CCR Research #2

Today I will be researching more about the second question (out of four) to make sure I'm answering it correctly and not sliding off topic. 

Question:

• How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

To answer this question I will start by researching my target audience. Crime films have an older audience than most movies, but the target audience can depend on the film's subgenre and marketing. In the case of Mandacious, target audience will be 16 years old teens and up, including crime lovers. 

After I established my target audience, I will discuss how my production choices work to engage them. For example, editing the movie in a way that makes the audience feel like they are solving the crime with Travers and Ben. 

I will end my answer with adressing where I will distribute the film. Some ideas that I had in mind are film festivals for amatuer filmmakers, like the film festival in my school, The Lightning Film Festival!  I can also distribute the film in local theaters that promote aspiring filmmakers. 

CCR Research #1

From now on, my blog posts will mainly focus on the Creative Critical Reflection (a.k.a the last part of the portfolio project!!). Today I will be researching more about the first question (out of four) to make sure I'm answering it correctly and not accidentally discussing irrelevant topics.

Question: 

• How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

To answer this question, first, I will discuss crime genre conventions that I already researched in my 'Choosing Genre', 'Crime Film Openings', and 'Credit Scenes' blog posts. Then, I will note some of the genre conventions that I decided to include in my film opening, and some that I chose not to include. 

For example, in my film I decided to open with the victim and the crime scene that will launch the investigation. 

To conclude my answer, I will discuss the different decisions that were made to represent different individuals in the film opening. For instance, the choice to show Ben's messy desk or Travers' office.

In the next few blog posts, I will take a closer look at my film opening as part of the Creative Critical Reflection. By analysing how my project follows or challenges crime genre conventions and how it represents different social groups, I will ensure that my response is both thoughtful and relevant. This process will not only help me clear my understanding of my own work but also strengthen my final portfolio.

Post Production - Editing Platforms

Editing is a crucial part of filmmaking, but as I recently learned, it can also be incredibly frustrating, especially when using an app you're not very familiar with. Since I had used Premiere Pro in the past for other classes, I decided to edit my portfolio project there thinking it would make the process easier. I expected the editing process to go smoothly, but I didn't think it would be this difficult.

At first, I was excited to dive into the editing process. I imported my footage, ready to start making adjustments, but I quickly ran into problems. Simple things, like changing the font for text or adjusting basic settings, took way longer than they should have. I searched on Google for answers, watched tutorials, and tried to follow along, but nothing seemed to work the way I wanted. It felt like every small thing turned into a huge challenge.

After spending way too much time trying to figure things out, I realized that Premiere Pro might not be the best option for me, at least not right now. I decided to switch to a different editing app, one that was more beginner friendly and allowed me to focus on actually editing rather than getting stuck on technical difficulties.

Even though I struggled with Premiere Pro, I know it's a powerful tool that could be useful in the future. For now, I'm happy with my decision to use something simpler. I'm glad that I can bring my vision to life without spending hours just trying to change a font!

Post Production - Coloring

Coloring is crucial in film. It acts as a powerful storytelling tool, allowing us to show emotions, set the tone, influence the audience's perception, etc. Today I will illustrate how I edited the color of footage that my group and I filmed to a darker tone. 

I edited the color of the footage on the iPhone photos app. I pressed the edit button at the bottom on the screen, the second one from the right. Then, I adjusted the lighting and color of the entire video by following this pattern: 

- Exposure -50

- Highlights +25

- Shadows -51

- Contrast +12

- Brightness -13

- Black point +1

- Saturation +2

- Vibrance +8

- Warmth -13

- Tint +15

- Sharpness +15

Before:

After:

link

By changing the colors to a darker shade, the tone shifts to a more mysterious and intense atmosphere. This small adjustment helps enhance the storytelling, making the scene feel more immersive and engaging. 

Filming #3 (Last Part)

For the last blog post to illustrate our production process, my group and I decided to do something special. We filmed ourselves working on the last scene of our opening, and edited it to a short funny video: 

If the video doesn't work, click to view video

The purpose of this video is to illustrate our production process and to show how much fun we had working on this project together. The video includes funny BTS moments, footage of us preparing the set, explenations of how we filmed certain shots, and much more. From now on, my blog post will mainly focus about editing and researching for my CCRs, I'm very exited to continue working on the project and finishing it soon! 

Mr. Travers? More like Ms.

The last part of our production process is to film Mr. Travers in his office. Unfortunately, my dad, a pilot, who was supposed to play Mr. Travers, had to unexpectedly fly across the world and will not be back until the end of next week. This complication has already set us back from the schedule we created for ourselves since we planned to film that scene this week. 

After giving it a lot of thought about who would be a good fit for the role, we asked ourselves, "what if it's a woman?". Today I asked my mom if she would be interested in playing Ms. Travers, and she said yes! 

Since Mr. Travers turned into Ms. Travers,a few changes had to be made. For instance, I printed a sign that will go on Travers' door that says 'Mr. Travers', Tomorrow I will reprint it and update it to say 'Ms. Travers.'

Our plan is to go film at my brother's school this week, most likely Wednesday, and finally, finish with the production process. 

Filming #2

After filming all morning, Charlee and I met again at 7pm to film the second part of our film opening. This time, we shot the crime scene. 

We met at Peace Mound Park and were very excited to film, especially since we prepared a lot. We had costumes and special props that would make the scene look more realistic, for example, caution tape, a hazmat suit, evidence markers, and more. But when we got to the location, we realized that we had a huge problem... The person who was supposed to play the dead body couldn't make it. 

At first, we asked people on the street if they would like to help us, but understandably, no one agreed... After being left with no other choice, we had Noah, Charlee's younger sister, play the role. 

When we got to the location, we looked for the perfect spot to film our crime scene. We needed 4 obstacles to tie the caution tape on, and a sidewalk. After some brief search, we found a spot that met all the requirements and started setting up the set.

 

It was very hard to make Noa look like a 40 year old man, but we did everything we could to make it look as realistic as possible. 

We followed our storyboard and filmed some extra footage. We stayed in the park for about two hours and filmed most of that time. Here are some unedited videos, BTS clips, and pictures from our time on set: