Research and Planning: CCR Q4 (Technology)

    Hey readers. Welcome to my last blog post before the week my portfolio is due. It is crazy how fast these past weeks have flown on by. As you could probably guess, in this blog post I will be going over the final CCR question (question four). The official question is, how did you integrate technologies—software, hardware, and online—in this project?

Hardware

    For my use of hardware in this project, I used mostly hardware that helped me in lighting because I really wanted to emphasize the color scheme I created that was focused on lighting, which I've mentioned in previous blog posts. I used my LED lights around my wall to create a purple color scheme and a mirror light as well so that the lighting would remain light enough so I could see details on the tarot cards and expressions on my actor. For the second part of the scene where the LED lights are no longer in use, I ended up only relying on candle lighting, and it actually worked out well in my favor. In addition to the hardware I used for lighting, I also planned on using a tripod I own but it turns out my tripod was broken and incapable of standing up on its own so I had to handheld shots which I liked better because it made the footage seem more raw and personal.

LED Lights and the Remote

 

Software

    In terms of the software, I used iMovie to edit my film opening. Even though I have a lot more practice using Premiere Pro because that’s what we used on in-class projects, I felt more comfortable using iMovie because using Premiere, I ran into several issues like my project deleting. Using iMovie worked out well as I found it easy to use as well as having all the features I needed for my project without being overwhelming like Adobe. In addition to iMovie, I also used Canva for my title and credit sequence. I used Canva by creating a video with my title and credits on a green screen with animation, which I then put into iMovie as an overlay and used the green screen feature. This was something I didn't even know was possible beforehand, but it worked well. In editing, I used Pixabay for free copyright-free audios and fontspace.com to find my copyright-free font (Child Witch) for my title and credits.

Here is me making the overlay on Canva

Here is me adding it using the green screen effect on iMovie

Researching and Planning: CCR Q3 (My Production Skills)

    Hi again! Welcome back. Next up is discussing the next part of my CCR-Q3. Q3 of the CCR is all about my own development as a producer and how I have changed through this project. The official question is, How did your production skills develop throughout this project? To answer the question, I broke it up into several parts below:

How My Process Evolved

    I started this project thinking there was no way I could create a 2-minute film opening. I was worried about everything, especially because before this class I had no experience editing or producing film. Through the project, I was able to develop my production, editing, and planning skills. These are skills I can apply not just to this project but to any. I learned how to think quickly on my feet when running into mistakes when producing and work around what was possible and not. The production process forced me to be creative and was hard yet rewarding. I started off this project thinking I would do a simple drama piece with minimal dialogue. Now I ended with a full-blown horror film opening focused on mise-en-scène. I never thought I would have picked horror. I typically am not a horror fan. But my love for mise-en-scène and story ideas really led me to evolve and choose the genre, and I'm so glad I did. 

Planning

    My most intense part of my project was my planning. I spent countless hours a week researching. I began with researching genre, then analyzed other openings and title sequences, and researched color schemes, theory, and mise en scene. I developed characters, storyboarded, and outlined my plot all before I even picked up my phone to film. I even created a week-by-week schedule for myself very early on that I tried my best to follow (although I didn't fully). All of my research is on my blog, and for each report, I also talked about the application to my own film to help me plan. 

Production 

    In terms of production I spent 2 days filming, only at night, all in my room, spending hours each night. It was tiring and overall very hard. I set up my room and turned it into Nicky's room, focusing on mise-en-scène like candles and a Ouija board and a purple lighting scheme. I ran into several obstacles while filming. I have a mirror on my desk that leans on my wall, making it hard to get shots from the other side of the desk where Nicky sits during much of the opening. This was a major issue because I knew I needed shots from that side of the desk, and I needed the mirror to continue to be on the desk because of the mirror's lights. To solve this issue and keep the mirror on the desk, because it doesn't stand alone, I leaned it on my body as I went behind the pushed-out desk and took the shots I needed. In the last scene of the film, the candle lights are supposed to blow out. When starting to film this scene, I realized that where I was positioned with the angle, I couldn't quite blow out the candles. I tried several times, and they wouldn't fully blow out. What I had to do was bring in a 3rd person (my brother's friend) for just a few minutes who blew out the candle as I filmed this scene. It worked out great, and I love how that scene turned out.

Production Photos:

 

Obstacle: 

 

Where I started and where I ended

    It all started with my one-word film. This is how I learned about editing on Adobe, lighting, and all about film production minus sound. We were tasked with creating a production without any dialogue to represent a tone word we were given in class without sound. My partner and I were given the word appreciative and produced a film all about a girl being lonely at lunch and another girl helping her out. The first girl thinks and brainstorms ways she can show her appreciation, like giving a gift.

Link to one word film: Click Here

    The next step in learning and preparing for the film opening was sound. Considering we did a project without sound at all, our next task was to do a sound project representing a scene, creating an outline of the sounds in that scene, and then create a 1-2 minute soundscape—no video, only sound. In this project I learned the basics of sound editing as well as how to use both foleys and sound bases.

Link to soundscape: Click Here

    Leading up to this skill, we practice production as well as media context. We did a whole project creating a music artist from scratch, making a music video, and discussing marketing and distribution. This really helped me feel prepared for where I am now.

    At this point my film opening is done. All my projects helped me get where I am today. In all my previous projects, I always thought filming was the easier and more fun part and that I hated editing. Now that I finished my opening, I would say quite the opposite. I liked the editing so much more. It was fun seeing all my hours and hard work of filming pay off. 

Researching and Planning: CCR Q2 (Target Audience and Distribution)

    Hey all! Last week I talked a little about my CCR and the 4 questions I had to address in my 2 media products. My last post on planning the CCR was all about Q1, so I thought it only made sense to discuss Q2 in this post. So for this blog post, I will be covering Q2—How does your product engage with audiences, and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

Target Audience:

Who, what, and why?
    The target audience of a film is who the film is marketed to. It's essentially who the producer or director of a film wants to actually watch the film. Target audiences can be defined by different demographics or psychographics to build up brand loyalty and encourage a specific group to consume or purchase something like a product. So who is my target audience? My target audience for my film is Gen Z (15-25) with a lean toward women. Because teens, but especially teen girls, are the ones being represented in my film, and the consequences of trends and social media remain such a huge focus, this was my clear target audience. Even though women are not necessarily the target audience of horror films, the specific plot of my film helped determine the specific audience.

How?
    I engage my target audience particularly through my use of a specific color scheme, a plot centered on social media, unique mise-en-scène, and foreshadowing. My purplish color scheme is something that attracts teen girls, as evident by the popularity of shows using the same color scheme, like Euphoria. My plot being centered around TikTok and the TikTok shop, something that more teenagers know rather than older generations, helps make direct appeals. I even included clips of the audios from TikToks I made that replicated what is actually produced on the app. The biggest part of my opening is my use of cool mise-en-scène like a Ouija board, tarot cards, and things like candles with lavender leaves on them. This adds to the appeal of my film, especially for my audience. Additionally, there is a moment where my main character organizes her deck of tarot cards and the death card is the only car seperated from the rest of the cards foreshadowing what is going to happen during the reading at the end of the opening and other parts of the film. These techniques work together to appeal to my audience.

Proof of use of these methods for audience engagement (lighting/color scheme is shown throughout): 

Mise-en-Scène (the lavender candle)

Foreshadowing with the death card

Mindlessly scrolling on Tiktok

Distribution:

The next part of this question for the CCR is about how I plan to distribute my media text, aka my film. Below I have divided up my plan into steps.

Step One: Social Media Marketing
    For this part of my distribution plan, I would release small clips of parts of the film on TikTok and Insta Reels as the first step of my distribution plan to drive engagement as well as market the film's release.

Step Two: Host a Film Night
    Both Savor Cinema in Fort Lauderdale and Cinema Paradiso in Hollywood allow independent productions to host screenings of their films. This could be a fun way to encourage more people to watch my film and expose more people to the film by having an opening night or premiere like event.

Step Three: Posting it online

    I would make the film then available on free streaming services like Tubi and Vimeo as well as YouTube, giving a lot more people access.
Step Four: Compete at FLIFF
    At this point I would submit my film to the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, or FLIFF, through FilmFreeway to try and get my film presented in an environment with people in the business with more connections. There are even various awards and prizes I could win, even high school-specific ones, as the festival really emphasizes supporting student-made films. The festival is at several locations (some are the same cinemas from my premiere), and it could be great exposure for me to those in the film professional world rather than to my target audience and friends and family that would come to the premiere.

    Here are all the high school awards. This picture is directly from the application sites website. Click here for the link
 

Credits to: 

“Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.” FilmFreeway, 2024, filmfreeway.com/FortLauderdaleInternationalFilmFestival. Accessed 14 Mar. 2025.

“Fort Lauderdale Film Festival – Fort Lauderdale Film Festival + FLIFF Cinemas.” Fliff.com, 2023, fliff.com/. Accessed 14 Mar. 2025.

O’Grady, Natalie. “Target Audience: What It Is and How to Find Yours.” Sprout Social, 27 Mar. 2024, sproutsocial.com/insights/target-audience. Accessed 14 Mar. 2025.

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Group Meeting #2

    Hey all! Today in class we had our second group meeting (although I missed the first one), and I found it really helpful. My teacher put us into groups, and I was in a group of five with four other students: Vanessa, Pedro, Vicky, and Tiziana. We took turns sharing our progress in our project so far and gave each other honest feedback.

 

    First Vanessa shared her idea and progress. Her film is about a resident who is in love with the male dentist where she works, killing off all coworkers who get in between her and him. I really loved her title sequence because the credits animation was unique and flickered, which was cool. The shots were filmed on a digital camera as the film is set in the 80s/90s, and the lighting was really sick. She was pretty far along on editing, and her main issue was coming up with a title. She has several ideas, but we as a group helped her settle on an idea her friend gave her, The Residency, which I LOVED.

    Next up was me. At this point in the game, my opening was pretty much done. I showed my group the opening, pointing out my concerns, and got advice. My main concern was my title. I liked the title, just not the color, font, or transition. My group advised me to make the transition a fade rather than typing, remove the outline of the lettering, and maybe just switch up the formatting. So now as I revise, I am editing my title to implement some of the feedback.

    This is with the change. I still think I have some messing around to do before I will love it, but I appreciated the advice.

    After I went, it was Pedro's turn. Pedro's film is about an ex-veteran who's a slave to the system, working all the time. His film is called Monotony. He hasn't filmed yet, but he was showing us his voice recordings so we could listen to them. It seems as if the character narrates his day as we see him going to work. There is one part of the recording where he says all he does is "work, work, work," which Vanessa suggested should be a scene where we see different days the guy works, which I thought was a great idea.

    Next up was Vicky. Her film has a cool concept. It was about a woman who kills men she finds on dating apps. She showed her clips, and I thought it looked really cool. She's in the process of editing and told us her title was manslaughter because men were being slaughtered. I thought this was a cool title but thought she should change it to menslaughter because it was more of a title rather than a crime and was a good wordplay while also having the same meaning as before. She loved the idea and is going to talk to her group about changing the name.

    Last up was Tiziana. Although she didn't film yet, she shared her idea. Her film is about a past murderer resurfacing, causing the police to reopen the case. He attempts to murder the protagonist, but she escapes and has to stay on the run out of fear. Although there wasn't filming to give feedback on, she did need help with a title. In a combined effort, Vanessa and I helped come up with a title 10 years forward, which she liked. I'm sure it will be changed, but it was a good start.

    Overall, one thing we all are behind on is our CCR. Most of us only had one idea, if even that. We started talking about unique ideas we could do, such as from the POV of our character or a talk show with a game like Jeopardy. Ultimately, focusing on the CCR is the next step for all of us that we really need to focus on. Our discussion really helped me, and I think all of us, and I'm glad for all the feedback.

Starting the CCR: Research for Q1 (Genre and Representation)

    Welcome back! Although I'm almost done with my film opening, which is such a relief, my work is not yet done. I have to work on creating my CCR, or creative critical reflection, which I have been preparing for using all my blog posts so far. There are four questions that I will cover through two different media productions (which I will discuss ideas for next week), but in this blog post I will be going over question 1, "How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?" So for this blog post, I will break this question into its two parts: the conventions and the representation.

Conventions I used:

    Although horror is a very diverse genre, there are some typical conventions used (many in mise-en-scène) that I decided to use and not challenge. I decided not to challenge conventions because my whole film is a juxtaposition in itself from a very old thing (tarot cards) and a newer thing (social media) and focuses on more of the current time, so I relied on key conventions to ensure my film would still stay in the lines of a horror film.

    Horror films typically include a symbolic prop, specific lighting (low-key, bright, and dark), as well as a mix of all types of sounds both to build suspense and heighten tension. In my film, I use all of these conventions. My prop is the tarot cards. I use a cool hue color scheme and very bright and dark lighting, only low-key lighting, and sound to build tension as Nicky does her card reading. These are aspects found in many, if not most, horror movies, which is why I included them. An example of a well-known movie with these conventions is Scream.

Ex: The Scream Franchise

    Scream, as shown above, uses a symbolic prop (the ghost face mask), muted and low-key lighting, and includes a lot of versatile sound to evoke fear. Scream is such a popular horror film that really uses, rather than challenges, typical conventions, which is why I mostly used conventions as well.

Representation

    Considering my film is all about social media trends and teenagers, the social group that is focused on is teenagers, and the issue is social media trends. Being a teen myself, I believe the way I represented teens was a pretty accurate and fair depiction. Most teenagers are addicted to social media and their phones, which is why the film being centered around teens following a social media trend and the negative consequences. I believe that social media trends often are negative, leading to many issues, so centering my film on exposing social media trends, painting them in a bad light, helps confront the social issue head-on while also representing teenagers.

Post-production: Title Sequence

    Hey readers. I have finished editing minus the credits, which I plan to talk about in this post. I am so excited and relieved. I stumbled across this website: link to website which helped in coming up with copyright free fonts to use. I tested and played around with just the font until I found four I thought were interesting (shown below).

    I really liked this one because it's simple yet still has a spooky witchy affect. I think this is my favorite overall, and is the one i'm going to go with. 

    I didn't like this one that much because of how out there it is. I think that it looks cool, but it would be too much for the entire opening.

    I really liked this one as well but though it was too simple. It didn't give the vibe I wanted, but it was my second favorite. 

    I thought the candles in this font went well with my theme, but other than that the more I look at this font the uglier I think it looks. I will definitely not be using this one. 

    Afterword I tested the font on the actual clips in filmed. In testing them I found what worked best is if I made a canva video with the font I chose (child witch) as well as with the animation and size, download it, then add it on imovie as an overlay. 

    I decided to add a fade effect with a white color. I made the background green so it could act as a green screen when I put it in imovie to use as an overlay. It worked out beautifully.

    This is how it ended up looking. I'm super happy with how it turned out. 

Post Production: Editing and Production Logo

    Hey everyone! This week, my goal is to completely finish my opening. Big goal, I know. Since production is completely done, all I have left is editing. I say all as if its not a lot of work and as if I'm not filled with anxiety over editing. So in this blog post, I will be talking about the editing I have finished so far. Although I didn't fully finish, I got a large chunk done (around half), which I am happy about. I edited all the video clips but not the sound, which I will have to do tomorrow. Overall, I'm happy with my progress.

Downloading the clips to my computer:

                          

    Honestly, downloading over 200 clips from my phone to my computer was so frustrating. I first tried through AirDrop, and after waiting 20 minutes for it to download, it didn't work. Then I tried putting them all into my iCloud, which destroyed my storage. So, I tried placing everything into OneDrive through the app on my phone, hoping it would show up on my computer, and it worked (although it took 45 minutes). After this I could finally start.

Editing Platform:

    I decided to use iMovie to edit. Although I do believe that I have more practice with Adobe Premiere Pro, I have found that iMovie has been easier for me to use. I feel like I understand how to use it better, and it's easier to import things. After using it, I decided I made the right choice.

Editing:

    Here is my proof of editing. Editing took me around 3-4 hours, and it wasn't as bad as I expected. I thought I would absolutely hate it like I did in my editing for projects done earlier this year, but I found it okay. I was so glad I overshot as much as I did, because it helped me fix any mistakes I found. Honestly, my biggest issue was timing. I had to keep finding ways to cut down the time because it was definitely over the 2-minute mark. I had to speed some clips up, cut parts out, and overall spend a lot of time revising. I did have to cut down the part where Nicky scrolls through TikTok, which is fine, but now I'm planning to only have one TikTok be playing. Editing was tricky and very time-consuming, but it was rewarding.

Production Logo:

    At the beginning of my opening, like many of the openings I watched, I wanted to include a production logo. I didn't have a company name in mind but thought of Affinity Productions because it sounded cool and sci-fi-like. Considering my film is horror, I knew this wasn't going to work.

    Next I thought about maybe something more vintage-sounding and a little more horror-themed. I came up with Lost Signal Productions, which I think works well. If you want to see the logo with the animation, I showed it above.

Obstacles While Filming

    Welcome back, readers! Now that I'm done with the filming process and am working on editing, I thought I should explain how I solved some of the issues I faced while filming, because trust me, there was a lot. I encountered three main issues while filming, which I'll explain below.

Obstacle One:

    As you can see in the picture of my room above, I have a mirror on my desk that leans on my wall, making it hard to get shots from the other side of the desk where Nicky sits during much of the opening. This was a major issue because I knew I needed shots from that side of the desk, and I needed the mirror to continue to be on the desk because of the mirror's lights. To solve this issue and keep the mirror on the desk, because it doesn't stand alone, I leaned it on my body as I went behind the pushed out desk and took the shots I needed.

    

    Above is a picture of me filming after moving and getting behind the desk. At this point, the mirror light had to be turned off so I was able to lay it on the floor beneath me and shoot from the other side of the desk. The mirror was definitely tricky to work with, but I was able to make it all work.

Obstacle Two: 

    Considering I wanted to film in 2 days, both days we worked long hours that made us cranky and tired. Olivia was doing me a huge favor by acting, but we definitely had moments where we were down each other's throats from how exhausted we were, especially filming late at night. We had to take several breaks away from where we were shooting, especially for a change of scenery, and on the first night, in between me setting up and actually starting the filming, we decided to go to Taco Bell (not the healthiest choice) to take a breather. It served as a good reset and fuel before we started filming. Although this was a fun break, it did take up some time for the first day, so I do regret it. I had to work longer the second night to make up for the lost time, but it was good for boosting my actors morale.

Obstacle Three: 

    In the last scene of the film, the candle lights are supposed to blow out. When starting to film this scene, I realized that where I was positioned with the angle, I couldn't quite blow out the candles. I tried several times, and they wouldn't fully blow out. What I had to do was bring in a 3rd person (my brother's friend) for just a few minutes who blew out the candle as I filmed this scene. It worked out great, and I love how that scene turned out.

Final Day of Filming

    Hey readers. I am finally done filming after a very, very long process. We worked from 8pm to 1am to finish up, and I am so grateful to be done. I know that as much as it is a relief to be done filming, I still have a long process of revision, editing, and my whole creative critical reflection (CCR) ahead of me. 

Filming Process:

Here is a little pic of me filming

    When filming tonight, I cannot begin to explain how many shots I took. My iPhone ran out of storage 3 times during the 5-hour-long process. I overshot a lot with different angles just to ensure I had options while editing. It was a lot more draining than I expected it to be, and by the end of everything, I was exhausted.    

    Although I ran into some smaller issues too, I ran into one main issue when filming tonight. I have a mirror on my desk that leans on my wall, making it hard to get shots from the other side of the desk. I knew this was going to be an issue I had to deal with, so I had to work around it. I pushed my desk out and went behind it, leaning my mirror on my body as I took the shots I needed from that angle with the mirror light on. When it was time for the mirror light to be turned off, I laid it on the floor beneath me and shot from the other side of the desk (shown in the picture above). Handling the mirror was tricky because the lights were vital in making sure my room wasn't too purple in the beginning scenes, so making adjustments and problem-solving was necessary.

Here are some of the shots I got:
 

    Overall, I'm so proud of the shots I got, especially my ending shot when the lights blow out. Filming was definitely a stressful, tiring process (Olivia and I did have to have a quick sugar/cake break to wake us up), but overall it is rewarding. I'm nervous but excited to soon start the editing process and can't wait to see my opening all put together.

Turning Olivia Into Nicky

    Welcome back, all! I plan to finish filming tonight (woohoo) and will post my progress on that tomorrow! In the meantime, I thought it would be nice to share how I turned my friend Olivia into Nicky (the protagonist of my film). I broke it up down below into creating her costume and doing her makeup.

Costume:

    The first thing I did was go to Olivia's house to search through her closet. I picked out lots of black to style her in and gave myself a lot of options for her to try on. Here you can see her with all the clothes I picked out for her in her hand.

    After picking out many options, we went back to my house. She tried on many different options (leggings, crop tops, long sleeves) in many different combinations until we settled on what is shown above (a black tank with black jeans). I really like how her outfit turned out because I thought it was the perfect balance of more of a standard basic outfit but also still more unique and alternative. I decided to have her take off her many gold necklaces to replace them with the one in the picture. It's a black necklace with the rune Gebo. This is another element that I think really represents Nicky's love of witchy things, hence why I thought it would be cool to include.

Makeup:

    In terms of makeup, I wanted to keep it simple but still a bit edgy. I had Olivia do her normal base routine (natural makeup like concealer, blush, and highlighter), and I focused on her eyes. I emphasized her beautiful hazel eyes by using Kajal (a black eyeliner) in her waterline (you can see me doing this in the picture above). For lips, I used Charlotte Tilbury's Pillow Talk lipstick in medium to create a dark but not too dark lip.

      

    Above is the completed makeup look I did. I think it turned out great—a perfect balance of alternative and more basic/standard. As you can tell with both the costume and makeup, I really wanted to balance a more alternative look with a more conventional look to encompass how Nicky keeps us with trends. She doesn't do anything that would make her considered an outcast and does whatever seems to be trendy.

    Overall I really like how both the makeup and costume turned out. I think Olivia looks great and is now more than ready to be Nicky!