Creative Critical Reflections

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Final Brief

 

Production - Filming Therapist Scene

To begin our second filming session which would finalize the filming for our opening we went to a local library as its quiet environment, ease of access, and empty areas with tables would provide an ideal location to film these dialogue heavy shots and that fit into a similar aesthetic of one that a therapist office would have. 

Due to me arriving later than the time we scheduled we had a limited amount of time to record before the library closed, surprisingly I think this helped us more than it hurt us as it put us on a time crunch and kept us focused making every take more meaningful and higher quality out of fear of having to record another take and waste our limited time. 

The first shot is a technical transition between Lilly closing her car door from the previous scene to Dr. Fernandez shutting his binder. To film this angle, I had to almost lay on the table to get a close-up shot of the binder and took multiple takes because it was the first shot of the day, and we kept mistiming the shot. 

The next sequence of shots is filmed in a shot-reverse-shot format where I cut between Dr. Fernandez and Lilly as they have a conversation discussing Lilly's mental health, I filmed this shot by kneeling next to the table and shifting in between characters. This sequence is also the first part of the film opening that includes dialogue. This led to many takes where Samuel or Laila would blank on their lines and had to go back to review what they had to say. 

The shot then cuts to a 2 shot of the characters talking showing their distance from each other and providing a smoother flowing conversation. I filmed this by propping up a chair and using the 0.5x camera feature to fit both characters in frame.

Lilly is then shown to become aggravated due to Dr. Fernandez's lack of care. This is when the camera cuts to her, and I can be seen behind her as the shadow figure. I achieved this by putting on a black zip up with the hood up and a black ski mask worn backwards to not show my face. This shot was filmed by Samuel and was done in one take. 

The scene ends with Lilly standing up which was done by a point of view shot achieved by Laila holding the recording phone up to her face as she stood up. The shot then cuts to a panning shot of Lilly storming out of the shot which then pans back the other way to show Dr. Fernandez unbothered.

This part of the filming session was very successful as we efficiently got quality shots in a time crunch. The only difficulty we faced was the actors remembering their lines or staying in character. Overall, this section was successful and adequately adapted the script into visual media. 

Production - Adding Sound Effects Through editing

 After adding editing the first part of the film and adding visual effects, the next step was adding sound effects to give the product detail and depth that follows our script.

The 2 main sound effects being a continuous loud heartbeat and a piano stinger to be used as a startling sound.

To find these sound effects Samuel looked at free sound effect banks to avoid copyright. Finding the stinger was simple and did not take long, but finding a heartbeat sound that was high quality and could be looped was difficult as many of the files we found contained clicking or sounded off. In the end, we settled on a short heartbeat that would need to be edited to be used.

To edit the heartbeat I went into FL Studio a Digital Audio Workstation and imported the heartbeat sound effect where I used an equalizer to slightly boost some of the bass of the audio track to give it more impact, I also added a slight reverb to add a small amount of echo, looped the heartbeat to make a longer track that could be used for longer and sped up the audio track a bit to make it sound like a raised heartbeat.

I then went into the edited project and added the sound effects to the project making sure they fit what was on screen and that they did not leak into other scenes, while ensuring the sounds were loud enough to be clearly heard.

I placed the jump scare stinger when Lilly is woken up. This gives context and provides nondiegetic sound that relates to Lilly being startled. To do this I lined up the sound effect to the moment where she was woken up on the timeline. I also faded out the sound effect to avoid the harsh click and the end of the sound effect while also fitting the sound effect until the end of the scene to not allow the sound effect to bleed into the next scene.

The heartbeat was placed during the scene of Lilly running out of her house in a panic, I added the audio clip before the shadow figure is shown and added a long fade in to foreshadow the scene starting quiet and slowly fading into a loud heartbeat.

This process was very interesting as I saw firsthand how much the sound effects add to the film and the level of detail that can be included through sound effects. This process was relatively simple and only took a slight bit more time than expected because I took my time fading the audio and making sure they were leveled in volume.

Production - Editing First Filming Session

After a successful filming session where we were able to effectively get shots that went up to the end of the house scene, which is about half of our film, we are ready to begin editing. 

Me and Samuel took the time and combed through all the takes we filmed and picked out the best one for each shot and scene considering how they would mesh to form a cohesive film without harsh cuts. 

We then went into Adobe Premiere Pro and imported all of the clips and placed them into the sequence in order for better organization. 

I then went clip by clip and trimmed the takes to only show the acting cutting out long spaces between dialogue and manipulated audio to remove clicking or excessive background noise. 

After putting all of the clips into the timeline and trimming them to create a continuous clip, I added visual filters to shots to change the tone of the film, I based the filter off of a preset visual filter in Premiere Pro, then color corrected the filter and lowered the exposure to create a more cinematic look, as well as a more grungy, dark look that fits our genre. 

This visual filter allows us to subtly change the tone of the film and allows us to bypass limitations, specifically the time of filming which did not allow for low key lighting as the sun was making the shot too bright.

This process tested my creative and technical elements as I had to recall how to use certain features in Premiere Pro and apply them creatively like fading in shots or syncing cuts between clips to line up shots and avoid harsh jumps. I personally enjoyed this process, and I had been looking forward to editing since we began the research process. Now as a team we will watch the first part of our opening and make any revision as we prepare to film the second part. 

Production - Filming Tracking Shots

The final scene of the filming session is of Lilly being tracked through the house to the fridge where she sees the shadow figure and runs out of her house and into her car.

The first tracking shot begins with Lilly walking out of the bathroom past the camera and through the living room into the kitchen, to film this I panned as Laila walked out of the bathroom, then let her pass me so I could track her walking through the house. 

This was done in one take without a need to retake the shot, I did have to be mindful about a mirror which can be seen in the photo below to avoid being seen, this caused me to angle myself so that when I walked past it the mirror would not show me which would ruin the scene.

We then cut to her opening the fridge and used an over-the-shoulder shot and a mid-shot to show her grabbing water out of the fridge 

The shot then shows Lilly closing the fridge door and the shadow figure appearing on the other side causing her to panic 

This leads into a tracking shot of Lilly panickily running out of her which I recorded by running behind her while adding manual shakes to the camera to show a sense of panic. In this shot I also had to be mindful of the mirror again to not show myself in the frame. 

These tracking shots were more simple and manageable than we expected, also due to modern technology keep the camera steady while walking is made easier through built in stabilization features, which actually caused me problems when trying to create a shaky shot as it made have to exaggerate the amount of shake. Now I will edit the first part and receive feedback from my teammates to finish the first half while we schedule another filming session. 

Production - Filming Bathroom Scene

For the final shot of the scene Samuel put on a mask and stepped behind the shower curtain, this is the first time the shadow figure is shown and required me to get back into the same awkward filming position as the first shot, but is a great way to introduce the shadow figure in a conspicuous way.  After filming the scene of Lilly waking up, which was filmed in my bedroom we next began filming the scene where Lilly goes to the bathroom and washes her face, to avoid a long empty scene of Lilly walking to the bathroom we cut to a scene of here already washing her face, this still fits into the scripts and does not interrupt the flow or make a harsh, awkward cut.

To get this shot I had to get into an extremely uncomfortable position where I had to hug the wall while kneeling and wrap my body out of the doorframe while keeping the camera still and holding it at a slight angle to avoid my arm being in frame, luckily this shot did not take many attempts but it made me get into a very uncomfortable position, this also shows our problem solving skills as we had to improvise since he had no way of sticking the filming phone to the wall.

The next shot was filmed by Samuel as it required the phone to be held facing Laila as my arm was not long enough to hold the camera where we needed it to be as my arm kept showing in the frame.

For the final shot of the scene Samuel put on a mask and stepped behind the shower curtain, this is the first time the shadow figure is shown and required me to get back into the same awkward filming position as the first shot, but is a great way to introduce the shadow figure in an inconspicuous way.

Production - Filming First Shot

My team and I have now officially begun the production of our opening during our first filming session. We filmed all the house scenes and now will continue editing and revising the first part before moving on to a second filming session. 

The first shot of our opening is of Lilly waking up out of her sleep startled from an overhead view, to achieve this angle I had to stand on my bed to prop the camera above her face, this shot made me realize that get the angles we planned in our script I would have to think outside the box and find a way to take the shot. 

This shot took longer than expect as it was our first time actually filming and we had issues with bad timing and needed multiple takes to get a good shot.

Production - Making a Title Card

To begin the production process of our film opening we needed to make a title card with a logo for the movie. I began by looking for a font to make a movie logo that will match the theme.

Fonts:

I was looking for a font that I could combine with an image to make a professional looking movie logo that fits the genre of our film opening.

In my search I found 2 fonts that really caught my attention that looked unique and had an aesthetic that matched our opening. These 2 were "Drunken Hour", and "vtks distress" 

In the end, I chose "Drunken Hour" due to its more unique look compared to the other font which had a more simple look that would be too basic.

Imagery:

To make a logo, I wanted to have more than just text to give the logo more detail. This lead me to look for a symbol or image that relates to paranoia which is the title of our opening to give the logo some symbolism and detail.

After thinking I settled on an image of an eye, this represents being watched which is a common feeling that is caused by paranoia.

Final Card: 

I combined both elements into one logo where the text is layered on top of the eye which can be seen behind the letters which spell out "Paranoia"

This overall, was a pretty simple process which took more creative effort than actual technical skill as it is a simple logo but is crucial as it will be placed at the end of our opening and serves as our logo for our product.

Planning - Final Plan

Overview:

To finalize the planning process, I will provide a plan of the details that we will use to make our production phase go smoothly and allow us to create a quality product.

This plan compiles elements of planning and elaborates on how we will use them to begin production. This all relates as it brings previous planning we have done and finalizes visual, technical, and story elements that will be present in the film opening. This will allow us a team to make a product that fits into the genre conventions of psychological thriller and shows our technical skills through editing and understanding through the way we shoot certain scenes.

Script:

As a team we fully proofread and revised our script to a state where it is fit for filming; this script contains all the crucial information that makes up our film opening. Our goal now is to try to bring this script into visual media as closely as possible, while adding other important details in editing; however, we have accepted we may need to trim parts of the script or cut out sections due to time limitations, if needed we will discuss these necessary cuts to fit into an appropriately long opening. 

Scheduling:

My team and I participate in sports and extracurricular activities outside of school which take up most of our time during the school week, due to these limitations we plan on filming during our school scheduled spring break which runs from March 16 to March 22. 

We plan on using this time to film, edit, and revise our film, and we will keep in contact through text message to set up filming sessions as well as taking time to revise and give feedback on film elements through a group chat.

Locations:

After discussion we settled on my house being used for filming the first scenes, we will use my bedroom to film the first shot where our main character Lilly wakes up, then we will use my bathroom for the scene of her washing her face, then a tracking shot through my living to my kitchen, which then will transition to a scene of her running out of the house and getting into Samuel's car.

We will then, preferably in a separate filming session to allow time to edit the first part, will go to a local library where we will use an empty are with a desk or a table to film our therapist scene, then we will use the library parking lot to film our last scene.

Editing:

Me and Samuel will take responsibility of editing the film, adding sound effects, leveling audio, making dialogue clear, adding visual filters, creating a credits scene, and piecing together clips in a cohesive way while cutting bad takes and trimming clips to fit into a film that will be around 2 minutes.

We will utilize Adobe Premiere Pro due to its accessiblity to us through our student resources, and our previous experiences, although we will have to get more comfortable and competent using the software to ensure we can make a quality film as editing can make the difference between a detailed psychological thriller opening or a bad quality opening.

Reflection:

After finalizing the planning phase of our film opening, me and my team are excited to begin production, the whole planning process had many roadblocks that we had to face and overcome and it helped us to become better at working as a team, finding solutions to problems and also had us going back to our research to touch up on certain genre, or technical aspects. Now we will move on to our final stage of our product, which is the actual production part where we will take everything we learned from researching, and planning to create a high quality psychological thriller opening.

Planning - Filming Locations

Overview:

As we prepare for filming after creating a storyboard and script, it is now crucial that we choose locations to film our opening to save time, and those locations need to fit the vision we created through the descriptions in the script and the drawings from the storyboard to make a high quality product that has a good flow that makes sense between scenes to not cause confusion to viewers.

Discussion:

As a team, we discussed who's house we will be filming at. At first, I did not offer because I thought my teammate's houses would be better fits for filming locations, although after comparing houses for filming neither of my teammates had houses that were well suited for the types of shots we plan on filming. This discussion took longer than expected as we compared the shots from the storyboard to determine if they will be possible at each of our houses to find the best fit. In the end, my house was the best suited, especially because of the straight line from my front door to my kitchen which will make filming a panicked tracking scene less tedious. 

For the therapist scene we had to think about a place that resembled an office of sorts as we could not film in an actual therapist office, after thinking of locations we decided a library would be the best filming location due to its ease of access, quiet environment, and monotone color scheme.

Chosen Locations:

Bedroom:

Bathroom:

Kitchen:

Library:

Parking Lot:

Reflection:

This process tested our critical thinking to think of locations that are accessible to us to make sure we can film without issue, this process took us the length of a class period due to the research aspect and finding locations, like the library and making sure they are not too far from us. From here we will create a final planning blog outlining how we will begin filming and how we will schedule and organize filming to finalize planning and begin the production phase. 

Planning - Making a Script

Overview: 

After planning out shots with a storyboard, the next step to prepare for production is creating a full-length script. I took the main responsibility of writing and I had help from Samuel with ideas and proofreading. I used Microsoft Word as the software due to it being accessible to me through my student resources and my past experiences using it. I expanded upon major plot points adding small details that add perspective, emotion, and feeling to make a full story that connects major plot points.

Influence From Storyboard:

To write a script that will be efficient to our story we expanded on the shots and points we created in our storyboard. We based everything around the storyboards shot progression, although we added shots to connect plot points that were excluded in the storyboard.

Formatting:

To write a script we had to make sure we had a consistent and understandable format to separate scenes, dialogue, actions, and shot descriptions. We organized the scenes with a big subheading to clearly separate major sections of the plot, we also made sure to indicate every time a new shot in a scene appeared and describing the camera angle or visual technique being used. 

Dialogue was split up using brackets to display the character's name then, quotation marks were used to show the characters dialogue, making sure to make a new line when changing characters to distinguish between characters more clearly. Actions and scene descriptions were italicized and placed in asterisks.

Script:

Reflection:

The process of writing a script was a great experience that allowed me and my team to be creative and feel responsible for creating an original work, we can now move forward using this script as a detailed guide to create our opening this is because our script contains all aspects of a shot detailing dialogue, camera, and scenery. This process was overall very engaging, and I found it helped us become better at meshing ideas and working through adversity like disagreements or losing focus. This by far was the longest part of planning, taking about 3 hours of continuous work. Now we will make a final plan to map out what we are going to use and how we are going to organize our filming and editing. 

Planning - Storyboard

Overview:

To continue our planning phase and prepare for production, we sat down in class and created a storyboard, this was a difficult process that tested my patience, as a group we collectively got off task and it took us some time to focus, this lead to us spend an unnecessary amount of time on this step. Although we had challenges in our focus, we created a good visual to our story that has a good flow through each scene and shot that I can later expand through a full script. 

Expanding on Ideas:

Creating our storyboard requires us to use our creativity to imagine a visual to our initial idea and find specific elements and shots that we could add to show our technical skills and knowledge of visual techniques. We used this process throughout the storyboarding phase to revise shots that were "too simple" and replaced them with more technical shots that would better fit the genre and themes. 

This process lead us to take the initial plot points we brainstormed together and expand upon them to create a more congruent story that made sense from scene to scene, through this process we additionally removed inconsistencies in the story or reworked shots that would be impossible to film with our skill level and equipment. 

Storyboard:

Reflection:

Through this process we tested our focus, creativity, and had many challenges, a big one being our drawing skills. It was hard at times to portray a shot in a visual format due to our lack of drawing skills. This led to weird angles that will later have to be clarified and adjusted when production begins. Although we faced adversity during this process, we were able to create a viable storyboard that works as an effective outline to later be filled in by the full script.

 Next, my team and I will create a full-length script describing camera shots, including dialogue, stage directions to be acted out, and annotations for editing. 

Planning - Production Companies & Credits

Overview:

To continue planning for the visual aspects of our film opening me and my team have started to create made up production companies and assign roles to plan out a way to display an opening that has realistic conventions such as, the production companies, distribution company, and film maker credits like producers, director, editing, and cinematography. Additionally, we thought of a sequence that fits with our opening to display all credits as the scenes play without causing a big interruption to the film's opening.

Credits:

Me and my team wanted to assign credits that actually corresponded with our parts in the production, this made sense to use as it gave the production process more meaning and made it more realistic although we still plan to help each other through every step of the production, we assigned roles to promote responsibility. We chose these credits based on our individual skillsets based on previous experiences with equipment, software, or other aspect. This was done relatively quickly and with minor discussion.

Companies:

To create a production company, we thought of many methods. This was a bit of a tedious process which took some collaboration, a lot of creativity, and patience. We began with looking at companies that produce psychological thrillers for inspiration, we looked at Blinding Edge Pictures, and Blumhouse Productions as examples for productions company in the genre which called for a more dark name and logo scheme, we also created one that was unrelated to the genre. We created 3 companies named Black Web Distribution, S.J. Productions, and 3 Musketeers Studios. The first 2 have a dark aesthetic to fit the film conventions while the third one was just an idea we had because there are 3 of us. S.J is my initials, so we made that one of the companies, and Black Web was created on the spot to fit the aesthetic. 

Plan:

To fit the credits and production companies into the film we thought of typical film conventions and will began the film opening with a black screen that will flash all of the production logos one by one to give each company its own emphasis. As the beginning sequence plays we will have the credits fade in and out in the bottom corners to provide the credits in a way that does not obstruct the shots.

Reflection:

Through this process me and my team were able to use our creativity as well as our technical skills through apps like Adobe InDesign to create companies and logos to add to the beginning of our film opening to add a sense of realism and understanding, this was a bit of a complicated task as we had to all agree on creative elements and compromise to find a design all of us agreed on. From here a storyboard will be made and from there a script which will lead us to mapping out film locations and props to finish out our planning to begin the production stage.