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.