Creative Critical Reflection

 

2-minute Film Opening: Final Product

 

2-minute Film Opening: First Draft

2-minute Film Production

On my journey of creating a two minute film opening with my teammates, documenting the production of the film is very important. Production in film has four main parts: pre-production, filming, post-production, and distribution. The next paragraph will discuss the team's process in filmmaking.

When in the process of pre-production, filmmakers must plan their movie; they must plan out what is going to be where, who is going to say what, and much more.

My teammates, in my opinion, did not do well with pre-production, nor did they utilize the purpose of pre-production thoroughly. Instead, they took it less seriously than they should, and completed our planning sheet after we had already created our first draft. 

During filming, instead of utilizing the planning sheet, they created the film plot as I continued shooting in the first draft. The second draft was no different in terms of using the planning sheet almost as if they had no idea what a planning sheet was used for. During the process, I feared, and still do fear, that the final draft may not earn a passing grade. The team and I noticed the poor acting in the first draft, so we had switched the roles among three of us. Sarah's actor remained the same, however, I became Kayla, Jazelle became Paige and Alana became the camera operator. 

During post-production, Nicole (Sarah's actor) had the role of editing for both the first and final draft. However, when the final draft was sent off to me, I had to take some matters into my own hands and edit the rest of the draft, making the final product. The issue was that Nicole had inserted the credits at the end of the opening, creating a short film in both the first and final draft. So I cut out the credits and made my own appear during the opening.

Distribution was quite convenient, however. All that was required of me was to post the drafts and final product onto YouTube and post a link onto blogger.

Storyboard Assignment: Teammate #2's work

 In film, filmmakers need to organize their shots, to indicate to the camera operator where to shoot the scene from, when to do so and how the camera should be positioned. For a group assignment, we were to use the shots from the first draft of our film and document and describe the shot sizes, angles, framing and descriptions of the shots. In this blog, I will be discussing my  second teammate's portion of the assignment. The third team member has decided to dismiss the work and say that she was the person who "produced shot pictures".

Storyboard Assignment: Teammate #1's work

In film, filmmakers need to organize their shots, to indicate to the camera operator where to shoot the scene from, when to do so and how the camera should be positioned. For a group assignment, we were to use the shots from the first draft of our film and document and describe the shot sizes, angles, framing and descriptions of the shots. In this blog, I will be discussing my first teammate's portion of the assignment and the next blog will discuss my first teammate's contribution to this assignment. The third team member has decided to dismiss the work and say that they were the person who "produced shot pictures".

Storyboard Assignment: My Work

In film, filmmakers need to organize their shots, to indicate to the camera operator where to shoot the scene from, when to do so and how the camera should be positioned. For a group assignment, we were to use the shots from the first draft of our film and document and describe the shot sizes, angles, framing and descriptions of the shots. In this blog, I will be discussing my portion of the assignment and the next blogs will discuss two of my teammates' contributions to this assignment. The third team member has decided to dismiss the work and say that they were the person who "produced shot pictures".

Save The Cat Beat Sheet: Theme Stated

In film, the pre-production process requires a plan in order to organize and carry out the filming process. This is where the Save The Cat Beat Sheet comes in play. This Beat Sheet is used as a sort of planning sheet to know when and where to say and do certain things, like a script, but less detailed. This sheet is used in every bit of the film including the introduction to plan out when and where to execute certain scenes. The introduction on a beat sheet is divided into multiple sections including Opening Image, Set-up, and Theme Stated. In this blog, I will be discussing the Theme Stated.

The theme stated is the point in a film opening where the theme of the entire film is shown/visible to the audience. The theme stated is also used to establish the exposition of the film. Exposition in film is defined as a device used to get across an idea via a detailed explanation.

Save The Cat Beat Sheet: Set-Up

In film, the pre-production process requires a plan in order to organize and carry out the filming process. This is where the Save The Cat Beat Sheet comes in play. This Beat Sheet is used as a sort of planning sheet to know when and where to say and do certain things, like a script, but less detailed. This sheet is used in every bit of the film including the introduction to plan out when and where to execute certain scenes. The introduction on a beat sheet is divided into multiple sections including Opening Image, Set-up, and Theme Stated. In this blog, I will be discussing the Set-up.

The set-up is where the two friends are introduced to each other. This is because it shows the reason behind the killer stabbing the new friend. The theme stated is self-explanatory, as it shows or introduces the theme of the film. The few clips of the murder that took place are considered the theme stated because the theme is “don't trust everybody” and when the new friend (Paige) becomes comfortable with Kayla, Kayla murders her.

Save The Cat Beat Sheet: Opening Image

In film, the pre-production process requires a plan in order to organize and carry out the filming process. This is where the Save The Cat Beat Sheet comes in play. This Beat Sheet is used as a sort of planning sheet to know when and where to say and do certain things, like a script, but less detailed. This sheet is used in every bit of the film including the introduction to plan out when and where to execute certain scenes. The introduction on a beat sheet is divided into multiple sections including Opening Image, Set-up, and Theme Stated. In this blog, I will be discussing the Opening Image.

The opening image is the first thing that the audience sees after the title of the film (if the title is shown before anything else). In the first draft of our film opening, the opening image shows the two girls having a conversation about a party the night before. This does not have much meaning as my teammates did not take roles very seriously and made up the film opening as they went.

Sound In Film: Part 4

After filming a movie, the movie still needs changes to make it more aesthetically pleasing, interesting, eye-catching, etc. This is where Sound is introduced. Sound in film is a technical code used by filmmakers to make it audibly pleasing and to enhance the genre, therefore, attracting more audiences. In this blog, I will be discussing the second element of sound and, since there are four key elements of sound, this blog will be discussing one of those elements, in the previous blogs, dialogue, sound effects and voiceover were discussed, equating to four elements of sound discussed.

The final element of sound is Music, the importance of this element are listed as: catching and keeping an audiences attention, enhancing the genre of the film, making the film more aesthetically pleasing, etc. Filmmakers use music for a number of reasons, however. They use it at an extremely quiet manner to fill in the emptiness of a conversation, a decent volume for action-packed scenes for a more dramatic effect, a higher volume for a filler if there is no other dialogue and a loud volume for scenes like signing, musicals, etc.

Sound In Film: Part 3

After filming a movie, the movie still needs changes to make it more aesthetically pleasing, interesting, eye-catching, etc. This is where Sound is introduced. Sound in film is a technical code used by filmmakers to make it audibly pleasing and to enhance the genre, therefore, attracting more audiences. In this blog, I will be discussing the last element of sound and, since there are three key elements of sound, this blog will be discussing one of those elements. Since dialogue and sound effects were already discussed, there will be one more blog in the future discusses sound in film, which equates to four elements of sound discussed.

The third element of sound is the Voiceover. The voiceover, as the name suggests, is one's voice playing as an audio over the video. Voiceovers are used in many ways for multiple reasons. These reasons include: narration, expression of emotion and thought process, explanations, etc. An example of a voiceover is when the camera zooms or cuts to a Extreme Close-Up shot or ECU for short towards someone's eyes and the audience hears a voice talking over the video edited into an echo-like manner. This was an opportunity for the audience to see and hear the thought process of someone and how they figured out their next move in the moment of something drastic.

Sound In Film: Part 2

After filming a movie, the movie still needs changes to make it more aesthetically pleasing, interesting, eye-catching, etc. This is where Sound is introduced. Sound in film is a technical code used by filmmakers to make it audibly pleasing and to enhance the genre, therefore, attracting more audiences. In this blog, I will be discussing the second element of sound and, since there are four key elements of sound, this blog will be discussing one of those elements, and in the future, there will be two more blogs discussing the last element and in the previous blog, dialogue was discussed, equating to four elements of sound discussed.

The next element of sound is Sound Effects. This also plays an important role in sound because it emphasizes the actions that are being taken on- and off-screen. Sound effects can be used in many ways including: Enhancing the genre of the film, making the film more (or sometimes less) realistic, etc. An example of sound effects is rain falling. Obviously, rain when the camera records it can be noisy and distracting, so the filmmakers take it as their responsibility to create their own, pleasing, less noisy version of rain such as pouring a watering can on cement and footsteps between the droplets. This will give the scene a more realistic touch to it, and also make it pleasant to the ears.

Sound In Film

After filming a movie, the movie still needs changes to make it more aesthetically pleasing, interesting, eye-catching, etc. This is where Sound is introduced. Sound in film is a technical code used by filmmakers to make it audibly pleasing and to enhance the genre, therefore, attracting more audiences. In this blog, I will be discussing the first element of sound and, since there are three key elements of sound, this blog will be discussing one of those elements, and in the future, there will be three more blogs discussing one element each, equating to four elements of sound discussed.

The first element of sound is Dialogue. Dialogue in sound is defined as the sound of characters speaking. For example, having a conversation; each word that comes out of each character's mouth is considered dialogue. But why use dialogue? Dialogue is used for a multitude of reasons such as: revealing information to the audience, enhancing the genre of the film, explaining what is happening in the film so that the audience can understand better, and so on.

Dialogue:

Hello

Hi! How are you?

I am ok, this dialogue is easy!

It really is!

Editing In Film: Part 3

After filming a movie, the movie still needs changes to make it more aesthetically pleasing, interesting, eye-catching, etc. This is where Editing is introduced. Editing in film is a technical code used by filmmakers to give the film more aesthetically pleasing look to it and to enhance the genre, therefore, attracting more audiences. My teammates and I had been assigned work to do regarding the definition and examples of some editing techniques. So, in this blog, I will be discussing the final portion of my contribution towards this assignment and, since we were all assigned nine techniques in total, this blog will be discussing three of those techniques, having two blogs previously discussing three techniques each, equating to nine techniques discussed.

Fade-in & Fade-out 

A fade is when the scene gradually turns to a single color — usually black or white — or when a scene gradually appears on screen. Fade-ins occur at the beginning of a film or scene, while fade-outs are at the end. 

IN: The dark beginning of a film, where a black screen fades into  a city with a lot of smoke. 

A portion of the film in which a character is now recovering from fainting. 

The screen fades into a spinning ceiling fan where someone wakes up from a dream. 

OUT: The happy ending of a film where the screen fades out to white. 

A person starts feeling dizzy at a party because they have had too much to drink, the screen fades out as they start to faint. 

Sirens are wailing at a crime scene as the screen fades to flashing red and blue lights. 

Action Match 

the editor cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shot's action. 

Someone opens a door and the camera cuts to the other side of the door where the same person walks through it. 

A bed is being made in the scene and as the person lays the pillows at the head of the bed, the camera switches angles to the opposite end of the area, where the audience sees the same action being continued by the same character. 

As a character tilts their head to the left, the camera changes angles to face another character looking at them using an OTS shot, the character appears to be tilting their head to the right instead, but in all reality, it is in the same direction. 

Editing In Film: Part 2

After filming a movie, the movie still needs changes to make it more aesthetically pleasing, interesting, eye-catching, etc. This is where Editing is introduced. Editing in film is a technical code used by filmmakers to give the film more aesthetically pleasing look to it and to enhance the genre, therefore, attracting more audiences. My teammates and I had been assigned work to do regarding the definition and examples of some editing techniques. So, in this blog, I will be discussing the second portion of my contribution towards this assignment and, since we were all assigned nine techniques in total, this blog will be discussing three of those techniques, and there will be one more blog in the future discussing three techniques, equating to nine techniques discussed.

CGI 

(Computer-Generated Imagery) CGI usually refers to the 3D computer graphics used to create characters, scenes, and other special effects in movies, television, and games. 

A movie in which a young girl who lives at sea and a shark is nearby. The CGI is the shark considering sharks are dangerous to be near. 

An animated movie (Nothing specific, the entire movie is CGI if it’s animated.) 

 

Continuity Editing  

Defined simply, continuity editing is the process of editing together different but related shots to give viewers the experience of a consistent story in both time and space. 

A scene where someone throws a punch at someone and the camera cuts to another angle of the area where the person’s head is thrown in the same direction. 

In one point of the film, a character is holding a beer bottle with the label facing them, as the camera changes angle of the view, the position of the bottle stays the same in the person’s hand. 

A person is working on their computer and uses their mouse to click a button, the person moves the mouse to the left and the cursor follows the direction in which the character leads it with the mouse. 

Discontinuity Editing 

In a discontinuous sequence, the filmmaker will deliberately use an arrangement of shots that seem out of place or confusing relative to a traditional narrative.

Camera is facing a character about to get out of bed to the left of the camera, but as the camera cuts to a more open shot to show the rest of the character’s body, they appear to be exiting the bed to the right. 

The time on someone’s cellphone says 8:30 am and the camera cuts to another angle of the area and the time changes to 7:50. 

Someone walks out the door in a scene and a second person is looking

left at the clock, the camera cuts to the clock and then back to the character who is now looking to the right.