch. I learned that things may not be as easy as they seem, a plan is always recommended! I've also learned to use more technology. I had NEVER touched Adobe before this class, it was so brand new to me. I watched YouTube videos, saw the tutorials, and eventually got the hang of using it. Even though I eventually did the finalizing touches such as noise reduction on CapCut, I had learned something at least. Same with using Celtx! It was so easy writing a script, laughing with Andreina while coming up with the storyline, and drawing a storyboard. I had expected this entire process to be vigorous since it was part of the AICE exam, but it was the opposite!

Anyways, my next two blogs will be my CCR's and my opening, my final blogs. Thank you guys for coming along this journey with me, it was a fun one! My blogs show all my progress, from square 1 to where I am now, which I am so proud of. 

Goodbye !!

 SOOOO today was just focused on this project. 

I went to my friend Lucia's house to help her film her CCR, which was sort of like a podcast. This took us around 3 hours actually because lines kept messing up, background noise, ETC. 

Here's a picture of our setup!

Considering the fact we did it in her room with a broken microphone, I actually thought it looked really good.

Anyways after, I went home and filmed my second CCR. I actually took SOOOO much shorter than the first one (because I actually had a script)! I've decided to upload both CCR's AND the opening tomorrow as my blog post since they will definitely be done by then.

Super short blog but it's just a little summary of progress from today!

Fonts

 So when editing, the font of our title and credits are obviously important to Andreina and I so we decided to do some research. We had seen openings and new the font couldn't be "runny" like in a horror film, since the "murder" would just be implied. We wanted something blunt, something that didn't take away from the credits but stood out enough to set the tone.

Here were our top picks:

Bebas

Madina

Magnolia Script

Muday

Honestly, Bebas is the one Andreina and I are leaning towards the most. It is blunt, professional, and even though the target audience is teens to young adults, it sets the tone that this film will be serious. I'll be looking for a similar font when editing, which is going really well! 

More updates tomorrow!

 EDITING!!!
So I've spent a lot of time today editing both my CCR and the opening. I tried to upload the unedited version here just for a peek at what it looks like but it won't load for some reason? It might be my Wifi because SO bad all day, but I NEED to figure this out by Sunday so I can upload my CCR's and the opening. Tomorrow I'm filming my last CCR and editing since I'm basically done editing everything else. 

Working on this project has been so fun, I got to work with my friends, play around, and learn new software and hardware programs! Honestly I feel like eventually it did get frustrating doing soooooo many retakes but looking back at it, it was fun. Even though this project did cause me a some stress, I honestly feel like it was such an important part of this class!

Anyways, tomorrow I'll (try to) upload my finished CCR and the opening! I already have my prop for my second CCR but unfortunately I've had family visiting and the house is rarely quiet. They are leaving tomorrow and even though I'm sad to see them go, this lets me finish my second CCR. 

Bye blog!!!

 ALL filming is finally finished for the opening!!!

The original storyboard was changed a little to make it the script, but when Andreina and I were filming, a lot of things did not translate well on paper. We also decided not to have the police scene at all, just to show how alone Aurora truly is in her situation and had a "phone call" to show that the case was officially closing. The aspect of something Adaliah wears that will later be seen on Aurora was also unfortunately cut out, aa A: our actor is out of town, and B: the mourning mood of Aurora could be passed another way. 

We brought our actor Alex to the park, where we filmed one of our final scenes where she looks at a picture of her and Adaliah as children. We did her makeup on spot but decided to leave out any tear marks as it would be unnoticeable in the lighting.

The scene with Aurora and her mom was also tweaked a little; instead of her mom coming into the room, we had a phone call where Aurora would be mad the case is closing, and ending the scene with her saying "Fine, I'll find out myself." The cliffhanger we left off at truly encapsulates the fact that this is only an opening, giving absolutely no closure to the main conflict. 

This project was truly so fun filming, as our entire group had lots of laughs and retakes throughout!

Andreina says she'll be sending the videos to me as soon as she figures out how to do it on the camera, and I'll begin editing both the CCR and the opening!