Creative Critical Reflection

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

Our product both uses and challenges conventions. It uses conventions by referring certain stereotypes and preconceptions that exist in our modern society. At the same time, it also challenges them. This film being about police brutality and racial profiling, I wanted to make it abundantly clear that racist stereotypes are what killed Khalil. In order to challenge the stereotype of African Americans, we made a black character that is in almost complete contradiction to stereotypical black male. This non-stereotypical black man gives Officer Chase no other reason to kill him than because of the color of his skin. By doing this, we can represent the African American community as one that should never be defined by blanket statements.

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

First of all, our product engages with the audience by having relatable moments in the story. Many high school seniors can relate to Khalil when he got that acceptance letter from his dream school. Also by showing something like friendship, almost every human can relate and have an even deeper sense of tragedy when Khalil is brutalized. because of the timely topic, this type of film seems to work best by being uploaded Vimeo and shared throughout various social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook to gain its popularity and reach it's target audience- young adults.

- How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

Throughout this project I have have developed the skill of research and analysis. I have honestly never done this much research for a film project up until this point. This project has taught me to think deeper about the things that we do and why we do them. Apart from that, my technical production skills have not developed much further than they already are.

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

For software, I used Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2018 to edit the whole film opening together. I used Photoshop to make a thumbnail and social media marketing graphics. I recorded the soundtrack for this film with MainStage 3, a live digital synth software. For hardware, I used my Sony a7s mirrorless camera with a Rokinon 24mm f1.2 CineLens to film. For audio, I used a Zoom H1 Audio Recorder connected to a Rode VideoMic. For lighting, I used two PlayBulb Comet RGB LED strips that connected via bluetooth to the PlayBulb app on my iPhone. For online, I used different stock sound effects websites to find royalty free sound effects. All of these tools facilitated the production process and made our film opening what it is now.


NOW IN VIDEO FORM:

DON'T MOVE Film Opening

Our film opening is finally done!! Here is the result, enjoy:

Sound Design

Hello and welcome back to the blog! It is soon coming to an end. In retrospect, even though I struggled to stay consistent, this blog has helped me to analyze and think deeper about my production process and my creative process. Anyways, on this blog post we will be talking all about sound.

I have learned that sound is one of the most crucial parts of filmmaking. Whether foley, dramatic dialogue, an intense sting, or a compelling score, sound is what makes you feel what you are seeing. This is why I have made a whole post just about sound.

First off, microphones and audio recording equipment. Whenever you have dialogue or key sounds to capture, it is important to have good quality audio equipment that makes the sound or talent's voice as clear as possible. For our film, and like most films, audio and video were recorded separately. JJ held my Rode VideoMic connected to my Zoom H1 audio recorder with earphones plugged into it to make sure the sound was good. He held it as close as possible to the subject who is speaking without getting in the frame. Below is a photo of this set up for our film:

Foley and sound effects will also be incorporated in our film opening. Some of these are the police sirens for background sound and the thuds sfx for when Officer Chase is beating Khalil with the bouton. Other important sounds, some recorded within the scene, are the voicemail and the knife blade in the kitchen scene.

Finally, the sting/soundtrack used in our film opening will be produced by me. I am making my own soundtrack for the project. It is a very simple one, yet very impactful. It consists of one low C note on a piano hit every eight beats that is very dramatic. Layered on top of that are two drone pad that play heavy in the bass, making it really really heavy which will be increasing in drive and resonance to add more energy. Below is an overview

clip of the soundtrack in the making:

MISTAKES

HELLO! Filmmaking can be really hard and hectic. There are so many things going on that it leaves space for so many things to go wrong! On this blog post, we will get real sappy and talk about my regrets and mistakes in the making of our project. But THEN, we will talk about how to fix our mistakes or what I learned to do better next time.

FIRST MISTAKE- I was not consistent with my blogposts, this lowered my grade significantly and gave me the sleep deprivation I currently have. Also, if I would I have been consistent with my blog, it would have probably forced me to be more consistent with the production process, getting things done ahead of time instead of last minute.
HOW TO FIX IT- For my next project, I now know better to plan ahead of time and get work done in portions over time instead of cramming last minute.

SECOND MISTAKE- I did not have a shot list. Even though we had a storyboard, it wasn't detailed and user friendly enough to rely on on set. This caused my to go rely on the script and have to improvise shot types on the spot. This took away the ability for me to be extra intentional about my framing and composition which took away from visual effect. Not having a shot list also caused me to forget to film a couple key shots which created gaps in my story. I fixed this by taking certain other clips and dialogue lines out so that the story could still make sense without those key shots.
HOW TO FIX IT- Have a well though out and detailed shot list/storyboard so that everything is shot properly and you won't waste time coming up with shots on the spot.

THIRD MISTAKE- Lack of planning ahead. We did not start planning for the shoot until a couple of days before. I we would have started the process earlier, we would of had time to cast actors and better fit our characters instead of having to change the characters to fit our actors. I also would of had more time to get a better organized production crew. Also, I would of had time for location scouting which would have made the kitchen scene a lot more interesting instead of using the locations that were just across the street from my house. More time could have also given me the opportunity to reshoot of get shots that I forgot to get during the production days. More time could have also given us the opportunity to revise and edit the script to make it even more interesting and impactful.
HOW TO FIX IT- I now know the importance of starting ahead of time. Having a calendar with set and confirmed dates and deadlines would have helped.With enough time, next time I'll be able to think things through better so that my vision can really become a reality and I can be satisfied with my work.

It is important to recognize my mistakes. Not to wallow in regret but to learn how to get better and overcome those mistakes in the future. Being honest to yourself and learning from your failures is what makes you grow.

Time To Edit! (How We Did It)

Hi guys welcome back! Today we are going to keep it short and talk about how we edited the film opening.

When it came to post production, I decided to organize my edit by scene. Each scene was taken care of separately, and then put together at the end. It was not one solid chronological timeline.

The reason I did this is because our script clearly outlines 4 specific locations where this story took takes place. Each scene has its own lighting and composition style. Also, the energy of each scene is different so the pacing of the edits had to be different. For example, the kitchen scene is a lot more mellow than the police brutality, each with separate lighting and color schemes to portray a certain mood.

This is roughly what my timeline in Adobe Premiere Pro CC currently looks like for this project:

As you can see, the timeline is divided into several chunks, those are the individual scenes. It will later be all put together to make one solid timeline.

“

Organization isn't about perfection; it's about efficiency, reducing stress and clutter, saving time and money and improving your overall quality of life.     

Christina Scalise

CITATIONS:

WISE OLD SAYINGS. (n.d.). Retrieved April 14, 2018, from http://www.wiseoldsayings.com/organization-quotes/

Production Day 2 Reflection

On our production day 2/2, we filmed the gas station scene and the police brutality scene. This shoot took even longer than expected. We actually filmed from 7 pm until 1:30 am. I am thankful that I got to work with people that, for the most part, were patient and flexible enough to help until that time.

Our session started off at my house, as the whole crew gathered to set up. I began by getting Gianni cleaned up and shaved up. I talked more in depth about this experience in my "Carlos The Barber" blog post. I was trying to be extra careful so that I wouldn't mess up his hairline so I was being more of a perfectionist than I normally am. This took me a little while but I didn't want to rush even though I had the rest of the crew waiting for me. I should have planned this better so that Gianni and I could have done this ahead of time. It worked out fine and Gianni was ready to go. I had him and Geo get dressed into their cop costumes while I had a production overview with the rest of the crew.

Jessica Reales, Isabelle Miller, and JJ Hernandez came to help me with production. Roles were not preassigned but just fell into place. Jess ended up being my script supervisor while helping with production design and lighting, Isabelle helped with lighting and also took BTS photos, JJ was my grip and audio guy.

Since Geo had to leave by 9 pm we had film all the shots we needed of him first. I made it so that the only scene where he had to appear was in the police brutality scene so we shot that first. Since we shot this out of order, this scene is when Khalil, Vince, and the cops are coming out of the gas station after Vince tries to steal a lighter and Khalil is trying to get him out of trouble from the cops. Sadly Officer Chase turns on Khalil and Khalil ends up brutalized, even though he had done nothing wrong. This scene was the most complex to shoot. Most of the action and drama takes place in this scene. The different angles, the movement, and the colors made this my favorite scene to shoot.The actors that I worked with were really good, in fact maybe too good because it also made this the most disturbing scene to film. They made it seem so real that Jess would say how she almost teared up watching Keon get beat and then Keon would immediately start laughing after I yelled "cut." (Props to Keon for laying with his face on the black concrete for over an hour and constantly having to pour water on his eyes to make it look like he's crying- A REAL CHAMP).

There was a shot that really stuck with me in this scene. It was a low angle medium shot of Gianni as Officer Chases as he beats Khalil with a bouton. As we were shooting it, I told Gianni to not close his eyes as he swings the bouton. The result was this very impactful shot of Officer Chase wide-eyed that radiates inhumane insanity that's driven by racism.

After we concluded this scene, we shot the scene inside the gas station.
In the gas station, Khalil is minding his own business as Vince "gets a lighter." Khalil sees that Vince actually tries to steal the lighter but gets caught by Officer Chase, now Khalil is chasing the cops out of the gas station trying to get them to let Vince go. The gas station scene took a lot less time to shoot. Out of the 6 1/2 hours that we filmed, probably 30 minutes were spent filming the gas station scene. Although it was a short shoot, it did come with it's challenges. Because this was private property, I had to ask permission from the manager of that 7-11 in order to film inside. They gave us permission as long as the 7-11 logo and the address wouldn't show up in the video. When we were shooting, they were actually doing delivery and stock reloading so we only had one isle to work with. Also, the lighters were actually over the counter so Vince couldn't just reach and take one. Fortunately, one of the employees at the 7-11 was kind enough to let us borrow her lighter to shoot the scene.

Our production day had finally been concluded, now it was time to take Keon home and then go to sleep. I went to sleep at around 3 am that night.

Production Day 1 Reflection

 On our production day 1/2, we shot the kitchen scene and the car/conversation scene. This shoot took longer than expected, starting at 4 pm and ending at 11:30 pm. Keon, Andres, and I met at my house to shoot the kitchen scene while it was still daytime.

First thing, we gathered in my garage to go over the script with Keon. Andres introduced Keon to the personality of Khalil in order to get into character. Andres showed him the video I blogged about earlier of Donald Glover and Childish Gambino in order to get a sense of how Khalil talks and behaves. We went over the script and Keon practiced his lines. We did this ahead of time so that we wouldn't waste too much time with actor directing while filming and so that Keon could have a chance to immerse himself into the character of Khalil Parker and make it his own. Even tough it took various takes throughout production in order for Keon to get the lines just right, he did thrive in making Khalil come to life. We were now ready to go on set!

In this scene, Khalil is seen in his kitchen as he opens a letter of admission to his dream arts school. His excitement is overwhelming yet his awkwardness holds him back from comfortably expressing it, giving the scene comedic effect. Khalil is then let down by the fact that his own father won't answer the phone and is home alone, with no one to share his excitement with.

I had a bit of trouble with setting up the right lighting in order for the scene to look interesting. Going through the footage, I am not quite satisfied with how the scene came out visually. I had a very specific vision for this scene as far and lighting a mise-en-scene and we just weren't able to execute it as planned. With all that set aside, Keon made up for it with his great acting so we were good enough to move on with production.

After we concluded this scene. Because of personal commitments and scheduling conflicts, we took a break and met up again at 8:30 pm to shoot the car/conversation scene. This time, Andres had to go back to work and Sebastian was able to meet us after his band rehearsal (now it was Keon, Sebastian, and I). I introduced Sebastian to his character, Vince and had him practice his lines with Keon. This part of the production day became more complicated, since I was the only one running production and direction two actors. A lot of peculiar things happened at this point.

I was basically handling every basic position of film production all at once. I was camera operator, grip, script supervisor, and director while the two guys did what they could to help. Sometimes I wish I could have multiple clones of myself, then I could get a lot more done with a lot less stress. Then again, I'd probably end up arguing with my clones because of how stubborn we all are... Anyways, we parked in front of the 7-11 by my house and shot the conversation scene inside my car. Since it was a two-way conversation, I first shot all of Vince's lines and then all of Khalil's lines of the conversation. This helped in saving time and staying organized. I really like how this scene came out visually. I shot them through the window of the car which reflected the street lights and the lights of the gas station, adding more texture to the shot.

Finally, we shoot the scene where Khalil and Vince are seen driving around while jamming to some A Tribe Called Quest. This scene actually comes before the conversation scene and serves to show a time of bonding between the two to further push the idea of human aspects to Khalil and his friendship with Vince. This makes Khalil's death all the more significant.

(WARNING: Ms. Stoklosa, you might want to pretend you didn't read this next part).

There is one shot that I would like to mention. It is not even that grand of a shot in the film opening but it did, however, require more effort and risk than the rest. It is this shot (to the right) --> I actually got on top of the hood of my car so that I could get a medium two-shot in front of Khalil and Vince through the windshield as they are driving and bonding. I kneeled on top of the hood of my car, holding the camera with one hand and grasping the hood of the car so that I wouldn't fall as they drove precociously. I really wanted to get this shot because I felt that this angle shows the relationship between the two friends in a more effective way than any other angle would. (I promise I'm fine, I'm still alive).