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).

Lighting A Police Scene

As I had mentioned in my early blogs, the art direction for this film opening is inspired by the vibrant colors of Moonlight and Childish Gambino's "Sweatpants" music video. I knew that color and lighting were going to be major aspects in this production. This was heavily emphasized in the police brutality scene. I figured the best way to show this was by incorporating the colors blue and red to portray police car lights. A while ago, I came across an LED strip that has helped me in most of my productions since. The PLAYBULB Comet has probably been one of my best purchases for lighting equipment ever. I currently have two of my own and occasionally also use my brother's (he decided to get one because we just love them that much lol). One of them lights up my room and the other is used for production. This RGB LED strip has bluetooth connection to the PLAYBULB app on my smartphone, which lets me choose from any color and has different effects like "flashing," "flashing f," "rainbow," "pulse," "candle," or straight white light. It is so versatile and useful in so many ways.

To light up our police scene, we used the streetlights that were already on location and two PLAYBLUB Comets next to each other (one flashing red and the other flashing blue). This effect is supposed to imitate the effect of police car lights.

Below is our setup for the scene:

**thank you Jessica Reales for the BTS photos**

Luckily, my car has a power outlet in the trunk! We connected an extension chord from my car onto the street and then connected that to another extension chord that has two outlets that powered on the LED strips. We then laid them on the ground across our set and turned on the flashing effects.

Fun fact: One of these strips was used in Chris and Rodrigo's party film opening as well. I brought them along when I went to help them on set.

Hope you guys enjoyed this blog posting and that it encouraged you to have fun and play around with colors for your future videos!

Bye for now.

CITATIONS:

PLAYBULB color - Smart Color Light & Wireless Speaker 2-in-1. (n.d.). Retrieved April 13, 2018, from https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mipowusa/playbulb-color-smart-color-light-and-wireless-spea

Carlos The Barber

The Making of Officer Chase

I knew that because I had to make some changes to this character, I had to do something in order for Gianni to most accurately portray Officer Chase as I had envisioned. In essence, I had to make Gianni look more like a white police officer.

What I decided to do buy a cop costume from party city for Gianni and for Geo. Now that he can dress the part, he has to look the part. Next, I decided to put my self taught barber skills to use. This was actually pretty nerve-racking for me because I am clearly not a professional and I was not about to mess up this man's hairline. All the experience I have gotten from buzzing my little brother's sides and my dad's nearly bald head has now come to this moment. To my good fortune (and his), my hand decided to be a little extra shaky this day but, fortunately, it turned out okay.

Anyways, I just cleaned him up. Cleaned up his front hair line, his back hairline, his sideburns, and around his ears. I also shaved his face and left him a circle beard (because what's more American than that?). Finally, I gelled up his hair to make it look extra clean-cut to add a dash of white privilege. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is the final result:

What do you think??

(P.s. if you ever need a barber for the low, just come my way) ;;)

CITATIONS:

N., R., & L. (2017, October 26). Police Shirt. Retrieved April 12, 2018, from https://www.partycity.com/police-shirt-P178115.html?cgid=costume-accessories-themes-police-firefighter-military&start=2

G. (2013, October 26). How to Shape a Beard: The Circle Beard (French Beard) | Gillette STYLER. Retrieved April 12, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPxafS80Dhk

Meet The Cast!

We have finally found the right actors for our film opening!! Now, as I had predicted, some of the characters did change. For example, Officer Chase is not a 40 yer old man. We did however cast a Cypress Bay student that can fit the role and is heavily involved in the theatre program at our school.

Here's the cast!

Keon Campbell

as Khalil Parker

• Age: 19
• Gender: male
• Height: 6'2
• Race/ethnicity: African American
• Fun fact: Is an artist (drawing and painting)

Sebastian Sanchez

as Vince

• Age: 18
• Gender: male
• Height: 5'7
• Race/ethnicity: Hispanic
• Fun fact: Plays various instruments

Gianni Palermo

as Officer Chase

• Age: 18
• Gender: male
• Height: 5'9
• Race/ethnicity: Hispanic
• Fun fact: Loves video games

Geo Vargas

as Officer Murphy

• Age: 17 
• Gender: male
• Height: 6'1
• Race/ethnicity: Hispanic
• Fun fact: Loves video games, has a blog

These are people that I know I could work well with. Apart from personally knowing all of them, they all have at least some acting or film production experience so I know that they could take on this task. I was conscious of personality and talent when it came to this cast, and it couldn't have worked out any better. 

Production Schedule

Hello once again! At this point, we are transitioning from pre-production to our production phase! This is normally my favorite part because we get hands on and have real experiences and great memories in the world of filmmaking. Although production can be very fun, is can also be extremely hectic and stressful. For this reason, it is important to have a solid production schedule to make sure to stay on task and not forget any aspect of any scene.

Here is our confirmed production schedule:

Tuesday 04/03/2018

• Cast actors 

Wednesday 04/04/2018

• 4:00 pm - pick up Keon (Khalil)
• 4:30 pm - meet with Andres  at my house to set up
• 5:30 pm - shoot kitchen scene
• 6:00 pm - break
• 8:30 pm - meet with Sebastian (Vince) to set up for car scene
• 9:00 pm - shoot car/conversation scene
• 11:30 pm - conclude shoot and take Keon home.

Thursday 04/05/2018

• 1:00 pm - scout for production assistants
• 5:45 pm - buy cop costume at party city
• 6:00 pm - pick up Keon (Khalil)
• 6:30 pm - pick up Gianni (Officer Chase)
• 7:00 pm - meet at my house with Geo (Officer Murphy), Sebastian (Vince), and production crew (JJ Hernandez, Jessica Reales and Isabelle Miller).
• 7:30 pm - hair and wardrobe design.
• 8:00 pm - shoot police brutality scene
• 10:00 pm - shoot gas station scene

As you can see, this is a very detailed schedule. I did this because I knew that I didn't want to spend more time than 2 days to film so that I would have plenty of time to edit. In order to do this efficiently, I need a very well thought-out schedule that could keep us on task.

*inspirational planning quote*

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” 

― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

CITATIONS:

Planning Quotes (415 quotes). (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2018, from https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/planning

Meet Our Characters! Pt. 4 (The Unjustly Short-Lived)

This is the fourth and final part of our series, "Meet Our Characters!" On this grand finale, I have saved the best for last- our protagonist!

Kahlil Parker

Kahlil is an African American high school senior who basically goes against every stereotype that exist of the black community. Kahlil is not a thug, he does not have a hard and heartless attitude, he actually likes to show his softer side and is very quirky and awkward in nature. He does not like to get in trouble, he is a good son, he is a good student, and he got accepted into Ivy League schools.

He tends to be home alone often because mom is constantly at work trying to provide for the family. His parents are divorced and his father lives away with his new family that Kahlil does not like very much. Because of his soft personality in a relatively rough neighborhood and his unfortunate family matters, Kahlil often finds himself feeling lonely and secluded from the environment around him.

The character of Kahlil was inspired by Donald Glover and the role that he plays in Atlanta. He is an awkward, yet relatable guy who just doesn't seem to fit in. The video below is a perfect example of Donal Glover's personality and how we want it to influence the personality of Kahlil Parker.

So why a character like Kahlil? It was very important for us to take deeply consider representation in our story. The problem with racism-driven police brutality and racial profiling is that the dangerous stereotypes held upon black people in a white-dominated society inform the extreme depth of injustice that it causes.

CITATIONS:

R. (2011, November 07). Battle: Donald Glover vs. Childish Gambino. Retrieved April 09, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5MWyVAUbI0

Meet Our Characters! Pt. 3 (The Bad Influence)

Hello once again! On our part 3 of our 4-part series, we will discuss the supporting character to Khalil.

**as said before:**

(DISCLAIMER- due to our tight shooting schedule, some characters are subject to change or be removed from the film overall, except the main character).

Vince

Vince is Kahlil's (protagonist) best friend. They grew up together and have so much history since they were little boys. The only difference is that Vince gave into the bad decisions from the atmosphere that surrounds them, while Kahlil decided to go against them and stay in school. Vince is a dropout, and does not really see a future for himself. He is just living day by day, driven by whatever feels good to him with not much sense of consequence. His controlling personality is what keeps his friendship with Kahlil hanging by a thread but never failing to end up in trouble.

Vince is 19 years old, would be a senior in high school like Kahlil but he dropped out midway through Junior year. He is not very tall and average sized in general. He tends to be an outcast, especially for being one of few white boys living in his neighborhood. The ironic part of a character like Vince is the fact that even though he committed the crime, Kahlil is the one that ends up dead because of his skin color.

 

Vince's looks and personality kind of remind me of Jesse from breaking bad, except a little more mellow and careless. Vince constantly get in trouble and is now not surprised by it, only annoyed. This type of attitude that Vince carries is exactly what gets on Kahlil's nerves.

CITATIONS:

Get the jacket - Wheretoget. (1966, August 01). Retrieved from http://wheretoget.it/look/1096175

Meet Our Characters! Pt. 2 (Good Cop)

On today's blog, we will be going over the supporting character to Office Chase.

**as said before:**

(DISCLAIMER- due to our tight shooting schedule, some characters are subject to change or be removed from the film overall, except the main character).

Officer Murphy

Officer Murphy is the "good cop" of our "good cop-bad cop" duo. He represents the better side of police and law enforcement. He is only concerned with doing his job and does not let any personal motives drive his actions. Although he is not outwardly a racist like Office Chase, Murphy may be subconsciously racist because of how he was raised and might just be ignorant of the issue of racism.

Officer Murphy is depicted as a nice(r) guy, younger than Officer Chase. He wears glasses and is not very intimidating at all. He doesn't like to be aggressive and has always been kind of geeky and quirky. He is more of Chase's assistant officer and the sense of seniority between the two (along with Officer Chase's personality) makes Murphy really intimidated by Officer Chase. Murphy's fear of Officer Chase is what holds him back from doing anything to stop what Chase from killing Khalil.

So why have a character like Officer Murphy? It is important because he represents an aspect of our society that is the reason why change in social and civil issues comes in such a slow manner and with so much effort. When it comes to activism, there is always a vast majority of people that are only spectators. This group of people may support the movement and cheer on the activists but take no action of their own. This is problematic because I leaves all the weight of the issue on the shoulders of those who are brave enough to make a change.

"There is no more neutrality in the world. You either have to be part of the solution, or you're going to be part of the problem."

T. Siedner, London NW2.

CITATIONS:

The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,,-1859,00.html.

Thorshammer. “Ian Carter Cop GIF - IanCarter Cop Nope - Discover & Share GIFs.” Tenor, Tenor, 7 Dec. 2017, tenor.com/view/ian-idubbz-finger-wag-content-gif-10454194.

 

Meet Our Characters! Pt. 1 (Bad Cop)

Welcome once again! On today's blog we will discuss the antagonist of our film opening.

(DISCLAIMER- due to our tight shooting schedule, some characters are subject to change or be removed from the film overall, except the main character).

Officer Chase 

Officer Chase is the "bad cop" of our "good cop-bad cop" duo. Although we don't want to portray a "demonization" of the police, Office Chase represents the dark side police and law enforcement- encompassing injustice, abuse of power, and inhumane acts that are driven by stereotyping and racism.

Ideally, we would like to depict him as a white male in his 40's, considerably tall and broad-shouldered to seem intimidating and overpowering. (like previously mentioned, this is subject to change to maybe a younger guy closer to our age yet with similar features).

The effect of having such a character is a vital part of our story. In contemporary culture, police officers have been portrayed as heroic figures of integrity, justice, and fearlessness. But the reality is, as journalist Wesley Lowery states about the film Detroit, "There are officers out there violating people’s civil rights, doing some horrific things. Having a full airing of that [in the film] was very powerful. I was unprepared for how jarring some of that would be."

This entirely positive portrayal of police in the media before the movement of police brutality awareness was due to the fact that the US film industry and general media has been historically dominated by the white culture who rarely (if ever) experienced the injustices that African American culture has had with the police as a part of their daily lives.

Highlighting such a topic as police brutality is a symbol of minority groups raising their voice on issues that white privilege might have otherwise been ignorant to. This is why a character like Officer Chase is a major part of the story we are telling.



CITATIONS:

Hawley, T. (n.d.). Police officer against white background, portrait, close-up. Retrieved April 05, 2018, from https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/police-officer-against-white-background-high-res-stock-photography/sb10068030i-002

Lopez, R., & Johnson, T. (2017, August 01). Movies, TV Shows Evolve to Reflect a Changing, More Complex View of Police. Retrieved April 05, 2018, from http://variety.com/2017/film/features/police-in-movies-tv-shows-1202511299/

F. (2017, November 27). Detroit. Retrieved April 05, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDGus2fnPQ4

Choosing a font style

Hello! Welcome back to my blog! Sorry I have not been posting for a while, but I'm back on track. Starting where we left off:

THE TITLE IN THE WORKS

Today, we will be talking about the process in looking for the right font style for our title and the reasons behind it.

For this title, I wanted something that was bold and made a statement but also had a sense of originality for it. Although lacking the originality, the following were initial options for the fonts that I considered well fit for our film opening:

After an extensive search on different font styles, I was not satisfied with anything that I found. I felt like something was missing. Therefore, I decided to simply make my own font. This is the font style:

I made the font all caps so that it still has that "bold statement" aspect to it and it draws your attention. Also, I felt that what I needed was that "human aspect" that I want to convey as the purpose for the story in relation to the theme of police brutality. Making it completely handwritten achieves just that.

I decided to take it a step further and make a second make a second handwritten version (shown below) that obviously does not look exactly like the first one but is similar.

In the film opening, I will layer the two versions and cut from one to the other to gave an animated effect. These will further enhance that "human aspect" to the font style. A sample of this is shown below:

This graphic will then be layered on my timeline in Premiere Pro CC with the "screen" blend mode. The final result will look something like this:

CITATIONS:

“Browse.” Fonts.com, www.fonts.com/browse?filter=family:classification:script,family:classification:script:formal&skip=10.