CCR question #1 research

 For the CCR questions, we started going over them in class today. We learned a lot of useful tips for do's and dont's for each video and were even shown videos for things done poorly and good. The CCR question I am going to talk about will be the first one that asks "How does your production use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?" I took some notes on it from a powerpoint I am going through.

The first tip I have is that I should make my video in a creative fashion that isn't just me sitting in front of the camera talking I should have something that grabs someone's attention that represents me. Make sure you include which genre you are talking about that you have done, dont assume the audience knows everything you're talking about be specific. You should offer clues on how small details of your project developed the story. If I add any pictures it should be 10 seconds or less and should not draw too much attention away from what I am saying. 

    

    When starting your video start discussing what ideas you had that illustrated your genre with small scenes or details. Second discuss why you have chosen the genre you filmed in your opening and why it was best for you to use it. The last part you should explain how your ideas represented your genre and how you planned on making sure all your ideas correlated correctly into your genre category.

Planning project research on topic: Schedule

     As a part of the production process this week my partner has been so sick so we have not been able to film so I am choosing to do nexts week blog posts this week and just flip the schedule around so it works best for us to do. Next week we are planning to do most of our filming so we can move onto the editing since we think it will take the longest and then this week I can get a head start on researching the CCR notes since in class we have started learning about it.

I have switched around weeks 5, 6, and 7's schedule around because of the change of this weeks issues with filming. I decided to go on my notes app where I originally made my schedule board and move some dates around with the days I am posting things. I hope this mix up of days doesn't make us fall behind on filming. It will most likely take us the full week next week to film and decide on good parts we want to keep or remove in our video. 

This is a picture of the new schedule I have created that my partner and I are going to follow for the blogs because of the mess up in days we were supposed to get things done.

Production process day 1

    Today was the first day of filming and we have realized some shots we originally were thinking about filming in may not be the best choice. My partner and I only had about 25 minutes during class to go around school and film some scenes. We didn't fully get what we wanted to film but we picked some locations that fit best with what we want to do. When we started filming we chose to use a tripod since it would work best and overall just look better while filming so you don't have to worry about shakey hands while filming.

 

    We overall shot a total of six different scenes even ones that were not so good we wanted to keep just for reference of which locations we wanted and which didn't look so good on camera. especially audio, wherever you are shooting you need to keep in mind how the audio will sound in the video. if you are shooting in a windy area you will be able to hear the wind in the phone on the microphone and also if there is background noise you are able to hear it very very clearly. This did happen to us so we had to take some time to walk around school and pick a spot with the best lighting and also the best sound.

Planning post on audio

     For the audio part of my project I don't think we are going to include any foley sounds. None of the scenes we are planning to shoot need any extra sounds besides talking and maybe sound effects done by an online website which my teacher listed some recommendations for us to use. My partner and I have come up with our script already that is going to help us give us guidance, but also if we are filming and have some other ideas that fit the script better we may change some things around as we go. To write the script we wrote it on word but we also have it written in our notes app so when we are filming we can go back and read it.

    For sound databases we may use in our project our teacher has given us some reccomendations like some websites named Pixabay Links to an external site and I also might use BenSound Links to an external site depending on which sounds I like that will fit the scene better. For some scenes I am thinking of using the sound websites for scenes when Peyton is going to be using her phone so we could include typing sounds as if she was on her phone. We were also thinking of using some of those websites to get copyright free music to add into our credits. We wanted something cute and girly but something that won't take too much attention away from the opening credits.

planning post focusing on mise-en-scene element

     Since my character is already developed and we have figured out what her costumes would be, I have decided to focus filming locations. There have been possible filming locations in between at home while also at school. I have chosen to do something at school because since it is a coming of age film I wanted to show common places she would be. For the scenes at home we have decided to use my room since it is super girly colorful and simple. 

Vanity

One of the scenes that we are filming in my room it involves a vanity mirror I have sitting at my desk that looks like this where we would use this for one of our scenes.

(this is not my desk but I have the mirror for reference)

 

Bathroom

I couldn't get a picture inside our bathroom at school but I found a similar style of our bathroom that looks kind of similar to the layout of what the bathroom would look like in one of our scenes.

Hallways

I don't have any pictures of the hallways in school but there are doors in long hallways you walk into and I was going to use one of the 2 hallways to film the first scene of the film. I think I am going to choose the best one based on which lighting is better and where is not as busy.

I think we have many possible filming locations and if one of those don't work we can figure out a backup plan. When we film we have to figure out which locations have the best lighting and sound so it doesn't sound so echoey or even too quiet.

planning post focusing on character development

      Our character has officially been fully developed into who she is what her story is. My partner and I have decided on a name, her personality, and just general details about her. There have been small details that we are using to develop her personality more like the colors, outfits, and even her bedroom since that will be shown in some scenes that we planned out on the storyboard last week. I have been doing some research over the past couple weeks so I could find a vibe on how to develop Peyton so if I could figure her out the story line could come easier to represent her personality.

    We have decided our characters name is going to be Peyton since it is the same name as the person playing her yet its such a pretty girly name that is simple but I think would match really well with our character. Since this is a coming of age film she is going to be a high schooler who is around the age of 15 or 16. For her character she is going to be a type A girl who is very nice and smart, she will seem perfect on the outside until she gets home and you see the real her... On the inside Peyton is very insecure and finds herself at times comparing herself to what she sees on social media which gives her a sense of false reality of how she should look. in my last post I talked about outfits and I have thought that is another way that could be a way she could express the type of person she is just by her way of dressing, because when she is at school she will be wearing cute outfits but while she is at home her outfits will be very boring and sad. Her aesthetic is going to be very light colored tones while she is almost a perfectionist in some cases.

I went on google and decided to do look at some pictures on what I thought was a good way to show what her aesthetic would be in my mind. I think I could use some tips from things like these and pick an outfit out based on this picture. Our character Peyton is going to be very girly and just tries to be as perfect as she can be. I thought in this picture the amount of skin care that is shown gives a hint into how she uses a lot of different products to try her best to look like what she sees on social media.

    

planning post focusing on mise-en-scene element of costume

     Over the past week of planning our story and how it is going to unfold my partner and I have been deciding on what types of outfits our character is going to wear. We have been looking at different types of colors and what the colors mean so we can catch the right vibe of who our character is. When starting production you really need to focus on the Mise-en-scene elements since a lot of those factors make the story what it is.

    Since we have officially started the production part of the project we have decided on which mine-en-scene elements we want to focus on, so we have decided deep into what the characters costume will be like that matches her vibe. We are leaning more into colors that are simple yet catch the vibe of her being put together until she gets home. Since our character is going to seem very put together we are trying to lean more into her wearing light colors like light pink, light blue, whites, and light grey to keep it simple yet give her that type A feel. For scenes that she is at home or comparing herself we are going to try to go into the direction of her wearing grey or comfy clothes. For colors like light pink and blue we were are going to make our characters outfits at school using those colors while she is with her friend to make it seem like she is very happy and well put together while still having that girly vibe about her. I think using the light shades of those colors will represent the innocence about her and her character.

These are outfits I thought would be a good example of what I am leaning towards. I thought these outfits represent the innocence of her and how she is girly while also being a type A person. They are simple yet girly and catch the vibe I am going for:

      

    

Storyboard post

     In class my partner and I developed our storyboard, we came up with many scenes that we could use for options as well as our actual film including the credits. there were so many fun ideas we could do with them. To get a good reference of ideas we started looking at example of the well made productions my teacher linked to her age. We saw some that could be a good choice that were simple yet effective and well made and some challenging ones that were just way out of our genre category.     

    We first started our storyboard with figuring out a name of our film and we came up with the title "perfect-ish" since our character is not as perfect as she seems. We decided it fit really well into the. genre especially for our character. After we did that we dove into figuring out our credit scene, I decided to take some consideration of what my classmates told me during group meetings to improve my opening and I decided I wanted to do my credits in a way incorporating technology so I went onto the website canva and found some templates I could use in my credits to include actors, producers, editors and so on. Once we were done and figured out how we wanted our credits to be we started working on our actual storyboard. It gave me a good idea of where I want my project to go and is a rough draft of how my film will go, im definitely going to add or tweak some scenes as we go with the filming.

Project plot idea

    For my project idea I have come up with a few rough drafts with my partner. as time goes on with this project things the plot may have some small changes depending on any issues we run into but right now I have a general idea of where my project is heading. After group meetings I had some help on developing a good idea of detail I could add that would improve my project. Since my genre is coming of age developing my character wasn't too much of an issue since I already knew their age and start building off of what I have learned about coming of age characters.

    My plot has been developed a lot around my character, I think starting the process of creating my character has helped me develop the story more and get a good idea of who they are and what I can make their purpose in my story. My partner and I have decided that we want to create our main character as a girl who is the age of 15 or 16 in high school, she lives in this generation where social media is very prevalent in todays society. On the outside to other people she is a happy, smiley, seems like the perfect type A person but on the inside she is very insecure about herself which a lot of it comes from what she sees on social media. She compares herself a lot to what unrealistic standards she sees on instagram.

    I had some scene ideas in mind, one of the ideas I had was to include a clip of her walking with her friends super happy leaving school but as she gets home she gets into bed and starts scrolling through social media comparing herself to what she is seeing. Another idea I had in mind was to do a clip similar to a picture I found in my previous blog that would be here standing/sitting in front of a mirror picking herself apart thinking about how she could look like the people she sees online.

this is the picture for reference:

 

    My plot idea definitely will have some errors I need to fix as the process goes on but so far I have come up with what I want my basic developed idea to be and where I want this project to go, the good thing is my story board will develop my good ideas and some I need to scratch . I think my concept is simple yet smart since I can utilize a lot of day to day things to make my opening look very nice. since I have a plot line of where I want my project to go I think creating the rest of my story should be simple of where I want this to go.

Group meeting #1

     

        Today during my class period the entire class got split into groups, the idea of being split into groups would help us develop our films in case we didn't know what we should do if we were stuck or just needed some ideas. My teacher split our class into groups of 6 Danielle, Nicole, Andre, isa, and Diego we all shared our ideas and gave good and helpful critiques.

    The first person who gave their idea for their story was isa. Isa watched a lot of different movies about her genre which is coming of age, she didn't really have much of a plot but she has done a lot of research and has gotten a small idea of where she is headed. The two people who had the hardest idea might be Danielle or Andre. Danielles idea was a horror thriller genre and wanted to use her mom's eye doctors office into a crime scene, she doesn't have her full plot and characters but wants to be able to put on a pair of glasses so you can almost see dead people but we gave her the idea that she can touch things and it will bring her into the persons perspective of when they died. Her idea was very neat and different but it had a lot of editing and could be hard to build a plot off of that. For Andre his idea involves a lot of editing since his genre is action, we gave him the heads up he should start filming soon since editing is going to take up a lot of his time. Andre doesn't have too much of a plot for his story but he knows where the story is going to take place in his garage as a poker room vibe. I thought Nicole was very helpful at giving ideas and she knew where everyone's story should start to develop how to get their story process moving.

     For my film opening I didn't really know where I wanted my story to start but I have got a really good idea of where it is heading after being in groups. I think that being in groups with other people really helped develop where my story should go since 5 other peoples ideas are totally different and have so much to offer. I got major help on my credit scene that my partner and I should do. the idea got brought up that I should use instagram as a way to do my credits for example, I could be scrolling on my feed but I click on someones user and the name would be "directed by..." that would be a cool easy and fun idea I thought would work since it won't take too much time away from my actual opening either since time is so limited when working on this.

      I thought that going into groups was super helpful in my opinion and gave me a lot of new ideas that were so smart I never thought of before the meeting. Most of the group were all on the same pace we didn't really have our full committed plot but we had a good idea that should help us through-out the week. I took many notes down on how I could improve my video but also take note of what other people are doing maybe to get a little more Inspo on what else I could improve. After we were finished with the group meetings my partner and I got together and shared all of the great ideas we got from being in different groups.

Media theory examples

     

        In my aice media class throughout the months the class has been learning about different media theories and how we can integrate them into our work, so I have decided to use the cultivation theory throughout my film opening. you can use the cultivation theory to catch someones attention through different types of media so I have chosen to use it in the social media sphere since my project is going to relate a lot to social media. There is a lot you can work with using different theories so i think it's super cool to finally be using it for my project. 

      When using the Cultivation theory it can change how people use social media and how they consume it without even realizing it. people will use social media and compare themselves to what they are seeing and anything will catch a viewers attention. The more time that is spent on each social media platform the more viewers are exposed to a false reality which is mostly highly exaggerated online. using these platforms constantly and comparing yourself can really affect someones mental health and physical health well being. The cultivation process is happening a lot through active participation of what people are viewing when something is being posted.

    Since my project involves a lot of social media within my idea I think the best media theory to use would be the cultivation theory. Cultivation theory focuses a lot on views and opinions through repeated exposure to media over time. Since my character is a girl who is very self conscious and insecure about herself because of what she sees on social media I think I should use this theory since it talks about how views and opinions are developed overtime because of repeated media exposure. The cultivation theory reaches viewers attention in different ways and shapes users perception of its reality. social media is filtered to make it seem like everyone's lives are perfect just by little pictures or short video clips, this gives users a false reality they are looking at so it shapes peoples perspective into something different.  

  

research/analyze/discuss three credit sequences from films within chosen genre

    

     My partner and I haven't figured out what type of credit scene I want to do yet, but we know that is it very important to include all of the correct names like directors, editors, writers, actors, etc. Picking a font in your credits is also an important factor. I don't know if I want something simple that doesn't take too much attention away from the opening or something that would be very noticeable and loud. Before choosing what I want to do, my partner and I have decided to do proper research first to get a good idea of many different credit scenes.

  The Breakfast Club credit scene- 

    The breakfast club took a traditional route when choosing their opening credits, they started the movie straight into the credits starting by showing that the movie was produced by universal pictures. instead of the movie playing while the credits are rolling it is shown in a simple way with a black screen and yellow font with their iconic song "Don't Forget About Me" playing in the background. Once all of the actors names are listed they made sure to put them in alphabetical order. After the actors names are listed they made sure to include all of the costume designers, production supervisor, producers, etc. At the end of the credit sequence it shows a quote by David bowie basically talking about how kids are smarter than what you think which kind of shows the movie is going to have a correlation to kids being under estimated and looked down upon.

Grease opening credits-

    I thought Grease had an amazing way of doing their credits. Grease starts their movie with their credits but as "cartoon" animated people. It is almost a music video while still being an opening credit for a movie. As each character is shown they are made as little animated people doing something that replicates their character. For example as you see John Travolta's character "Danny" being introduced, it shows him using his iconic hair comb and hair grease. in a clip you can see a car driving down the street with billboards in the background showing all of the producers, names of the actors and who they play, and directors. At the end of the credits the car officially arrives at school while still being in the animated cartoon world but slowly goes into the real world as you can start to see the movie is officially starting. This idea was so fun and such a smart way to do their credit scene.

 

Perks of being a wall flower credits-

 Perks of being a wall flowers credits are done to be very simple but set a sad emotional tone. As soon as the credit sequence starts the sad emotional song "Touch me" starts to play as clips from different scenes start to play. Each scene goes by and just shows small parts that will be important in later parts of the movie. As each character is shown there are subject bars showing their name and the character they play, the names of all of the editors, producers, and so on are all shown just in different lo0cations throughout the clips. At the end of the credit sequence it is shown that the movie is based off of a book and who the movie is directed by. The credit gives a lot of detail on what the movie is going to be based on.

I think out of all of the credit sequences I have done research on I think I would like to do one similar to the breakfast club and perks of being a wall flower. Perks of being a wall flower is a very emotional yet capturing sequence but also The Breakfast Club is done very simple but gets the job done very nicely but doesn't take too much away from the movie itself.

    

    

Character background

    At the start of my process for this project, I have learned that it can be very overwhelming to try and come up with so many things at one time, but it's best to start small and then go from there. We began by first coming up with the character so we could get a general idea of who they are and how I can develop my story around them. For us, it is very normal to compare ourselves to what we see on social media. Watching how some influencers try to make their life look so perfect will make you second-guess yourself, especially since you never see the reality. We have taken our own personal experiences of that and tried to put them into a character for our opening.

    The character that Peyton and I have chosen to create is a teenage girl who would be in the age range of 15 or 16 and is in high school. This girl would be a teenager during this generation of time, where social media is used a lot and is very prevalent. Since social media can take such a toll on people, I thought it would be a good idea to incorporate how scrolling on social media can be so toxic and give you such a different perspective on your own image. She would be very outgoing and fun with her friends, but in private, she is very insecure about her looks and herself overall. I think making the genre of this opening coming of age could work well since the teenage girls in coming of age films usually are always a little insecure no matter the generation it is. Since my character is also outgoing and fun with her friends, I think it is important to show and incorporate scenes that show all of the different emotions she goes through. 

    I was looking at pictures online to get an idea and inspiration on who she is. I thought all of these pictures were a good representation of the character I am trying to create. 

research-analyze-discuss three film openings from coming of age

     Coming of age film openings usually set the tone for the movie and help develop who the character is. I have picked to research the three movies Sixteen candles, to all the boys I've loved before, and 13 going on 30. Since I want my character in my opening to be the age of 15/16 I think its important to look at film openings that the main character is a female who is in that age range. 

To all the boys I've loved before opening scene- 

To all the boys ive loved before is based on a book turned into a movie produced in 2018. The story was written by Jenny Han and directed by Micheal Fimonari and Susan Johnson. The film is about a 17 year old girl Lara jean who writes 5 letters over the years to her "crushes" that she never sent out until her sister found them and decided to send all the letters out to all of the boys. One of the boys that was sent the letter turned out to be her older sisters ex boyfriend. With one of the letters being sent out to a guy named Peter she wound up getting into a "fake" relationship with him until one day the "fake" feelings started to get a little real..

The opening first starts with the main character Lara jean in an open field running towards a guy, there's no background to him other than Lara just talking about true love. eventually her sister throws a pillow at her and she snaps back into reality. This shows that she was reading a book and will eventually lead to a movie about her lust for this guy. As we see her get out of this trance of her imagination she walks downstairs and we find out the guy in her imagination when reading the book is her sister's boyfriend. 

When I first decided to watch the film I knew it would be a little cheesy and cringey to watch but for my project I am trying to make the main character a girl who is around the age of 15 or 16 and I think watching this movie helps me figure out how to make my character outgoing but also very quite and insecure at times. 

Sixteen candles opening scene-

Sixteen candles is an 80's coming of age classic comedy, the movie is based on the main character Samantha Baker who is a 16 year old girl whose birthday is forgotten by her whole family. Samantha has a crush on a popular jock named Jake Ryan, he is the definition of a classic high school jock who is so much popular than Samantha. Samantha eventually meets Farmer ted who seems to be an awkward teenage boy who is the complete opposite of what Jake is. This movie explores all the sides of being an awkward teenage girl in high school from being insecure, awkward, and also simply growing up.

The opening scene starts with Samanthas family at home that is super busy running all over the house trying to get ready to leave. Samantha comes down the stairs with a disappointed look on her face realizing everyone forgot it was her birthday. She sits on the stairs waiting for her family to say something that would be important to her. Her mother and father are having a conversation about going to a wedding instead of them figuring out who else's special day it was. This obviously makes Samantha feel forgotten, overlooked and not important to anyone. 

I decided to watch this movie because as the movie goes on you can see her character develop into less of an insecure shy girl who wants to be more outgoing and not live in the shadow of her own big family. I think this would help my opening because it shows how someone could be so overlooked and forgotten about not knowing what happens behind closed doors in someones head.

13 Going on 30 Opening scene- 

13 Going on 30 is a movie about a young teenage girl in junior high named Jenna Rink who is fed up with middle school, she is tired of dealing with mean girls and being treated like a "little girl". Jenna really wants a boyfriend and always romanticizes being an adult. She thinks being an adult will be awesome and such a piece of cake.. little does she know being an adult is so hard. Her wishes eventually come true when she is sleeping, she wakes up to being a 30 year old women living in New York as a magazine producer. She eventually goes through all of the trouble and stresses an adult goes through and really regrets her decision she made. 

The opening scene starts with Jenna Rink taking her school picture which shows she is a classic awkward middle school girl. As she takes a look at her picture she has a disgusted look on her face, as she is looking down disgusted a boy who seems to be her friend named Matt comes up to her and is saying hi, As the music in the background plays it eventually gets very loud when the "popular girls" start walking down the hall. The girls come up and talk to her and turn out to be very rude and make rude comments to her friend Matt which eventually makes Jenna laugh and try to fit in. this shows Jenna is just trying to fit in with the rude popular girls for a better "status". The girls invite Jenna to a party that night not realizing the girls had bad intentions but Jenna doesn't care because she just wants to fit in. little does she know what was going to happen when she got there.

     

Project schedule

     I have decided the best way for me to stay on track is with a schedule and timeline. For me that is the best way to stay on track especially since I have a very busy life and so does my partner. There is exactly 8 weeks to get this project done but at the time I am doing this is 7 weeks left so each week needs to be extremely productive. So far I have only come up with a rough draft of what I think my schedule should contain to stay on track so I can have my opening completed before the due date. The most important way to stay on track is planning and that is what my schedule should help me with.

I need to keep in mind I need to make time in the last week for revision and make time for the CCR part of the project.

    Week 1: 1/29-2/2

1. Pick genre
2. Get a basic idea of what I want in my opening

    Week 2: 2/3-2/9

1. Storyboard
2. Script
3. Figure out filming days

  

    Week 3: 2/10- 2/16

1. Pick locations
2. Start filming
3. Take many shots to go through rough drafts
4. Come up with film name

    Week 4 2/17-3/23

1. Continue filming
2. Start working on credits scene
3. Record any foley if I use it
4. Record voice over if needed

    Week 5: 2/24-3/2

1. continue filming
2. continue working on credits
3. Start working on CCR

    Week 6: 3/3-3/9

1. Finish film

2. Edit and complete film

3. Complete Credits

4. Continue working on CCR

    week 7: 3/10-3/16

1. Finish working on CCR

2. Use this week as your fix up week, if there is something we don't like fix it

    week 8: 3/17-3/25

1. Finish CCR completely

2. Finish ALL filming, editing, recording

3. Try to submit by 3/20 latest would be 3/23

    

    I want to try and stay on track with this schedule so I am not getting super stressed out and cramming in each week what I need to do. If anything changes I will try and update it and keep it in my notes app on my phone or computer so I can update it at any time during the day. I think majority of filming being done at school will help me stay on track especially working on other parts of the project at home like editing or the CCR. I know nothing is perfect and mistakes will happen but I want to try my best to make this process as organized as possible so I get the best grade.

Genre choices

     For genre choices I have chosen to research about Drama and Coming of age. Those two genres have a lot of fun and different ideas you could work with in my opinion. Since I am most likely going to have to film my opening in school I'm trying to utilize the area I am in and the people I am around. 

Drama focuses a lot on real life experiences that can happen with an emotional appeal. With drama you can focus a lot on different tones, romantic appeal, funny but also serious moments, and create a realistic theme. Movies like mean girls shows the funny but also semi realistic side of growing up as a girl with a lot of extra drama and it ends with us shows a realistic side of a relationship with a lot of drama in it. These are the sub-genres of what drama is and what it entails. Drama focus's a lot on character driven stories.

 

Coming of age films focus on emotional and growth of someone especially how they transition from a child to an adult. Many coming of age films start with a kid growing up and realizing the hardships on what a teen or adult faces. These movies usually focus on discovering yourself and milestones reached in life. there's many self conflicts and navigating through the rough ages or situations of growing up. These movies usually take place in high schools, neighborhoods, or usual places a child would be growing up around. The movie sixteen candles focus's on a teenage girl who is going through all of the motions of growing up, the humor, and self discovery. The movie shows a lot of family struggles, first love experience, and growing pains which are all apart of the coming of age genre. 

Drama and coming of age movies have a lot in common but both can be very different. Using sub-genres of each genre gives many ideas you can choose from in making your opening. Both of the films utilize similar ideas like growing up, self discovery, and figuring out how to get through challenges of on growing.

Portfolio plans

    This past week in media studies we have been talking about the upcoming Cambridge exam. It seems super intimidating but also from past experience with smaller projects I know it will be okay. For my first inital plans I am starting to get used to blogging and developing an idea for what I want to do my 2 minute opening. I am going to take a look at different genres I want to focus on, I know some genres of films but need to come up with a good strong idea I know will do well. My goal is to try to find other people who want to join my group so we all will have ideas together of what we want to add onto this project. I am laying down a calendar of days I should be working on my opening as well as trying to balance the blogging parts.

   I have taken many notes, as well as watched different openings on the nearpod clips to help me become successful. My first plan is to develop a general plan of what it is going to be about. Figuring out those initial plans will lead me into other options of what I want to figure out like my character and what their purpose is. In class I took notes on exact instructions of any small details I should include in my film. It is important I add any small details that will set me up best for success.