Portfolio project reflection

 Today I completed the portfolio project. These weeks have gone fast and I have learned so much. Throughout this process I have learned editing skills, acting techniques, and overall media creation. This project also gave me a taste of what a long assignment is like. I am glad to have done this because I will be prepared for a longer assignment when I am working. I am proud of me and my partners work, but we could have improved on a couple things. The main thing I wish we had done better was our timing. Although we finished on time I wish we had saved more time to edit and make any finishing touches. Overall this was a very new experience to me and gave me a new understanding and perspective of media creation.

Creative Critical reflection

 CCR questions 1 and 2

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G80RtKUw5Bha0x3bXuKD5LMDOMNn7ecA/view?usp=sharing

 questions 3 and 4

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ltHsTJ1ecnD8RtH0ekDEr6IMRuDKEak4/view?usp=sharing

Film Opening

 https://youtu.be/SqlDxKsG37w

Music and sounds used

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDEm5iFI9vk&ab_channel=PowerMusicFactory

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQiQeORd99A&list=PLqi51aibKx1nMNq2p5AERwkrHc4-hbucj&index=57&ab_channel=PowerMusicFactory

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0ipudj871c&ab_channel=Beats

Editing complete

 As the final due date approaches me and my partner have been working hard. I just finished the editing process and am proud to say our opening is complete. All that I have left to do is complete my two CCR videos. Below is an image of our completed video in premier pro.

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.

Color Pallet

 Cool neutral colors are typically featured in crime and mafia films. These colors set the mood for the audience. Neutral colors are typically used in these films because they are darker toned movies and usually do not feature any lighthearted moments or characters. Crime films are centered around murder and illegal motives so having bright colors would not fit the genre. Our films color pallet will be similar to the picture below.

Most of our characters will be wearing black suits as it is common for FBI agents. It is tradition for mafia members to dress very nice as they are very sophisticated and are upholding a image. A film that represents our color pallet well is the Godfather. Most of the characters in this film are dressed in suits and ties and give of the image of crime and wealth. The dark red resembles the blood and murder associated with films in this genre. Towards the end of our opening the mafia member is being interrogated which will feature blood.

Setting the tone

     Filming is starting soon, so I have started researching camera shot and angle techniques. In the website https://filmlifestyle.com/what-are-opening-shots/ I learned a variety of ways I can use different techniques to elevate the opening. The first technique I learned is an opening sequence. This is a short scene that introduces the general plot to the audience and typically features large text. 

    Next shot I researched was the effect of the opening shot. The opening shot defines what is to come during the film. Having a iconic opening shot is a good way to hook the viewers as well as foreshadow. In this video https://youtu.be/ACN3dw-ywAU I learned how the establishing shot in an opening can define the tone. In the Transformers dark of the moon by Michael Bay, we see a distance shot of a space shuttle. The camera quickly zooms paired with the action themed music setting the epic tone.

 In my opening I plan to incorporate this tactic of setting the tone by implementing mysteries and crime music. We will use this music because the plot of our movie is a FBI agent attempting to catch a mysteries gangster.

Storyboard

  This is a picture of our story board which will guide us when filming.

Our opening will begin with a wanted poster as shown in the story board. A FBI agent will inspect the poster and explain who he wishes to catch. The next scene features the protagonist walking to the beach. Then we will see a scene of the FBI agent discussing how dangerous the wanted man is. The end of our storyboard features the title, then ends with the FBI agent pinning down the wanted man.

Peer meeting

      Meeting with other students and hearing their feedback helped me a lot with my story and planning process. Some of the advice I heard was instead of planning to film week by week, finalize my storyboard and film everything in one weekend. I learned this would be more efficient in contrast to week by week filming because my ideas might change. Compared to filming all at once, my ideas will have been deeply throughout.

    Another thing I learned is to define my color pallet and mood for the film. One of my peers had a blog dedicated to her color pallet which gave inspiration to one I can create.

    

    Another thing I learned from my time with the groups is how I can covey certain themes through my characters. Before I wasn't really thinking what the characters in my story are going to represent. Now I am beginning to brainstorm deeper themes each character will convey.

    Here is a picture of my group.