How I Survived Media Studies

  I'm excited to finally say that we are DONE with the film! I actually really enjoyed this process by the end of it, and I hope that you guys enjoyed following me along throughout this journey! Here is our final film!

  Here is my Creative Critical Reflection! Here I dissected each component of my film based off of four questions: How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues? How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text? How did your production skills develop throughout this project? How did you integrate technologies- software, hardware and online – in this project? This was one of the very last components of this project and my experience with it, so I hope that you enjoyed this as much as I did! Kayla Jencic's CCR

       The day has come! My group and I are OFFICIALLY and completely done with our project, with everything from preparing, to filming, to editing. Obviously, I am quite excited, but not because I didn't enjoy the process. There is a weight that is now lifted off my shoulders, because I feel like we have been working towards this moment for a VERY long time, and now that it is all finally over with I am so happy. However, this project has allowed me to learn so many new skills that without taking this class, I would not have been able to learn and apply like I have through this project. I have learned how to blog, how to edit: importing media, adding sound, syncing up audio with video, and so much more, how to act (kinda LOL), and so much more. This project has truly opened my eyes to the depth of the world of film making, and now more than ever do I appreciate those that work in the field of film making. Now understanding all the elements, such ...

  So! Tyler and I had to come together and finally pull together the very LAST strands that we needed before we could say that we were done with out film opening. We both stayed up late to finish everything and even though there wasn't anything MAJOR that needed to be done, me and Tyler were still going slightly delusional over the fact that we were still working. Tyler and I just decided to take initiative today and get it all done so that we could stop worrying about the project because this has been quite the project alright... lol. Aaliyah and Jacob had already done their part, so this wasn't miscommunication or anything bad, just us finishing everything up. So first, Tyler and I texted the group chat with our final ideas when it came to editing, titles, and music. We decided that as long as everyone agreed with the same ideas, that we could all move on and work towards putting this project to rest.  Tyler editing on iMovie And that is EXACTLY...

  Because our group focused so heavily on other elements of misc-en-scene, lighting did not get the bulk of attention in terms of elements that we REALLY wanted to include. Even though it is a suspenseful, murder mystery film opening, because most of the shots are done in the same location, not a lot of lighting changes happen. However, that doesn't mean that we didn't use lighting in some elements of our project.  Looking at the beginning of our film opening, we can see that it starts around nighttime, where the cop car comes into frame and drives closer to the camera. We filmed this scene at nighttime for two reasons. The first was to show a change in time from this scene and the scene after. Additionally, the other reason we chose to film at night time is because the darker, low-key lighting used allow the sirens and flashing lights of the cop car to become more dramatic visually. This also provides a more eerie feeling, and tied with the music creates an intense atmosphere...

Color theory has always been something that has inspired me in the world of media. I loved learning about the pure impact and meaning that color can have in film, and how something as simple as the color of someone's shirt at the right moment can mean so much. I'm glad to say that our group used the color theory when it came to the outfits of each character, something that I am actually REALLY proud of. It's always been something so interesting to me, and being able to implement it into our own film was just an amazing feeling.                                      Felicity Rox My character, AKA Felicity, wears a purple sweater vest, a black skirt, leggings, and ballet flats with bright silver jewelry and a silver headband. The reasoning behind her outfit ties back to color theory. Her outfit consists mainly of elegant colors like purple and black- both of which are associated with luxury, powe...

  Looking at our group's dynamic has been pretty interesting to me personally, because even though I have been friends with my group members for a very long time, this is the first time that I have worked with ALL of them on a large school project. At first, I was scared that we weren't going to be able to focus or get rather anything done, but in the end I am happy to say that I am rather content with how everything panned out.  All in all, it has been going pretty well. Again, because we are friends, whenever we have to get together to record or edit, it ends up being a rather good time because I enjoy their company (not to be sappy or anything I'm being rather serious lol). We have all been able to keep in communication with one another and ensure that we are all working on our separate or conjoined parts of this project. Everyone has been pulling their weight rather nicely, and I'm glad to say that there hasn't been any major issues or problems when it comes to ...

 Representation is a HUGE aspect of film, because representing different groups of people, different options, and locations can all allow the audience to not only create a deeper connection with the film itself, but also feel heard in the world of filmmaking. Our film has an interesting selection of representation, and I am here today to talk a little more about it.  Who is represented in your film? Our film features four main characters, all of which are high school students. They all have completely different personalities, personas, and elements that make them UNIQUE to one another. For example, one way that we are representing is through different ethnicities. Our four main characters are European, Jamaican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban, representing young teenagers from all across the world.  Is it fair, stereotypical? The original ideas for the different personas of our characters were in fact stemed from high school stereotypes. However, in the end, we ensured that it w...

     Ever since we started planning out this project, we knew that one of the major scenes we wanted to record was a scene with a cop car to start off our film opening.       Before break, we had originally planned that we were going to meet up at Aaliyah's house and use a cop car that she would be able to access at the time. Aaliyah and her mother had taken initiative and gotten in contact with a police officer that they knew that would be able to help us in using his car to film a quick scene for our establishing shot. However, over break there were some complications, both with scheduling and availability of the cop, and we lost our opportunity to film with him.      We weren't really sure what to do at first, because without a cop car we would not be able to film the scene and we would need to find a replacement scene AND film it, and at this point that just seemed like way too much for us to handle....

  We finally have a completed title sequence! It actually looks really cool, and I'm glad that this is what we will be using for our film opening! The choice of font stems from the idea that our film opening is a murder mystery. We wanted to implement a font that would match the overall vibe of our film opening, and honestly I think that this font that looks like dripping blood is the PERFECT mix of suspense and mystery that we needed.  In terms of color, we obviously went with the color red, in order to stick with the theme of the blood that the letters were made to look like. Additionally, though, red also signals danger, desire, courage, willpower, anger, and so much more that fits perfectly with our film opening and what we were going for! Another component that most likely draws the audiences attention is the "o" in Roll. We decided that we wanted to use symbols of some sort to create a deeper meaning behind the already interesting title sequence. Because of this, we...

  Going back to storyboarding! I actually liked storyboarding this time way more than when we completed the "initial" storyboard, and I think mostly the reason why was because since we filmed now, it was WAYY easier for us to lay out all the components that needed to be on the storyboard, or at least everything that was important for us to actually add on there. Especially when it came to adding elements like transitions and camera angles, it became SO MUCH easier to talk about it and write it on paper after filming and editing, because our group now knows SO much more about transitions and all the editing and "smaller" elements that we just didn't really know beforehand.  One of the major changes that we made from the initial storyboard was cutting out the "argument scene" that was at the end of the initial storyboard. When we were first planning, our fear was that we wouldn't have enough scenes and we would have too much time left over, making th...

Although the majority of our film features the four main characters that have been previously described, there are two "minor" or supporting characters that can be seen at some point in the film, both of which have their own unique purpose that they serve. These are the Detective and the Police Officer.  The Police Officer The Police Officer can be seen in the beginning of our film opening, however not much of his body is shown whatsoever. In the film opening, he is seen getting out of a cop car, walking over, and bending down to look at something on the ground (which we later know is a dead body). However, although not much of his body is seen, this doesn't mean that he does not serve a purpose. Besides being the camera's focus in the beginning of the film opening, we can tell a lot about his persona through his walk. He is wearing dark, slim fit pants with black shoes, and once exiting the cop car, walking diligently and powerfully towards the point of interest on t...

  Throughout the editing process, our group ran into so many issues that really stressed us out. Editing was NOT easy, thats for sure. But we were able to persevere in the end and get it done so that we could move on towards finishing our project all together. So, here are a few editing interruptions and issues we ran into throughout the ENTIRETY of this project thus far, at least when it comes to editing that is.  The first problem that we ran into was us literally DOWNLOADING DaVinci Resolve 17. Now, our group knew that this was the application that we wanted to use, because it fit the majority of our needs and also had a feature where multiple people can collaborate on the same file. However, downloading this was SUCH A DRAG honestly. At first I thought it was just me that was having this issue, but the other group members also ran into this issue, which became a huge waste of time at some point. The first ever day that we got together to use DaVinci, we wasted the whole ti...

      ALL of the sound clips of us talking during our scenes... yikes.  Editing the sound was actually one of the most important parts of the entire editing process for our group. Because we chose to record the audio and visual components of the film on two separate devices, that meant that we had to do A LOT of sound editing not only to put the sound ON the video, but also to match it up perfectly so there were no mistakes.      I did most of the editing of the sound, and Aaliyah and Tyler did most of the recording of the sound. This way, we were able to split everything up in a way that clearly made sense for us to get everything done in a timely manner. Jacob also helped both groups with whatever was necessary.      For the majority of the film, we chose to use non-diegetic sound, both through narration and music. The reason that we chose this is because we  still wanted to have narration to enh...

     Props are one of the most interesting parts of misc-en-scene in my opinion. Not only are props able to tell a story without the use of words, but they can even emphasize genre, tone, or even the emotions of a character in that period of time. Our group made sure that we used a lot of different props throughout the film to make sure that our scenes were boring, but the "decorations" and props used still had meaning and importance on screen.  Prop #1      The first prop that we had was a pair of handcuffs that we had each main character wear throughout their mugshots as well as their interrogation scene as well. The inclusion of the handcuffs add to the emphasis of the genre of the film, and is also just an addition to the scene that adds a sense of realism.  Prop #2      The second prop that we had was the Manila File Folders. These folders were placed on the table during the interrogation scene, and were used in the storyline a...

 Equipment slowly but surely became one of the most important components of this entire process once we really started filming. Without proper equipment, both when it came to filming and editing, we wouldn't have been allowed to create the film opening that we had in our heads.  For our camera, we used a Canon EOS Rebel E7, which allowed us to film all the scenes that we wanted to in a swift and efficient way.  Additionally, we also had a tripod attached to the camera so that the camera would be able to film without any unnecessary movement or shaking.  For our microphone that we used to separately collect the sound from the interrogation scenes, we used the jLab Audio Talk and Go microphone. This allowed us to gather clips for narration and dialogue that were crisp and clear.  And lastly, we used a DJI Spark Drone that was able to get us half of our lovely establishing shot that we adore and appreciate! We also used our phone to capture any ambiance or backgrou...

(I hate how the back of my shirt looks here, but its a good photo so.)  We finally made it to our second day of filming, and to be honest, this one was a lot more entertaining than the last!     I think the main reason that our group was able to enjoy ourselves more the second time around filming was because since the first day of filming, we were able to now get in the groove and know what we needed to do. For the second day, we knew exactly what we needed to film, where to meet up, and what time worked best for  everyone.  This day, we woke up pretty early, meeting up at a local library around 10:30. When we originally got there, we were going to go into one of the rooms to begin filming, but it was occupied, so we had about like an hour of time to kill. Instead of sitting around though, we decided that it was best if we shot some other scenes that weren't required for us to be in the room exactly. And that is what we did.  Here i...