Critical Reflection

How do your products represent social groups or issues?

I feel that my film is very relatable.The film is a drama with some comedy. The situation is heartbreaking and a real perception of my life, but I am also living. Therefore I took this film lightheartedly and decided not to get as deep as I could've in efforts to see the positives in this year and this overall situation. I am a teenage girl in quarantine talking about it. so I hope my film reaches other teenagers feeling the same thing. The first half of the film is a daily routine or a look into my life, while the second half is me venting to the audience touching on the global pandemic COVID-19 as well as anti-maskers and how you can get other students and I out of Isolation. I represent all the teenagers right now. How we feel and how we are spending our precious high-school years. I think of this film also as a time-capsule memory. Years from now, I can watch this and see how I was interpreting this pandemic. There was no acting in this film. I was filming alone in isolation, due to the pandemic and quarantine the film is about. This film is my direct experiences and my representation of Gen Z and how we cope with this extremely difficult situation. Whether that is online school, social media, or peer pressure to break quarantine. 

How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of branding?

The branding and advertising segment of this product was definitely my favorite part. I was heavily inspired by a television series I watch on HBO called Euphoria. The show is about high schoolers navigating life so I felt a sense of connection there. A very important scene in the show involved blue, purple, and pink lights. So I incorporated that into mine and made it my "theme". I did this in multiple ways. To begin with, I had many scenes in my film with blue, purple and pink led lights in the room. This is also relatable because LED lights have been very popular for teenage bedrooms in the past year. I also incorporated the blue, purple, pink gradient into my advertising. My film logo, advertisements, and even website all incorporated this theme. Personally, I think the cohesiveness of the brand makes it look well put together as well as set the precedent for the film. The colors are dark, moody even. What does this say about the film? None of my advertising directly gave a sense of theme or genre. I liked this because it kept me wondering and kept me interested. The brand is young and unique. ISOLATED had social media avenues that promoted the film consistently, even when the filmmaking process was not going as good. I am very proud of the brand's vision and all the advertisements I created for it. I enjoyed this part more than the film making because digital marketing is an area I want to work in in the future. 

How do your products engage with the audience?

As a young person, Gen Z member even, I understand technology. I can edit an advertisement in a matter of minutes, and I know how to film and edit the most effectively. As a young person, I also understand the importance and power of branding and social media. That is why I took that aspect of the film so seriously because I know in the real world It is important. No matter how great a film is, if its not properly advertised, no one will see it. The social media's I focused on most was Instagram because in comparison to Facebook and Twitter, Instagram has the most engagement with my target audience. Therefore, I used that product the most to engage with my audience. Whether it was posting temporary stories or permanent posts, Instagram was the most natural to use. I also followed multiple other film pages. This shows my film page on other people's feed more, according to how the algorithm works in promoting and recommending pages. This means my account was more likely to be recommended to someone who enjoys films or filmmaking. Properly engaging with and communicating with your target audience is the best way to come by organic engagement. My actual film is on YouTube, a very popular and simple platform as well as on my website. My website is linked under all my social media accounts therefore it is very accessible to anyone who would like to watch it.

How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?

I have done research on social media marketing before, from a business class I previously took. Also as a young consumer who wants to enter the business field, I take notice on how companies advertise to me, a sixteen year old girl. Once I got a clear brand vision, the advertising became easy. An issue I came across was the genre. I had another idea for my film with my best friend. Around each other, we become comedians, but when a change of plans left me to do the project alone, I had to rethink. I couldn't make a hilarious film by myself because Im not Kevin Hart, but I didn't want a film about my own life to be depressing either. So this left me conflicted. The drama conventions were challenged because there weren't any sad or negative emotions portrayed, just relatable content with funny commentary. I added sound effects and upbeat music since I felt it being silent was making it not engaging enough. Another convention I went extremely against was the format of my film. I did the first half like a movie scene, edited montage with commentary. Since I had no cast, I had no dialogue leaving me to narrate my routine. The second half of the video followed the format of a YouTube video. With me looking in the camera, talking to the audience directly. This was definitely a last minute hit-or-miss decision but overall I liked the way the film was like nothing I have ever scene before.

Short Film Package

My Short Film package

ISOLATED

Link to short film 

https://youtu.be/bqKuTDmts9I

Website

https://isolatedthefilm202.wixsite.com/home

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Filming+Reviewing

Today I filmed again. I started by propping my camera on my desk behind my computer to get a good angle. I recorded myself dramatically doing my classes. The next thing I did was screen-record my computer screen. This shows me clicking off-topic tabs, responding to teachers, and looking up answers. These scenes are in efforts to make relatability with the audience. I then changed out of my pajamas and redid some scenes, such as me sitting at my desk, scowling through my phone during class, etc. Next I moved my tripod next to my bed. I filmed myself watching tv, laying down, doing hw, etc. Finally after I showered I filmed some night-time scenes while I was in pajamas. The purpose of filming in multiple outfits, is so that I can edit it to look like multiple days are passing. That is the effect since I am alluding that every day feels the same. I would say today was a successful filming day. I also decided to review some footage. I imported the scenes and cut some shorter to being with. I would say that none of my footage is bad but I need more. I learned that I should keep the camera rolling and do the action multiple times so I can naturally see what looks best. When importing the footage I also needed to start organizing them chronologically. I decided to import it all in to iMovie. My next step is to edit the film and do the VoiceOver. 

Re-Write

I have been recently stressed bout creating a new story. After giving it some thought I have finally come up with an idea for my new plot. It will revolve around the daily quarantine routine. The VoiceOver will be a monologue of how I feel as it plays through my day. Also I want the VoiceOver will have some jokes or comedic references. I will start by doing the wake-up scene. This is where I will introduce the pandemic and why we are in quarantine. Then it will go into the school routine, this is where I will insert the computer footage. Next it goes into a montage of clips of me being bored and doing minuscule tasks to keep me entertained. The final scene will be a sit-down about quarantine and how its affected me. So my next step to take the storyboards and edit it. This misstep in creating a story during a pandemic led to me basically having to start all over. Hopefully this rewrite will be practical enough to film by myself. Another concern i have is it not being long enough but I think the talking scene at the end will make it long enough. By storyboarding I can get an idea of what to film.This will be helpful for my filming day. My last storyboard condensed my daily routine into 1/5 of the film. Now I will take that scene and expand it. This story should be easy because its my life. Its my daily routine the film is based on, so it should be relatively native to me.

New Years!

 It is now new years! I am currently on a plane. A plane during COVID? Yes, i’m currently on my way to New Orleans. This means, I am taking a couple days off of working on my film. I have just come to the conclusion that I need to create a whole new story. While I would love to leave that stress in 2020, I cannot. So here I am on my way to Charlotte, then New Orleans. Ive never been there, but it seems nice. I am going for my stepbrothers football game, the NCAA Sugar Bowl. I have a very busy weekend ahead of me so I won’t be doing any planning. Since I will not be on set (my room) this also means I won’t be filming. As i mention before in my christmas blog, I think it is important to take breaks and pace yourself. Personally, with creative projects, I need to work on my schedule. I will not priorities creative projects over math homework or a history test because one matters more than the other unfortunately. In the new year, I plan on creating a film I and proud of. Isolated, my film, is one of my new years resolutions as well as being more organized. I will not lie to you reader, I have slacked. I have put off working on this project in the name of other classes. But deadlines are approaching and it’s time to face the music.

New Story

 My friend got COVID, I am on lockdown. So now I am forced to come up with a new story. This is going to be extremely difficult because I don’t know what to do on such short notice. What if the new film doesn’t match the colors and theme I’ve implicated on social media. Will this create a whole re-branding, I don’t know. This is what my idea is. My first scene was going to be a “Quarentine Routine”. If i take this idea and expand it, while adding funny remarks and details, I can make it 5 minutes long. The issue with this is that there is no storyline or plot going on. This means I would need to add some dimension to the voiceover that goes over it.  I’m kind of getting stressed out about it to be honest. I have to get a whole new story, which means a whole new storyboard, etc. etc. The most convenient thing for me to do is create a story revolving around me and my room. This way, there will be no excuses as to why I cannot do it. A one-woman show if you will. I now need to start working on the storyboard. This part will probably be the most exhausting but it is necessary for a thought out film. Also, let’s find a silver lining. Although i have all this newfound stress, there is one benefit from all this. Since I have no one to film with, I can film anytime. This is convenient for me because my schedule is crazy.

There has been a change of plans...

 So today I have decided to start reviewing. The filming went well. I have a couple of good takes but I still have to do some more. But I have ran into a slight issue. There are many COVID cases in Florida. We might as well just be the epicenter for Coronavirus by now. Although my issue is the storyline, as the film is about a girl breaking from quarantine, it is a bigger issue. My co-star has got COVID. Due to this emergency, my mom has not allowed me to get with any friends to film. She hasn't let me hang out before, but this just adds fuel to the fire. So this issue is now out of my control. I am in complete and utter confusion. I now need to figure out a way of making a movie completely alone. This has gave me extreme anxiety because I have a deadline and I don't know what I am going to do with my story.  My plan is to rewrite the story but that is a problem for another day. This issue also means I have to re-storyboard as well as think of a story where I can still use my footage. Will it be in the same genre? Will I have enough time? I don't know, but that is a problem for another day, and all I can do. now is brainstorm.

Why I am not filming today or tomorrow

 I still have a lot of work to do left with my film. I just worked on my social media so I know I’ve done some progress. There is a lot of filming and editing to do and the clock is ticking. I know it is crucial that I film. Even more so since my last film day ended up so horrible. It is currently December 24, 8 pm. I did not film today nor will I film tomorrow and here is why. It is Christmas Eve, and with the horrible year 2020 has been, I need this holiday. I am at my grandparents house, with my dad, grandparents and brother from college. We just had a dinner that we spent all day preparing. Tomorrow I will wake up, come back here to spend time time with my cousins. After that I’ll go to my mom’s house and spend time with my brother and how excited he is about all his new toys. Once we get out of the Santa age, the school system has always assigned packets of work or projects to work on. To this I say, forget that. Why should I have to give up my holiday time, my family traditions and my mental break to keep up with something like school. I am not going to film today or tomorrow because there are more important things in life. Maybe on the 26th or maybe on the the 31st. But i know that while i am with my very old grandparents, i’m going to appreciate the time I have with them and give myself a break. I will have time to film, but filming on a holiday is something I won’t do to myself. Cambridge, if you are reading this for any reason, happy holidays!

Filming Again

           So now i need to film again. In case you haven’t read the last filming blog, my first filming attempt went rather rough. So now I have to re-film the first couple of scenes. I would say today was better. Because my failure, today I used my mistakes to learn and perform better. I started off by filming the bed scenes. I used my phone to check if the camera was positioned right. This was such a smart moment in my mind. I had an issue so I hacked my way around it. This helped me tremendously. It prevented me from making my previous mistake because my camera was centered the way I wanted it to be. Although that was a positive, i did make a reoccurring mistake. It is extremely hard to film in my house. I have two parents taht work from home, a 5 year old brother and an extremely loud grandmother all in a small house. This made me frustrated. I was constantly trying to find a quiet time but it was never quiet enough. There were many interruptions and random sounds. This annoyed me because I had to refilm and refilm. Finally, I got the take I needed. I would say that today was a more successful film day.

Reviewing

 So now that i have filmed one day, I need to review my film. This is important now so I know to refilm. When I looked at my footage I was very dissatisfied to see it. All my time went to waste as the footage is now useless. I am filming and producing this movie by myself. But I am also in it as well. This causes problems because I don’t have someone to help me. If i had a partner to record correctly, it would’ve saved me this misstep. Most clips were out of focus. This makes the clip irrelevant because I can’t use it in any way. Some clips were not angled correctly or centered. My camera does not have a reversible viewfinder. Therefore I have to get physically behind the camera and set it before running back into the frame. I feel like I have wasted my time because I have no footage and a day wasted. It has made me learn though. I learned my camera was set to manual focus and not automatic. This meant, the way I set it would not stay focused once I stepped in the frame. On my next film day I will took what I learned and put it into use. I will leave my camera on automatic and check each clip after being taken to see how it looks. But that can all wait because my next step is some social media marketing.

Filming Day

         Today I began filming. I wanted to start with the alone scenes because they are easiest to do. I put myself into some new clothes and i started filming. I filmed half of the morning routine. Because I am filming myself, it is very hard. I had to reshoot multiple clips. My camera doesn’t have a reversible viewfinder, so i cannot see what I am filming. That challenged my filming process because I had to spend more time refilming. I also am having problems shooting a specific angle. Some clips are top view of me laying down. I couldn’t figure out today how to film it. After filming I looked it up and got the idea to put my tripod on my bed and flip the camera as low as I can. Another difficulty I ran into was noise. I live in a house with three adults and a 5 year old kid. This means there’s constantly a lot of noise. Many clips got interrupted by a shout or an interruption. This is something I couldn’t really control and began to aggravate me. Overall it wasn’t a good filming day. My next step is to review the footage I have.

Social Media

 In the past weeks I have created social media accounts. I have created an Instagram for sharing photos and videos. The Twitter is for teaser and dates. The YouTube is for trailers, behind the scenes, and any other clips. Finally, the Facebook is for media of all sorts. Today I worked on two things. These things, balding a following and developing a theme, are important to me so I can have a strong, cohesive front. I am currently focusing on building a following for these accounts. They all have 20-40 followers. I want them to have more so I will follow accounts that are random, in hopes they will follow back. I want an engaged audience to build hype around the film. I also want all my social medias to seem consistent. In doing this, I have developed certain aesthetics for my social media. For example, certain colors, tone, etc. All of my advertisements are rather ambiguous and mysterious. I am doing this because until the film is released, I don't want to give too much of the story. This leaves things up to the audience's imagination and keeps them wondering what my film is about. Today I worked on developing some graphic designs for the Instagram. All the aesthetics I mentioned above are represented below. I also updated my website to match better. The overall goal I am trying to accomplish with my social media is a cohesive aesthetic that makes audience put it all together.

Advertising Plan

 When it comes to any business or project, marketing it is key. Advertising to the right audience can make or break your success. I am marketing my film to 13-20 year old viewers. I know they spend a lot of time on social media so properly advertising it to them on social media would be effective. I want to make this film feel like a brand. What makes something a brand is consistency. This means using a color scheme, a consistent vision, and an overall look and feel to the film and all promotions around it. Whether this be trailers or movie posters, they all need to match so people associate the brand to the movie. Therefore, I decided to take some initiative today. I knew I wanted a platform to make these advertisements so I bought myself Adobe Creative Cloud. In this package I receive multiple programs I can apply towards different aspects of advertisements. Photoshop for designing posters, Premiere for video editing, InDesign for infographics, Illustrator for logos, etc. Although this is completely unnecessary and excessive, I find joy in these things. Promoting the film sounded far more exciting than actually producing it, so I want to make it right. I have uploaded a couple of posts to Instagram but until I film, Youtube promotions will have to wait. I also need to start uploading on Twitter as well. The overall look of my brand is darks and cool tones and I want to promote it like a teenager would because the point of view as well as the demographic is to teenagers. I think this step is really important to the film. I know I am not actually selling this movie or making a strong "fanbase" but it shows the dedication. I plan to edit a couple of things to promote and tease the film.

Why I did not film over Thanksgiving Break.

You would think that if a student has over a week to get an assignment done, they would at least begin. Well that wasn’t my ideal break. Overall school drains me out but the week leading up to Thanksgiving break had me aggravated at any and every assignment. Also my family from out of town that I haven’t seen since quarantine started we’re in town. I just felt like with school and my job, I had felt exhausted and was looking forward to break. Any responsible person might think i’m irrational but I really needed the break. I took the vacation to avoid school-work, spend time with my family, and just overall relax for the sake of my mental health. I can film during the week when I am in a productive state of well-being but this break was not that time. With seeming two different sides of my family, Thanksgiving day, my brothers birthday, and my job, I didn’t even have time to film. But to every issue there is a solution. I have decided to film during the week. This is when I am the most productive and motivated. The “creative juices” of mine are flying so it would be great for me. I now have a sense of urgency to catch up and that pressure usually makes me work better. This coming week I will now film the bedroom scenes. Also, unrelated yet totally related, I have bought myself a new computer. This is helpful because the advanced version of iMovie will allow more accessibility to advanced editing. Also the SD port will allow me to be able to film on my camera, which is better for the overall production of my film. So yes, I didn’t film, but for the sake of the film and my mental health, I think its a win-win.

Advertising

 To begin marketing the movie to the media, I had to get social. The first things I had to do was create a logo, color scheme, and an email. I am going to be filming it in my room and usually have my LED colored lights in a purple-blue rotation. Therefore, when creating the logo and color scheme that is what I went for. My colors are purple, blue, black and pink. These colors are important because this is what I will keep consistent throughout all platforms. The next step I had to do was make an email. This is great because since I had to make multiple social media accounts, I can keep everything together. I first started with Youtube, putting my logo as the profile picture. I then set up Twitter and Facebook. The one I was most excited for was Instagram. Instagram is my favorite social media and I think it is popular amongst the age group I am marketing to. I have already started posting pictures teasing future updates. I want the Instagram to be the main source for set photos and clips, since it is a photo-sharing site. On twitter I want to share "testimonials" and dates, since the app is more for text and less pictures. On the Facebook, I want a mix of both. On the Youtube, I will post clips and behind the scenes footage. The big thing is to promote on all platforms consistently.  I am very excited for the promotional aspect of this project. I pay close attention to what gets marketed towards my age group and I want to take that into my own process. 

Planning: Storyboard

 Storyboard

Storyboarding is a very crucial step to planning. I like to consider it the script for actions. This gives the directors a chance to organize the scenes in order, take by take. My storyboard consist of 11 pages.  In boxes, each frame is mapped out. These boxes draw out each take by the angle, movement, setting, and other elements. In total there are 62 clip descriptions and 6 scenes. The storyboard has a setting and angle description. The storyboard can be helpful for shooting so I don't forget to shoot anything. It was also helpful for planning because it helped me further visualize my film. It helps the film make sense in my mind as well and see how the storyline plays out. 

 

Planning

                Now that I have a premise for my film, its time to start planning. I want to shoot the house scenes first. I can do that myself with a tripod and my camera. I can film these any time, during the week or on weekends. This part of the film is a flexible shooting period, which is great. There is another half of my film though. This half needs go be filmed with people. It is important to note that the COVID pandemic is still going on. Therefore, I need to have the least people as possible. My parents do not want me going out to keep me safe so this will cause another issue. I only have one day to film. I now have to coordinate a day in November to film. This day will consist of 3 or 4 friends. I want to film as safe as possible but it needs to be done. Once I finish storyboarding, I will start the filming process. The first scene I will film is the montage. It is supposed to be like a morning routine. It also includes clips of online school. Therefore these scenes can be filmed on weekdays. The planning of filming is crucial to maximizing your day. 

Short Film vs Feature Length Film

 The short film 9 was originally directed by Shane Acker. In 2009, Tim Burton and Universal Studios produced it to be a full length film. To begin with, the main difference between them is the plot. In the feature film, the storyline was more drawn out. In the short, it was a very fast storyline meaning only scenes crucial to the storyline were included. This also means there were more details. The long film had space to add unnecessary details or jokes to keep it entertaining. Short films are fast so they grab your attention and keep it for the length of the film. The short only had a couple scenes but each scene was important. Full films have to make it entertaining throughout. This means that full length films have a more build up character development compared to shorter films. Another difference is there is dialogue. In the short there was no dialogue and mostly just sounds like running and panting. In the feature film there was dialogue to keep it entertaining. This is actually something I really liked about the short but I understand why it was necessary for the long film. I liked how in the short, he got an idea across with no words and just off visuals. The graphics in the full film were also a lot better.My other note is that the feature film had a positive ending and a less dark theme to it. I enjoyed it more because it felt like an interesting journey while the short left me unsettled. Overall, I liked feature film because of the story and graphics but so believe the short was better executed.

Research 9: The Feature Film

I have just watched the full film based on the short film 9. The basic storyline was the same but the approach differs. Shane Acker, the director, partnered with producer Tim Burton. Before I watched the full film, I resonated the short with Tim Burton’s style. I found the collaboration interesting. The full film had a different approach maybe due to its production company and making it more marketable. The film came out in 2009 and was produced by Universal Studios. The film was longer so more detailed. It still followed the basic plot of the short. It’s a story about a dystopian world where rag dolls live. It is running and hiding from machines until it finally faces them. These machines are trying to wipe them out, similar to the short. This film had dialogue to make it more appealing. One last thing is that the film had a more optimistic view. It had a happier ending. This could be again a marketing tactic. If a full movie doesn’t have a happy optimistic ending it might not do well. The graphics were honestly a lot better. The detail in the characters and the setting further amplified the plot. The character development was further detailed due to the more time it has as a full length film.

Research 9: The short

I have just finished the short film called 9 by Shane Acker. This movie was very unsettling. It followed a robotic ragdoll and A dystopian world. The film was dark and I could tell it had a deeper meaning but overall I didn’t understand it. I did not like it because the scenery and lighting choices made it some thing out of a nightmare. There was a part where a mechanical beast-like creature removed the souls out of the friends of the main rag doll. The main character was called 9. He then ran away from the beast with its container of souls. It’s following the dolls  journey as it runs away and gets a chance to unleash all of its friends souls. Although he did not have a face, his gestures showed his emotions. One thing I noted was the fact there was no dialogue. I think it made it so much more dramatic overall. I think the details spoke for the plot more than words could. So many ideas were presented without one word spoken. The only sounds were natural sounds such as walking and gears turning. The movie gave me like junkyard vibes. It was very dark much like the film Coraline. The director was very creative but in like a scary, Tim Burton way. He showed a whole story in 10 minutes without any words so I must say it is a well executed film. I wouldn’t watch it again personally because it was very creepy.