Final Production

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRd9To-WKc0&t=1s

CRR

 https

://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PQRRJsNgo0&t=15s

The Post-Production Process

Hi, welcome back! This is one of the last stages for our opening scene, and although I am a little sad that it's over, I am happy to see everything come together. Me and my group started editing on WeVideo, an online-based editing platform. We weren't supposed to edit on there, but due to complications in Premiere Pro, we had to compromise. I followed the storyboard to assemble the shots and tried my best to follow the conventions of thriller films. The editing stage was one of the hardest, trying to share the videos on the computer, using the editing platform, and trying to upload the video. The first conundrum occurred when trying to upload the shots onto the computer. Since we recorded the shots on Juliana's phone, she had to send them to us on Gmail to get them to all of us. This wouldn't have been such an issue if we didn't have so many bloopers and selected the video for the whole class period. When we tried to use Premiere Pro, it wouldn't let us edit the shots, so we had to switch to WeVideo. When using WeVideo, I had trouble with the text duration. Even after watching a tutorial, I still couldn't figure it out until the last minute. I asked my group members, but it was too late to fix it. While trying to edit my opening scene, the computer froze for like five minutes, scaring me, but luckily nothing happened to the editing. I continued to work on the opening scene, but Canvas wouldn't let me submit the video, so I resorted to submitting what I worked on at home yesterday. As my streak of unluckiness prevailed, I learned a lot about editing to contribute to my group members: to organize the different bloopers and useable shots and overall, asking for help from my peers and teachers. 

For the editing I added a black and white filter from WeVideo, over and nature and crying sounds to the audio I have to slow down some shots in order to fit the storyboard. The title scene also doubles as an establishing shot with the words "GONE" appearing on the screen the with a bold fonts following the conventions of thriller movies. I didn't use any noticeable transitions in the production of the opening scene. 

Production Calendar and Stripboard

 This week, our class focused on the pre-production stage of the project. During this stage, we planned out our filming schedule and elaborated on how much we thought we could get done each day. This is one of the simplest steps in the creation of the opening scene. 

First, the stripboard. We had some trouble completing the stripboard due to compilations in the script, but got it sorted out. We had to figure out how fast we would be filming and the setting, characters, and type of day for each scene. We organize the scenes by the type of day to achieve the perfect shots. 

Second, the production calendar. We had to work around our different schedules, our parents' jobs, and half of our group members' waking up at four in the afternoon, but we found a way. We all agreed to begin filming on Friday, August 25 and Saturday, August 26.

Production Week

The production of our film was entertaining to film, me and my group members, Anacamila, Juliana, and Valeria. Last Saturday, our parents drove us to Windmill Park. After a long series of wrong turns and yelling over the phone, we finally began filming. To film, we used Juliana's phone and Valeria's tripod to achieve a still shot. We had some difficulty with the tripod but figured it out. For our props, we used an old teddy as a prop for Kiara (Anacamila) and to create a missing poster, Valeria used a program called Picsart and printed it out for us. When we came together, we met our first hurdle: my poor acting skills. I was watching tutorials in class on how to fake crying, but it wasn't sufficient, so we just decided to edit it in post-production. We wanted to be as original as possible, but still follow the conventions of thriller movies with a fair number of close-ups, low-key lighting, the antagonist wearing dark clothing, eerie music, and creating suspense throughout the opening scene. We also tried so hard to be as serious as we could be, but it was impossible. We also made some small changes to the shots and had some issues with the scenes with me walking. We decided Valeria would be a more suitable actor. It was a fun time filming with my friends, but I think next time I don't think I should play one of the main characters, fanatic Cassandra, in the blazing hot sun. 

Branding

Last weekend, me and my group produced a brand for our opening scene. A "brand" consists of the production company's name, an image, font, color, and animation to broadcast the company. The image represents the connotation of the company. The image should represent the tone of the company and the film. The font of the film should also have an accurate connotation of the company and the company's own identity: this is called brand identity. Color is one of the paramount steps of the branding process. The color aids your audience in recognizing your brand and the connotation of the company. The animation helps slowly reveal the logo. For example, Cartoon Network, a television program targeted towards children, has a primarily black and white checkered appearance, demonstrating the maturity of the company since the last branding. The animation in the branding shows the logo's cartoonish atmosphere. 

One of the biggest issues was the entire group deciding on a name. I agreed on the name Blue Productions, but Juliana advocated for change. Then Mrs. Landis suggested to the class that we combine our first initials in our names to create a company name, Java. Juliana, Anjolee, Valeria, Anacamila, and others have a tropical essence to them, hence the lizard. (Juliana, Anjolee, Valeria, Anacamila = Java).  For our branding, our teacher suggested using programs such as Blender and Keynote, but I decided to use a more user-friendly app such as Cap Cut. The red-glow text slowly jumps in to slowly reveal the company's name on a black background. The red font connotes danger, and the black background makes it seem more mysterious. Above the text is a lizard, symbolizing the company name "Java". 

The Process of Storyboarding

Hello, this is Anjolee! 

Today in class, we are writing our storyboard. Our group is ecstatic to start filming, and this is one of our last hurdles until the next stage! I and my friends might start filming at a park, such as the park near my school, Windmill Park. Windmill Park will provide a realistic setting instead of a green screen. My friend Anacamila Bravo and I would be acting as the main characters, with me acting as Cassandra and Anacamila acting as Kiara. We would be borrowing my friend Valeria Hernandez's hand in order to complete some shots, and my other group member, Juliana Guerrier, would act as the voice of Alice. We would need to consider the schedules of all four group members to produce the shots needed to play the roles of the characters. Juliana would also be designing the costumes and makeup for the actors.

 We would record all our shots on our phone, including the voiceovers and the natural background sounds. The bulk of our film is going to have a melancholy atmosphere, shown with low-key lighting and the tension created by the slow-paced shots, reinforced by the sounds of tears and the portrayal of Cassandra with messy hair, sweatpants, and an oversized jacket. The tension starts to rise as Cassandra has a revelation, shown by her panic and stress throughout the shots. This image embodies the aura of the first few shots.

For our storyboard, we needed to compose drawings of the shot, the shot number, duration, the composition, camera movement and a brief description. The description needs to entail the mood of the shot and what is occurring. We did have some trouble organizing the scenes in Studio Binder, but it was sorted out later in the week. This is one of the fun stages, drawing out our ideas and adding the subtle details to our opening scene.