Creative Critical Reflection

CCR (Google Drive)

CCR (Dropbox)

CCR (Youtube)

Link to final product

https://youtu.be/ExXSRUob66I

editing

The final thing that we managed to get done over spring break was editing. We compiled all the shots that we filmed and put them together. We ran into trouble trying to connect the audio due to some mistakes while filming, but we were able to fix it by overlaying the song in a different audio track. Also there were some shots that did not connect as nicely as we would have liked, so we re filmed some of the ones that did not work out, and we also mixed up the order of some of the shots so that the opening flowed better. We are currently looking into changing the color of the opening to a warmer or colder hue but we have more testing to do before we decide which ones look better for certain shots.

here is a photo of me editing the opening

here is a video of the changing of hues that we are currently working on

filming

During spring break me and my group members also got the chance to shoot our opening. We got some of Mark's friends to help us out with the process. We were able to get most of the shots easily and we also took some shots that we thought up on the spot that were not on the storyboard which we then added in later during the editing.

We ended up using Mark's garage as the filming location.

This is a picture of the actor who played the killer and me applying the ketchup to the mask to use as fake blood.

props

So Spring Break just ended and we where able to get a lot of our project done within the week that we had off. Today I am going to be showing the props that we used in our opening

This is the speaker that we used during shooting to play the music. We did overlay some parts, but there were also portions of the opening where the speaker was the source of music

This is me adding ketchup to the mask to resemble blood

This is the board, red string, thumbtacks, and mask that we used for the opening.

This is the board after adding some maps to resemble the town that the killer lives in

These are photo cutouts of the victims that the murderer plans to kill

Using the thumbtacks and the string we made a board that the killer would use to organize his murders

 This is the final product after adding credits to the board for us to use during the opening

production logo

Recently me and my team developed a production logo. We plan to put it at the beginning of the film opening and its there to make our opening look more professional and put a title to our group which we decided should be Phoba Films.

We decided to go with the yellow color with a black background

Here is a video of it in action, as you can see there is also some music playing in the background which we plan to use for the first few seconds of the opening

This is some examples of other logos that we were thinking of using.

location scouting

Due to recent complications me and my team have not been able to stay on schedule and we have not started our filming. So as we are getting ready to start the filming process we need to find a good location to shoot our scene. My team members have also been doing some location scouting and found some viable locations, but I thought it would be helpful if I did some scouting as well.

So the first place I though could work would be my room. My room could be good for the dark vibe we want for our killing scene the only issue would be that we would be limited to only shooting at night do to the fact the during the daytime the window in my room would produce too much light. Also my room is a bit small for the scene but i think if we messed around enough we could make it work.

So the first thing that I think would make my room a good idea is that my bed could become the table where the victim wakes up on, (refer to the storyboard post) maybe we could bring a wood panel to make it look more like a table instead of a bed.

The next is there is a desk in my room where we could have the victim search through and find some of the murderers parephenalia like a body part or a bloody knife.





The other location that we could use may be my garage, with some lighting tricks it may be a viable location. The issue with it is that a major part of my garage is full of clutter, but I think if we organize it properly it could work.



There is a table in the garage so that is perfect for the victim waking up scene that I had mentioned before

There is also a workbench in my garage that would work for the parephenalia scene that I had explained before, the only issue is that its surrounded by clutter so getting a good shot may be difficult

today group discussion

Today in class me and my group got together to discuss our project. We are considering adding a few shots to our story board. The fist shot would be at the beginning of the opening scene, it would be a close up of  the killer's hands where he would be doing a regular everyday action with a knife to make the audience a little suspicious but not give the killer away. Also we are thinking of adding some pop music in the background to make the audience feel comfortable so that they get impacted heavier when things start going south for the victim. The second shot we are considering using is a shot similar to that of Terminator 2 where there is a close up of the robot crushing the skull with his foot. We would put this shot after the shot of the radio turning on and it would be a close up of the killer crushing glass or a bone with his boot before he lunges at the victim. It would be there to add dramatic effect to the part of the opening where the killer sneaks up behind the victim.

music scouting

As of right now all our attempts to gain the licensing to the songs that we want to use in our film opening have failed. We keep getting declined or the company just doesn't respond (one company did give us the rights but only if we were in the UK). Due to this we decided that we are just going to look for music that is not copyrighted. We found a website ( http://freemusicarchive.org/ ) with a lot of music that is not copyrighted so after searching for music we found that  the semi-ballad for internet double duet by Stewart Miller, Natalia Kamia ( link here ) gives off an eerie vibe and the artist Sophie Tucker (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Sophie_Tucker/) also has some music that is suitable for the vibe we are trying to get. Also one of my group members found the song Everybody's Jazzin'it by Arthur Collins and Byron G. Harland (https://youtu.be/UnUKLu0d62w).

props and schedule

So in class me and my group got together and we wrote up what equipment or props we might need and we also made a schedule for shooting so that we can all be ready to shoot and on the same schedule.

For props we all decided that the only things that we need to buy are a white shirt that we can get dirty with fake blood, we also need a killer mask and fake body part which we could find at a store like Party City or Target, and we also are thinking or buying a tripod but we are not sure if we will buy it yet. Everything else that we should need for filming we already own.

We also assigned roles to everyone. At the moment Nico Pol is going to play the Killer, I am going to be the victim, and My last team member Mark Murciano is going to be the one filming. I was chosen to be the victim because we established I have the best acting and Mark is really good with the camera.

As for our shooting schedule:
-from 3/9 to 3/10 we practice shooting, get our props, and scout our final location
-from 3/16 to 3/17 we can shoot on during the weekend to get a foothold before spring break starts
-from 3/21 to 3/31 we will be on spring break so we will all be free to shoot during that period and we will hopefully get started on editing as well

Storyboard

So over the weekend my group and I worked on the storyboard. So the fist shot is going to be a low angle establishing shot followed by a high angle shot of the victim laying down. The following shot is a medium shot of the victim waking up and after that the next shot is of the victim looking for their phone. They find the phone in their pocket but with an over the shoulder shot we show that the phone is out of battery. The shot that follows is a long shot of the person throwing their phone realizing its useless then proceeds the shot of the victim trying to open the door but realizes its locked.The shots that follow are two shots of the victim opening drawers in the room looking for anything useful but instead finds human body parts so out of shock they fall over, and as he is getting up the radio starts playing and you see the killer begin to approach. The killer the murders the victim and the title of the film shows up on the screen. The next shot is from under a desk and you can see the body getting dragged while credits are on the upper part of the screen. This is our idea for our film opening and I will have pictures of the storyboard below so you guys can check it out for yourselves.

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Peer review

So last class we got together with other groups in my class and we looked at each others blogs. The goal was to get as much constructive criticism as possible from my peers. After assessing my blogs they came to the conclusion that I should try to elaborate more in my blog postings, fix some typos that I had left in my blogs, and add more pictures and links to my blog postings to make them more interactive and interesting. I also got some good ideas for the opening, one person told me that horror movie openings don't always start with something scary, it could be a regular scene with little eerie aspects to it. I also got a good horror movie opening to look at, its the opening to scream which ill link below. Overall I feel like I got some good constructive criticism to improve my portfolio.




https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G3lSvJ5RXKA

Getting a plot

Me and my group finally decided on the horror genre after discussing it in class. We are now trying to find a good plot for our film opening. We are thinking about doing something with a serial killer going on a murder rampage . Right now the top idea is having the film opening in a dark enclosed area, and introducing the serial killer to the audience in a creepy fashion by showing him murdering a victim. We have not yet finalized the idea but it seems like our best option at the moment. I also emailed a music company to try and get the licensing for the songs Everybody Knows by Leonard Cohen and Rabbit Run by Flanagan and Allen, sadly though they never responded so I am going to have to re-send the emails to see if they will respond.

Rabbit Run: https://youtu.be/SXmk8dbFv_o

Eerybody Knows: https://youtu.be/mEQldSi-heE

Drama or Horror

So me an my team are still currently discussing what genre we want our film opening to be. We are currently in between having a drama film opening or a horror film opening. I personally would prefer to do horror, but you also have to be flexible with your teammates. So to start my research I am watching film openings from some horror movies like Get Out, The Purge, Annabelle, IT, and Halloween. Also I am watching a few drama film openings from movies like A Star is Born, First Man, and Bohemian Rhapsody. I am looking for any typical conventions and similarities that we could use in our opening.