Final Portfolio Project: Step By Step

Click the link below to watch my Aice Media Studies AS film opening: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pDntRnEdaMU4RrT0csiQu7jy7NLLeC4Q/view?usp=sharing

Enjoy the show!

Creative Critical Reflection

Click this link to watch my Creative Critical Reflection !

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iyKzHDx2HHW3PPePCUFmbkkaiNCW5UTj/view?usp=sharing

Enjoy!

Bitter Sweet Goodbye

It is bitter sweet to say that it is my final blog post. These past 7 weeks have been extremely stressful and full of new lessons. I learned alot about how important it is to have good time management skills. We are glad that the beginning of the 7 weeks we decided to make a set schedule to tackle each task in a timely fashion. This allowed us not to feel overwhelmed and to have time at the end to workout the monir details which took our projects quality to the next level. I was able to further develop my editing skills since i was able to work with the new iMovie software on my MacBook Pro. 

Throughout our project there was one major turning point which stuck out to me. Our first time filming, we thought we had everything perfect. However when we edited together the footage, we realized that what we had was a big fat mess. We didn’t pay close attention to the detail of each shot, which was a huge mistake because a vital part of the conversation was not usable. I also realized that our script needed some work because the conversation felt unnatural and just awkward. Through this mistake we learned a lot, which overall made our project better. We were able to be more focused on detail and came up with new clips to make our storyline make more sense.

Overall, this experience has been rewarding. I am so lucky to have been able to work with such flexible and professional actors. They went above and beyond to bring Sofia and I’s vision to life. I am also so grateful to have worked with Sofi as my partner. She was so dedicated and gave such a unique creative perspective to our project. 

I loved every minute of this project and I am sad to say goodby. Thank you guys for staying tuned!

Foley, Foley, Foley

Throughout the process of editing, Sofi and I have noticed that most of the sounds we need are in the natural environment of our shots. Lucky for us most of these sounds were caught in our shots. Though, after watching the edited 2 minute film, we have found that some sound effects are not as prominent as we need them to be. So, we decided to create foleys for them so we can manipulate and control the volume of that specific sound. 

To record foley's it is important that the environment you are filming in is quiet, so no background noise is picked up. We chose to create the foleys in my bathroom. This bathroom has no windows which helps with avoiding background noise. We chose to keep the lights off in the bathroom while filming because the light in my bathroom is accompanied by a loud humming noise of the vent. We chose to record the sound with the IPhone’s voice record feature. This would make it easy to up load the sound because I can just air drop it onto my MacBook Pro. 

One sound we chose to do was the pen scratching through a paper. This is seen quite a lot in the beginning of the film to symbolize the kidnapper following Veronicas schedule. This action is seen often in the story line so it is important to emphasize the sound with this foley.

Another Sound we chose to do was Sofi’s Angry crumbling the notebook. The sound should be louder top represent the anger she feels.

We have to take another look to see which foley’s we are missing but overall we are on track for the final week of the project! Stay tuned!

Music Overdose

I never thought I would say this but…. I have listen to TOO MUCH MUSIC!! Today I have spent my day listening to dozens of sounds trying to find the ones that match with the film. My goal with the background music is for assist the actual film in building up emotion. In this film we cover several different emotions, including anxiety provoking, fear, and creeped. These are a lot of emotions to find a song that compliments the situation perfectly. What makes the job more challenging is that we must use royalty free music. Luckily there are two websites that have assisted me in finding my perfect tunes. 

For starters, the first website I used was Youtube's royalty free music library, called “Music For Creators.” This music library has an a location to look at all their sounds listed by playlist. The labeling of the playlist made it easy to sort through the sounds as I focused on the sound types that pertain to my story line. For instance, in “sorted by mood” I knew not to look at happy or inspirational because those are not moods in my film. However, one down fall of the website is that a lot of the sounds are electro/ techno which is not the sound that I envisioned for my film.

Since the first source didn't cut it for me, I decided to check out “Purple Planet.” This website was my jackpot. The website classifies their sounds by moods which makes the sound hunt 100 times easier. On this website I decided to stay with in: Emotional, Creepy, and Tense. These are moods that are prominent in my film, so finding a list of sounds full of these moods was truly awesome.

Since I listened to so many sounds, To keep track of which sounds I wanted to use, I kept a list on my phone. For the purple planet website, I wrote down the name of the sound and then which part of the film I would want to use it in.

For the Youtube music library, I chose to just simply email them to myself with the scene i would use them in the Subject line.

Overall, I am very excited about the sounds I have found and cannot wait to put them together. Stay tuned!

The Title Search

Now that my partner and I have the overcame creating the storyline and bringing it to life, so now the time has come to create a title for out film. I decided to do some research on my genre conventions once again, except this time in regards to titles. 

The first thing I noticed when conducting my research is that the titles for Crime thrillers usually are made up of only one to two words. It is usually very simple and straightforward names. The titles usually describe what the movie will end up being about. For instance, movies such as the movies Taken and Kidnap. 

These findings have lead my partner and I to steer our title choices to one to two words. We took into account what our film was about. The main points are that the kidnapper is watching Veronicas every move. So that's where we came up with the name Obsession, because the kidnapper is obsessed with Veronica and her life. Another name that we came up with was “Step by step.” We believe this would be a good title because the Kidnapper follows veronicas day step by step meticulously. Also this title could be relevant to the story because it goes with the mom's journey as she goes step by step to find her daughter.

There is a lot to think about, we are still unsure about the title names. We got to reflect a little and the title will find its way to us… Stay tuned!

Editing

Yesterday Sofi and I got together and edited the footage together that we filmed on Sunday. At first it felt a bit overwhelming because we had about 72 clips to choose from. However we took it one step a time. We set up our shots list right next to my computer and we started of with the first location. As we combed through the shots we looked at 3 things to distinguish what shots were better than the other. The first thing was how natural was the line delivery from the characters. Second, we looked at the quality of the lighting and colors of the shot. Lastly, we listened for which clip had the best sound quality. 

As we put the film together we came across some challenges. For instance, the speed of a scene. In the school scene, there is a shot of a car backing out and driving away. This shot was way to slow, as the car’s driver did it that way to ensure we got the proper shot. However, while I was editing I found a cool editing technique which allows for the shot to be sped up and slowed down.

Another trouble that we went through was the differentiation in the lighting of the shots side by side. This made the film seem unprofessional, and that is not the vibe that we are going for. During our editing journey we found a setting called color match, which allows the editor to edit the shot to have the same colors as another shot.

Our last challenge that we have yet to overcome is that our film is over by 20 seconds. We have to figure out which scenes are not essential to our story line which is going to be really hard. 

After we were done editing we made a to do list. includes : adding titles, music, and making the foleys necessary. That is what the rest of my week will be consumed of. Stay tuned!

Lights, Camera, Action ( Part 2)

Today has been a productive day! Sofi and I have conquered 3 out of 4 of our filming locations! We are so excited with how our new additions to our storyline are developing.

To begin with, our first filming location was originally supposed to be the library because we believe the school would be closed during spring break. However, i did not want to settle for this, so I went to investigate and it turns out that the teacher parking lot was in fact open. This location was perfect for filming because it had the perfect distance from the school to the parking space.

Our second location was one again the “ fitness spot “ and the woods. We decided to redo these scenes because the previous conversation in the fitness spot was really awkward and did not flow as good as the second one we wrote.

One bad thing about the woods, is that every bug and their mother decided to show up and attack us… let’s just say that the experience was unpleasant, and that I have about 15 different bug bites on my face and legs. We for-sure filmed that scene the quickest to get out of the bug infested forest.

Our last filming location today was my closet. My closet was transformed to the kidnappers hiding place for the kidnapped. This is where Vernie woke up and realizes she has been kidnapped. This follows to her losing her mind trying to escape. This was definitely one of my favorite scenes, vernie did a great and convincing job, in playing this role. 

We have one more location to film at, savannah commons. This scene will be of sofias mom putting up the missing person flyer. We are looking forward to be done filming so we can move on to editing and adding music. We are finally getting to the fun stuff...Stay tuned!

The Ultimate Makeover

Our make up skills were tested today when vernie gave us the bad news, that she could not find her fake blood. So, I went straight to my makeup box and gathered all the makeup that I wouldn't miss. From there I tried to think what colors are in a bruise: black, purple, green, and blue… depending on the stage. When I looked at the pallets, I found blue and black eyeshadow. Since the bruises/ cuts were supposed to look fresh, we decided to throw some melted red lipstick.

We cut a piece of the lip stick and microwaved it for 3 min. The consistency wasn't where we wanted it, but we had to make due. We began by applying a streak of the red lipstick on the skin, and then we blended it in with the blue and the black eye shadow, with a blush brush.

We decided to scatter the “ bruises” all around vernie body, making sure that the one on her head would stand out because that is where she got hit with the stick.

To give the effect that Vernie’s character was dragged through the woods after being knocked out. We decided to use coffee grounds as our fake dirt. We rubbed it all over her face, knees, and fingernails.

Lastly, to finish off the dishevelled look we were looking for, we cut up the dress, and rubbed some coffee grounds on it. INstead of her hair being pinned back the pin is lost and her hair is messy and frizzy. Lastly, she is no longer wearing glasses when she is trapped, they were lost in the commotion.

Before

After

This look made sofi and I think on our feet to execute what we were looking for. I am very happy on how this look came out. Stay tuned to see how the make up came together with our scene!

Preparing for filming

Hopefully second time's the charm… Tomorrow is filming day round 2, and I am excited to get it right this time. Vernie, Sofi, Alejandro and I have all agreed to begin shooting at 1pm and are hoping to get all filming done tomorrow. We have 4 locations to shoot at, so we have to use our time wisely and work hard. 

Today I have been finishing up some final details which are essential to our films. I have just finished making our missing person flyer. At first I attempted to create it on Canva, but it looked to pretty compared to the examples I found online.

I then tired to create my own by free hand on google docs , but they were not looking the way I envisioned the flyer. So, I finally had the bright idea of searching for a legitimate missing persons template for the flyer.

I was able to find this template on http://www.pollyklaas.org/yourchild/flyer_templates.html . 

This was the final product:

Lastly, with the help of my awesome boyfriend, I was able to clear out my closet. The walk in closet is one of the locations for shooting. So to save time, it was vital to do this the day before shooting. The closet serves at the place where the kidnapper hides the kidnapped. Since it is narrow it gives a sense of being trapped. After clearing out my closet I was able to set up the closet to actually look like a kidnappers hiding place. 

This is what the closet looked like before: 

If you want to see what the kidnappers hiding place looks like...Stay tuned for my following post!

Scratch that!

Hey guys, how's your spring break going ? Mine is not too hot, last night I had my one and only night out for the break because guess what… I got my wisdom teeth extracted today. So, I am basically restricted to bedrest and gross mushy food… WooHoo! Wild spring break am I right? One good thing does come out of this annoyingly timed procedure… I am able to blog more !

So a couple post ago I told you guys about how in the group meeting the students suggested to sofi that we get rid of the conversation. We decided to heed their advice...somewhat. Unfortunately, we basically have to start over. The conversation in our first attempt is awkward, and doesnt show what we are trying to get across. After a conversation with our teacher, Sofi and I decided to modify our original plan.

To begin with we are adding a location, Cypress Bay High School. We are using this location to develop the kidnappers character. It will give the backstory on why the kidnapper began to have an obsession with our lead girl, and what made her snap. This will make the story make more sense because, the audience will better understand the kidnapper.

Another change we made was the conversation between the kidnapper and kidnapped. The last conversation was a bit unnatural. The Conversation was just odd, and not enough to make someone uncomfortable. So, Sofi and I decided to modify the script. Now the conversation is relevant to the kidnappers background and is clearly a creepy uncomfortable situation. The script will clearly show that the kidnapper had been watching the kidnapped for at least a couple months.

Luckly, the rest of the locations and the planning that went to those locations can stay the same. It's a bummer that we have to start6 all over, since there only a couple clips that we can use from our first shooting, but better sooner than later! We are set with Vernie to go to film this Sunday. Wish us luck! Signing off poofy and in pain… Stay tuned!

Sofi’s Report

Since I was away in Orlando this weekend I unfortunately missed the enlightenment part 2. If you remember from my previous post, the enlightenment occurred during the randomized group meetings in class. These meetings are very helpful because they give you a fresh pair of eyes to help critique and bettering our project. I love these days because I learn so much and get many ideas, which is exciting because I want the project to be the best it can be. 

However, luckily my partner Sofia was there to present for the both of us. Sofia reposted back a lot of good feedback. One of the members of the group suggested that we get rid of the conversation part of the film opening because they said it seemed a bit awkward. They also noticed that we are a bit close on time as we still have 2 more locations to film at. They suggested to make the chasing/ attack more of a flashback after she wakes up in the kidnapper room. 

Sofia and I are going to talk about it in person. In person it will be easier to diss kid the pros and cons because it can get miscommunicated over text. As far as we know, we are are definitely considering their critiques… Stay tuned to see what we do with our film opening !

Props to the Disney parks

The past two days I have been on the run ! Yesterday I went to both Epcot and Hollywood Studios. Today, I went to Animal Kingdom. All the parks have their own thing: Epcot is all about countries, Hollywood Studios focuses on movies and Animal kingdom is obviously focused on animals. However, what they have in common is their use of props to make the the storyline and setting more believable. So I got to thinking, what props do we need to bring our storyline to the next level. 

For the scene where vernie finds himself trapped in a room by the kidnapper there are several props to include. For instance, a makeshift cot bed. I was thinking of taking two couch cushions and putting some old sheets over it. The makeshift couch would resemble other types of beds we have seen in movies. It shows that there is a level of disregard for their life and comfort. The next prop is a dirty old bucket...to make believe “delicate.” A bucket is dehumanizing, which is part of the psychological torture. We also would like to include an mirror to shoot a cool scene where she realizes what happen by looking at the cuts on her face.

For the mom scene, one prop that we need is a missing person flyer. This flyer is essential to the storyline. The flyer will have vernies face in it and will make it more believable. Lastly, the character will need a stapler to be able to put the flyer up.

So far these are the props we have left to find. A lot of these can be fun in our homes., however we were thinking of going to Goodwill to shop for anything else necessary. We may add more to the list as the ideas continue to flow to better our project… Stay tuned!

Ariana MUA + Hair!

When designing the hair and makeup for each character, we wanted to make sure it represented what each character stood for. We carefully thought about what the characters situation was and what each characters personality indicated. 

For the victim, during the park scene we decided to film her with her hair in a headband and loose. This style shows a clean cut girl, with still having a feminine flare. For the make up in this scene we used a light natural look. We only put powder, light pink blush, mascara, pink lip gloss. We wanted the make up to be simple due to the location, the park. At the park one doesn't wear much makeup because one is outdoors and could sweat it off. For the Scene after when she wakes up in the holding room, the same style makeup will be shown, except it will be smeared. There may be some special effects makeup to add bruises and cuts. The Hair will be the same with the exception that it will be frizzy and disheveled to show that she has endured a lot in the woods. 

For the kidnapper, we chose to do the hair in a sporty way. We did a half up half down bun. This gives the athletic look we were going for to fit the location and costume, while still showing the audience that its a girl. We want to to stress that the kidnapper is a girl. For the Kidnappers makeup, all we used was powder and mascara because we have to make it seem that she came with the intention of working out. When you work out you would just sweat off the excessive makeup. 

Lastly, for the mother we chose to make her look like a mess in regards to her hair and makeup. For her hair, we want to put it in a messy bun, with hairs falling out of it. For the make up we have decided to make her look like she has been crying and getting no sleep. The makeup will include, mascara residue under the eye, dark circles, and pale skin. We chose to make her look this way to go with the story line, as she has just lost her daughter and has no motivation to dress up. 

We have really thought about each one of our characters personalities and hope it shines through in the real life filming, but I guess we will see… Stay tuned!

Productivity at its finest

Helloooo! I am coming to you live from Orlando Florida! On the 3 hour drive to this lovely town I decided to change it up a little bit. Instead of the usual sleeping through the ride, I was PRODUCTIVE… round of applause please! During the ride I took the liberty to begin editing the footage for the first location of our film opening.

Through this we can see how much time we have left to execute the rest of our film opening. Currently we are at 1 minute and 15 seconds. This also helped us find mistakes in the shooting. We noticed a tiny detail that makes all the difference.

 

In the scene of the conversation, in one shot we see that Sofi’s character’s arm is put down on the bench. 

On the next shot, the arm is put up, which needs to be fixed. Now we know we have to reshoot this part of the scene.

Now that we have this part edited, our next step is to find the sounds which are needed to with in that part. We have to figure out which foley's are needed to assist the storyline, to make it the most realistic and believable. We also have to decide which music to use for the scene to develop suspense. We are thinking of using Killer Tracks and purple planet. Until next time, stay tuned!

Lights, Camera, Action (part 1)

Our first day of filming went fantastic! We found the most perfect spot of the park called the “fitness zone.” This part of the park has exercise machines and benches, but the best part is that it is located right next to the forest I wanted to film at. Through our amazing find, we had to improvise and change our story line a bit. At first we wanted to begin our film opening in a car. However, the car idea would be difficult to lead into the forest, which is vital to our entire story line. So we changed the initial location to the the “fitness zone.” We used the exercise machines to our advantage.

We also had to make a few changes to the script since they followed the original story line. Look at the picture underneath for new script:

The distance between the “ fitness zone” and the forest was on point. It made complete sense why she would run into the woods from where she was originally sitting, which was one of my biggest struggles. The woods were perfect only a little bit of light shining through, making the location look mysterious. There were a lot of low branches which allowed us to take cool shots behind their leaves. The only bad part about the forest was all the spider webs and creaking sounds all around us...I swear I felt like something was gonna jump out and attack me. I really don't know how I used to enjoy to spend time in there as a child.

Overall it has been a successful day of shooting. Working with Vernie and Sofi has been super easy and fun. Vernie and Sofi had great ideas which bettered our project. One filming location down, two to go. Stay tuned!

Call me ranch cause I’m dressing (the actresses)

Each character has a specific look in Sofi and I’s mind. It is important that the clothing suits the what the character stands for and who they are. Through the use of color in our costumes we have been able display the characteristics, subtly. 

For the victims character, we have chosen to dress her in colors such as white, pink, yellow and some red. We chose white to show the innocence and purity of the girl. Pink was chosen because we wanted to show the characters femininity. Yellow is symbolic for happiness, so this color will be used during the happy period of her life being filmed. Lastly the color red to symbolize desire as the kidnapper desires her. The character will be seen wearing very closet girly clothes such as dresses and flowy shirts. 

For the kidnapper, we have chosen to design the colors of the clothe to be dark. The color black will be prominent in the costume design for this character. Black is symbolic for power, mystery, and fear. Which is what we want the character to stand for. The character will be seen wearing exercise clothing. This type of clothing was chosen to adhere with the story line of the kidnapper “jogging” through the park. 

Lastly, for the mother we have chosen to use the hues of the color dark blue. The color dark blue is symbolic for sadness. The reason for this color is to express her feelings towards losing her daughter. The blue hues will be paired with semi loose and “ lounge wear” type clothe as the mothers depression, will be reflected on her lack of care for her appearance. 

Actresses found...check, location… check, costumes done...check. Filming… stay tuned !

On the hunt... for a location

When Sofia and I created our shots list we decided that we would shoot at three different locations.

For the first part of the film opening, we envisioned it in a secluded woodsy park. As we wanted the chase to lead into a forest. So we sat down and brainstormed what location nearby had the look we were going for. I then remembered when I was in middle school during my summers I used to go to summer camp. This camp was located our very own Markham park ! During my time at summer camp we used to go on “ nature hikes.” The forest that we went on the hikes is a PERFECT match to our vision. The forest has moss on the floor and the trees are lush. The trees are so tall that the sun barely reaches into the forest, which gives a mysterious vibe.

The next location has been troublesome to find. On my previous posts I have spoken about my original vision for the “kidnappers hiding place.” At first I wanted an all white room, then I considered using a walk in freezer. However, the walk-in freezer is a no go. My boss said no to filming in the fridge, what a party pooper!! So Sofi and I played with a two ideas, one was to film in her garage and make it seem as if she were actually trapped in a confined space. However, we have made the decision to film the kidnapper hiding place in my closet. This closet is the length of my stairs so the closet is narrow and long, it will give the illusion of being trapped.

The last location where we are filming is in the savannah commons. This location is going to be for the the part that focuses on the mother. We chose the savannah commons because they have a bulletin board which is perfect for the scene we are planning. Also it is in the same neighborhood as where Caroline lives, which will make it easier to film with her. 

Little by little we are getting closer to reaching our goal of filming by Sunday. Stay tuned! 

Calling all actresses!

A stress has been take off our chest… we have found our actresses ! This has been a mission, as there were specific characteristics we wanted out actresses to have. We also had to assure that the people playing these roles could convincingly convey the part. However, after two weeks of our mission we have cast the best women possible for the role.

Our first concern was to cast a teenage girl that had acting experience for the role of the Victim. This victim would have to convincingly be able to show deathly fear and play off being injured in a realistic way. We decided to go with Vernie Rikes. Vernie has been acting since middle school. She has played the lead in several of her Falcon Cove Middle School and American Heritage High School plays. We are very excited to work with an experienced actress, and are very confident that she will be able to bring our ideas to life!

Next part to cast was the kidnapper. We wanted the kidnapper to be a girl to break the stereotype of the typical male. We chose to use our very own Sofia Chifari to be our actress for this part. It was important that the actress playing this role was slightly taller than Vernie, to give a stronger sense of intimidation. Sofia and Vernie have been friends since middle school, so they have established chemistry already. This chemistry will allow the subjects to be comfortable and give their best performance.

Lastly, for the role of the Mother we have chosen to use Sofia’s mom Caroline. For the mother role we wanted to get a real 40 year old as a teenager playing a mom would seem unprofessional. We want our film to be they’re most realistic possible. Also, Sofia’s mom has a more open schedule which will be easier when trying to make a shooting schedule.

Now that we have our actresses set, we are officially on track to begin filming on Sunday ! We are so excited… stay tuned !