Update

 The due date for the portfolio project is coming up. Yesterday me and my partner finished the filming process and are ready to begin editing. We only have a few days to compile everything together so we have to stay focused. I have to keep in mind that I still have to complete my CCR videos. My goal is too have everything finished by Sunday night and submit the project Monday.

Production #2

This week we are wrapping up our filming process. We just finished the shooting for this scene.

The FBI agent is featured in this scene, and foreshadows the rest of  the film. The man is laying down asleep after using drugs. This is shown by the medical pill bottles and alcohol sitting on the desk. The focal point of this scene is the wanted poster in the middle. This poster is for the protagonist who was wanted by the FBI but unexpectedly turned himself in.

Group meeting

Today in class we had group meting with fellow classmates. This meting was very helpful as it made me realize I wasn’t the only one that needs to finish filming. Looking at my peers blogs gave me a good understanding of where I should be in my filming process. My peer recommend that me and my partner should wrap it up by Wednesday. She recommended this because since we still have the editing process, finishing the filming early this week will give us time to edit and complete the ccr.

Final week(crunch time)

 This week marks our last week to work on the portfolio project and ccr. Filming wise we are behind and hopefully can wrap the filming process up early this week. This is a big priority for me because we have not started editing which is a crucial aspect. Another thing I have to focus on completing is the ccr. I plan on completing it last, ideally this weekend. There is a lot of things we have to compete by the Monday deadline, I hope to keep a positive mental space and not get stressed.

Production

 

This week we started the filming process for our opening. The first scene was shot inside a office and featured the deuteragonist the FBI agent.. In this shot his costume design is a button down and pants. His attire resembles his serious profession although in the shot the man is doing drugs. The shot type used was an over the shoulder shot. In this scene the FBI agent is seen doing cocaine off of the desk, this gives insight to his state of mind and problems with illegal substances.

CCR question

 The question I am doing is How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text? There are many ways our product engages with the audience, the main way is to present topics in our film that align with our target audience. For example our genre crime/mafia targets young-middle aged male adults. Since this is our target age we will present topics that this age group is interested in. Our film will include drugs, money, death etc., we would never present these topics if our audience was younger kids. For distribution we will be uploading to YouTube. YouTube is a great platform to reach our audience since the average users age is 25-34.

CCR Question

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

In many films there are conventions that the lower class people are unintelligent, lack hard work, and caught up in illegal activities. 

While sometimes this is truth, there are many lower class people who are much smarter than people who are more successful. In our opening we wish to challenge this convention and give the poor a image they deserve. Since crime/ mafia films take place in infested cities, it makes sense to have a lot of civilians walking in the background of the city.

 A common stereotype is that lower class people aren't well spoken or mannered. In our opening the lower class civilians will be sophisticated and intelligent. Another way we can represent the lower class in a positive way is to have them well dressed in contrast to the typical homeless looking attire we see in media.

Mood board

 This is a mood board for the protagonist of our opening. This characters is a crime boss and has a well regarded reputation. He dresses in dark neutral colors and is more introverted. He has been in the crime business and is involved in many illegal activities with drugs, money and weapons.

The deuteragonist in our film is an FBI agent. Like the protagonist he is very introverted as well as intelligent. His normal attire is a dark suit and he always has a watch. He wears glasses and investigates crime with a magnifying glass.

Final plot

 After many changes of ideas we have finalized our plot and characters. The focal point of our plot will be our protagonist who is a crime boss turning himself in because his business is overrun. The deuteragonist will be a FBI agent investigating the crime boss turning himself in. Our opening sequence will feature the FBI agent analyzing a wanted poster.

 The next scene will be the crime boss walking out in public. The camera will never show his face and the viewer will not know who he is. The crime boss will have two body guards that are with him at all times. They will be guarding the man in this scene so the viewer can interpret that he is important.

Obstacle Blog

    During this past week I went out of town and couldn't work on the project at all. This set me and partner back quite a bit. To recover from the missed time we will have to up our pace for finishing the project. Not only did I miss time to plan and film I missed the opportunity to document our progress through blogs. To recover from these setbacks I will be doing many things to get back on track. The first is to talk with my partner and formulate an efficient plan. This plan will include ways we can get back on track with filming and finalize our plot and characters. The second will be to recover from the blogs I missed, since I missed three I will have to do those in addition to next weeks blogs.

CCR preparation

  In class we just learned about the CCR and that it will be a large portion of the final grade. In order to score a good grade I will need to take pictures along my production process as well as discuss social groups. The main social group representation we aim to showcase in this opening is the poor. It is very typical for crime/mafia films to take place in a overran city filled with poverty. One of the stereotypes we wish to address is that the lower class financially lack intelligence and work ethic. We will do this by having a poor character who is very smart and helps the FBI agent.

The next aspect of the CCR I will prepare for is which type of media I will present. Currently I am thinking about doing a podcast. To make sure mine is successful I will be researching different podcasts and incorporate those aspects into my own.

Location

 In the crime/mafia film genre the setting is a key aspect of defining the film. Many movies in this genre take place in crowded cities and poverty areas. I have been scouting locations around the town. One option is town center which looks somewhat like a city and has many shops. The downside of this location is I fear it is not compact enough to appear like an infested city. The second location I have in mind is my friends office, this scenery will be where the FBI agent does detective work .  Another concept that I think would work is to film in a big city like downtown Ft Lauderdale. Since mafia films are typically in large cities this would be our best option to capture large groups of civilians. The idea we will be aiming for is similar to this.