CCR #4 Script

 How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

The technologies that I used to create my film include blogger where I tracked all my progress and ideas from the start. I edited the film on adobe premiere and used YouTube videos to figure out how to edit things I wasn’t sure how to do. For sound effects I looked on YouTube for non-copyrighted sound effects (not done editing so when I am list sources here) The camera I used was a Sony a7 lll. I have this because my mom is a photographer and had a lot of the materials I needed to film. 

CCR Script #3

 How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

My production skills definitely improved throughout this whole process and I am so grateful. Since I did this project alone I learnt how to single-handedly be a director, producer, editor, and even actor. And boy is it hard. I have so much respect for everyone in the industry. I feel like everything I learnt this year I was able to apply it into my work and it definitely shows. All the camera shot, angles, movements, mise-en-scene, sound, and editing that I did had a specific purpose and reason. The whole process helped me better understand why things are done the way they are. 

For this part of my CCR I wanted to do a challenge where I pop balloons and inside the ballon’s are the questions 3 & 4. And with every question comes a challenge. Example: eating hot wings…each question would have a different challenge. 

CCR #2 Script

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

Since I am not represented by a big company my product would first be distributed at small film festivals. This can help me network and hopefully find someone in the business that can help me further in my distribution process. The first film festival I can apply to is one in my school called the “lighting film festival” although this is county wide…it still helps me put my film out there and to the eyes of others. The end goal is obviously to have my movie on the big streaming platforms like hulu, HBO, amazon. But I realize there’s a longggg time coming for that, but i’m patient because I believe my film is worth it and somebody will hopefully realize that. Maybe after the festivals I can try to put my film on YouTube. Of course I will also be posting on all my socials and do trends to promote the film and hopefully find the right person to help distribute my film. I can also pay content creators to talk about my film but that’s more on the marketing side. 

For questions 1 & 2 my idea was to play poker while answering the questions since it relates to my film and in the 1st question i’m talking about the problems that gambling can bring. 

CCR #1 Script

 Since I have finished my project it is time to start planning out my CCR. This whole week I will be posting the scripts to the 4 questions. 

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

What is addiction? Addiction is when someone relies on something so heavily they feel as if they can’t live without it. You can be addicted to anything some are basic things that won’t harm you like coffee, sugar, work, etc. But theres also the addiction to alcohol, drugs, gambling, etc. It’s something that can ruin the life of the addict and the family. It turns their whole life around relying on the substance to practically live. And it’s not even something they choose for themselves because addiction can be genetically transmitted. My film opening “Getting” represents any type of addiction or addicts. Many people have stereotypes on how addicts behave or look and how they go about their day to day life. But my film opening challenges those thoughts and ideas by showing the truth. Not all addicts quit for the same reason. Not all addicts are homeless. And not all addicts are bad people. Yes they struggle. Yes they make mistakes. But people often forget that it’s their first time living too. Being accepting and welcoming is one of the best things we can do as humans. Addiction is a big issue all around the world. Gambling though is the addiction with the highest rates of suicide. I hope that any addicts that watch my film will realize the dangers of the path that they are continuing on and hopefully are able to change for the better. Even though there are ups and downs in the process of recovery at the end seeing your family and friends happy and relived is the end goal.

Editing day 1

Today I started editing my film opening. When I was first retrieving the files I freaked out because I couldn’t find the laundromat clips. Then I remembered they were two different SD cards…lol

So today what I did was sort the clips figure out what I needed or didn’t need and put everything in order of the story line. Tomorrow I need to cut everything down to get the 2 minutes. I also need to find sound effects for the casino and laundromat. I need sounds of washing machines circulating, people playing games, a heartbeat. 

I also need to figure out if the song is legible I asked my mom she said she needed look for a while. I’m going to ask my friends today. But I feel like if I need to ask then that’s a problem in itself. 

To be continued tomorrow 😓 

Title :)

 First I want to say I can make a script, create a story, act, edit…but create a title. Nope can’t do it. I truly congratulate anyone with this job, this is hard!

So for the title my idea was to call it GETTING or THE GET. I have a reason. She is getting better (recovery from her addiction) or getting money (going back to the casino) it kind of leave the beginning of the story into the interpretation of the viewer. 

The placement can either be at the very end when i’m walking out of the laundromat and it appears when I walk away. So kind of like i’m leaving a trail…

Or 

I can also do it in one of the shots I have where I put the camera inside the washing machine and the camera is covered until I start taking clothes out. So the title is covered at first and slowly revealed as I start taking everything out. I feel like both could be cool. Maybe i’ll try both out and see how I feel.

As for the font I found this at the very beginning of my film project and I still really like it. It’s these letters but in poker card form and it really fits the theme of my film opening. Only thing is I’m not so sure if it’ll be legible. I’m going to ask around and see what people think and then i’ll decide if I should use it or shouldn’t. 

This week i’m really nervous because i’m taking the SAT so i’ve been head on studying so on Saturday after the SAT i’ll start editing.

Match Cut research

 So in my film opening I have 3 different match transition, and i’ve never edited a match transition in my life so today I took it upon myself to learn. 

First things first a match cut is a transition used to seamlessly transition to another location or a scene.

 It can be graphic which is when the shape of an object matches the two shots. This for example is one of mine- when the washing machine transitions to the eye. The shape of them are the same (circular.) For this specific match cut when I filmed them I made sure both were centered and stable shots so it would be easier for me to edit.

There is also an action/ movement match cut. This is my other two. When the action moves into the following scene. In my case this is when she inserts the cash, and when she presses the button. 

There are a lot of other match cuts like sound, color, idea, and direction. I will only be using the ones above for my film opening. 

The important thing with match cuts it’s making sure they are in same angle, centered, and stable shots. Which are all things I did so i’m really hoping i’m successful with it. 

Filming day 2: Laundromat

Today I filmed at the laundromat and I think it came out SO cinematic and really good. We filmed a lot of extra shots so I have so much to choose from, but everything came out like I had in my vision. 

When we got there it was packed which wasn’t good because we sometimes had to wait for people to clear the area which would take a while, and then another person would appear. Which was a bit annoying. 

Also since in the casino I had to use cash instead of a coin my cash transition wasn’t through the washing machine but instead through an ATM that exchanged our cash for coins. I really hope it works out because I grabbed the wrong SD card so we couldn’t even compare the shots to each other. 

So many people were watching me film and laughing so you might see them in the background of my film opening so…keep an eye out for that!!!

To make the pregnant belly we used a bowl but since you could see the ridges we covered it with a towel. It looked a lot better than the picture here. 

When we filmed the pregnancy scene I was so embarrassed because there were so many people watching, but it came out so realistic im so excited to start editing. If I do a good job I really think it’ll come out amazing!! 

I also changed my outfit a bit. Instead of wearing skinny jeans I wore sweatpants because it was easier to fake the pregnant belly this way. I put a lot of powder on my face to make myself look whiter and I put on really clumpy blue mascara. I’m not sure why I did this but it just felt like her. She also had a really messy bun which brought the outfit together. 

Me and my mom had a lot of fun filming since this is how we bond :)

Review on Casino + I made a mistake

 So the Hard Rock was a great choice other than the fact they didn’t have coin slots…still upset about it. Other than that the lighting was a lot better than I thought and it wasn’t that packed. Were there a lot of people. Yes. But it was filmable you know… I got all the shots I wanted and it was very successful I would say.We also saw my mom’s friend and the casino and asked him if we could film his screen and he said yes. So when i edit i’m going to put them together so it looks like i’m playing when i’m actually not. I took clips of facial expressions and me pressing buttons to help it appear realistic. Now I need to start editing and see how I do everything else at the laundromat. 

Here’s a sneak peek of the clips 

I might or might have not also filmed some clips in slo-mo without realizing…whoops. I can always speed it up but well see if it looks weird in the final product. Some of them I could also keep as slo-mo I feel like it could add to the scene??? I don’t know I just hope it works out.

Filming day 1

 So today I started filming. I actually only wanted to have one day of filming but something went wrong. 

Basically I got everything together and packed it up in the car. I asked my mom to film for me because she a professional videographer and photographer, and I want the best quality for my film opening. So we were on our way. 

We went to the 1st filming location which was the casino. We went to the hard rock hotel. We started looking around for a machine that had a coin slot but they were almost ALL with card. Until we found one with cash. This means that my coin transition is going to have to change to a cash transition, and i’m not sure if there is cash laundromats. 

We continued filming and I was nervous since I can’t play the games. BUT all the games shown are my mom playing and me recording. So nothing illegal going on here :). 

I got all the shots I wanted and to get the eye transition shot I ducked down to get a bright light in my eye since a lot of the games weren’t as bright as I thought.

We wrapped up filming at the casino and were in the way to the laundromat when my dad called up telling us he broke his knee. So we had to go back home and take him to the hospital. 

The laundromat will have to be left for another day which might be a blessing in disguise since I have to look for another laundromat that accepts cash. I definitely learnt I have to do more research on filming locations before we actually go out.