The End!

 “Dearest gentle reader,” - Bridgerton 

For one last time my gentle reader, it is time to show the final result. Our film has been completed as well as the CCRs. Here are the links to each video:

Ataraxia Film Opening:

CCR #1: 

CCR #2: 

Each link is attached as well as the video itself (the files attached are compressed video files), so it's better to look at the links. Hope you enjoy it!

Almost last - Reflection Time

 “Dearest gentle reader,” - Bridgerton 

It is almost all over...Over eight weeks I have been working on this long, but exciting project. At first, it was something that I only thought to myself "How would I be able to accomplish it", but now as I look at every step of the way I see how every small piece makes an attribution to the final product. From the class lessons to the research done in my blogs, until put it all into practice during the production and post-production time. 

As I will be mentioning in my CCRs, this project allowed me to experience a different aspect of the media by doing the film opening. It has helped me to learn more about why a film opening looks a certain way or includes a certain shot such as a sequence of multiple close-ups. In the end, there is always a meaning within the production. For example, in my own production, the inclusion of the planet was a key element in portraying the contrast between our character's life and the situation happening on Earth, it all was connected to show a message and not explicitly tell it to the audience. Even having a blog dedicated to that specific scene shows how important it was and looking at the final result of the wide shot of the gas station presents the vision that we had and we took everything we knew to make it possible. 

In our process of production, we had some setbacks due to being in competition. However, even though our schedule changed a bit we still persevered and fixed it to be able to get it all done and have time for our CCRs as well. Moreover, the post-production was done by different people in the group. Although the main editor was Santi, we all took part in helping with the line edit or sound design. And it was all worth it to see our vision come to life. 

On the other hand, the CCRs were fun to film and at the end, I did an informational video about my film and a talk show kind of thing. I was able to do it all thanks to the help of some friends who took part in one of the videos and also super important to have a script that allowed me to keep track of the time and get to the end goal of answering all questions. 

Aftermath of CCR - Post-production

 “Dearest gentle reader,” - Bridgerton 

The time is here to edit it all together. As I previously mentioned for CCR #1 the central part is editing, so I will show how the process goes... With CCR 2, the editing isn't the most important part, but it was a bit challenging because I had to cut up certain parts of it. Now, let's get started by explaining the steps that I took for the post-production journey. 

Step 1. Transfer footage from SD card to Hardrive. 

Step 2. Open a project file in Adobe Premiere Pro

Step 3. Import the files 

Step 4. Start in the timeline 

Step 5. Color grading

 

                              (Before)                                                             (After)

Step 6. Fix audio 

Another essential step in post-production was finding the music for it. Keeping the knowledge that it should be copyright-free or have permission to use it, I downloaded the music from a software that gives you the right to download the music. The software is called bullet proof bear and I have access due to my TV production class. 

Overall, this is a sneak peek at the post-production process with the editing of the CCRs and the steps I took to make it work for me. 

CCR Time! - Production

 “Dearest gentle reader,” - Bridgerton 

After sharing the scripts, it was time to get started producing the CCRs. One of the first steps within the production process was figuring out what the CCR would be about. Well, at the end I decided to do an informational video about my film opening and a video similar to a talk show. For the talk show, I had to get some friends to help me out and even took the step of creating a logo for the show: 

This how the logo of CCR 2 looked like as it was somewhat of a talk show and there were two hosts. It was named Reel Ones and as shown in the script it was meant to be a channel in which they basically do film reviews. 

Furthermore, for the production of CCR #1, there was not much to it, it was set up of me being seated. The big part of this one will be the editing part as I am going to try to include multiple angles to make it a bit different and add my own style to it. Soon I will reveal the editing side of my first CCR so stay tuned to see how the process goes for that. 

Overall, it was all about picking with area to film in and finding the setting for each of the specific CCRs. For example, for CCR 1 I filmed in the living room on a couch. While CCR 2 was filmed in a room with a couch and since it was a bit small we had to play around on how to set it up, but I got it and it went well. 

Here are some of the pictures from the process:

Best for Last - CCR Scripts

“Dearest gentle reader,” - Bridgerton 

This week you might have seen my post answering the individual questions for the CCRs, but now it is time to put it all together and show you the final scripts. My CCRs, I will be dividing them into CCRs 1 and 2 which will cover the following: 

CCR 1: (Questions 2 & 4)

CCR 2: (Questions 1 & 3)

So, without further yap (how teens say nowadays), I will be showing my scripts for each CCR right here:

CCR 1:

CCR 2:

Keeping Up With CCR - Part 4

“Dearest gentle reader,” - Bridgerton 

Last but not least, we have gotten to the last question of it all. In this question, it looks for what technologies I used or even whether I used technology. Part of the question is:

1. Discuss any technologies you used. 
2. Discuss hardware - cameras, lighting.
3. Discuss software - editing, planning
4. Discuss how you used these technologies

Well, in a world where technology has become a great part of our everyday lives, the answer is yes, I did use technology. I basically took part in all the four parts of the questions, my group and I used different cameras, as well as various software to edit the different parts of our film opening. As discussed in a previous blog, we used multiple camera equipment that we checked out from our school, and the equipment from one of our group members. Part of the hardware that was used was a Mark 4, DJI, and a tripod, using each of these elements helped to accomplish the look that was wanted. 

For example, this scene was done by having the camera on the tripod, and without it, it wouldn't have had the same meaning behind it and the same feeling. 

Furthermore, for the software that was used, we used Premiere Pro, Blender, and After Effects, all together to achieve the final product that we got. Without the use of all the apps, we wouldn't be able to get the product that we wished for, of having the VFX effects of the planet and graphics. Our graphics were mostly done in After Effects, and then to include it in the line edit it was imported into Premiere Pro. Blender helped with the VFX effects for the planet and the process was interesting, but the results were incredible. 

Keeping Up With CCR - Part 3

“Dearest gentle reader,” - Bridgerton 

The journey of the CCRs is almost at the end. Here, I present one of the most interesting questions (in my opinion)—question 3. In this question, we are to discuss how our production skills developed throughout this project. Before I even entered the AICE Media course, I had some knowledge about certain production techniques because I took classes in film and TV production. However, just being in these classes was not enough compared to the new knowledge I have gained in the course of media studies. Media studies taught me a range of materials that I wouldn't have thought of learning so soon, but within the production techniques, it allowed me to understand why certain techniques might have been done in a certain way. 

Moving into the time frame of my film opening, my skills have grown during this time as I get to work more often and learn from the other members in my group. For instance, before starting the film opening, I hadn't done anything film related as I am more of a news person. But, oh well, I had to break out of that shell. So, I did it by working with people that have a better knowledge on film and doing the extensive research that truly helped me in succeeding in the course of the project. There is a visible change in the process from the One Word Film (one of the first things this year) up to our film opening. For example, in the One Word Film, we made an error of me not being in frame:

 

But thanks to making that error during production early in the start, it taught me to be more careful. And especially as the Director of the film opening, I should be paying attention to the small details during the shooting time, so that there are no issues of having to reshoot a scene. 

Another skill that I have developed throughout this project is color grading. Even thought I am not the one color grading our whole film opening, I took the initiative to try it out and learn more about it, seeing videos and asking other people that may know it better how to do it. This all has help to improve my skills and know more on the steps to take for future projects. 

Overall, I feel like having this "big" project allowed me to learn more about the things I am capable of doing and experimenting on new things I wouldn't have thought of before.