Film Opening Project and Creative Reflection Links

 Film Opening: Film Opening

Creative Critical Reflection #1: CCR Video 1 Link

Creative Critical Reflection #2: CCR Video 2 Link

Portfolio Project - Final Thoughts

 Intro:

It felt like just last week my instructor was telling me about this big project that was a huge part of our grades. I remember thinking: "I don't have to worry about that, its due date is weeks away." 8 weeks and 30+ blog posts later, here we are. For todays blog post, one of my last few, I will be discussing my final thoughts surrounding the project. This includes what I learned, what was difficult, what I found the most fun, etc. That being said, overall, I would say I really enjoyed doing this project and using skills I would not normally use in my day to day life. I got to take pride in my work, engage in my work, and was proud with how it turned out.

Thoughts:

What I learned - Over the course of the entire project, I had become much more efficient in using both hardware and software to create the desired product I wanted. This included hard ware like camera mounts to create shots a human hand would not be able to, as well as software like Clipchamp to edit and compile my clips. I also learned how to effectively research and utilize my research in any desired field. This was important when I was learning about genre conventions and how to attract my audiences.

What was difficult - Honestly, the most difficult components of this project turned out to be time management, which was not really surprising. Posting blog posts regularly was one of the hardest things to adjust to because I usually do not document my progress on stuff like these. So that was a good skill to be exposed to, however, I do not know if I would continue blogging post project.

What I enjoyed - I enjoyed working with my peers to try and create are best looking final product since it was one of the only academic challenges available to us. The project was one of the most engaging assignments of the year that made us get hands on with all our resources and engage us in home learning. The process of filming was especially fun because it was something we never usually did.

Portfolio Project - CCR Post Production

 Intro:

After gathering my CCR footage yesterday, today would be all about compiling the footage and editing them. This was more of a simple task after we had all edited the project and learned all the skills we would need. If anything, this portion of the project was more tedious than it was challenging. When I say tedious, I just mean repetitive since it still was pretty fun. I also had lots of fun making the YouTube video since that is something I watch quite frequently. In fact, as a child, I was so convinced that becoming a YouTuber was the path for me. However, I since then strayed from this path. Anyways, the editing process of my CCR was an extremely involved task.

Post Production:

1 and 2:

When editing the footage of this CCR, I had taken inspiration from the traditional YouTube reaction video format that addressed an audience. The format was a YouTuber reading his comments. This would prove as an interesting challenge for me since I had to put on a YouTuber persona, and record long clips at a time. This was pretty easy as I only had to adress these comments like a friend to have that familiarity that subscribers expect from their favorite creators. I had used editing to display 2 comments on the screen as I was speaking to them. This was extremely fun for me to do as I once had an interest in content creation. Also, for the comments, I used photoshop and A.I. to make 2 comments that had asked the CCR questions which was a creative way to incorporate them instead of reading them.

3 and 4:

When recording the footage of my CCR, I had recorded on my Dads phone since I regularly needed to look at mine between takes to review the script. One of the biggest challenges in filming, is that I kept forgetting my lines. Even in the polished version, some words vary from the script since I could not remember every vocabulary word I used. That being said, all necessary information was still conveyed. After sending the videos to my phone, I then uploaded them to OneDrive. Once they were on OneDrive, they could be accessed by ClipChamp. By now, you must know that ClipChamp is the main software that I use to compile and edit my clips. Through ClipChamp, I put all the videos in order, then came across a problem. During some scenes, the audio was tampered with by the environment. This included: wind, birds, and rustling trees. However, I had already accounted for this and used ClipChamps noise suppression feature which cleaned it up. To do so,  I had to detach the audio from all clips, re-upload them, then tweak their settings to make sure it worked perfectly. That was definitely the most tedious part. For the portions of my piece that were on websites, I included a screen recording of the website as I voiced it over. I thought that would make it more engaging then me standing in front of the camera for those segments.

Picture of my editing viewport on ClipChamp as I edited the second CCR video.

Portfolio Project - CCR Production

 Intro:

As one of the final times I would be filming for this project, I found it rather enjoyable since I now knew what to do. It almost felt surreal since I had begun working on it 8 weeks ago. I would be breaking down questions 1 and 2 into one video, and 3 and 4 into another video. Questions 1 and 2 would take the format of a YouTube video. Questions 3 and 4 would be my directors cut as mentioned in previous blog posts. I found producing the CCR footage for 3 and 4 to be much more fun then 1 and 2. 

Production:

For the first 2 questions, the production for them was much easier then the second 2. I acted as if I was a YouTuber making a video on my production of the film. This concept aligned with the questions answered in the video, which is why I chose it instead of the directors cut like the latter two. Specifically, it question 2 had questioned the distribution means of my film, which would be YouTube on the same channel. For the production, I had sat myself down in a quiet room to film the intro of the video and answer the CCR questions. This production method was more creative than just sitting in front of the camera and was relevant to my answers, so I thought it was best.

For questions 3 and 4, this production was much more difficult and required the help of both my parents to film. I had told them exactly what to do, however. It took place at the same road featured in the first segment of my film opening. To produce this, I had my dad record me introduce my self and answer the questions. But, with this format the CCR would be boring. So to transition from question 3 to 4, I used some of my editing skills to make a fun transition that was also relevant to my film opening since there was also a car crash in there as well. The transition was my mom driving across the cameras viewpoint pretending to lose control and crash. This would be sold with the sound effects that I would be explaining in my next blog.

Picture of a scene from my CCR answering questions 3 and 4

Portfolio Project - CCR Production Ideas

 Intro: 

After a long week of research and planning, I had finally had all my CCR question responses mapped out and ready to go. Naturally, the next step is how I would be filming it. What would I be doing, where would I be, etc. In todays blog post, I will be discussing possible productions for my CCR filming. This would be simple since my instructor had taught us a lesson on what to do and what not to do. She also told us what had become repetitive and common mistakes to avoid.

Plan:

What would suit my style? It certainly would not be something like a podcast, because I do not have that type of personality. After bouncing around some ideas in my head, it finally hit me. The perfect idea for me would be one that my teacher mentioned in class: the directors cut. Traditionally, the directors cut is a version of a piece that the creator has the opportunity to directly explain their choices. This is effective in conveying exactly what the creator wanted the audience to know, and usually features scenes not seen in the actual film. These are usually released after the film it covers, which would make it perfect for my film project which would already be out.

Idea:

I decided that I will most definitely be doing 2 directors cut style videos to answer the CCR questions. I would answer the first 2 in the first video, and the remaining in the next. Your probably wondering: "What makes this not boring?" Instead of the standard talking into the camera style video that we were told to avoid, I would use the new editing and shooting techniques I developed to shoot a visually engaging CCR response. It would include the car on the same road as my actual film opening, giving me a bridge to connect it back to my film opening with. However, I would not be acting as Adam, the main character, and would be taking on the persona of an actual director.

Picture of behind the scenes filming a piece

Portfolio Project - CCR #4

 Intro:

Todays blog post would be much easier to cover since it was about what I had been working on at the time: editing. This was also the very final question of my CCR response so I knew exactly what to do. But you may be wondering, "What is the final question?" The final question of my CCR read: "How did you integrate technologies- software, hardware, and online- in this project?" Turns out the question was more layered than I thought. Nonetheless, it still did not take any research since the question was pretty simple and direct.

Script:

Question: "How did you integrate technologies- software, hardware, and online- in this project?"

Answer: "Over the course of the project, I had learned various strategies and techniques that were necessary in the development of my final creation. Not only that, but I also used tools and applications I had used previously in other school projects. This included services like Microsoft's OneDrive to be able to gather and compile clips on various devices. That was especially helpful for editing at school, and editing at home on separate devices. Another one was a website called PixaBay that my instructor provided for us. On this website, we could find thousands of copyright free sound effects that we would be allowed to use in our production. And where did we put those sounds? We used ClipChamp to create an engaging layered sound scape to keep our scenes as immersive as possible! Those are some of the many ways we integrated various different technologies in our media project."

One Drive Logo (Used for File Sharing)

The PixaBay Website

Portfolio Project - CCR #3

 Intro:

After my post surrounding CCR question number 2, this one should come as no surprise. In todays post, I will be discussing CCR question number 3, which states: "How did your production skills develop throughout this project?" This question would be much simpler than the previous since it had less aspects to cover. Meaning, question 2 literally had 2 questions in it, while question 3 had 1 brief one. As mentioned in my very first CCR blog post,  I thought this question was especially easy since I had developed in various categories over the course of the portfolio project. That being said, this question would still require elaborate thought when it came to deciding what to write about. What qualified as a production skill? What did not?

Research:

After doing some research, I learned that the skills developed through a project like this had really been divided into a few key categories. This would be my technical skills like editing, and my physical skills like actual shooting. Both of these had definitely developed during the process of shooting. In fact, during the project, I had to do ample research in both categories to create the desired product. This included browsing the web for the most efficient iPhone mount that I could use to film the car scenes, and learning how to use platforms like ClipChamp for the editing of our footage. Refer down below to see a picture of the mount I had purchased for filming. Nonetheless, these skills would transfer over later in life as valuable tools to be able to use for future projects.

Script:

Question: "How did your production skills develop throughout this project?"

Answer: "My production skills developed in two main categories over the duration of the project. In terms of the physical aspect of producing my film opening, this project had taught me many key elements about physically shooting media that I did not know before. More specifically, I had learned the importance of proper camera equipment when shooting. There are some shots that are literally not possible to film withot a mount. *Cut to scene from my piece* This shot we filmed in the car was not possible with a human hand. We could not get a shot that was visually pleasing that captured the both of us in dialogue, hence why we decided to research to get a proper mount. The mount was extremely simple to use and just stuck to the windshield of the car. On the contrary, this project had taught us how to use ClipChamp to effectively build multi layered soundscapes over our footage. This was extremely important to give our opening a layer of depth and make it seem more real and professional. *Cut to car crash scene and layered audio edits of said scene* For example, this car crash scene had seemed so dull and bland before we added sounds. The dramatic sound effects we had learned to become proficient with had really brought the whole thing together."

Example of the mount we used that can be found at: Link

Example of the car scene that was shot with the mount.

Portfolio Project - CCR #2

 Intro:

As mentioned in my CCR Preparation blog, I knew I would be making more detailed and intricate posts answering the creative critical response questions. This post will be focusing on the second question of the CCR, which states: "How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a media text?" This question had a lot to unpack since it was basically to completely different questions in one. Personally, I broke this down into the audience portion, and the distribution portion before beginning to plan my answer. That being said, I could not plan my answer with insufficient knowledge surrounding the two different questions.

Research:

Audience Engagement:

Many experts attribute the Psychological Thriller's genre conventions to be the key factor that keeps audiences at the edge of the seat. This concept is demonstrated by the very foundation that all psychological thrillers are built on: tension. Raising tension in the audience is one of the most compelling ways that audiences get engaged in what they are viewing. This is effective because it keeps viewers wanting more with every scene, every cliffhanger, and every thrill. And most credit the discrepancy between what the audience knows and what the character knows in the scene. Elaborating on this, a common example of this concept is when we the audience know that a monster is getting closer to a character that has no idea. Dare I say almost everyone can account for a moment or two similar to that.

Distribution:

When conducting my research for distribution, I had found it much easier since my instructor had provided a page of a few key terms to use when answering this question. Not only that, but my instructor also left some links for us students to get started on in our search. In reading this, I had learned that digital distribution would fit the most for my full film. This is because this method is the most easily accessible for all audiences, and the algorithms and filters would help my film reach as many people as possible.

Script:

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

Answer: "My product engages with audiences by incorporating key genre conventions throughout the entirety of the film. It does so by utilizing key concepts, like building tension, to keep viewers in constant anticipation of what will come next. A prime example of this is the driving scene before the crash in my opening. *Cut to the actual scene from the piece* This scene instantly begins by keeping audiences engaged with multiple angles of a couple fighting. The decision to keep the scene filmed through multiple different angles is a technique we were taught to add fresh perspectives and keep still scenes like dialogue interesting and engaging. It then rapidly cuts to the car crash segment, before it cuts to a black screen. This is primarily done to create a transition that can effectively cut to a different point in the story while keeping the audience on the edge of their seat, waiting to know what happens next. On the topic of distribution, my piece would be distributed as a real media text on relevant streaming services since it would be one of the most effective ways to access pre-existing audiences. This would be done via complex algorithms and genre filtering on these platforms. One of these platforms, YouTube, would be one of the easiest and most effective distribution methods since no license is required. Things like Netflix have a much more complex process to get your film featured. That being said, once our film gets traction, then we could start to look towards larger streaming services.

Sources:

Kim, Y. J., & Kim, Y. E. (2021, May 16). Why do we love psychological thrillers? Psychology Today.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/apple-a-day/202105/why-do-we-love-psychological-thrillers

Script & Shutter. (2025, March 18). The anatomy of a great thriller: How to keep audiences hooked.
https://scriptandshutter.blog/2025/03/18/the-anatomy-of-a-great-thriller-how-to-keep-audiences-hooked/

Portfolio Project - Editing Process

 Intro:

As previously mentioned in the last blog, today we filmed more of the remaining scenes. These included the room scenes, with only me in them. Although I did not find them as interesting, the room scenes were much easier to film than the car scenes, which required plenty of resources. After watching all the footage we gathered, we may decide to reshoot some scenes because they look tacky and not in the desired manner. That being said, today focused on Adam waking up 1 year later after the crash. It showed how deeply it affected him through clever shots and transition. However, this post is about editing, not the plot components of todays scene.

Editing:

Today was more of the same, we had compiled our raw footage once again, then filtered through them. After this, we imported the clips straight into ClipChamp. Today was much easier since we knew everything we must do. First, we put them into order in ClipChamp. Then we went on this sound effect database that our instructor provided to look for relevant sounds. This was extremely helpful in our editing process because we could easily add them. All we had to do was download the sounds to our computer, then drag and drop it to ClipChamp. We specifically edited the wake up scene, which was a picture of Adams eyes with a transition to the phone. Most of the editing from today was sound effects as well.

A picture of the editing process.