Final Project

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fkXfEHeCoVpK9n1S9qYqbE3gISN30rPv/view?usp=sharing

Creative Critical Reflection

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ls9CAvAwKKjfQoqm2BtOYz7bfljRJpcY/view?usp=sharing

Final Post

 Our project has come to a full conclusion and we are focusing on finishing up our CCR individually. This project has been a roller coaster ride ranging from our easy brainstorming to our lack of planning for our final scenes. This led to a strong delay in our filming which was done in the past 3 weeks and our editing which concluded this past weekend. We finally finished our project and some of the key moments were: the weather concerns used during our funeral scene, the delayed production, and Mrs. Stoklosa's guidance. The weather concerns provided an initial delay but the rain became an element that could be added to our funeral/paying respects scene. The rain provided more representation of sadness and anger which allowed us to build upon our plot. The delayed production on our part as a whole was a key moments as it served as a wakeup call for the group to gather ourselves and recover from our weaknesses and obstacles. Finally, Mrs. Stoklosa provided consistent advice and guidance to allow us to film our most professional and developed project possible as a team. Thank you for your assistance with that area.

 Our project did have some final changes at the end. For example, the scene of our actor displaying anger and destroying the murder board was added as it fit the plot/representation and allowed us to further reach our time goal of 2 minutes. Finally, I believe the project was a success but it could have been improved as we had a very strong foundation. It has been a wild few weeks but we finally got through them with a BANG!

CCR Production

 Not only is today April Fool's Day, but it is also the day that I am on track to complete my CCR. I have already begun my CCR with a similar layout as a Youtube vlog. I used similar blogging styles as Maxx Chewning, Logan Paul, and Bryce Hall who are all Youtube influencers. I hope to complete filming my CCR today and to complete the editing by Sunday, April 3rd. This is of great importance so I can be completely done before the assigned due date. I can use Monday in class and throughout the rest of the day to edit and fine-tune any mistakes but I will try to be complete by Sunday. 

  I did not use a comical approach but I did use a laid back, casual approach. This helps illustrate a creative vlogging style that many Youtube influencers use to capture their lives. I believe the CCR will end up being fantastic and that it will show the scope of my creativity and knowledge.

Project Completion

 Our project has now been completed, as of today. I previously explained that we had a few problems but we asked Juan Mila if he could take care of a few scenes at home and he did. Our last couple of scenes were solely done by him and were edited by Nathaniel. Our editing and filming is now complete, barring a couple of tune ups along the way.

 With that out of the way, our project is coming along just fine as of now. However, I will now divert all of my attention to the CCR on this upcoming weekend. I will brainstorm my idea today and complete it ASAP in order to think of an efficient, good delivery. 

Editing

 As perviously mentioned on my blog, Nathaniel Ceant has taken control of our editing responsibilities. He is almost done on our last few scenes but is also attempting to sharpen a few scenes up. However, a huge emergency has occurred, we are only at 1:36 seconds. We are going to have to add a few scenes throughout this week in order to be able to completely finish and get started on our CCR. Our last few scenes have great importance as they are going to make us reach the time limit but they must also not add too much ahead as the plot is only an opening.

Overall, Nathaniel's editing looks sharp and crisp. He is using Adobe Premiere which he has never used before so he has had some challenges. That is why it has been a good thing that he started editing ahead of the due date, so any obstacles like these could be avoided. Hopefully, our project can be completed ASAP so we can turn our full attentions to our CCR.

Editing

 As mentioned in the previous blog, we have been taking large strides in filming our project. However, we ran into multiple challenges that have slowed down our filming progress as we were wrapping it up. Therefore, we began editing the clips and scenes that we had and have reached a significant portion of the film opening. There are still the last few scenes that we have to worry about to be able to fully complete the production process. But, it is very important that we were able to advance this much during this break in order to catch up on what we were missing. On Monday, we will finish our filming and plan to edit throughout the week to finish as early as possible. By that point we will begin to finish our opening and begin working on our CCR.

Filming

 As we have begun filming, we have realized that it is going to be much more difficult than we first assumed. Our various filming locations were very difficult to prepare for the shot due to lots of outside interferences. For example, we were filming an outdoor scene at the beginning of the week and we ran into issues with the wind which interfered with the sound. The sound is going to be very important to maintain sharp as it will make the editing much easier. We have made good progress as of now in the filming portion having done a significant amount but we are finishing up our shots as the days pass. 

These first days of filming have been a huge success but we now understand the lengths that one must go through to properly film at a high level.

Layout

 The final layout is finished and just the final few series of shots are being brainstormed. The overall layout is a revenge-action story of a character named Max, where the opening begins with a scene of Max paying his respects to an unidentified grave and he shows a burst of anger/depression. The following scene depicts arriving to his home where he is undergoing a personal investigation. 

A murder board similar to this one is going to be setup to depict a complex investigation.

In addition, the murder board is going to represent some sort of law enforcement experience that will later be depicted in a series of family portraits. The following scenes are action scenes meant to engage the audience. The final few scenes are still undecided and we will be working hard to finish those up.

Planning for Spring Break

 Since Spring Break began today, we as a collective are going to start planning for the following week and a half to progress a large amount on our opening. We plan to begin filming this weekend and finish by Wednesday/Thursday of next week. This is going to be important so we can conclude editing by the time school returns on Tuesday, March 29th. We hope to be completed by that point so we can complete post-production and begin working on our CCR. The next couple of weeks and next 10 days or so are going to be the most crucial out of the whole project. 

Hopefully, we are able to overcome any sort of obstacles that appear in our path so that we can complete our project as quickly as possible. 

Facing and Encountering obstacles

 It has become more and more difficult to progress on this project due to many reasons. There have been brainstorming issues due to overthinking and maintaining originality. This has caused many obstacles as we have been unable to fully finish formulating a strong, complete idea. Overall, the entire brainstorming process has become extremely difficult to complete and it seems like we will have to continue past these obstacles in order to start filming. I believe that our group is severely behind at this point as we have not started filming and this has been the main cause in my eyes.

In addition, the brainstorming process has reduced my participation in other parts of the project as I am too focused on the storyboards, layout, etc. We need to continue forward and fresher ideas in order to be able to finish the project on time.

Production Responsibilities

 As previously mentioned, my group consists of 3 members: Juan Mila, Nathaniel Ceant, and myself. We are all going to be taking different responsibilities towards the production of our opening. Juan Mila will be the main actor, although throughout the opening there will be a few others starring in the video, whether it is just them as voice actors or physically playing a role (There will be an unidentified voice actor who will perform a phone call). I will take main control over the creative area and the shooting. I will use a tripod that we purchased for the shots outside of school and hopefully borrow Mrs.Stoklosa's tripods during class. Nathaniel will assist me with some of the shots and both of my group members have assisted with the creative and planning portions. Finally, Nathaniel will take over the large part of the editing and post-production responsibilities. These clear roles and assigned responsibilities have and will allow for a fluid production and will improve our film greatly.

Film Schedule

 As we have taken the final steps towards planning and finishing up on our storyboards, we have decided to begin filming throughout the next 2 weeks. We will be filming in school and on our own time in order to have enough time for post-production. As of now, the filming will be taken in dark areas while at school and in various places outside of school. The storyboard, however, must be finalized before we can take serious production steps. We are going to watch The Batman tomorrow as a group for entertainment reasons, of course, but we will be strongly focusing on the first few minutes of the film. This is because The Batman is a similar genre and we would like to see the types of shots and film elements used in one the most hyped movies of the past few years. Overall, the filming and production process will begin soon as we inch closer to finishing our storyboard.

Outline Change

     The direction of our brainstorming has done a 180 turn. We are still going with the same genre of an action movie opening, however the actual plot has changed. Our original idea consisted of a fast-paced opening with the main character running away from an unidentified thing/person. Now, the project consists of a vengeful-like story of a man (possibly ex-law enforcement) filled with anger and urge to act out against someone who harmed a loved one. This project will take a darker turn and will depict the use of alcohol, weapons, and a huge symbol for hatred/anger. The buildup will be similar to the last parts of The Purge: Anarchy's opening scene. Our scene will begin with a short backstory and plot buildup, then switch to the main character's story arc. Overall, our opening scene outline/layout is cemented but the shots and production will vary from now until shooting

Technology used for project

     As described in previous posts my group is severely behind and lacking in the planning/early production phase. The research has gone well and we discovered certain aspects and trends that we can use but we have been unable to come up with solid, creative, or realistic ideas to execute. This can be attributed to many things but we will strongly focus on that portion of the project as soon as possible. However, we have realized the variety of shots and editing techniques used in action/thriller movie openings. We will need a variety of technology to shoot this project. For the various shots we will use an Apple iPhone 13 and this will be stabilized using the Sunpak Platinum Plus Tripod found on Best Buy for $19.99. Out of the 3 group members we already have the iPhone 13 but the Tripod we will have to purchase, in addition to the compatible smartphone adapter also found on Best Buy for $14.99. The money will be split between the 3 group members, which is an added benefit of working in a 3 person group. That is going to be used for the various shots and angles that we are going to perform in the video.

     For the editing portion of the production process we are going to use one of two softwares: Adobe Premiere or DaVinci Resolve. We are unclear yet of which we are going to use but this will be resolved by tomorrow's class period. There will be various other important forms of technology we will have to use along the way but these are the clear pieces that we have established as of now.

Plot Element Research and Planning

     As of this point in the research and planning, the plot elements have been the hardest ideas to establish. We are yet to overcome the obstacles faced, we have analyzed examples of movie openings and discovered a similar formula for the plot elements of an action movie. However, the actual content of the plot is difficult to brainstorm and research does very little towards developing an original idea. The genre has been established as action/thriller and we are trying to identify more formulaic techniques like amount of shots used, camera shots/angles used, and editing techniques. However, we have identified that we would like to use a fast-paced, intense opening with the purpose of rapidly engaging the audience and building quick interest in the movie. This has been a big struggle for our group but before the end of the week we will have a idea set in place as a layout. This idea will be adjusted along the way but it is most important to have a consensus collection of thoughts towards the opening as soon as possible.

Tone of our Portfolio

My group members and I have decided that we are going to go with the action genre. The action genre as I said, seems to have a sort of formulaic context to it. Most action movie openings focus on establishing two elements: the tone and the characters. For example, Raiders of the Lost Ark opens with Indiana Jones searching for a golden idol which establishes his character and the subsequent adventurous, action scenes establish the fast-paced tone. Furthermore, Avengers: Infinity War opens with a similar formula of Thanos, the antagonist, attacks many of the prior protagonists like Hulk, Loki, and Thor. The scene establishes the characters and sets the violent, dominant tone that will follow for the entire movie.

Based on the research, the formula for a successful action opening scene is to focus on establishing the characters, in our case it will be Juan Mila, and establish the tone for the rest of the film. The plot elements have not been identified yet but we do understand the format for our scene and how we will execute it. 

First Approach to Project

 My project is slated to include Nathaniel Ceant, Juan Mila, and myself as were conquer the task of creating our 2 minute film opening. 

Our initial research has led us in the direction of a thriller or action genre. From our research most lists of best film openings tend to be populated by those genres, which makes it easier for us to find a template or formula to create the best possible film opening. For example, The Dark Night directed by Christopher Nolan is an action film that is widely regarded to be one of the best film openings. 

The Dark Knight is a very highly regarded film in this context as are many other action films. This allows us to research commonalities and add our "touch" to be able to produce the best film opening we can.

Music Marketing Project Reflection

 The Music marketing project consisted of 4 members including myself: Julie, Manny, and Gaby. The entire process was broken down and divided upon assignment of the groups. Once our group discovered it was the Hip Hop genre that we were assigned, we delved into deep research on similar case studies, created a storyboard, and created a marketing presentation that included a music video. 

The storyboard consisted of many ideas that were shared on a google document that was collaborated on by all members. We all used various ideas and Manny used his artistic and creative abilities to physically put together the storyboard. The storyboard was very well planned and almost all of the shots were included in the final project. This was done around the same time as the in-depth market research. The research consisted of similar artists from the same genre to create marketing techniques that could be used for our artist, The Vanquisher. We decided to study the artists Kendrick Lamar, Don Toliver, Travis Scott, and SZA. These artists provided various marketing profiles that we picked apart and chose specific areas to apply to The Vanquisher’s marketing plan.

After gathering this background information and doing enough research, we decided it was time to create the music video and marketing presentation. Manny took charge of the music video in a very efficient way as did Julie with the presentation. Manny was the unofficial director of a very well shot and edited music video. He took most responsibilities of the video as myself and him were the main actors of the storyline/ promotional music video. He led the creation of a very good music video while Julie led the presentation, which we all contributed to. The presentation was very detailed but concise and allowed for us to create a strong artist marketing plan for The Vanquisher. 

The project as a whole was very well planned and executed, in addition to everyone contributing a fair amount. This project and collaborating with certain people allowed me to develop as a presenter and especially as a creator in the media industry. I learned new parts to the production process and feel that I grew as a producer/director. This is going to be extremely helpful for the production portions of my Cambridge portfolio and it also helped me build good research tendencies for future reference.

My First Post

 My name is Rodrigo and I am creating this blog for many reasons. I am very interested in developing my interest in all forms of media due to my AICE Media Studies Class. In addition, I would like to build some sort of media portfolio for any future reference, and finally I am creating a blog to gather my written media for Cambridge