Creative Critical Reflection

Final Project

Setting up the reflection

     As I am finishing up with this project creation journey, I am making my final editing touches as well as reflect on how great of a journey this actually was. From not knowing what to do at all, to making a decision, to gathering research, to doing everything over again, oh jeez. What a ride.

     To create my Critical Reflection, I have decided to use iMovie in order to express my ideals in a much more organized manner. I will be creating a "movie" in where small clips, screenshots and slides will be displayed in order for me to explain my process meticulously  and for the viewer to get a better understanding of it. I will also be recording my voice through iMovie, implementing it, and cutting it out right to assure a good quality audio.

     My journey is coming to a close and I can not resist to express my thanks to everyone who helped me out in the creation of my film. From my classmates, who critiqued me and opinionated on everything that could be improved, to my actors, who were kind enough to take time out of their day to help me out with my project, to my teacher, who gave me all the resources possible to assure that I succeed in the creation of this film. Thank you. 

Just some editing left!

     I did it. After filming my whole entire film opening, realizing that it was not good enough for my expectations when editing, making the stressful decision of having to restart from the beginning, and filming everything all over again, I have officially finished with the hardest part of the project itself, which was to put all my ideas together and film them. I finally have a set of clips and music that I am satisfied with and am glad to turn in!
     Now, that does not mean I am done, whatsoever. I want this film opening to be amazing. In fact, I want this film opening to be the best academic project that I have ever completed. In order to do that, I need to maintain my focus, be patient, and keep in mind that anything could ever be improved. Although I already have all the clips that will be used within my opening, I will need to gather my peer's opinions about what they think could be improved about the film, reflect on them, and improve my film opening as a whole. I CAN NOT WAIT FOR THE FINAL PRODUCT!!!!

So Many Changes...

     If there is one thing that this production process has taught me, is the fact that not because things do not go as planned out, does not mean things did not go well.
     As mentioned in this blog, my film opening would consists of three characters (girlfriend, boyfriend, mother) and would have dialogue throughout the whole opening, right? Wrong. I started filming what I had planned, and did not like a single thing about it. I did not like the dialogue, I did not like how so many questions were answered within the first two minutes of the film.
     I decided to completely alter what my film opening would have been into, what I feel like, is a much better film opening because it better fits for my plot and target audience as well as maintain the fundamental techniques that I had initially. My new film opening will consist of no dialogue, music playing in the background, and various shots of the girlfriend preparing (packing) to leave to college. Also, the film opening will NOT focus on the boyfriend. This is done to make the viewer wonder who this person that the girl is thinking about is, rather than tell the viewer right away and answer many questions right away. Aspects on characterization will also be established as the camera shots will point to various items that have taken a role in the girl's relationship in which trigger memories within the girl's mind, even though the viewer does not fully understand why, yet.
     This film opening will not only make the film more interesting, since it creates so many questions that will later be answered within the film, but it will also remove the "cheesy" and awkward aspects of the film opening that were there from the start.
     Figuring this out has made me so relieved since I finally like what I am doing and feel like I am actually producing a good film. I am excited to reach a final product and know what you guys think(:


¨Purple Planet Royalty Free Music.¨Purple Planet Royalty Free Music. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.

¨

My first solution...

     I found a solution to my picture problem!!!!

     Unfortunately, I do not have to figure out a way to go back in time in order to get the time-progression pictures. Darn. I wanted to go back in time. 

     Anyway, I found a much simpler way for a "couple" to show that they have lasted a long time through the use of pictures. My male protagonist currently has a girlfriend, who is also my planned female protagonist, in the real world. Although he has not known her for long enough to have dated her since his elementary school years, he has known his sister since that time. 

     No. I will not be using a brother and a sister to star as a couple in my film opening. That would just be weird. However, what I am going to do is that, since the sister does relatively look a lot like his girlfriend in the fact that they both have black hair and light skin tone, I am going to get the pictures of my male protagonist and his sister through the years and make it look as if those are images of the current couple. Simple. 

The Script- Rough Draft

In order to plan ahead and save a lot of time, I decided to make a rough draft of what the script would be:

*Alicia is looking at picture, places it on top of her luggage*
*Alex walks in*
Alex: "Hey, sorry I'm late I had to drop off my sister at her friend's. How are you?"
Alicia: "Good and you"
*Alex sits down next to her *
Alex: "Excited for today huh?"
Alicia: "Kinda... I guess"
Alex: "Yeah, well I see you've packed that sweater that I gave you back on our one years"
Alicia: "Duh!! How could I not?! It's my favorite and it would go with a lot of my clothes"
Alex: "Haha yeah I guess. The red does look amazing on you, babe."
Alicia: "Jaja thanks."
*momentary silence*
Alex: "So did you find out if getting into the honors college gets you a better dorm?"
Alicia: "Yeah I did... And I don't. I just get the normal dorm like the rest of the incoming freshman class"
Alex: "Oh well at least you'll make greater bonds with all the other freshman"
Alicia: "Yeah I guess that's a good thing"
*momentary silence*
Alex: "You're going to do great, and I am incredibly proud of what you have accomplished, but gosh, I'm really going to miss you."
Alicia: "Ugh stop I've been trying to hold my tears in."
Alex: "Me too, but you know what? I'll still be here, and you could just call me or FaceTime me whenever you want."
*lean in to kiss (almost)*
*mom walks in*
Mother: "Alicia they're here!"
Alicia: "What? Already?!"
Mother: "Yes it's already 2 in the afternoon! Hurry up I don't wanna keep them waiting"
Alex: "Let's go"
*Finish packing, get up and go*

Mother: "You triple checked every thing? Toothbrush? Shampoo? Winter clothes?"
Alicia: "Yes mom don't worry I got it all."
Mother: "Alex! Hey! Didn't see you come in"
Alex: "yeah I know, sorry about that, I knew I was late so I wanted to get to Alicia as soon as possible."
Mother: "No worries, at least you made it. You only have one bag?!"
Alicia: "yes mom I don't have that many clothes"
Mother: "well it doesn't seem like a lot for someone who is moving out entirely."
Alicia: "I'll just buy it over there if I forgot anything."
Mother: "Alright just... Give me a hug."
*Hug passionately*
Mother: "I'm so proud of you. You've grown up into such a great person, you're going to do great."
Alicia: "I love you mom"
Mother: "I love you more. Okay it's time to go."
*Alex and Alicia quickly stare into each other, hug tightly*
Alex: "Be good okay? Have fun. I'm going to miss you."
Alicia: "I love you, and I'll miss you so much."
Alex: "See you later" *smiles*
Alicia: "See you soon" *walks out of door*

NOTE: This is only a rough draft; therefore, some of the things (including character names) will change in order to fit in better dialogue and meet the time limit.

My first problem...

     As I have been getting ready to shoot my production this week, I started to get some items and objects, that will appear within my production, ready. While doing this, I encountered my first problem.
     As you all know, my plot will be a girlfriend who is forced to separate herself from her boyfriend because she is leaving to college. To create emphasis on their strong relationship, and to make the viewer understand exactly how tough it is for this couple to separate from one another, I wanted to display picture frames around the room showing their progression through the years as a couple, making it clear that this couple have been together for a REALLY long time. My problem: I do not know a single teen couple that has been together for many years, long enough to have pictures with each other from their elementary/middle school years.
     Now, I will have to think of a way to go back in time, make a couple fall in love with each other, make sure that they take many pictures together, wait a few years to get back to this moment, and utilize those pictures for my film opening. I'm on it.

How Research Affected My Production..

     The whole point of gathering research is so one could take the valuable information and apply it to their own product in order to get a better product. Therefore, with the research provided within my last post, I decided to make another blog posting in where I point out specific traits that make a film a romantic drama and how my film will meet those requirements.
     So as mentioned in my last post, this audience is looking to see a conflict, a problem that will make the relationship, that the film is based on, different from the rest and worthwhile to watch a film for. In my film, the problem that the couple has to face is that they are forced to separate and battle the coming of age and temptations of college to maintain their relationship.
     Most male audience members dislike romantic dramas because they say they are too boring, non-relatable, and "all the same." In order to fix this issue, male audience members will be attracted by relatable, college party scenes that will involve alcohol, drug, and sexual temptations that will make my film unique and more desirable to watch since these scenes are "fun to watch." Also, for male teenagers, this is something they can relate to because, whether it is a girlfriend, friends or family members, incoming college freshman are forced to separate from the people they see on a daily basis and meet other people.  
     For my scene, the actors will be high school seniors (American) that will go to college in the upcoming fall. This will attract a teenage audience since they will feel the film relates to them.
     Although I decided to not utilize music throughout my entire opening since I wanted to place dialogue in order to establish characterization, I MIGHT include a bit of music on the last scene of my opening when the girl is leaving in the car on her way to college. This is meant to create an emotional mood and create the atmosphere of the problems that will come throughout the remaining of this film.

My Target Audience

    So to get a better understanding of what I am looking to produce within my film, I decided to research on my target audience to gather information on the target audiences' preferences and customs.

    Since my film is a Romantic Drama, I have realized that my target audience is mostly female, although not limited to just females as some males do in fact enjoy romantic dramas, from the age of 12-24 years old. This audience enjoys to watch films that include a couple who go through a conflict or struggle within their relationship, such as: financial problems, physical illness (The Fault in Our Stars), psychological restraints (The Vow), discrimination (Brokeback Mountain), or a family that tries to break up the unity of love.

    I also realized that the men (or women) who do not like to watch romantic dramas typically think that they are "boring," "all the same," and "non-relatable to themselves." To attract more male audience members, especially teenagers, my film will not be boring and will be original and very relatable to male teens because it will revolve around the story of a teenage couple who are forced to separate because of college (something a lot of teenagers have to experience since they do go to a post-secondary school). Also, because it is a university and this new teenage generation does party at a much younger age than ever before, the film will incorporate party scenes including alcohol and sexual activities that will make the romantic drama a more desirable film to watch and attract a wider make audience.

    Based on my research, I discovered that actors of a specific age group attract audience members of that age group. Therefore, since my characters will be teenagers that are soon going to college, more teenage viewers will be inclined to watch this film. Also, I discovered that actors of romantic films are typically either American or British.

    Lastly, my research indicated that, within romantic dramas, music is often employed to indicate the emotional mood, creating an atmosphere of greater insulation for the couple.

Research: Boyhood

     As I have been doing research by watching other films to study traits and techniques that I could use within my production, I decided to watch Boyhood (2004), directed by Richard Linklater. Although the film does not technically fall within my genre, this indie film contains plenty of vital techniques that I could mimic within my film opening.
     Boyhood contains many scenes in where there is a relationship between a male and a female. Since the movie was filmed throughout 12 years utilizing the sane characters, the director did not have much screen time to overly develop the relationship that either the mother or the main character, Mason Evans, Jr. However, the viewer does have some background knowledge on the characters and is able to understand the conflict between a relationship, even though no relationship within the movie is overly emphazised, by the way the director portrays each character by their very limited dialogue and specific actions mentioned during screen time.
     Mason Evans, Jr. is the character whom the audience mostly hears dialogue from, since he is, of course, the main character. Even though he does not share too much dialogue, since he is presented as having an extraordinary personality, who nearly questions every aspect about life, with very little dialogue spoken from his mouth, the viewer is able to understand this character through specific word choice and dialogue chosen and typical behaviors used by Mason.
     This is the challenge that I must complete within my film, in order for it to be a successful opening. The art of saying a lot by not saying much at all is a skill that I must do and will continue to research on in order to reach my maximum potential.


Boyhood Poster. Digital image. IFC Boyhood. N.p., n.d. Web.

Storyboard

     Hello! I have sort of planned out a little bit of how I am going to shoot my film opening as I have made a storyboard which shows some of the shots I will be taking as well as a caption underneath to keep me in track of what I need to do. NOTE: Some of the things within this storyboard may change as I might find something better to do.

Getting a lot of Ideas..

     Since my film opening would have the genre of a romance, I began watching examples and analyzing film openings of other romantic films.

     The first opening that I analyzed was The Notebook (2004), directed by Nick Cassavetes. Cassavetes created an opening which is the present-time of a story that happened in the 1950's between two characters, which is the couple that the movie revolves around. The opening scene allows the viewer to recognize important aspects about the film, from the start, such as genre, setting, and most importantly, characterization.

GENRE- The director at first shows the male protagonist of the film, Duke, and then later shows the female protagonist. This contrast between characters, and how they meet at the very end of the opening sequence allows the reader to assume that they are a couple which would lead to the genre of a romance. For my film, I want to do something like this, as they never explicitly stated they were a couple, but showed it through dialogue, camera cuts, and characterization.

SETTING- The male is located, at first, in a room which appears to be his bedroom, with light blue walls that give the impression that the man is in a hospital. Then, the nurse walks in and talks about the man's pills. The humorous dialogue between the patient and the nurse indicate that they are located in an elderly care home. Without showing any establishing shots of a hospital or care home, with mise-en-scene and dialogue, the director accomplished the task of making the viewer figure out what the setting and situation is. For my opening, I want to do something very similar to this as I want the viewer to assume everything through mise-en-scene, visuals, and dialogue.

CHARACTERIZATION- The very first thing that the viewer sees is a close-up of a man. By his over-sized glasses, as well as the stretch marks on his face, the viewer can quickly note that the man is a third-aged man. The viewer could also tell that the man, and the woman who is later displayed, are or were in love by the way the man shows interest about her through dialogue. This specific shots and dialogue allow the viewer to get background knowledge about the character from a very early stage in the film. For my opening, I want to mimic this idea as I want the viewer to know as much as possible about my two characters from my two-minute opening.

     Watching films that fall within my genre and analyzing techniques within their openings give me a better idea of what to do with my film opening as well as note my target audience's preferences. There is plenty of more to come with my research on romantic movie openings.


Digital image. The Notebook - WarnerBros. Web.

Thanks, classmates!

     I walked into my classroom on Friday with a general idea of what I wanted to do with my film opening but no way to really elaborate on my idea, as I was not sure how I wanted to establish setting and character or did not know any details to include within my opening. However, my classmates helped me out on giving me a couple of ideas to make my project look better.
     Sound- I was very indecisive on whether I wanted to have a sad song playing in the background, or if I wanted my characters to share dialogue throughout the opening. My classmates told me that dialogue would be the better route to go because this way, I could establish characterization and character interests without literally saying it, as well as give the audience some knowledge about who these characters are apart from just visuals.
     First thing on screen- With my classmates's help, I have decided that the very first thing that the audience sees is an over-the-shoulder shot of the girl sitting on her bed looking down at her belongings on her hand. The shot will transform into a pan movement of her room displaying photographs of her and her boyfriend through the years. This will establish that the couple has been together for quite some time as the framed pictures progress from their young, elementary to middle school years all the way to their high school, teenage years. Also, this pan movement will allow me to show my skills when it comes to camera movement, as I recognize that camera movement is an extremely important feature to producing a good film opening.

It's Official!!!!

     After meeting with four other classmates on Friday, they allowed me to reach my final decision on what exact film opening I wanted to do. My initial idea of a girlfriend who leaves her boyfriend for college is going through as my classmates encouraged me that it was the right decision to make. Also, they filled me with many film details and techniques that I could perform within my production in order for my opening to reach its maximum potential. Now, I am officially more excited than ever to produce this film!
     So I decided to do this plot because it is something that I can relate to. Since I will be leaving to college soon, leaving my family, friends, and girlfriend is something that I will have to face in the near future; therefore, I felt like I could do a great job directing this film because I would have first-hand experience.

Decisions, Decisions...

     So back when I heard about this project in October, I had to pick right away if I wanted to do a magazine or a film opening. I chose film opening because I thought it would be a lot more fun and engaging to do and also because I have had this idea for a while now, but I am not sure if I fully want to go through with it.
     My idea would be a film opening called The Distance. The opening would be about a teenage couple, male and female, who have been dating for a while but are forced to separate from each other because the female is leaving town for college.

- Is the story good enough? Does it grab people's attention and make them want to watch it?
- What would be their names?
- Where would I shoot this?
- How will I present then characters?
- Will there be dialogue between the characters, or a song playing in the background?

I will be meeting up with some of my classmates on Friday where I will pitch them my ideas then and receive their feedback on it. To be honest, I am pretty nervous- but excited(:

Get to Know Me a Little

     Hi, my name is Diego and I am a 12th grader at Cypress Bay High School. I was born in Caracas, Venezuela and migrated to the United States at the age of 10. Not knowing a word of English was a tremendous disadvantage for me when moving to this country. However, a few months into school, I became accustomed to the language and began speaking it fluently with my friends. Leaving my hometown of Venezuela was definitely one of the greatest challenges I have ever had to face, as I was forced to leave the country who watched me grow up, with the amazing ambiance and friendly, loving people who have been around me since the day that I was born. Venezuela was, and will always be, my home. The tears that I cried out, prior and post to moving, represent my lost of self by leaving that country.

     I have decided to do a film opening for this project because I felt that it gave me the best chance to display my fullest potential and simple because, it is a lot more fun. Although I have not decided exactly what I want to do for my film opening, I do have a small idea of something that I myself can relate to as this is my senior year and I will be leaving to college soon.




Venezuela Flag Map. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web.
UF Gators Logo. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web.