Post about post-production of CCRs

 Besides the script, i believe i put enough attention into other parts of the CCR. Like, lighting, camera angle, and camera shot. I chose to go with mid shot because the CCR is about our reflection on the product so showing too much of the background could be distracting. Any closer would have been too much. I would also want myself to be in the middle of the frame, so the focus is on me.

final reflection on project

 I felt my choices were the right way to go. Mostly because I felt lighting deserved a bigger priority than distractions in the background. Overall, I'm satisfied with how the CCR turned out. I reached a benchmark in video lengh that I had for myself and i feel that I went into more detail than usual

CCR production

 I planned to make each last a good amount of time and tried to detail my thought progress as much as possible. As you may have seen, I don't gap into detail often or add extra words, I go straight to the point. So this time i put extra effort in breaking down my thought process and adding as much detail as possible.

I also thought back to when we were advised to not have anything in the background. I chose to partially ignore this advice because that spot had the best lighting and i could cover enough that it would not be distracting

Film opening

CCR

Group meeting 2

 One group is doing a film opening about a person that is bad at basketball, while his brother is known really well.

Another group's film opening is about a girl with suicidal thoughts.

The other group's film opening is about a title where a couple fights and what happens after.

At this point in time, we did not have a title. So, the group suggested titles like The Maze and Game Over.

I think we may do something similar, in terms of title length.

Research/script for question 4 of CCR

How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

To film we used my phone (an iPhone 13), my partner's phone, and my partner's tripod. With my phone we got videos that were cut from the final product. After my phone died, we switched to my partner's phone. With his phone we took long shots, mid shots, close shots, and POV shots (they are not in the final product). The tripod we used for scenes like running to keep a steady camera.

To edit, we used Premiere Pro because we had the most experience with it. We used multiple sites/apps like Canva for the title

Research/script for question 3 of CCR

• How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

Producing:

We had to experiment with various types of shots during our takes. Some of the shots we did were long shots, medium shots, close shots. These are shots that are included in our film opening. Besides the ones we used, we also used POV shot, but we cut them because they did not help the storyline any better than the other shots.

Cutting:

Next. we moved onto cutting. The first step we took was review it multiple times and note down what we thought should be cut. After enough review we cut the parts that were unnecessarily too long or added nothing to the storyline. Then, if we had to, we rearranged the videos to make the storyline better.

Sound:

Previously mentioned, we had to get the timing of the phone notifications right to have a sense of urgency and importance while not overdoing it. Besides this, all other sound included was natural. This was done to make it clear that the setting besides the house and garage had no impact within the film.

Research/script for question 2 of CCR

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

 Our film opening would typically be appealing to people 20 years old or younger. This is because the iPhone was widely used by 2007. So, people born around that time or later on would be more likely to be addicted to their phones. Beyond that, it could appeal to people or parents that are interested in films of this variety, having to do with breach of privacy and what happens later.

The product could be distributed through popular sites for watching videos like YouTube, clips could be shared through social media apps like TikTok. As we are students, we could share it in local activities where we can share our product or in school activities like film festivals.

Research/script for question 1 of CCR

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

Use of challenge conventions

Our film opening has various uses of the conventions of a psychological thriller. The first use is when we show a sort of obsession around a phone that does not belong to the person. We strived to show that even though they know they are curious about something completely unrelated to them, they must have it. The second use is when we had to use the phone notifications to show that something important is going on, and it is important enough that the phone is endlessly getting pinged by notifications. Clearly, something important is happening to the person. This is later used to show a breach in privacy by someone, a neighbor, walking by. Our film opening also ends in a cliff hanger, with the protagonist and antagonist looking at each other after the antagonist did something they should not have.

It mostly represents people 20 years or younger. The age where people are most likely to be addicted to their phones. It represents issues like breach of privacy and digital privacy.

Editing (sound)

Sound was a small but important part in editing our film opening. We mostly used natural sounds except for when we had to create the sound of a phone notification. We used the phone notification sound to show two things. One, there is something important happening in the character's life. Important enough that the person gets notifications one after another. Two, People uninvolved in the situation may become curious and disturb someone's right to privacy.

Timing is very important in the scenes with the notifications. This is why we had to include one scene that introduces the idea that something of great importance is happening. Then, we had two more scenes to show the number of notifications the person is receiving and that this noise will attract curiosity. The audio of the notifications had to be spread out well enough that it was clear something was happening while lasting long enough to fill out the whole scene. We could not overdo it with the audio or else it would become redundant.

Editing

We started with putting all our raw footage. This was all the videos we had put into Premiere Pro; it was retakes, takes from different angles, and deciding what to cut. Originally, it was around 3 or so minutes, so we had a good amount to cut. After looking over the entirety of the footage various time, we wrote down what to cut before cutting anything. We also chose the takes with the best quality overall.

Overall, deciding what to cut led to one thing. The storytelling between each video. We wanted continuity and making the concept of the film opening as clear as possible. 

 

Film (sound)

        We could use different sounds to enhance the project. We could gasp; we could move in a way that shows being scared. Like someone is sitting in a chair and they move rapidly to one side, putting their weight on one side and the sound of the chair leg after they sit back normally could show surprise. 

        Another thing we could is to wordlessly mutter in a way to signify the attacker is crazy or unhinged. We could switch between scenes quickly to show emotion with the help of sound. Like switching between a person running and looking back, with the audio being the sound of running and taking quick breaths

Foley (film)

 We recorded the crunch of grass from footsteps, although on second thought, we may not end up using it. We may not use it because our equipment is not great at capturing the quality of audio we need when we filmed the scene of the character running away from the attacker. The way we did it was to run on the grass, then grab a chunk of grass and squeeze it

Day 2 (filming)

    We were supposed to film this week, but some issues came up. Namely, having to deal with tests, classes, and studying. Another obstacle is that our film opening had stalker scenes, which we were advised against doing. To deal with school and tests, we will just have to film another day. To fix the stalker scenes we can just switch it to attack scenes. I think using a shot of me falling after being attacked followed by a shot of my partner clearly showing that he was the attacker would be best. Basically, a counter shot.

    By the end of the school week, we should be done with filming. By the end of the weekend, we should be done with editing. Hopefully no more obstacles occur so that we can finish.

Day 1(Film)

 So, we wanted to copy the general mood that is shown in The Neighbor. We would want to pick a big building that would look imposing, and we could show this even more at certain angles. I felt it would be better to film at night, but our equipment was not up to the task. With a hopeful heart and phones at the ready, we set out to film.

We start to film- my "skillful" acting in full display. It's a little awkward, since I had no specific spots to look at. Just general directions. So, in close shots it may not appear the best it could be. We will have to do a lot of editing as the sun can be seen in the videos.

Shot list

     What we have so far in terms of the film opening is the following:

1) We are seen playing Hello Neighbor

2) We are transported into the game

3) We take a few seconds to reorient ourselves to the new setting

4) We walk around for some time

5) We start to hear noises that appear to be made by something of human nature

6) We see the neighbor, but he doesn't see us

7) He turns his head and sees us

8) We start to get chased

For 1, we could have a medium shot of us playing the game while it pans to an over the shoulder shot. After the camera stops moving continue with this shot for 10-15 seconds.

2, we show that something feels different, then in a POV shot we look from the tv to look down. Our hands could be shown over our heart or stomach to indicate something is wrong. Then we slowly dissipate and move into the game.

3, we pan the camera slowly left and right then behind. this is done in a shot taken from behind our back.

4, Then a long shot will show us walking around

5, In a mid-shot, we hear sounds, and we go to investigate

6, we see the neighbor from behind in a POV shot

7, He turns around, sees us 

8, he starts to chase us.