Question #4 CCR post! :)

 Hey everyone! Today I will be making my fourth script AKA the last question for my CCR!

-How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

Podcast

Beginning from questions 3:

Danielle Greenbaum: 

.............So within the different techniques of shots and angles I just discussed I think we should take a moment and talk about how everything came together. **sound effect** Well, it all started with blogger. **sound effect** We began using the blogger app to write about projects from class. This app helped me get comfortable and so when it came time for the Portfolio Project, I knew how to use it. As I was filming I had to use many different things to make my film happen. I used my iPhone camera to film along with lighting that came from the car and light poles. I also used bike lights which made the whole fake police car thing really come to life. My film would've been a little bland without it so I thank those lights for giving me...Light! These three examples were the main technologies integrated within my project lol and couldn't have been made without it. get it? cuz I used a camera? and you cant film without a camera? haha anyways after I filmed I edited using Premiere Pro which was the MOST CONFUSING THING EVER LOL  but I got used to it!. Thank you thank you no need to congratulate me, but I learned how to color grade which helped with the most important plot scenes... the flashback scenes! All of these tools worked together to help me create the project that I will soon be submitting for the whole world to see **nail biting moment**.. I'm just joking! but I'll see you again soon for another episode of ...Creative Critical Reflection with Danielle Greenbaum! 

Question #3 CCR script!

 Hey everyone welcome to my third script for the CCR! For my last two questions I'm going to make a podcast! It will be a black screen but it will include sound effects and all that fun stuff. So without further  a do, here is my script.

Q3: How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

Podcast script:

Danielle Greenbaum: **intro music** Welcome back to another episode of **sound effect** creative critical reflection with Danielle! Today I wanted to take a few minutes to reflect on how I have grown as I developed my film, so lets get into it.

Throughout this journey I have done numerous things like edit, direct, film and plan and throughout each of those processes I learned so many things. As I was planning my film I developed major critical thinking skills and I also opened my mind a lot more and had so many creative ideas making me feel like I even became more creative. If that makes sense haha. As I was filming I learned how to make the lighting always exactly how I wanted it and how to always make sure the framing and angles were precise. I feel like my production skills became more serious and I learned how to time everything and make the suspenseful parts more realistic. When I was editing my production I definitely learned about the editing process so much more. I learned how to edit on a real platform and how to use different techniques like with the filters and music throughout the film. I think these skills will help me in the future too so it isn't just a short term one and done type of thing. Some other skills I developed were the more on edge of your seat clips. ( i wont spoil it if you haven't watched it!) Soooo In these clips I used many close ups to establish intimidation within the scene which for sure enhanced the production a lot. I think in these suspenseful clips I became more skillful when creating a plot revolving around inanimate objects to create an emotional effect in the overall film. Throughout my film I also had to change a few parts like some of the scenes that I thought just didn't look right so I made sure to change that and make sure everything flowed correctly. The first quiz we did was a camera shots quiz and I think that also helped me become comfortable and confident on how to create perfect angles which helped me prepare for the bigger projects like the portfolio project.

Welll, as I reflect on my film I realized all of the skills I had learned in just a few weeks. Honestly its insane haha. But anyways....(slowly drift into Q4/will post a blog continuing)

CCR question #1 and #2 script!!!!

 HEYY GUYS OMGGG it's getting so real now! The submit date is so so soon so I am working so hard to develop my CCR and make it great! My script for the CCR is going to be on the first two questions:

-Q1: How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

-Q2: How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

Directors commentary video theme:

Script Q1:

Danielle:  Good afternoon viewers! My name is Danielle Greenbaum and I just finished creating my film opening. Today I want to go over two frequently asked questions that I get. The first question is "How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?" and the second question is "How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?"

Right now I am going to give you a little sneak peak of what my film is about so you can better understand my feedback! So, for my film I chose to do a thriller so I surrounded the plot with an FBI agent that can see peoples past through flashbacks. *insert video clip from film opening* 

This means that during the crime scene, the FBI agent can see the characters before they died. *pause*.. For my film I chose to challenge the props in my film as well as suspense creating. Usually the stereotype for creating suspense in films would be through rapid cuts creating tension however I thought that a bit slower and more scary cuts would tease my audience for a little instead of the rushed fear. 

The props in my film were also being challenged as the usual spiel that goes down with FBI agents and crime scenes would be them just picking up objects and putting them into an "evidence" bag HOWEVER, I added the twist with the flashbacks which created and enhanced the thriller genre.

 For the supernatural world, my flashbacks play a crucial role. Representation for this usually includes dead people being scary **include clip found on YouTube to support this. No longer than 10 seconds** and unwelcoming however in my film the flashbacks of the "dead" people don't show if they are good or evil. This can allow the viewers to understand that there is something unresolved and these "dead" people are still full of mysteries. *pause* So I made this choice because the film isn't entirely focused on these "dead" peoples lives, its more about the last person that isn't actually dead asking for help.      This established the fact that you don't need to fully read into those characters. Now, The props in my film are the main point since they are what makes the FBI see these "dead" people. Props like this are usually just used for the audience to see what kind of personality the "dead" person was before they died (like the lipstick in my film would usually represent that the women probably liked makeup). However, in my film I took a different route and made the objects reveal way more. 

*insert picture of props with character*

Danielle:  In my film, the main character is represented as an FBI agent contributing to his role as a protagonist. All law enforcement workers whether they are detectives, agents or officers, they all go through events that have changed their perspective about life. The flashbacks **insert video of a flashback scene** of going into the agents brain represents the traumatic events that these people go through within their job. It is clear that we see these workers experience events that the average person would not. In my film the agent is a man which according to gender stereotypes, would usually represent toughness in the character which in my film it does. So the fact that he has to cover his emotions contributes to the trauma as these workers don't speak up about their bigger problems/traumas.

Question #2:

Directors Commentary video theme:

Script:

Danielle: ***adding on from the first question*** .... It is also clear that within the thriller genre and important officers and agents, there is always an engaged audience that enjoys watching crime movies and loves the thrill of always being at the edge of their seat. In my film I wanted to ensure that I could actively keep an audience that is interested in what they are seeing and want to watch it instead of watching because they have to. 

I feel like my film engages clearly with audiences because of the suspense builders and and unexpected plot twists like the flashbacks or the ending scene (not going to spoil for you!!). My film is meant to leave audiences in curiosity so when there are mysterious scenes like those inanimate objects revealing the "dead" people, the audience is left with great tension. **insert clip or video** Viewers may also be actively engaged by the visual techniques in my film like the flashbacks which may strike questions for the viewers making them more into it. ...But anyways now the fun part!! I want my film to be all over YouTube! well maybe not all over since its a small film but I really like the idea of  it actually being online. Maybe I can try and put it into smaller theaters too like the Broward Center Of Preforming Arts which would be such a great experience. Well, Until next time.. Danielle Greenbaum out!

(will definitely cut some if I feel it isn't needed in the end)

(the Broward theater)

Group meeting #2 summary!! 🗯💭💬💙💛

 Introduction:

    Hey people!! Yesterday I participated in my second group meeting where we shared thoughts and ideas on our CCR planning and research as well as the ending of our editing processes. This blog post will mainly focus on my thoughts from yesterdays class.

Group meeting #2:

    In this group meeting, we got split into different groups from last time and started to discuss our blogs. Since everyone was kind of stuck on creating ideas we all tried to brainstorm and help each other plan what they can do for the CCR video. One of the girls in my group (Omer) had some really great ideas. One idea she had was to do those celebrity interviews where they answer questions while eating hot wings. This idea seems so fun and I'm always entertained when I see these videos on social media. Some other ideas were shared like doing "slime reviews" which is cool but wasn't my favorite since I feel like that would be so distracting the viewers from the actual meaning of the video CCR. Anyways the point of the group meeting was to just share fun ideas and everyone in my group contributed and asked questions about everyone. 

    For my CCR I got a few ideas that I can do for my first video which was the hot wings unless someone in my group wants to do that more than me. I feel like I can be very creative I just need to unlock that part of me that really brainstorms hard. I am going to come up with my idea this weekend so that I can buy everything I need to buy and I can start forming scripts for all of the four questions so that when I actually start the recording and editing process everything should fit into place.

    Overall I think having another group meeting was a great way to start brainstorming especially for people that can't come up with ideas right away it was nice to get some assistance! My next blogs will be about the scripts and/or research for the other CCR questions since I already made a blog about the first one so for now, see you later!

(silly little picture of me and my group mates!)

Question #1 of CCR (research/planning) ✍️📝✏️💗

 Introduction:

    Since I finally finished editing my film I have left a lot of time to research and plan my CCR. This blog will mainly be about the research, planning and going over my conventions/representation portion of the first question.

Q1: How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

    For this question I started by breaking it down. First I looked up what the word "convention" referred to in this sense to understand clearly what the question was asking me. I found that conventions are specific elements going into the film. These elements include but are not limited to, props, themes, characters, mystery and suspense. These elements are made to define the genre chosen to create the film. Then I read over my notes which told me to discuss the genre conventions I chose. Well, I chose to surround my film with suspense and inanimate objects/props. I chose to challenge these genre conventions to show that my ways are unique and not the stereotypical way of using these conventions. 

    For example, FBI agents would usually just pick up an object and put it into an evidence bag, however I wanted to add a twist which is where those flashbacks come in, enhancing the thriller genre. Another example is the suspense since usually the suspense convention is created by fast or rapid cuts to stimulate tension but my twist is slower more spooky looking cuts. I think this teases the viewers instead of rushed fear. The one convention I didn't challenge was the characters because usually all of the FBI agents play a similar role in what their job is in films so I thought that it wasn't really challenged.

Website: Jan Sørup        Jan Sørup is a indie filmmaker, Sørup, J., Jan Sørup is a indie filmmaker, & View all of Jan Sørup’s posts. (2024a, October 30). What are genre conventions? definition and examples from cinema. FilmDaft. https://filmdaft.com/what-are-genre-conventions-definition-and-examples-from-cinema/

    For the next part of the question it talks about HOW these conventions represent social groups or issues. For this portion of the question I also broke it down to make it easier to understand. The question is basically asking to refer to the choices made in how individuals, groups, events and issues are illustrated within a production. I had to research about this and find some examples to help me better understand and this is what I found. This website talked about how in thriller films there are always misdirection to make the audiences kind of flabbergasted. 

Website: Representation – learn all you need to know here. – Learn all you need to know here. (n.d.). https://developdiverse.com/deib_dictionary/representation/

    Well for my film, the supernatural world within the flashbacks play a crucial role. Representation for this usually includes dead people being scary and unwelcoming however in my film the flashbacks of the "dead" people don't show if they are good or evil. This will allow the viewers to understand that there is something unresolved and these "dead" people are still full of mysteries. I made this choice because the film isn't entirely focused on these "dead" peoples lives, its more about the last person that isn't actually dead asking for help. This established the fact that you don't need to fully read into those characters. The last example I have to offer are the props. These props are the main point in the film since they are what makes the FBI see these "dead" people. Props like this are usually just used for the audience to see what kind of personality the "dead" person was before they died (like the lipstick in my film would usually represent that the women probably liked makeup). However, in my film I took a different route and made the objects reveal way more. 

Summary:

    These conventions represent social groups or issues because they established how viewers recognized the overall meaning. this blog mainly focused on what I will talk about in my Q1 CCR and how much I will contribute into it. In my next blog I will discuss the next question for the CCR part of my Portfolio Project. See you soon!! :)

(This is a picture of the notes I wrote down in class about the first question for the CCR!

P.S-sorry if it's blurry..)

Continuing with Premiere Pro (color grading/suspense crafting)

 Introduction:

    As I continue my editing process through Premiere, I wanted to do what's best to enhance suspense. I started to focus on the colors that were crafted into my film and how to create more of a suspenseful mood throughout.

Color grading:

    My film is shown to be dark and mostly desaturated coloring to make a more engaging atmosphere for my genre. I did this by ensuring I recording all of my clips at night with only minimal lighting. While editing these clips, I added some filters to make the scenes look even more dull than before. For the flashback scenes I almost made it in black and white (ALMOST) to make it known that this random scene is set in the past as for the other "flashback" of the character being alive and saying "help" I editing the coloring to make the make it look a little more real since this character is not dead. Getting the coloring right while editing is pretty tricky but I did look up some YouTube videos to help me out. This color grading video tutorial helped me out so much as it gave simple tips on how to color grade on Premiere Pro.

Suspense crafting:

    I think my film has great suspense already but I also believe it has potential to be way better as I continue to edit. I have been pacing some of my cuts to create tension but I also found out that spacing some clips away from each other with just black then going to a shot is also very suspenseful. I found this out by just playing with the buttons while editing to kind of get used to what I am looking at. Rapid cuts but also sometimes slower cuts enhance the films' scenes so much more than plain editing.

(As you can see here, the lighting is pretty dark for this film since I tried to angle it where the light wasn't beaming on the main character.)

Summary:

    Editing the color was so much fun since I got to play around with many different filters that associate with my film genre. I probably scrolled through so many different filters until I would come across the one I really liked looking at. There isn't too much to say about suspense crafting in my film except that I made sure to add rapid cuts and slow cuts while watching over and editing my film. Since my editing process is concluding my next few blogs will be about the CCR so until next time!

Editing with Premiere Pro 🫧💜🔷

 Introduction:

    Hey!! I finished filming and have moved on to the even harder part (lol) but I'm so happy but also sad that these weeks are coming to an end. This project has been so eye opening and taught me so many things like how to edit with Premiere Pro. This blog will explain what I have done so far and what I need to work on while editing.

Editing:

    As I began editing my film, I was kind of stuck on how to use Premiere. There are many buttons that I don't know how to use and different ways to import videos and sound. I asked one of my friends for help and he showed me how to import all of my videos. First I imported all of the videos I know for sure are going into the film since some recordings I made were just in case I needed to use up more time. after I added the clips in I lined up the sound with the clip and cut some scenes shorter according to the context. Most times I had to cut the scenes shorter was because you can hear my voice in it which I know not to do now. Up until this point I have been playing around with Premiere just editing random things to understand better how it works. Once I got used to the platform everything started to fall into place. I need to work on my editing skills a little more since I have some parts of my film where I want to make the zoom of the eye turn into a flashback which for me, a beginner, is sort of difficult since I only started using Premiere this year.

(This is a photo of me editing using Premiere Pro to show some of my progress)

Concluding:

    

    I hope to finish editing this weekend which means I need to figure out what to do with the left over clips and see how to really edit the flashbacks into the film. This is going to take time but I know I will be able to do it and when I do, I'll feel so accomplished. I will update my blog about what happened during my editing process very soon to make sure you guys are up to date, but as of right now I am going to finish editing what I can tonight!

Foley/Sound creation 🎶🎵

 Introduction:

Hey guys! so previously I stated that I did not want to add any audio into my film, just music over but no talking. Well I was wrong. See when I started to film I realized a good opening scene to establish some of the plot which is a scene in the car of the FBI agent speaking to someone on the phone explaining he will "be a while" clearly explaining that something important is going on. So, I decided to make an up to date blog about the sounds and foley sounds being incorporated into my film.

Foley audio:

    I will begin by talking about the foley part of my film. I found some good websites that have cool foley sound effects I would like to add to my film. I wanted to add noise of people speaking in the background to make it seem like the FBI agent isn't the only person at the crime scene, so I found a foley that I can put behind my scenes for a greater effect. This is the audio I found on the website Pixabay after searching for a while. This audio is great since you can't really understand what the people are saying which is perfect since this is going to be a behind audio.

Audio: Room of people talking

(Photo of the actual audio clip that I found)

Background suspense building music:

    For the music, it took me a while to find good suspense builders. I wanted music that rises in audio then beat drops if that makes sense. This makes the engagement shoot up as viewers are wondering what will happen when the beat finally drops. I really only found one audio of this that I actually enjoyed since all the other ones were just bad and very unrealistic to be put in my film. I found this audio on the website called Freesound along with another audio that I will just as just background audio and it won't really be one that rises suspense. I hope that when I edit this music into my film, the whole thing will come together.

Audio: Suspense riser

Audio: Non suspense riser

Summary:

    Overall I think making an up to date blog about how I am adding in my audio is very important. Audio and making sure its on point is very important to ensure full engagement to your audience which is what I am reaching for. I am excited to watch the final!

Shooting Process 🎥📸

 Introduction: 

    I just finished fully filming my opening!! (I'm giving myself a pat on the back). Wow. These past few weeks have been stressful yet so much fun. I got to do so many things that I didn't know I could do and I stepped out of my comfort zone so many times. This project has been so much fun and I'm so excited to see it after I edit. This blog post will revolve around the different shots I utilized and how I used them to develop meaning. I obviously won't be showing every shot I did but I wanted to share some of the ones I thought were pretty cool.

Shot #1:

    The first cool shot I did was through the car mirror facing my dad (the main character). I saw this shot in a sample project shown in class and it inspired me to add it into my film. This shot just added so much depth to the thriller genre as it establishes the existence of the main character. I also feel that the lighting in that scene added to the surrounding of the character, creating suspense for the viewers. This was the first shot I filmed that night and I absolutely loved how it came out. Overall This shot made me realize the creativity that is going into my film just from the first few shots/angles. 

(This is the amazing mirror shot I just explained!!)

Shot #2:

    

    The last shot I would like to share is an over the shoulder shot. Even though this shot is used a lot in films I feel that it added so much to mine. This shot cam out so nice and established part of the main plot in the film. The point of the POV shot was to see the name on the name tag (which was the object being picked up by FBI agent) to show the main characters reaction to realizing his friend was in the crime scene. Also, The friend of the FBI agent that is "dead" is actually just unconscious but had been pronounced dead. That if the cliffhanger being left off in the film. This shot showed the friends identity or specifically, their name. This shot really enhanced my film a lot and I am so happy with the way it turned out!

Summary: 

    Overall, these two shots were the ones that added the most meaning and were the most fun to create. This shooting process was the greatest and I am so excited to see the end of my project!

(fun picture of me filming!!)

    

Production Obstacles 🧹

 Introduction:

    Hello again! Today I have decided to explain all of the issues I had while filming this past week. During my filming process I ran into a few things I wish I could've done/planned better but didn't have enough time too.

Problem #1:

    There was one particular prop that didn't work quite as I expected. The cones that I ordered came in the mail very small. I thought they were going to be a little bigger especially for the price of them when I ordered it. Since the cones came small, I had to film a lot of my scenes with low angles getting rid of a lot of diversity from shots that could have been included into my film opening. It was really hard to design the caution tape since initially I wanted to wrap the caution tape around the cones. After coming to the conclusion that the caution tape wouldn't fit right on the smaller cones, I had to work around and tape the caution tape. This is where the use of low angles actually helped my film because it made the cones and caution tape appear better and larger than it would have been if I used mid shots or long shots for some of the scenes. Overall this problem was pretty annoying at the start but It was an easy fix that I built around. 

(This is a picture I found of the cones with the caution tape and as it's pictured, the camera is placed lower to the ground to make it appear larger than it would've looked.)

Problem #2:

    

    The other problem I had was the lighting. At first I thought that Regional Park would have good lighting since in the parking lot there are big lights. I was wrong. The lights were all flickering so I had to make sure that wouldn't be included in my film. I ended up using the car lights from the dads car to be the main source of light. This was tricky because I didn't want the film to come out as too bright since my genre is still the thriller theme and it wouldn't make much sense, so I had my dad park the car a certain way where only some of the light would be flashing at our filming area. This wasn't really a problem since it was a very easy fix compared to the prop problem but it was a major setback and led us to being at Regional a lot later than we expected which cut back a lot of time to film.

Summary:

    Overall, I think it was good that these problems came up because even though they were annoying it was good that I reacted fast and knew how to fix these issues. I hope to have close to no issues when I finish filming my last few scenes hopefully this week.