A Level Critical Reflection

This is my critical reflection for the A Level portion.

A Level Poster + Website

This is the final version of my poster to go along with my short film.

Here is the link for my website.

inbloomthemovie.weebly.com

A Level Short Film

Here is my short film for A Level:

Editing "In Bloom" Day 1

Today I continued editing for "In Bloom" and got it mostly done. Like I had mentioned earlier, I resorted to editing on the iMovie app on my iPhone since I had other way of getting to use the program. I was a bit hesitant to use it since I thought it would be more complicated and the screen was smaller, but the application was extremely user friendly.

I had a ridiculous amount of clips to pick from and sort through because I shot nearly every single part of the film from various angles, so it took me more than a few hours to get a rough edit but it was super gratifying. I am happy with the way the story is told predominantly through visuals and how easy it is to follow even though there is no dialogue.

All I am missing are the title, credits, and a couple final transitions. I am planning on finishing these last touches tomorrow and doing research for my website as well as beginning to create it. Once I decide on how the title/credits will look, I will look into ways of carrying that theme into the poster and website to create a brand for this short film better.

Here are some more stills of my editing process on iMovie:

Filming for A Level, "In Bloom"

Today was a super productive day for me! I finished the shot list I had begun making earlier for my short film, "In Bloom." Even though originally I wanted to create a screenplay for A Level, I only made a shot list because there is no dialogue in this short film and is told only through visuals. Contrary to my film opening for the AS portion that relied heavily on auditory elements such as conversation or news over the radio to tell the story, "In Bloom" will be told entirely through the visual element.

After I finished the shot list, I printed it out and color-coded which shots where outside, inside, or where to be added digitally (such as credits and title.) This aided in making the filming process as efficient as possible because I managed my time much better and did not miss any shots that I needed to take.

This short film relies heavily on color to move the story along and show the evolution of the character and situation. The film goes from monochromatic shades of white, grey, and black to colorful, vibrant, strong colors, so the shot list helped me film the colorful ones in order to have the best amount of sunlight and brightness.

My wonderful friend Ana was my protagonist in this short film, and we had a really great time bouncing off of ideas on how to get things from different angles and make the film as aesthetically pleasing as possible. One thing I was unhappy about in my film opening was how I focused too much on the audio element and sort of neglected really trying to tell a story visually so that's what I kept in mind today when filming with Ana.

In the end, we got all the filming done. I filmed on my iPhone and actually started editing on its iMovie program since my computer doesn't support it. I plan to get editing done within the next couple of days so I can dedicate time to the website and the poster.

Here are some pictures from today:
                                                                                               

 

Writing the Screenplay for A Level

So now that I have decided what I want the general story to be for my A Level, I am beginning to write the screenplay for my short film for when I film this weekend. Instead of just creating it on google drive now and imitating a design I had researched of what a screenplay looks like similar to what I did when writing the AS portion of the portfolio, I am now writing on celtx.com because it's easier to write on there because it structures it out for you. The website also has ways to create a shot list, and other ways that help you visualize your movie so it is pretty helpful. After writing a very general idea, I got to work on the shot list. Here is what I have so far:

Research for A Level

So the A Level has two other components besides the short film and the creative critical reflection which are the website and a postcard advertisement for the short film at the film festival, and I definitely don't want to undermine those tasks as I work on the major task of the A Level, so while I am currently unable to begin filming, I'm going to research the other two small aspects of the project.

I began by researching short film websites and how they can be used to properly market/form a following for the movie. I found this really interesting article on The Guardian that brought up the point that websites now a days require a lot of convergence with social media in order to be effective and competitive in the industry. This is making me wonder how I can construct a website and poster that works for the contemporary industry for my short film and how it could relate to the "film festival" it enters.

I also found an interesting article on Raindance that gave interesting tips on making your own short film. I found that the pointers given by the writer were very relevant and grounded. For example, they reiterate the idea that a short film should still have all the the exposition where the characters/setting are presented, a conflict (small, in order to ensure it can be resolved within the time frame of the film), and a resolution. They also suggest writing for your limitations and budgets which is something I want to keep in mind.

I finally saw some short films in order to gain inspiration and see how to tell the story as best visually as possible. Some that really got my attention were "Apricot" and "Just A Love Story". The second one I mentioned was really nice because it took place in one setting but it was unique and new (an elevator.)

One short film I had already seen that I have in mind for the type of tone I want the short film to be is "Crush". I like how the characters don't speak and instead there is music and voiceover to describe how they are feeling and carry the story.

AS LEVEL CRITICAL REFLECTION

This is the vlog of my creative critical reflection for my film opening.

AS LEVEL FILM OPENING

This is the finished version of my film opening for the AS level.

Planning for A Level

So now that I have completed the AS portion of my media studies portfolio, I have begun detailing and planning my A portion of the project. I am not completely sure what the subject of my short film will be, as it originally was going to be related to my film opening, but I have set deadlines for myself on when to have certain things done. I will be done filming within a few days and will then spend my time working on editing, while also creating a poster and the short film's website (I will most likely be using weebly for this). After that, I will finally work on the critical reflection.

Editing (the process + reflections)

Today I finally finished editing my film opening. 

For me, this was definitely the hardest part about the entire process because I am not very proficient in editing and it takes me a really long time to get simple things done. I was scared something completely insane would happen like I would lose all of my video or I wouldn't be able to arrange them like I wanted.

When I first began editing earlier this week, I ran into the problem that no computer in my house had editing software, so I had to borrow my dad's laptop. I began editing on iMovie and I started by making a rough edit where I put all the clips I had filmed in order. 

After that, I proceeded to cut them so that they would flow well and added opening credits and the title. 

The hardest part of my editing process was that I had to subtitle my entire opening. Because it is supposed to be a Venezuelan foreign film, all the audio/dialogue was in Spanish. It took me a good few hours to find a font that resembled conventional subtitles (if you're curious, Gill Sans in Bold Italic with a black outline does the trick) and it also was quite the task to time them properly with what the actors were saying. 

I added the background music I got permission to use from Rhye, rerecorded the audio for one of the actors and then added some transitions. 

I came into editing expecting lots of gridlock between me and technology, and even though there were certain setbacks it was overall a really awesome learning process. I feel like all the practice I had with iMovie and editing in general for the film opening will benefit me for my short film. 

Having to rely on myself to edit showed me that I can definitely do it and that it's actually very gratifying and enjoyable once you get the hang of it. I look forward to other editing endeavors in the future :-)

Permission to use song is granted!

Today was awesome because I got permission to use the song "One Of Those Summer Days" by the group Rhye in my film opening.

I began emailing the manager of the band right when this project began but they finally got back to me with the okay today. I explained in an email that it would be used for educational purposes and that no profit whatsoever would be made off of the opening and so they were okay with it.

This is great because I really envisioned the first 30 seconds of the song as a nice background music for the initial establishing shots of my opening, and now I can edit them into my film!

Filming Establishing Shots

Today I finally filmed some establishing shots for the very beginning of my film. These will be the first shots that appear in the opening and they are the visual that juxtapose the radio excerpts I recorded.

I biked around my town and took shots that emphasized the perfection and intense planning that goes into the town such as perfect gardens, paved roads, etc.

I still need to get a few more shots in order to have enough footage but it was a good start today and now these are the only shots I have left to film so I can fully focus on editing the final opening.

Filming Margarita's Mom side of the phone conversation

Today I filmed the other side of the phone conversation. Previously I had filmed the main character which my cousin played for me and who is the character that moves to the United States and has the job of finding the medication that her mother in Venezuela needs but is unable to get ahold of.

My cousin who plays Margarita the protagonist has a phone call with her mother who lives in Venezuela as she moves into her new home. Initially when I visualized the movie, there would only be audio of the mother's side of the conversation but in order to make it more visually appealing with shot counter shots, I asked my mother if she could play the mother in my movie.

We filmed the scene with a yellow wall in my house in order to add warmth and a nice color to the scene, and I placed a Virgin Mary in the shot in order to show a symbol of Catholicism that is often associated with Latin American countries. This could potentially create a distinction between the United States and Venezuela. I also asked my mother to dress as most typically Latin American as she could. The background of the mother's scene is purposefully a closed off shot in order to convey the idea that living in Venezuela restricts the people, while Margarita speaks on a porch outside conveying that she is free now and can choose her own destiny.

Recording the Radio Excerpts

Today was the first full day of Spring Break so I had time to ask my dad to be the "radio host" delivering the small excerpts of news that play as the credits roll. I printed out the paper for him and we recorded each one separately so that I could edit them and make the cuts between them more abrupt in order to achieve a radio feel.

Now that this is done, I can begin the editing between the establishing shots I took of my town in the United States which will be the dominant visual element and contrast it with the audio element that will represent Venezuela.

Radio Excerpts

Today I finished writing the radio excerpts that are going to play at the very beginning of my film opening. They were inspired off of recent Venezuelan news I researched on online newspapers and radio such as El Nacional or a radio program that I listen to by Cesar Miguel Rondon. Some specific examples include police brutality, scarcity of food, etc. These radio excerpts will play at the beginning of the movie as establishing shots of where the main character are being shown on the screen to juxtapose the perfection of where she lives now to the mess of a country she left behind.

This audio tactic had two purposes for my opening: to add context and establish conflict while also being a way to make my film fit the foreign film category better. Since I could not actually film in Venezuela and there wasn't any similar setting that could appear to be Venezuela, I decided to make my opening about a woman who moves to the United States but in order to connect that with a Venezuelan theme the audio element will take the place of Venezuela. It also contextualizes her situation because since the movie opening leaves you questioning whether or not she will be able to find medicine for her mother in Venezuela who is unable to find it in their country, there needs to be some sort of explanation of the extent of the problems her country is experiencing.

Of course, the radio excerpts will be subtitled in order to remain comprehensible to English speakers while being a foreign film.

Filming

Yesterday was a turning point for my short film because I started filming for my opening! I had been wondering who would be the main protagonist in the opening and one of my cousins agreed to be my actress.

I had given her the screenplay so she could look over the lines and read it in its entirety so she could understand the overall tone of the piece and make it her own. Originally we were going to have her dialogue filmed in my kitchen, but it was hard to find lighting that was nice and accentuated her, so we decided to film outside on my porch instead.

We filmed for about an hour, which seems like a lot for just about a minute of the opening but I really wanted to get her speaking from different angles and I wanted to get certain close-up shots for the more emotional lines.

I filmed with my iPhone 4 but I was pleasantly surprised at the quality. I uploaded the clips to Google Drive and of course it's not perfect high definition video but it's pretty nice. I'm going to be reviewing all the different clips within the week just in case we need to reshoot anything..

The location I ended up using worked well because it was very beautiful and scenic with the lake and nature behind, and that will help contrast with what the character just left behind in Venezuela.

Here are some pictures of my cousin while reading over the lines!

Screenplay + Shot List: check!

So today and yesterday I worked on finishing my screenplay for the opening and I wrote a shot list so I could start filming. I wanted to write down every single shot I wanted so that I wouldn't forget any part of it.

As I finished my screenplay, I read it out loud to verify that it wasn't going over the two minute range, and it worked out well! The total dialogue came out to about a minute and thirty seconds which leaves plenty of time for establishing shots and credits.

Some of my next short-term goals are to write and record the fake news bits that are the main sound element before the dialogue begins, and I'm going to have that done before this time next week.

Day 1 of Screenplay Writing

As can probably be guessed from the title of this post, today was my first day researching screenplays and starting to write the screenplay for my opening. 

For some reason, when deciding how to go about preparing to film the opening, I knew I had to make a screenplay of some sort in order to stay organized and make sure every moment of the opening had meaning. 

I first had to refresh my memory on the format of screenplays. Even though it was for my eyes only, I wanted to try and mimic the structure of a professional one. For reference, I found a website that is an archive of short film screenplays (http://www.simplyscripts.com/genre/short-scripts.html). I read over two scripts in their entirety and got a feel for how I should go about writing my own.

And with that, I began writing. My goal is to have the AS opening screenplay done by this weekend. After that, I have to write some scripts for audios I will be recording and I also plan on writing an informal shot list of all the ones I want to get done. 

Hello! + Decision Making

I wanted to take this first moment on this new blog to welcome whoever is reading this. Throughout the lifespan of this blog, you will be able to view my journey in creating my final media portfolio for this class, which is quite bittersweet. I have learned so much this year about how important and influential media is to everyone in the world, including myself. A double-edged sword, media is a powerful tool that can either inspire and inform us, or manipulate and coerce us. The beauty of media is in this day and age, we can so easily alternate between being the consumer and the producer. In this way, even someone like me can have substantial influence.

With this in mind, I take this final media project seriously. The guidelines of this portfolio are ambiguous enough that I have an abundance of artistic freedom, and I aspire to make an end product that has significance and puts even the smallest piece of myself out there. For this, I thank you all in advance for reading what is to come and I encourage you to leave as much feedback as possible.

Anyway, yesterday I began work on the AS portion of my portfolio, which is the two minute film opening and everything that goes along with that. I had several "themes" in mind that are personally important to me. Because of this, I knew I wanted to make it a foreign film opening, specifically channeling a Venezuelan foreign film feel (my country of origin), but I also constantly remembered my limitations. Of all of them, one was most important: I don't live in Venezuela, therefore it would be hard to film exterior shots or any type of shots that contextualized the story effectively.

How would I make a "foreign" film when all I have available to me is the U.S? I decided I had to get creative and come up with a hybrid solution. I took to my own experiences for inspiration and decided to make the main character of the opening an immigrant.

In essence, the opening would serve two main purposes:

• to establish the main character
• to present the driving conflict

The film would be in Venezuelan Spanish with English subtitles and would began by juxtaposing Venezuela with where the main character moves, the United States. The visuals would show the US (perfect houses, kids playing outside, full supermarkets) and the sound element would bring in Venezuela (poverty, kids getting killed by gangs, scarcity of food) through radio news reports the main character would be listening to. I eventually came up with the general outline that the film would introduce the main character as she moves into her new home, and the conflict would come in soon after when she calls her mother who lives back home, leaving the viewer wanting more.

Basically, the first day was just a series of decisions being made. With a concrete idea in place, I made a calendar for myself of deadlines to follow so I could stay on track and leave time for the A portion.