Director's Cut CCR

Final Film Opening

Link to film opening !!

Advice to future Aice Media Students

Since I am now an almost Aice Media AS alumni, I feel as though I would share my input on the project as a whole and what advice I would give to students in the future. In my last blog I mentioned how everything went fairly smooth creating the whole project, but it did not just happen by luck. It took a lot of ahead planning of every little detail: from the shooting schedule, the props, the storyboard, the angles we were going to use, the cuts we would insert, the audio, the actors...etc. If Alexa and I did not do as much planning as we did, we would probably still be working on filming right now. However, no matter how much planning you do things can still go wrong. Certain props that we had planned on using did not work out, we had ran out of room in the film and had to cut out a whole entire scene, and we had to go over our spending budget for the props. Another factor contributing to a stress free portfolio would be to manage your time well!!!!! Timing is everything! Do NOT leave everything for the last minute because you will hate yourself and you will regret not starting earlier, trust me. Therefore, my advice to future film opening creators is this: make sure you try and plan as much as possible can, try to avoid procrastination at all costs, and although cheesy make sure you remember to have fun with what you're doing! Take advantage of this awesome class where you are able to explore your creative side because it is not that often where us as high school students get to do so!

Reflecting

So, I did re-watch and re-watch, but I felt like there nothing else that I could have done to make it better; I could have maybe filmed certain scenes with better angles that were more aesthetically pleasing as well as getting our message across to the viewer. Yet, I am very happy with how the film turned out and the project together as whole! Going into this project I was completely mortified because I thought I would never be able to come up with an idea, or I would leave everything to the last minute and never be able to finish in time. Fortunately, that was not the case: we were able to come up with an idea within the first week of brainstorming, planned everything according to schedule, and editing wasn't as stressful as anticipated. I actually would have to say that editing the film was my favorite part because I really enjoy messing around with the tools that IMovie offers like the coloring, the audio, the speed of the film, and the different types of cuts. There is just something about putting individual clips together and being able to make a whole video that flows together and sends a message to a viewer that just amazes me. I really would not mind do something in the future that has to do with creating video content, but I feel as though as much as I enjoy I would never have enough talent it for it to turn into a career for me. But hey, who knows what the future has to offer! Maybe I'll end up being the female version of Steven Spielberg, or actually maybe Tim Burton since we did create a mystery/horror film!

Finishing touches

Now that our film opening is FINALLY done, we decided to show our peers again and see if we need to touch up anything. In class we showed as many people that agreed to watch, and we got amazing feedback along with helpful constructive criticism. What people commented most on was our props, and how they made the clips 100x scarier and very realistic. Which, I was glad to hear because we put a lot of time and effort looking for good props! However, some also recommended that we alter the color/saturation of certain clips again to reflect that real dark and scary vibe. So, Alexa and I took their advice and did exactly that. We opened up the film on IMovie again and played around with the coloring; we added more cool tones but also took away some color and lowered the saturation to show that scene is very lifeless. Colorful scenes in movies usually mean that everything is very happy and full of life, while scenes with no colors reflect dark times and a sad tone. I learned all of this information about color from lessons in my Aice Media class, and I also researched online to get further details. I am really glad that we asked for our peers' opinions because sometimes it is always good to get a fresh pair of eyes that may point out things that you may never have noticed; it was very beneficial. Alright, so now I think we are OFFICIALLY DONE, and I could not be happier with the way it turned out! However, I probably am going to be sitting in bed watching it over and over again just trying to find something that could be better. I'll let you know in the next blog ;)

The final product...I think

Today, Alexa and I met up and pretty much wrapped up the whole process of editing our film opening!!!!! We started with the news report; we texted our good pal and fellow Aice Media Studies peer, Zach Cohen, to record himself reading the report because we felt as though his voice was best fit. Boy were we right, his voice was perfect! It sounded so clear and firm like a real reporter; if I hadn't known it was his voice I would have assumed it was a legitimate news anchor. I even watched a video made by a real reporter giving advice on how to talk like him basically, and he said your voice is not supposed to be weird or dark; you are supposed to talk as if you're talking directly to people, and Zach did exactly that. So, shout out you Zach! After inserting the news report and getting it to match up with the scenes, we created our follies. One for the scene of the man putting on the gloves in which we just recorded Alexa rubbing the actual plastic gloves together because we couldn't find a different object that sounded better. Then, I had to record myself, since I play Annie, screaming at the top of my lungs, "Help! Help! Somebody help me please!" It actually turned out well once it was lined up with the scene; we didn't even have to cut the audio or clip short because it lined up perfectly. Finally, we added in the one thing that makes a world of difference: the scary music!! We used the selection of scary movie clips that is provided through Imovie. It is heard in the background from beginning to end until the last 5 seconds where it goes completely silent because we felt as though it would make it scarier. Sometimes less is more!

 Source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-ZZIifnt5s

The process continues...

Last post I mentioned how we stopped half way with editing the opening; today we finished the rest! In the shot of Annie's face being zoomed into we turned down the saturation a little bit to show that the color, or life, in her could be limited. The transition is a fade to black to the next clip where the camera zooms out of a white paper ducked tape to the wall with the number 5 on it to show that Annie is the 5th victim. Originally the clip was normal paced, but we felt as though the clip of the 5 needed to be slowed down a bit to make sure the audience understands that it is an important scene; it is the name of the movie as well. Once that was done our film as at a time duration of about 2 minutes and 27 seconds, so we had to completely cut a last scene that we filmed. It was of the kidnapper walking into a bathroom and washing away the blood on his hands, and then when he walked away you could see the movie title "5" written in blood on the mirror. Although it was a cool scene, we felt as though it was not completely necessary to keep in the opening. After transitions we moved on to sound. We added in the sound of a radio being tuned, switching between channels to the clip of the man hitting the clock radio, to show that it is indeed a radio and he is listening to it. Directly after the tuning stops we are going to insert a news report talking about the Annie's disappearance, we already have it written we just need to find someone to read it that has a news reporter's voice. Which, is what I will blog all about in my next post!

The grueling editing process

Editing time!!! Now that we finished filming everything for our opening and are happy with all of our shots, it's time to review all of the clips and put them all together. We used the editing program I Movie on Alexa's Apple Macbook computer, and added every clip that we approved of beforehand. Once all of the clips were added, we added in transitions. For the first few clips we just chose transitions that looked well once inserted like: fade to white, fade to black, or dissolve. However, when the kidnapper is picking up the knives, putting on the gloves, grabbing the finger and putting it in a jar we aslo did jump cuts to show that it was all happening within the exact same time period, one after the other. Then, we did a fade to white transition to show that the man is done with jarring the finger and is now walking towards Annie, who is strapped onto a bed. Then a jump cut to the man putting tape over Annie's mouth followed by another jump cut to Annie's hand being grabbed and her finger being dipped in blood. There was still more transitions to be added but we decided to stop if what we had already. During class, we asked our peers to watch what we had so far; they thought it was really good but that it was missing something! One person suggested that we add an edit to the colors of the film, perhaps adding a darker tone to create a more scary/creepy vibe. Which is exactly what we needed! I actually researched online that in horror films it is recommended to use dark color contrast to add to the mystery, and creepiness. Therefore, color does make a hu(e)ge difference! Hahahaha...see what I did there ;) Anyways, adding the cooler, darker tones to the film was very good advice for our peers, and I feel it really improved our opening.

Sources: "Cinematography Tips For Horror Filmmakers." The Beat: A Blog by PremiumBeat. N.p., 09 June 2015. Web. 02 Apr. 2017

Shooting Day!

So, the day finally came: shooting day! Alexa and I were actually pretty excited to see how we were going to create our set design with all of our amazing props. It started with us having to clean out the guest bedroom in Alexa's house of all furniture and items that would not tie into the mise-en-scene for our film opening, a creepy homemade torture room. We then found other props we could use in Alexa's house like the wooden board that held all of the kidnapper's knives. After setting everything up we officially started shooting. First scene was the zoom out of the radio clock to then the shot of just the kidnapper's big black boots walking towards a table at a dutch angle, to add an uneasy sort of feeling. Next, the high angle shot of the man's "butcher table" and him picking up his knives and stowing a way a person's finger in a jar. The purpose of this scene was to show how the man is very creepy and has an odd fascination, or is keeping random body parts in jars for a reason. Then we shot the man walking over to the bed where Annie is laying on, and from this point until the rest of the film i passed the camera onto Alexa as I am in the following scenes so I obviously couldn't film. We filmed all the scenes of the man taping my mouth shut, me screaming for help, him grabbing my hand and dipping it in blood,  and then putting my fingerprint on paper that also says the name of our "production company." Then we did a extreme close-up shot of my face, that's filled with terror, and zoomed in so that it's black and then the next scene is a zoom out of a blank piece of paper hanging on a wall that has the number 5 written on it. The purpose of this transition was to show that Annie is the 5th girl to be kidnapped by the man. Next, we filmed a scene of the kidnapper going over to a body on the floor to show that he has indeed killed the last girl that was kidnapend. We also were going to add another scene after that of him going to the bathroom to wash his hands of the blood, and when he walked away the number 5 would be written on the mirror in blood, but it didn't turn out the way we wanted it to; the angles and the lighting were just not cutting it. But, here's a pic of me and Lex in that mirror! Enjoy :)

Give us props for our props

Hey guys! Today Alexa and I  went on a fun little adventure exploring the vast outskirts of the Davie, Florida Tower Shoppes Plaza. We went to stores like Party City and Hobby Lobby to find the props that were listed in the last blog. We went to party city first and we found fake blood, for REALLY CHEAP!!!!! Sorry I just get excited when it comes to deals and not spending a lot of money lol. Then, we made our way to the wonderful Hobby Lobby, recently became my new favorite place to go, where we basically found everything we needed. We got the glass jars that we are going to use to put the fake body parts in, we got the big white t-shirt, we got the white sheets that we'll use to decorate the lair, and we even got the fake blonde hair! The only prop that we could not find in ANY store because it's not really the season for stores to be selling this, was the fake body parts. However, we took advantage of our resources and turned to good ol' Amazon to order the fake body parts online. They were not too costly, within our budget, and would arrive just in time for film day.
 Here are some cool pics we snapped of our props:

Getting feedback and staying organized

Hey everyone! So today in class we participated in a peer review/discussion of our individual portfolios. We were split up into groups of 4 or 5 and we all shared our ideas about our projects and how our progress is going. I really enjoyed this because it allowed us to get feedback from others and tips that could really help out our opening. After this activity Alexa and I got together and we basically planned out our shooting schedule:

Thursday- Go out and get everything we need for the film: fake blood, fake body parts, white sheets, fake blonde hair, glass jars, big white t-shirt

Sunday- We do set design basically and then film the kidnapper's lair scene

Next week- Film the car scene opening

We figured that planning out what we are going to do each day will keep us organized and on track, so we won't fall behind and be all over the place. We also decided to start filming early because then we will have a boat load of time to edit the video so it will be the best darn film opening you'll ever see( well at least the best one you've seen made by two 16/17 year old girls with no real raw talent). I also researched some benefits of planning out a shooting schedule online and found that creating a calendar when filming is basically your best friend because it allows you to see visually what day your doing what and it is just another way to be organized.

Sources:
"The Art of Scheduling a Film." Dummies. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2017

Putting our vision on paper

Hey-ooo! Today, we began actually physically planning out our vision for the opening by drawing a storyboard. It was decided that we do not want to begin the movie right away with the credits on the lab tools. Instead, we want the first scene to be less, well I don't know...creepy! We chose to have the beginning be of a mother driving with her child in the front seat. The camera angle will be a two-person shot,which is known to be used to showcase dialogue, from the backseat of the car where you can see both characters. The son will be complaining about the radio station and ask for it to be changed. The mom says okay, and then a cut to a close-up shot of the mom changing the nob of the radio will occur. The shot will be a close-up because it will draw attention to the changing of the station and will lead into the next scene.  Audio of the radio changing between stations will be inserted, and the camera will slowly zoom into the nob turning, eventually to the point where the screen is black. Then, the camera will slowly zoom out, yet the setting will be different; it will be of a radio sitting in the scary lab. As this transition is occurring the beginning of the news report will begin. I attempted to draw out this vision onto a story board, and here is what I have so far. Please do not judge, I clearly was not born to be a talented artist.

Sources: http://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/9934/how-is-dialog-between-two-people-filmed

Figuring out the details

Hiya folks! I said in my last blog how I wanted to put our credits in objects that would be in a scientific lab, so today I actually researched what objects would be. I had to dig deep because there isn't a lot of useful information on the internet about this topic. Most of the items that kept coming up were things like test tubes, flasks, weight scales, and weird, brightly colored substances in test tubes. I realized that these are things you would also find in a science classroom at school...which is not the kind of lab we are going for. So, I changed my search to more experimental lab tools that involve people, and that is where I got results that pertain better to our setting.        

Then, Alexa and I realized that we might need to purchase items just like these in order for our opening to work. We decided that we will search for the cheapest replicas of these items, and even dedicate hours to surfing the web or walking in and our of stores if we have to! I'm most definitely the kind of gal that will put effort into bargaining and finding steals since I really don't enjoy having to use money from own pocket lol. 

Sources: http://surgical-instrument-pictures.com/

Getting Closer

Hey! Ellie here, back with some updates on how our long project ahead of us is going. We started to plan out in our heads how the opening to our film opening is actually going to look like, realistically. By realistically I mean how we are actually going to execute our crazy ideas. One of these ideas was drawn from the beginning of the film, Napoleon Dynamite. 

Where our opening credits will be written on items that tie into the movie; these items would be utensils you would find in a scientific lab or even personal items belonging to the missing girl, like a backpack for say since we decided that it will be revealed in the news report that she was taken walking home from school. This opening would take place while the audio only news report is playing in the background, just like how the music in Napoleon Dynamite is played. However, we would like our items to be scattered around the lab and have the camera slowly pan through all of them instead of having a direct high angle view of the items in a series of jump cuts. We also realized that since our movie is taking place during the 1970's we would have to make our "set" look like a lab in the 70's which we obviously had no clue how to do especially with absolutely no budget whatsoever. So, we came to the conclusion that we'll just cancel the whole 70's time period, and just have the film take place in the present time period. This way we will actually be able to, HOPEFULLY, execute our opening with ease.  Notice how I wrote hopefully in all caps? That is because I hope everything goes with ease, but I honestly doubt it will. I will for sure be writing about our plentiful mess ups in my future blogs. ;)

Planning out the Vision

Hello, Ellie here with exciting news about the film opening! We have lots of progress on how we want our opening to look like; we have a vision. We want the film to take place in the Orange County area in southern California during the 1970's. We chose the 70's because there was a lot of government distrust and conspiracy theories going on in that time period, so we felt that it went well with our movie plot. We also decided that for our actual opening we would begin it with an audio only news report of yet another missing young girl. This idea was inspired by the film opening of the movie Children of Men where a news reporte is included to give background information about the plot. This is what we are envisioning for our movie. I then wanted to begin writing down what would be said in the news report: definitely information about the past missing cases and then the current one. Alexa and I then both researched legitimate missing persons reports from the LA Times online newspaper, and a sheriff's office website. This research gave us a fundamental base on what a real life missing persons report should sound like, that way ours in the film is realistic. I think our progress is going in the right direction so far, and I am really looking forward to seeing what other techniques we decide to use for the opening.

Sources: "Collier County, FL Sheriff : Sheriff Kevin J Rambosk, Naples FL." Collier County, FL Sheriff : Sheriff Kevin J Rambosk, Naples FL. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

The Light Bulb Indeed Went Off

Hi again! So, I'm back, and I'm back with a film idea!!! Alexa and I finally decided to do a horror film. This choice wasn't easy; it required a lot of research and inspiration  from other films and TV shows. First, we searched up all of the different genres of film and gathered up lots of information like the characteristics of characters in horror films. and after looking into them we chose horror. Why? Honestly, I don't know we just felt as if we had a better chance at creating an idea that was of that genre. Personally I actually hate horror movies, ESPECIALLY the ones that begin with the words, " Based on a true story," like really?! Now I know I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight! But we came up with an idea that I feel is not too scary, and is more on the mystery side. Basically, the plot of the film is that a certain amount of girls, all blonde and blue-eyed, have gone missing over the past 10 years, and the police have yet to figure out why or who is behind the kidnappings. But, what gets revealed in the opening is that these girls are being used for some sort of an illegal scientific experiment. However, that is all that is revealed in the opening, thus leaving the audience wanting to find out more. Other inspiration also came from the sci-fi Netflix TV series Stranger Things, that is essentially about a secret government science project that involved the kidnapping of a young girl. So, yeah that's our idea! It's weird, I was super stressed about this film opening, but now that we have our film idea I actually am pretty excited to start  planning out everything and filming!

Blank Slate

Hey there! My full name is Carmen Sachs, but I prefer people to call me Ellie. Yeah I know, it  doesn't really make sense but just roll with it. I chose to do a film opening for my foundation portfolio, but when I made this decision I had no clue as to what I was getting myself into. I just thought "Oh, making a 2 min video, that's a piece a cake!" Boy was I wrong. Last week I was told to begin working on my project, which meant that to begin working...I would need to already have an idea, which of course I didn't! For some reason when it came to brainstorming film ideas, I just couldn't come up with anything, like as if my mind was in Tabula Rasa- meaning a Blank Slate in Latin. I tried to find inspiration by watching some of my favorite movies: Perks of Being a Wallflower, Monsters Inc, and a whole cub full of Disney movies. Unfortunately, they did not really get my creative flow going. Then, I talked to my partner in crime for this project, Alexa Zuckerman, to see if she had any ideas yet...she didn't. So here we are, supposed to be creating  this spectacular film opening to our spectacular film...that doesn't exist. Hopefully, by my next blog the light bulb above my head will have already lit up!