Blog 45: CCR

Creative Critical Reflection

    Hey guys!!! SIKEEEEE... This is not the end!!!! We still have a reflection to go. As if you already know, I've been doing a quite some blogs about reflection now. However, this the more details version and more refine about my whole filming journey. I used the website Prezi—an amazing and fun website to play around with—to finalize some of my last thoughts on this journey as we transitioning to the next one. Below is the link to my CCR. I hope you enjoy it!!!

      

   Click here to go to Creative Critical Reflection

Blog 44: Final Project Post

Film Opening

Hey guys!!! Last Welcome Back :(((( . I am more than happy to release our final product today. I hope you enjoyed it <3

    First off, I want to thanks everyone for joining me today. Apparently, this is going to be my last blog. Through the filming journey, I learned a lot. I learned how to professionally plan out and prepare for better filming's journey. I am glad for getting expose to more materials such as mise-en scene, storyboarding, and mood-board. I valued these knowledge than ever. If you asked me have I knew about these before? My answer will be no. Before Aice Media Studies, I would simply add everyone into a group, create a script and call it a day. We would just mostly use static camera movement or follow up to capture the whole thing. 

    However, after Aice Media Studies? After 44 blogs? I am confident than ever to brag about myself, knowing that I can brainstorm and film in the right way. Crossing out the other ideas, we came off strong with the "Coming of Age" genre and a negative plot twist theme for the "film opening" project. With some ideas in mind, we made our way through the mood board, some birthday cake, some make-ups, some up/down emotions. As we keep the ideas in mind, we create a simple script and further turned it into storyboarding. The storyboard is our star right here. Every scene, every cut, every transition, lighting or even angle/camera movement was describe in each scene. It allows us to track down as we record. With some filming amend and magic touches, we wrapped the project up. Below is my first born of the professional filming journey. 

Blog 43: The Aftermath Part 2

 

The Aftermath 

    Hey reader!!! Welcome back to "The Aftermath Part 2". I know you're mad at me for cutting off at a new plot. But... there's part 2 right? I just had to make you come back, that's the technique every filming does. Let's dive into it!!!

    A smokey burnt smell strike into their nose... Gigi and her mom was not happy!!!! As they enter the kitchen, Gigi's dad is already covered in smoke with confusion. He burnt the pancakes... In dis-believed, they bursted into laughing. Gigi's mom took over the pancakes instead, her dad had to gave up in embarrass. To create a enjoyable dynamic, we will utilize the elliptical editing by showing short scenes of Gigi's mom flipping the pancake, put it onto plates, top it off with some whip cream and syrup. Gigi is set in place, laughing with her dad while holding the fork and ready to devour the fluffy pancakes. 

    Meanwhile, she doesn't know her cousins and relatives are sneaking into their house. They're ready to blow the house up with gifts and confetti popper. The camera now statically set in front of Gigi as she's picking of each piece of her pancakes. From behind, BOOM!!! The confetti popper went off as Gigi's looking back in an unmindful state. She jumped off and screamed. The camera once again goes from a close up on Gigi's excitement face expression to a higher angle. An angle that captures everything in the room, her mom and dad by her sides; her cousins and relatives on the opposite sides. The scene then shift in to the moment Gigi blows off her candle and flash-forwards to the current. I would use a eye-line match here and behinds her will be a surprise from Gigi's dad and cousin. This will finalize with a happy ending and step her way up in becoming adult. 

Blog 42: The Aftermath

  The Aftermath

    Hey guys! How're we feeling right nowwww. This is going to be the semi-final blog. As we are approaching to the end of this journey, I want to write about something different. Have you ever wonder, what is the aftermath of the film opening? Honestly, I've never really thought about it before. As I'm sitting here and tell you, we should do a little planning. 

    First off, we need to do a little brainstorm. I was thinking about something... SURPRISE!!!!
Another plot twist? The storyline could connect the scene where Gigi blow off the candle, it turns into smoky title "Eighteenth" and bring us back to the day where she' still a baby. A baby still confusing and exploring what's going on her own birthday. As the audience might not know, within the film opening, Gigi was celebrating alone due to the absent of her dad. We might question, where is the mom? The truth is her mom already passed away. That's the answer for Gigi's black family picture. Her mom was never mentioned in the film opening. The flashback will take place on a rainy day, we will utilize the crane camera movement to take a bigger picture of Gigi's house—a lovely one. The camera will move closer to her window and the rain gradually slow down. Through the window, the baby Gigi is sleeping on her own little princess bed. The scene will shift from the outside of the window into a close up of Gigi's mom gently twisting the door knob. 

      Creek...Creek...Creek... her mom gradually enter the room and open up the curtain. She looked beyond the window glass as the rain dripping down. Within, she silently prayed for the clouds cease their weeping and the sun to break through. In silence, she sat down next to Gigi, slightly tap her hand and whisper into her ear "It's time to wake up my baby". Within a moment, Gigi slowly open her eyes and was not so happy to be awake. After that, she and her mom got ready for the day. They then simply went down stair together. (As this point, Gigi is only 3 years old, she has no idea that today is her birthday) A smokey burnt smell strike into their nose. Gigi and her mom was not happy!

Blog 41: Teammate's reaction

 

Teammate's reaction

    Hey guys! It's me again. As you already know, I am the editor! I've been through ups and downs in editing to get everything together. I put in efforts to bring out the best version and final product for my beloved viewers. One of the first people that get to see it was my teammates. Their reaction were priceless!!!!

   

Accompany with me through editing was Mimeo, she was the very first to sit down and review the clip with me. As we review the project for the first time, there was some flop images due to the upload/download from the clouds. We were disappointed but also tried to optimistic at the same times. We decided to insert the original version of the scene and manually create the zoom in and out effect on Ipad. Since Ipad was easier to work with some final touches, we weren't experiencing as much troubles. As an editor, we were proud of our products. I know. It might be bias but editing pulled everything together. Through the efforts of editing, we were able to bring the best quality and experience to out audience. 

    To get a broader objective on the final product, we sent the export version into our group chat. Our heartbeat went up, down, up, down. We watched the typing pop-up from our teammates and trembling. We prayed, prayed that they like it. As for the final result, they did like it!!! However, some priceless comment they made on the film was about the sounds. On the second half of the film, we indeed added a dramatic song do emphasize the heavy atmosphere of the situation. Our teammates did not aware of this, they definitely got caught off guard. Surprisingly, the dramatic song can leads the viewer into two state of emotion: either sadness or amusement because of how over dramatically it was. Overall, we have been receiving positive feedbacks from our teammates. I hope you will also share your valuable feedbacks on the final release!

Blog 40: Editing Day 3 (Final)

Editing 

    Hey guys! Welcome, welcome to the last part of editing! You must be "wow". Yes, we spent 3 after-school days editing this film. We spent around more than 12 hours to edit and did some last touch on our final product. 

    On the 3rd day of editing, we're depressed at this point but still happy than ever to get this to its best form. We picked up where we left of. After satisfied with our smoky white/gray background. We inserted it into our CapCut's project and decide on which color our title should be. We decided to use the same color as the birthday cake, a solid brown with the same font "pinyon". After that, we just added a little effect, letting it float in naturally. In addition, we also added a little smokey effect to create the 3D looks. Originally, I thought that leaving the sound part to Day 3 would be a brilliant idea because it won't take as much time. Just extract, insert the sounds. BOOM, DONE!! 

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 However, life doesn't always goes as it is. It took us another 4-5hrs of editing to get these sounds in shape. First, we extracted Spiderwoman's product,  her own singing. However, we don't want to start the film off with a song so we added a little bird chirp to enhance the atmosphere. As Gigi comes in, the sound track gradually comes in from lower volume. Additionally, we use the same technique to transit to our main plot twist. As the sound gradually dissolve, the diegetic sounds will come in as Gigi's ring tone and dad's voice chat played its role in twisting the story. To enhance the dramatic atmosphere of her dad sudden absent, we add a "striking" song as Gigi's showcasing her disappointment and exit her room. The melody flow, blend and cut out with Gigi's blowing the cake into the final since with or title "Eighteenth" 

Blog 39: Reflection on Project

                       

                 Reflection 
   

     Heyyyy boys and girls!!! Welcome back to my blog. I have been tapping so so much about our filming process and editing. But I had never talk about the flaw aspect of it.

    If you ask me, if I'm happy with the final product. I would say yes. But if you ask me on a deeper level, I would say there's more to it. Personally, I feel like we could've done a more fantastic job, if our team communicates and construct the storyline better. Originally, we wanted to add scenes where Gigi held her mom's picture and cry. The main focus was to indicates that her mom passed away and her dad is all she has. However, due to the time limit, we couldn't portrait as much as we intended to. Without this scene, it will create a missing fragment, which allows the viewer to guess for the future plots. Not only, we can utilize this small piece of information and construct it into a further storyline after the film opening.

     If I can go back in time, I would definitely push our filming date to earlier. By filming earlier, it gives us more time to reflect and point out the details or improvement scene. I felt like we weren't rush through the project but simply we didn't know where to began with. As a cameraman, filming with Iphone was the most convenient idea. Yet if we were to borrow a camera, there would've been no doubt about the quality. However, the downside of it will be exporting into computer and Ipad as we edit. Overall, I did not regret any of these experience. These filming journey had taught me a lots. Through this project, I learned to properly organize in future filming project, either for educational or storytelling purpose. 

Blog 38: Camera Movement

Camera Movement 

    Hey bestie!!! Welcome back to my blog. I have been doing blogs about camera shot/angle, sounds, colors,... Therefore, today will be camera movement turn. Camera movement is an extremely important fragment in filming. It creates a sense of professionalism through the diverse use techniques in camera movement. 

    In this project, we opened up the scene with a zoom in on the calendar, indicating Gigi's birthday. To create a continuous scene as Gigi comes in, the camera zoom out and pan to Gigi and follow as she sit down. For most of the coming up scenes we utilize static filming to create a steady shot. Therefore, the audience will have a deeper grasp of the current plots. Since the upcoming scenes are title sequences, most our shot is a quick cut between motion in each scene. Most of the focus will be on the credit. Introducing each name requires less camera movement and center mostly on editing techniques like zoom in and tracking.  

  As the film progress over the main plot, the audience is already overwhelmed and eager to see what's coming up. Addition to Gigi's dad absent, we wanted to employ a dolly out camera movement to emphasizes the loneliness atmosphere. Accommodate to Gigi's blanking out, the static shot is back in. She continues to show off her distress and exit the room. In order to track Gigi's movement, we take advantage of the pan right/left movement to indicate a continuous scene as she walks down the stair. To develop a dynamic filming techniques, instead of repeatedly use of static movements and elliptical editing. We track Gigi's course through the use of steadicam, which allow us to move freely with a stabilizer and smoother footage. 

Blog 37: Editing Day 3

Editing 

    Heyyyyy!! Welcome back guys. You found this blog again. It's Editing Day 2 Part 2. Let's pick up where we left off. 

    On the end of day 2, we reviewed the video by adding some last transitions and cutting for the last scene. We shorten our last scene with birthday cake using montage techniques as we tried to aim for something unique towards the end of the film. By choice, we kept the filter for our first half footage with lighter natural sunlight but we changed the filter for the last half. We skillfully change the color setting of the footage from a cheerful mood to a cooler tone gradually.  With no corrupted in the filter rapid change, we were able to match the other scenes by adjusting the saturation, temperature, brightness, exposure, and brilliance. However, it took us a while to sort this out because we had to manually adjust the setting for every scene so that they match up throughout of the film. 

    Some of the transitions we have added was pull in/out, dissolve, and mix. These effect helped us skillfully transits to the next scene by creating the feeling up being pull in and absorb by the nature of the opening. Furthermore, we also added a white smoke transition effect at the end to transit to our last artificial thing, which includes white/gray smoke and the title of our film. We use "Procreate" to create the background for our title scene. First off, we tried different color layer that would best portrait the smokes. Gray seem to stand out the most. On the second layer, we used the white/gray smoke effect and tap over the gray background to create the natural blend in device. At this point, we wrapped up our day, leave the title and sounds for the next day! 

Blog 36: Wishlist

Wishlist 

    Hey reader!!!! Welcome back to my blogggg. Today, I will turn myself into a billionaire with a major budget. Let's imagine how I'd transform my film project if I had unlimited resources. Buckle up, because we're about to go BIG!!!!

    With a major budget, I'd cast a top-tier professional actor, who known for their emotional depth. With only one physical character, the demand for this project will be plot twist and sentiment. Our main goal is to bring out the sensation and sympathy from the viewer. I would love to see them on the edge of their seat and eager to know what's next. I'd also hire a renowned costume designer like Collen Atwood to create a stunning, y2k costume designer to add depth and authentic to our character. I would want the costume design to reflect the character's emotional journey and enhance the visual storytelling. Additionally, I'd also choose an astonishing locations that add a cinematic quality to the film. 

    Imagine shooting in a Hollywood built house with the "organized" messy room, it will definitely create a sense of realism and original. I would also invite Roger Deakins for cinematography and Hans Zimmer for the musical score. Their expertise would definitely level up the mise-en-scene of this project. With these experts, I will be able to ensure that the film's mood and atmosphere are perfectly captures. The advanced sound technology and editing software would also be utilized to create a seamless and immersive viewing experience. Personally, I would invested a roughly equal but skewed towards editing more. Editing is so important, it can transform from a seemingly raw product to a well polished one. By choosing the best elements for each aspect of the film, its quality would bring the audience a truly unforgettable cinematic experience.  

Blog 35: Specific Camera Shots/Angles

       Camera                 Shots/Angles

    Hey guys! Welcome back to my blog. Camera Shots/Angles are the most important element in my project. Since the beginning, we already had an idea of vision of camera shots/angles—documented in the first storyboarding. However, when it comes to filming, things got out of plans. We figured that some of the angles is repetitive. To minimize this, we decided to change some of the angle in our process. 

    There are a couple main camera shots/angles that we constantly use. For examples, the overhead shot was widely use in our film. The reason behind this was to showcase the object and action in process. This creates a one on one effect and give the audience a better understanding of what is happen here. Additionally, over the shoulder shot was also widely use as we wanted to show a wide framing of Gigi's action like taking out the make-up products.

    To enhance the action in progress, we also employed close-up shot to get the closest distance as possible for the title sequencing. However, we still had to use some editing methods to get a better close up and zoom in to capture the greatest distance for our text on image effect.  One of my favorite camera shot was the full shot employed with the dolly out-zoom in camera movement. This combination not only eyes-catching but also give a sense of loneliness. We intentionally recorded Gigi with full shot so we can demonstrate the down-mood surrounding with lower saturation. In term of angles wise, most of our framing was eyes-level, some with high/low angle. For instance, when Gigi was walking down stair, the camera man was all set at on the second floor with the camera facing down to create a high angle framing. Kudos to our team, high-angle was a great choice here as Gigi was walking down with despair. The angle made Gigi looked smaller and trapped the mood in her. 

Blog 34: Editing Day 2

Editing

    Hey guys. You made it to my editing art 2 journey!!!!! In the previous blog, I have mentioned about title sequencing and transitioning. In this blog, I will talks about how we put the videos together and the overall filter of our film.

    After finishing up with our transition, we were left with lighter work. On our second day of editing, we focused mainly on combining two separate work togethers. This is where the complicate part comes, me and Mimeo uploaded our video to cloud back up of CapCut. Therefore, we were able to access it from both laptop and Ipad. However, every switch is another download. To minimize that, we chose to edit on laptop because it was easy to function with when it comes to multiple layer of text and motion tracking.  After that, we uploaded them back to the cloud in order to download them again from my Ipad to continue with the editing. 

    The reason behind this was editing with filter and transition is way fast and more comfortable on Ipad. When we tried to put on the filter from desktop's CapCut, we couldn't find a button to un-filter it. It was a big mess. Additionally, when we downloaded the videos from the cloud to our Ipad, it appears that part of the editing didn't align right with the screen ratio. Originally, we thought that it might be uploaded problem, so we decided to export the video into our thumb-drive with 4k quality. This didn't fix the problem at all but it did help with the quality. Despite, I used the keyframe aligning skills and brought them back into frame with proper movement between features. 

The sun now rise again! 

Up until now we spent about over 7 hours of edit and reviewing with 2 cans of Celcius.