Final Film Intro Submission

Critical Creative Reflection Prezi

Feedback from Class

     Out of the feedback from the class, majority liked "The Run" exactly as it was.

     Some people noted that we should add a typewriter sound effect to the credits, but my partner and I along with our teacher thought that having that sound effect throughout the intro would be distracting.

     Others commented on how the last scene where the prisoner is running has shaky camera work. This was done purposefully though. We intended to have the camera moving a lot to add to the intensity and action of the scene so that the viewer felt as if they were struggling to run through the forest just like the prisoner was.
   
     Audio is the one thing others said we should try to fix and is something I would like to fix myself. We tried filming with the built in microphone on the camera first, but the quality was just awful and really hard to understand. After that, we added an external microphone, but it was still not the exactly the way my partner and I would of preferred it to be. Messing with the audio in Premiere Pro, we were able to clean it up a little and make it sound clearer and louder. But overall, we were unable to get the audio exactly how we wanted it due to a lack of high tech audio equipment.

     Lastly, few people commented on how the girl didn't react much when the prisoner came at her with a knife. This was also on purpose. We aimed at displaying how the girl was close to the prisoner since she didn't move at first because she trusted him and never would imagine him actually hurting her.

     In the end, I'm really happy with how "The Run" intro turned out, and I'm glad the majority of our viewer's also found it very aesthetically pleasing.

Quarter 3 Submission

CCR Question #4

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


     First, my partner and I used laptops to research films to see what kind of film we were interested in doing. Both my partner and I always enjoyed the suspenseful ones so we decided to do a suspenseful film ourselves. We continued to do research on suspenseful film intros until we felt steady enough to begin coming up with our own idea for our film. After we decided to do "The Run", we used social media sites, such as Facebook and Instagram, to contact people who would perhaps be interested in playing as the main actor, the prisoner. As soon as Hunter Day committed to being the prisoner for us, we used other websites such as Amazon and eBay to purchase our costumes.
     Once the costumes arrived, my partner, Cameron, and I used my Nikon D5300 camera to videograph the whole intro of "The Run". The built-in microphone didn't have the greatest quality so we used an additional stereo microphone to have better quality audio. To get the murder scene to be as if it was from the prisoner's point of view, we used a GoPro. This camera also did not have good quality audio, but that wasn't a huge concern for this part of the intro since there is a ringing noise throughout the scene. The bad audio actually adds to the scene as if the prisoner is so focused on what he is doing that he hears things in a muffled way.
     Continuously throughout working on the film, we had to make sure that we were updating our blogs with new information quite often. Never before had I used a blog, and I didn't even think that blogs still existed. The more I have used blogger, the more I begin to enjoy blogging. I'm fascinated with creating custom layouts and backgrounds to go along with my post that make my blog more personalized.
     The one piece of technology that my partner and I integrated into our project but did not get to actually use was the police radio. While in the back of the police car, the officer turned on his computer and used his radio to make the scenario seem more realistic.
     When we arrived at the editing stage of the project, I was more familiar with Windows Live Movie Maker. We began editing the film through this program until we arrived at some road blocks. Through Windows Live Movie Maker, we were able to trim videos down and place them at points where we wanted them to be played. Also, through this program we used transitions to display the difference in time. After we couldn't do anything else with the program, my partner and I had to watch some YouTube videos to understand how to use Adobe Premiere Pro. Through this program we were able to make the audio sound a little clear, added a filter that adjusted the lighting that made the scenes more dramatic, and added the credits that played typewriter style throughout.
    Finally, when the film was complete, we used YouTube to upload our video for others to see and give feedback.
    

CCR Question #3

How did your production skills develop throughout this project? 

Before I started this film project, I had an excellent grasp on how to use a camera for photography but had limited knowledge on how to use it for videography. While discussing camera shots and angles with my partner, Cameron, I began to have a more concrete realization of how those shots bring out certain emotions from the viewer. While filming with my Nikon D5300, I learned how to be able to instruct the actors in bringing out certain tones in their voice that would emphasize a specific emotion we were trying to display.  

Also, before, I had no idea on how to write an official script. Through using a template in word document and doing some research. I learned how and why specific things are placed the way they are in the script, but this was not the hardest thing I had to learn.  

For me, it was overwhelmingly difficult for me to find actors. The main actor couldn't just be any random boy that would be willing to perform in our film. We had to look for specific types of boys, such as tall and really skinny. We didn't feel that having an actor that wasn't extremely skinny would portray a realistic view of the lifestyle that our main actor would be coming from, which is in the lower class from a rough area. Even after finding guys that fit the style we were looking for, majority of them didn't feel comfortable playing as someone who had committed murder.  

Location was easy once Cameron and I had decided on the setting we felt fit best. As a photographer, I always picture specific places in my mind when I'm trying to achieve a certain photograph, but this time I had to collaborate my thoughts with another person. Sometimes my partner and I would have different ideas on what the location should look like. We would resolve this by coming up with a location that combined both of the ideas we had in our head. By doing this, I learned how to effectively communicate what I was visualizing in my mind which allowed us to find the perfect locations/settings for our film.  

Lastly, I came to understanding on how significant of a role costumes, props, and makeup have throughout an entire film. Without the police uniforms,  orange jumpsuit, and straight jacket, the film would of not been realistic at all. While figuring out what costumes my partner and I wanted to include, we learned how to properly take measurements of our actors so that the clothes fit them appropriately. Makeup became a more difficult task when it came to the murder scene. We had to figure out how to rip the shirts and add fake blood in a way that looked like a realistic stabbing. Props such as the knife and police cars were the key part of making this film look as realistic as possible.  

CCR Question #2

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

-Besides having the audience and prisoner simultaneously come to a realization of what's going on and who's responsible, my partner and I engaged the audience by using a GoPro to give a point of view from the prisoner's perspective. This way the viewers feel as if they also took part in the murder as well as feel just as guilty and eager to escape from solitary confinement as the prisoner does. The blinking that was edited into the film makes this connection feel even more realistic. 

-Realistically, my partner and I would most likely only be able to distribute our film through local events such as the Sarasota Film Festival. By branching out to other film events that are a little farther out of the local area, we could get a wider variety of viewers than just in Sarasota. If by chance a big time movie distributer, such as Universal Studios, were to recognize the film as outstanding, there is a possibility of being able to transfer into movie theaters with financial support. But considering the fact that my partner and I have never released a movie before and do not already have a recognized name, there is no guarantee that we will be able to make it farther than small events with our first film.

CCR Question #1

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

-The video challenges conventions by going back and forth from present to past. This allows the film to remain suspenseful and mysterious throughout the introduction by slowly revealing bits and pieces of the story. We also chose to challenge conventions in this way to make the audience feel confused of where they are and why just like the prisoner is since he doesn't realize he is the one responsible for his friends' deaths until later on.

-The social class we decided to represent through the prisoner in our film was of a male in lower class with no family. While in solitary confinement, the prisoner did not know that he murdered his friends. This can be signs of a mental illness from not only being able to kill another human but also from having no realization of it. A male in lower class, such as him, would not be able to seek medical help for a psychological issue because of a lack of wealth, which would possibly cause them to be in a situation like this. The audience can also tell that the prisoner is impoverished when he walks into his house which was not an updated, upper class house.

Souvenirs

     Souvenirs are key to promoting a film or really anything in general. People purchase souvenirs in remembrance of an activity they participated in or a place they went to. Areas where there are high amounts of tourism is usually where there are more souvenir shops. Orlando, for example, has many souvenir shops due to Disney World being in a close proximity.
     One of Disney's competitors, Universal Studios, released "Despicable Me". It has become a movie with a high distribution in souvenirs. They have shirts, mugs, stickers, backpacks, key chains, thermoses, cards, snow globes, posters, golf balls, stuffed animals, phone cases, yo-yos, shoes, silverware, and so much more. The minions have become the main face of what to produce on the souvenirs.
     A way that we could promote our film, "The Run", could be through distributing souvenirs. We could make bobble heads of the prisoner, t-shirts with some famous quote out of the movie, posters with the whole caste together, costumes to match the prisoner's look, and much more. Through distributing souvenirs, we could promote "The Run" even farther than just basic advertising techniques, such as movie trailers.

   
    

What Attracts Our Audience

     In our film, "The Run", the whole story line is suspenseful. Even right from the intro, people are on the edge of their seats trying to put the pieces together in order to discover who committed the murder. People are normally attracted to any story with suspense because it gives them a rush of excitement and anxiety towards what may happen next. Suspense also helps build the story up to the climax, making the story keep people intrigued the entire time rather than getting bored. As the story continues to build up, the viewer feels more emotionally involved and wouldn't want to turn off their screen once they've become personally fused into the storyline.
     All in all, suspense is really important when it comes to attracting an audience to come view your film. The best way to get the most viewers is to advertise the suspenseful parts of our film. By putting out a trailer with the suspenseful parts of the film, such as a glimpse of him escaping, running through the woods, and some shots of him trying to not get caught later on in the film, people would be attracted to the trailer and would want to go see it when it plays in the movie theaters.

Film distribution and marketing research

     My partner and I were interested in learning how films were distributed since there are so many different ways to distribute, such as the following: theaters, DVD, digital downloads, streaming, and many more. We decided to do some in depth distribution and marketing research on the film " The Purge" because of how murder is a common ground between this film and our film. "The Purge" is about how the government has sanctioned a 12-hour period in which any and all criminal activity is legal.

     While researching, I found it surprising that it cost more to market "The Purge" than to actually produce it, costing less than 5 million to produce and around 20 million to market. Before doing any research, I never even thought that a film would have more than one distributor, but I discovered that "The Purge" actually had several distributors, such as Universal Studios, Waylen Group, Veronica, Direc TV, United International Pictures, Solar Entertainment, Synca, and many more. To summarize, "The Purge" was distributed through theaters, DVD, and streaming.
     In general, movies are beginning to be released in different ways now. Companies are deciding whether or not they should shorten the time that their movie is being played in a theater since most movies make 95% of their sales within the first 3 weekends of being out in the theater. Now that people have the option of watching from the comfort of their own home through streaming companies such as Netflix, less people are going to the movie theaters than in the past. This change might also cause a change in the way that movies continue to be distributed in the future.

Marketing Research

     While doing research, I discovered that major movie distribution companies have an internal department devoted to promotion. They're responsible for designing and putting into effect relative advertisements through several different media platforms such as movie trailers, newspapers, magazines, television, radio, the Internet and billboards. On the other hand, my partner and I do not have the option of having our own internal department for advertising and have to find ways to get our movie out there on our own.
     Simple ways we could first start out is by first getting known within our own community, which is the Sarasota, FL, community. Entering our film in local film festivals, such as the Sarasota Film Festival, could be the next best thing to being displayed in a movie theater. We could also contact the local newspaper and either pay for an advertisement or see if we could get an editorial coverage on our film. The advertisement would give us the option to specifically choose what goes in the newspaper while an editorial coverage would result in us not having much say towards what goes into the final article. We could definitely advertise on the Internet through social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. This would be one of the quickest and easiest ways to make our movie widely popular. While there are many other options I've still not discussed, the last simple option I can think of for reaching out to the local community is through a local magazine that deals with the things that are going on in Sarasota. It would most likely be the same process as getting published in a local newspaper.
    As we continue to become widely known throughout the community, we can then try becoming more trending throughout the nation. When you don't already have a famous company name, it takes a little more time and effort to get your film to the status level you desire it to be.

Marketing Techniques

Product: Skittles
Marketing Technique: humor, sense appeal, majority appeal, romance
 more info: The skittles commercial was of a teenage boy throwing skittles through a girl's window in  order to get her attention. The girl was sitting on the floor catching the skittles in her mouth, but then  she moved. Next came her mom, then dad, grandma, burglar, and police officer. This displayed how
 anyone and everyone likes skittles. As they caught the skittles in their mouths, the made "mmm"  noises that communicated to the audience how delicious they were.  
Target Audience: everyone

Product: Intel 360
Marketing Technique: famous person, cute animal, humor
 more info: The commercial for Intel 360 included the famous person Tom Brady. He was doing  every day activities that were made to look epic from the use of Intel 360. It was funny when Tom  Brady was making pancakes, and then one almost fell on the floor. The dog saw this happening and  went to go snatch it, but Tom Brady was able to get and eat it first. Another use of humor was used at  the very end, bathroom jokes. Tom Brady was about to use the restroom, and then he said, "I think  they get it." This was funny because it was almost as if they would of used the Intel 360 on Tom  Brady while he was using the restroom, but they didn't.
Target Audience: 18 to 50's aged males

Product: Turbo Tax
Marketing Technique:  humor, nostalgia, convenience, silly
 more info: The Turbo Tax commercial was of Humpty Dumpty. He was sitting on a wall, using his  phone to do his taxes. He then fell off the wall and broke into pieces; later was rushed off to the  hospital. All over the news, everyone was asking why he was doing his taxes on a wall. At the very  end, Humpty Dumpty said, "Because I can!"
Target Audience: 16 and up

Similar Techniques to Market my Media Product 
The one technique I know that I can't use to advertise my product is humor. My partner and I's film is more of a serious and mysterious film that not many or any people would consider to be funny. Hunter Day, the main actor of the film, is a very popular actor in the theatrical program at Booker High School in Sarasota, FL. By showing that he is starring in the film would catch many people's attention since he is a popular actor in the Sarasota community. One other technique we could use is emotional appeal by advertising the scene where the camera is put in the murder's point of view. This point of view makes the audience feel as if they have also committed the murder... making them emotionally involved.

Completing Revisions

     Sadly, the option of re-filming the solitary confinement scene will not be able to be completed due to the main actor getting a hair cut that is dramatically different from his originally hairstyle. Although that one revision will not be able to be completed, this doesn't mean other revisions can not still be made.
     It took a good hour or so of watching videos and researching instructions on how to do a type writer effect to display the credits to our audience. Finally, I was able to able to figure out how to do it. Not only was I excited to figure it out so that I can finish the revisions, I was also glad to be able to become more familiar with the Adobe After Effects. This knowledge will help me with the knowledge that will be required of me when I go into a cinematography major / career.
     While working on inserting the credits in type writer style throughout the intro, my partner and I struggled with where to place the credits without it getting in the way of the shot. We also had to discuss the color of the font so that it didn't blend into the background. In the end, we went with white words with black outlining. Cameron and I are extremely please with how the credits turned out. Before, they just scrolled up quickly before the intro began which made the film look like a short film. Now, the credits look appropriate for an actual film.

Before

 After

What I Learned From Other Film Intros

     Intros could possibly be considered the most crucial part to any film. While examining just the introductions of films yesterday, I began to fully understand how much of the story is revealed within just the beginning. The start is where a lot of background is displayed so that the audience isn't entirely confused while watching the rest of the film. Most of the intros I watched were from movies that I have never seen before yet I could tell where the story was headed just from watching 2-4 minutes. It also has to be an extremely eye catching part so that the film automatically captures the viewers' attention or else they might leave or turn off the rest of the film because of no starting appeal. Within all the intros I watched, they started off with a company name then begin with the credits displayed over the film. They normally began with the main actors and then transitioned into directors/editors. They probably did this to grab the audience's attention because they are most likely going to know the actors more than they are going to know the directors/editors. Now I have a better understanding of how I should sprinkle my credits within the intro of my film, "The Run".

     "Shawshank Redemption" was one the intros that related to our movie plot the most. It started out in the court, and the man was being accused of murdering his wife and her lover. "The Run" starts out in solitary confinement, and the police officer is asking the prisoner if he knows why he is there. In "Shawshank Redemption" the plot goes back and forth from current to past in order to slowly reveal specific information to the audience and make it suspenseful, similar to "The Run".  After viewing how similar these intros are, I feel better about the choice my partner and I made on deciding how to play the introduction.

Needed Improvements / Revisions

After getting feedback on the first edit of my film, I felt really encouraged by the work I had completed. I felt really encouraged by the work I had completed. The one thing I need to fix is the credits. Right now, the credits quickly scroll up  before the film begins. This gives the intro a more short film vibe rather than an intro to a normal length film. Cameron and I were unsure how to include the credits without disturbing the content of the film. We decided to make it so that the credits show through a typewriter effect that gives a feel of someone typing up the case information in the intro of the film. Overall, I'm pretty happy with how the intro turned out.

Locations

While preparing for this film, locations were probably the easiest task to complete.

     For the solitary confinement scene, we filmed inside a racquet ball court at Arlington Park. The only problem with this location was that people liked to graffiti the inside which was painted over with different shades of white. While filming, we had to use only certain parts of the room in order for the background to look more like solitary confinement.

     For where the murder takes place, I had to ask a friend of my parent's they would be willing to allow us to film in the mother-in-law suite. The reason why I thought this location would be best was because the house wasn't updated. I felt that an old fashioned house would fit the main character's background better than a rich-looking, updated house.

     The police scene occurred at an actual police station. I had to write a formal letter to the Chief asking for approval of getting help from the police officers in the film. Once we got approved, I showed up at the police station to film everything.
     The last scene is the main actor running through the woods. This actually happened in my backyard where there is a dense forest behind the pond. Filming at this location was difficult. Some parts of the forest had mud so thick that we had to relocate because everyone kept getting stuck in the mud. When we finally found the right spot, we had to pull some vines out of the way so that no one would get injured while running.

 racquet ball court

Midterm Submission

Realizing Revisions are Needed

     After finishing all the footage, I began to start editing it all together. Every scene looked really good except for the solitary confinement scene. The noise was not consistent, the positioning of people was not consistent, and the scene involved too many short takes.


     While trimming footage and editing it all together, I realized that the shots seemed to just jump from this angle to that angle, and it was too hard to keep track of everything going on. The solitary confinement scene was supposed to feel slow, but the quick cuts from this to that made it feel fast-paced. Plus, there is a shot where the officer goes to get the murder weapon. With the way we filmed it, it looks like the officer is just standing next to the prisoner and then, in the next shot, is half way to already getting the knife. It appeared as if there was a jump in time...which is exactly what we don't want.


     I own really nice audio equipment. The sound was much noisier than Cameron and I wanted/expected it to be. While playing around one day with my microphone on my computer with an audio recording system called "Audacity", I found a setting that blocked out background noise and made the audio sound much more professional than how we originally recorded it.


     So, Cameron and I asked the actor who plays the officer and the actor who plays the prisoner if they were both available on January 7th. Both of them said they were available which was perfect. On Saturday, we are going to take longer takes, hook the microphone up to my computer for better audio quality rather than to my camera, and make sure the placement of the actors looks continuous throughout the entire scene rather than looking as if they jumped in time.