Reflection

As I get closer to the end of this project, there are many things I must reflect on. I remember feeling so clueless and stressed when this project first started because I felt like I would not be able to do it, or if I did do it, it would be bad. However, as the weeks have gone by, I've created a pretty neat idea (or so I think so) and I've had the time to assemble this project together. I grew more confident as time went on. Additionally, I learned SOOO many new things. For starters, I learned the important of framing and how it contributes to making shots look more structured. I also learned how important sound editing and volume is. I was scared to start editing because I had never in my life used Adobe Premiere Pro, nevertheless, I challenged myself and I'm so glad I did. If it wouldn't have been more the gazillions of Premiere Pro tutorials I binge watched, I wouldn't have been able to implement effects such as the amplified sounds of the voices, the transition from black and white to color and vice versa, and the iris shot. I feel extremely grateful to have had such wonderful people as my actors and crew, no words can describe how much I appreciate them and their contribution to this project. Although there were times were I felt discouraged because some things didn't go as planned ( like when one of my actors didn't show up and I had to cut their part out), I forced myself to continue to keep my head held high.  I learned that in life, there will always be obstacles, and as humans we can decide if we want them to let them get the best of us or not. I decided not to let mishaps discourage me to the point were I would give up, instead, I became more motivated to work my way around these problems. As I sit here writing this quickly, so that I can finish my CCR, I just have one more thing to say: I loved this project SOO much. I loved absolutely everything about it. The planning. The editing. The polishing. I adore it. Man, I wish I would have taken this class my junior year of high school, so that I would've taken my A level this year. Oh well.

This is all from me. I gots to go. See ya so0o0onn😎

Improvement: CCR Question TREE

From creating the plot to editing and everything in between, crafting 2 minutes of a film requires thorough planning.

Some of the biggest things that must be taken into consideration are the development of characters, the setting, the costume designing, and other mise-en-scene elements. 

Over the course of this project, my production skills have developed. I learned more about framing and how important it is for the shots to look neater. Lighting is another thing I learned about. While all of the lights at Lucille's were turned on for the opening and the end, the ceiling lights were turned off for the musical number. I did not want this scene to be too bright as I wanted the dim lighting to create a sense of mystery and curiosity. Planning out the costumes was one of my favorite parts of the project. I got a lot of my costume inspiration from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. For example, I wanted Annette's character to wear a red, flared dress, similar to the ones that Mrs. Maisel wears in one of her performances. For Geraldine's character, I wanted her costume to resemble Mrs. Maisel's costume in the army episode. Some key accessories such as necklaces, long gloves, and coats were key in making Annette and Geraldine's characters seem like they were in the 50s. Apart from costumes, hair and make-up were other elements that had to be planned. The server and Annette used wigs since ladies in the 50s usually wore up-dos or styled hair. While Geraldine's character did not wear a wig, her hair did get curled. For make-up, I wanted them to look as natural as possible, however, for the musical number, I wanted Annette and Geraldine to wear red lipstick and highlight to enhance their characters during this fantasy moment. Sound editing was another factor that I worked on. I utilized background restaurant noises to aid in creating a restaurant atmosphere. I also had to amplify and use the high pass and low pass effects to make the voices of Annette and The Server sound more vintage and match with the vintage style of the voices her in "Suddenly" and "Lover's Fantasy". I sent my rough draft of my film opening to some friends and they gave me great constructive criticism. While I really appreciated their criticism and suggestions, I did not agree with some of them and that's okay! I really considered all of the suggestions they offered, but I also stuck to my gut feeling and kept some things the way they were. 

Target Audience & Distribution: CCR Question Numba Two

Deadline to turn in the project is approaching soon, so here's the second question of the CCR:

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

My film would be targeted towards those who are intrigued by musicals, romance, and the 1950s. Therefore, it can be said that the age range for my target audience is pretty wide as it ranges from the young ages to the much older ones. The age range expands pretty far since many people that are currently in their 70s-90s lived in the 1950s, so they'll be interested in watching the film in hopes of reliving their past.

One of the main ways that I will distribute my film to audiences is by promoting my film through social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and Facebook. I would create an account for my film on each of these platforms where I would post trailers, photo stills, and information about my film. Additionally, I would create a filter on these platforms in the theme of the 1950s that plays songs from the film whenever consumers use it. Posting my film on Vimeo, a platform that many filmmakers utilize to showcase their work, would also be another way of distributing my film. 

In-person events such as film festivals would be a good way to distribute my film. Of course, it wouldn't be a big, pricy film festival, but even the film festival that my school hosts every year would help the film get recognition. Local film festivals like the Miami Film Festival. In short, I plan on working my way up. Due to the budget, I'd have to focus on distributing my film through digital mediums and in-person events.

Since my film contains original music by Alejandro Rodriguez, I could synergize with him. By doing this, we both will benefit since I would engage with his audience and my audience would engage with him. This would help us both get recognition for our work. Another artist I could synergize would be The Commandeers since they are the artists of the opening song. This band is well-known by many music companies and have many fans. I believe that interacting with them, would be a great way to promote Cupid's Advocate.

Conventions & Representations: CCR Question Numero Uno

In order to be prepared for my CCR, I want to organize the questions into different blog posts. In this blog, I'll be answering da first question: 

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

My film can be categorized under the musical film genre; here are some conventions of musical movies:

-Includes songs which aid in advancing the plot 

-Choreography is implemented in some musical numbers

-Cinematography includes colorful shots

-Romantic relationships are present

-Narratives typically contain a cheerful tone

-Music is used as a coping mechanism; some characters sing their sentiments and it helps them heal

My films follows all of the conventions listed above. To begin with, songs (that characters will sing and dance to) would be featured in the film. Implementing songs throughout the film will aid in developing the storyline. During upbeat and jazzy songs, choreography will be present. However, in songs that have a slower tempo, choreography will not be needed as close-up shots would be utilized more to help the audience connect with the character. While film musicals typically contain a luminous color scheme, my film will only show color during the song, "Lover's Fantasy". Since my movie is set in the 1950s, I believe it's appropriate to have the rest of the film be in black and white. Romantic relationships will be featured in my film as the protagonist, Geraldine, is the one who enjoys setting people up. For the most part, the plot of the movie contains a cheerful tone. The tone will shift when one of the couples that Geraldine matches up together, don't end up working out, so Geraldine feels disappointed since she's always been successful helping people find their true loves. Nonetheless, this part is not included in the opening, so it can be said that the overall tone of the opening is cheerful, yet a tad mysterious. The way my film will challenge conventions is that the plot does not revolve around two characters falling in love; this type of plot is scene in musical films such as Grease and La La Land. Moreover, it mainly revolves about Geraldine and her way of pairing people up.

Representation:

I had to do a lot of research when it came down to learning more about social groups present in the 1950s. Since World War II ended and a baby boom immediately followed, the 50s were an era of youth culture. Many teenage social groups were divided into stereotypical cliques such as: the jocks, the popular people, and the nerds. All of these cliques were known to be angsty and rebellious teenagers. While these were the dominant social groups present during this time period, I chose not to stick by these stereotypical groups when it came to creating my own characters. A social group that my film represents is the innocent, young people of the 50s. For example, Annette and Ricky, the first couple that the audience sees Geraldine pair up, would be a great example of this since both of them are shy and have never fallen in love with anyone before. The main issue that would occur in this film would mainly affect Geraldine as she would feel extremely discouraged when one of the couples she matched up together, break up. Her discouragement would lead her to consider quitting what she enjoys doing the most: seeing people fall in love with each other. Nevertheless, as she takes a break from her hobby, she unexpectedly falls in love with someone. This would be another issue as she never imagines herself to feel so passionate about someone else, therefore, she's hard on herself and does everything in her power to convince herself that she's not in love. Her feelings end up becoming too strong, that she comes to terms with the fact that she's in love.

Editing is DONE

Ladies & Gents, the film opening has been officially EDITED!

YUH

After editing for 7-8 hours for the past 8 days,  (I literally don't know why it took so long, I thought it would only take 2 days🤡)she has been finished.

My pride, my joy, my baby. 🤰 (yes, that is a pregnant emoji)

I finished editing my film opening and now I'm going to send it to some trusted people so that they can give me critiques before I officially turn it in!

Update: I have received some feedback from some cool people whose opinions really matter to me. Here's what they said:

The One & Only Jake Fretwell- told me to raise the volume of the dialogue between Annette and The Server; said framing for the dance was weird (I 100% agree with him, but we only had 8 minutes to film the dance before my manager kicked us out :-( )

My Momma- told me that there was different lighting in the dance clips (will try to fix this); said to make a smooth transition of sound between the beginning and the dance.

Ms. Future-Doctor-To-Be Silvia Zervos- told me to lower the volume of the music at the beginning in order to hear the dialogue; said the transition from Lover's Fantasy (dance song) to Suddenly (the ending) was abrupt (I like that it's abrupt though because it's supposed to be a "snapping out of the moment" type of feel)

Shoutout to these awesome people!! Supa dupa thankful for their advice, I will definitely take everything they said into consideration.

Now, unto da CCR!

More Music Stufffff

 Heyoooo☮

After doing much research on websites such as Chosic, Soundstripe, and Epidemic Sound, I have finally found the perfect song for the beginning. The song I decided on was "Suddenly" by The Commandeers. I actually found this gem on Premium Beat and I obtained the rights to it (see below). Once I listened to it, I loved the old feel it had to it. I had originally planned on looking for 2 different songs for the beginning and the end; however, this song is long enough to use it both for the beginning (before dance) and at the end (after dance). I really enjoyed the last 10 seconds of this song for the ending of the film opening because it ends with 3 beats and I realized that I could have something happening in those 3 beats. In the first beat, Geraldine raises her eyebrows. In the second beat, the iris shot closes the screen. Lastly, in the third beat, the title appears with floating, red hearts. 

Licensing rights for Suddenly by The Commandeers:

Struggling to make a spinning transition :(

 currently crying😀

I've been editing my film project for the past 6 days. I did not think it would take this long, but I guess it is since it's my first time using Adobe. Likewise, I 've had to do a lot of research and I've had to watch a lot of tutorials on how to do even the easiest thing. For example, I had to search up a tutorial on how to cut a video so I could use the leftover clip for another part of the project. I've spent the last 3 hours of my life trying to figure out how to make a spinning transition on Premier Pro, but none of the tutorials have been helpful and I think it's because the clips I want the transition on are too short:(

A. Spinning. Transition. 

Sounds easy right?, Well it's not easy for a 17 year old teenager who has the intelligence of a grandma when it comes to Premier Pro. If I had a penny for every time I created a new adjustment layer to try to create a SPIN, I could buy 5 Teslas. Okay, I give up on making a spinning transition between "real life" and the "fantasy moment"... I'm going to try to make a whip pan transition. Send.HELP.

Enjoy this photo of me at 4am.