Final Post Calling Card Project

Film Opening

Calling Card

Creative Critical Reflection #1

CCR 1&2

Creative Critical Reflection #2

CCR 3&4

Calling Card Final Reflection

 Final Reflection

Over these past 8 weeks, I have been slowly but surely working towards the completion of this project. When it first started, I was very nervous but over time I became more confident in my capabilities and skills for filming. I won't lie that the journey was extremely stressful, nerve-wracking, and frustrating, but in the end, I made something that I can only say I'm proud of.

Not only did I learn more about how the media sphere actually worked, but I also learned skills that aren't only for filming such as how to communicate and cooperate with other people, how to manage my time more effectively, and how to properly plan things out in advance.

This project was very tough and difficult and taxed my mental state very heavily, but the support from my family, my friends, and my partner Marat made it bearable. I genuinely believe that if I didn't have the support from the people close to me, I would not have been able to complete this project. 

This project also helped me learn about everything that goes into making a film such as all of the different shots and composition and how they work together to develop a deeper meaning, how proper research and planning can help make your process more efficient, and how simple cuts and transitions can make a film appear more smoothly. Before taking this class, I didn't know about all the effects and meanings of things as simple as sound effects, shots, and cuts could have and how they could influence the viewer. 

I learned to research things more seriously and carefully as I originally didn't know just how important research was to plan out a film. Over the course of this project, I made sure to save my research and links to the blogs of my classmates so I could refer to them later on. 

I liked the editing aspect of the project even though I had no experience. I found it easier to do when compared to the rest and not as tedious as other people think. I liked adding in the transitions and effects to make it appear nicer and smoother. In fact, I liked it so much that I am considering taking a course on more advanced editing over the summer.

Overall, this project has taught me so many unforgettable skills and things that I will definitely be taking with me into the future. I am actually feeling sort of nostalgic now that we are nearing the end. Thank you for following along this journey and I hope you have a good day.  

:)

CCR Editing

Editing my CCRs

During the filming for my CCRs I attempted to fit as much as I could of my script into one video. I did this so that I wouldn't have to work with as many audio clips and even if I messed up I could just cut off part I messed up and retake it. This helped reduce the amount of audio clips by a large amount which made my job a lot easier.

CCR 1&2

After adding in all of my shots I organized all of the clips chronologically and searched for clips from my opening and clips from other movies that matched the lines that I said.  Some of the movies I referenced were Knives Out, Sherlock Holmes, and Doctor Who just to name a few. If I couldn't find any clips from movies that matched my lines, I would make them using Canva or search for them using Pixabay. After adding all of my clips and matching them to each line, I added the credits and sources for each of the clips I pulled from films and websites. Finally, I added some audio clips such as background chatter and background music so that it didn't sound so plain.

Here is a reel of all of the clips I uploaded, including the ones I didn't end up using.

Below are a few images of my process

(Adding in the Credits)

(Creating a video for the Aloo Denish Obiero quote on Canva)

(Searching for background chattering sound effect)

(Final Image of Editing)

CCR 3&4 

There wasn't that much editing to do for this CCR as all I really had to do was edit my presentation and then record. After adding all of the images, information, and voiceovers into the presentation, I started to edit and tweak everything into place. I first edited the size and placement of all of my images so that it looked neater. Then, I edited the settings for my voiceover on my laptop (For whatever reason it wouldn't appear on my Mac) so that it played across multiple slides and didn't loop endlessly. Finally, I edited the duration of time each slide would appear on screen and made it so that it would automatically move on to the next slide when done.

Below are a few images of my process

(Placing my images neatly)

 

(Editing the duration)

 

CCR Production

Filming My CCRs

I have just finished filming both of my CCRs, and I am very happy because I am nearing the end of this project. I was extremely nervous before filming as this was different from filming the actual opening because I had to clearly explain and reflect on my work. I wanted my CCR to be clear and interesting to watch, so I wanted to use formats that appeared visually engaging. I was originally planning to do a Jeopardy game show for CCR questions 1&2 as it seemed like a very fun idea, but it became too complicated, so I decided to do a director's commentary instead. I chose it because I felt like I could make it visually engaging and liked the fact that I could add in both clips from my opening and from other films. For CCR questions 3&4 I decided to do a presentation with a voiceover as it was easy and less time consuming.

CCR 1&2

My process for questions 1&2 was to review my script and decide which lines I would film with myself in frame, and which lines would have a correlative image/video. I originally wanted to film myself sitting in a comfortable chair with my living room as my background, but I realized that it wasn't really engaging and that it didn't really let the audience know that I was the director. So, I decided to do a little skit to show that I was the director. 

I gathered props and changed my costume to appear more like a director. For my costume I decided to wear sunglasses, a nice shirt, long black pants, a Yankee hat that my dad had, and some headphones with a microphone. For props, I created several to match my skit. For the first prop, I grabbed a foldable chair, printed out "Director" on a piece of paper and cut it, and stuck it to the back of the chair using tape. For the second prop, I grabbed several pieces of construction paper and a cone (That I did not end up using), folded it so that it appeared like a megaphone, and taped it so that it wouldn't fall apart. For my final prop, I just grabbed a plastic Starbucks cup and asked one of my parents to pass it to me during the skit.

I filmed the skit in my backyard as I could just walk around in a circle to film both my skit and my actual response.

After filming my skit, I quickly filmed my actual response because it was starting to rain which prevented me from retaking any shots. I recorded myself reading my script for the sections that I was going to add clips and images and uploaded all of my answers onto Clipchamp where I would then edit it. 

Script for Questions 1&2

CCR 3&4

I actually did my CCR for questions 3&4 before my CCR for questions 1&2 for several different reasons. One, I wanted a quick victory so I could help boost my morale to the finish line. Two, I had a clear outline in my head about what slides I would have. Third, I finished my script done for these questions before the other one. 

My process for CCR questions 3&4 started with creating the background and layout for my presentation instead of the information and adding in my voice over. I wanted to use colors like my film opening and company, so I used mostly darker colors for it but added one of my favorite colors (Blue) to reflect my personality. After finishing the layout, I designated which information would go on each slide and added them in. After adding in the information, I added in images and tried to organize them as best as I could so that they fit in. Unfortunately, there was still a lot of blank space I had left over even with the inclusion of the images. For my final step, I edited the duration of time for each slide so that it matched the duration of the voiceover.

Below are a few examples of my process

(After deciding on the layout and adding in the voiceover)

(Adding in my images)

Script for Questions 3&4

 

CCR Research Question 3

CCR Question 3 Research: 

How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

Research/Main Improvements

My skills developed a lot throughout this project. When I was just beginning this project I was extremely nervous as I had little to none filming experience as I had never filmed anything or done something like this before. However, as I spent more and more time my skills improved. I learned how to research more extensively whether it be through researching films in the mystery genre or gaining new inspirations for the plot and the characters. I also learned how to visually plan out my film through the use of a storyboard which helped me create the image I wanted for the opening. I learned that there were so many different types of shots and techniques all of which had a purpose and meaning behind each one. I learned about lighting and the importance of taking different variations of each shot to select which one looks the best. I learned about all of the different editing techniques such as cuts and the importance of reshooting shots to make sure they look better than before. (Especially since I had to retake the entire opening because I filmed it all in portrait mode without realizing it.) I learned on how to take advice from other people through our group meetings and incorporate their suggestions into my opening.

Script

Hello, I am Andres Ortiz and this is my response for CCR questions 3 and 4. The first question I will answer is how did your production skills develop throughout this project? I feel that throughout this project my skills have developed a lot. Before starting this course and project I had almost no experience with filming. As a result, I was extremely nervous during the beginning of this project. But as I kept working on this project and spending more time on it, I slowly learned and my skills improved as a result. After reviewing what I needed for the opening I split the process into four stages; research and planning, filming and production, editing and retaking, and reflection to make it easier for myself.

For the research and planning stage I learned how to research films more effectively. I spent my time researching films in the mystery genre for inspiration on my plot and characters. I also researched and analyzed how they create suspense in their scenes and develop their characters which helped me a lot in the actual production of the film. Additionally, I researched films that weren't in the mystery genre but had interesting concepts like National Treasure, Persona 5,  and DC which were all major influences on the design of our opening and Shade as we came up with the idea of the Calling Card through those inspirations as I posted in previous blog posts. 

A skill that I developed during the planning stage was how to plan visually. I learned how to use a storyboard to map out how my opening would look and how all of the different shots would appear and impact the viewer. This helped us out by a large proportion as it served as a type of guideline that we could follow to film our opening.

For the filming and production stage I learned several important skills and facts about filming. I learned to consider which shots and techniques to use for each take including factors like lighting which can heavily influence the mood and tone of a scene. I received advice from several different people including the people in my group meetings and my teacher about what shots, props, and lighting to use with them saying some of my shots were too dark to see anything and recommended to brighten it. When I was filming I also learned about the importance of teamwork as I had to coordinate with my partner Marat and friend Lucas Chen to take good shots and get the lighting right for each one because if we didn't then the shot wouldn't come out very well.

For the editing and retaking stage I learned the importance of cutting down on time, transitions between shots, and retaking shots. After filming all of the shots we wanted to use and uploading them into ClipChamp we realized that we were way over the time restriction and scrambled to shave off one entire minute of time wherever we could to make sure it fit. I learned that transitions such as cuts can be used to smoothly connect scenes together to make it appear more appealing and natural. I also learned the hard way that sometimes you have to reshoot scenes if they don't turn out the way you expected. In fact, I had to refilm my entire opening because I accidentally filmed in portrait mode instead of landscape. This set us backwards by a ton but it also helped me learn from my mistake and even improve the end result as I could add new ideas that I had or replace scenes with ones that could be better.

Overall, this project helped me learn about everything that goes into filmmaking and makes me respect the amount of dedication and effort that producers and directors provide.

CCR Production Ideas

 Blog post CCR production ideas 

For my CCR productions, I have a definitive clear idea for one of them and several potential ideas for the other one. 

For one of them I was originally going to do a gameshow like Jeopardy, but it ended up becoming too complicated, so I decided to ditch the idea. I then opted for changing it to a video/commentary format where I can include and edit in images and clips from my film opening to make it more visually engaging for the audience and make it more entertaining.

On the other hand, for my CCR for questions 3 and 4 I am more unsure. I have come up with several format ideas with me struggling to decide between them. One potential idea is to do a podcast similar to my partner Marat and simply have either Marat himself or my friend that will play the game show host to simply play this role as well. Alternatively, after reviewing some sample CCR I can do either a video similar to that of YouTuber, a presentation where I can do it by myself. I am leaning more towards one of the second options as I don’t want to appear to similar to my partner’s ideas and I wouldn’t have to rely on the schedule of my friends to complete the CCR. 

(Update)

I ended up deciding on doing a presentation for my second CCR as they are really simple to make and all I would need to do is voice over it.

CCR Research Question 4

 Research 

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

We integrated software like Canva for the creation of our company logo and for the design and creation of the signature prop of our film opening, the "Calling Card." The most important software we used was ClipChamp which is where we edited our film. We used ClipChamp for several reasons such as it being provided by the school, relatively easy to use, and had a feature which allowed us to tweak with various settings like the brightness, volume, fading, and other such settings like that. For hardware integration we were rather limited as we didn't have many hardware tools at our disposal. Neither of us had anything like a flash drive to work at school or a tripod for stable shots. We did however use a selfie stick that my dad had found in our garage to keep the shots more stable and steady. For filming our film we switched between each other's phones (Mainly mine and Lucas') so we see whose phone quality was better. For online resources, one key one would be this very platform Blogger as we used it record our progress and thought process throughout the entire project. Other key online resources that we used were Pixabay and BenSound for some of the sound effects and the background music for the opening. They were extremely useful as all of the effects and music was copyright free and the platforms themselves were provided by the teacher.

Script

The fourth and final question I will be answering is how did you integrate technologies -software, hardware and online - in this project? For the production and creation of our company logo and Calling Card prop. Marat did most of the work in this part as he created the Calling Card practically by himself and created our logo after spitballing ideas about its name and what it should look like. Of course the most important software that we used was ClipChamp as it is where we edited our film opening. We learned how to use this software earlier during the year and we decided to use it because it appeared less complex than Adobe Premiere and allowed us to mess with several settings such as the brightness, volume, fading, and other features of our opening. We didn't use all that many hardware tools as we didn't have things like a tripod to film stable shots automated stable shots or a flash drive to store all of our shots and data. We did however have a selfie stick that my dad had found in the garage which helped us film more stable shots albeit not automatically. We also used several different phones for the filming process (Mostly being mine and Lucas') we switched between each other's phones to see which one had the best quality and the best flashlight. For another hardware device that we used was a portable light that we could adjust the brightness of which helped a lot when creating the lighting for several of the shots. For online resources, one of the ones we used was Blogger as it was essential for recording our progress and keeping track of what we needed to do each week. They were a massive aid in answering these questions as we could access them to review on what we did for each of these sections. Other important online resources was Pixabay and BenSound as they were essential to collecting the sound effects and background music for our opening. They were extremely useful as all of the effects and music was copyright free and was provided to us by our teacher. That'll be all, I hope you enjoyed Calling Card and thank you for watching.

CCR Research Question 2 + CCR Research Question 1 Script

CCR Question 1 Script: 

(I forgot to add my script for my previous blog post so here it is)

Me:When directing the opening of Calling Card, one of our main goals was to make it clearly feel like a mystery film, while still adding some of our own original ideas. Mystery films usually follow certain conventions that audiences already expect, so I wanted to use those conventions to appeal to the viewers that have seen plenty of mystery films already and could therefore easily understand the genre and tone of the film. Some examples of these are red herrings, troubled detectives, or characters that unexpectedly turn out to be antagonists.  

One of the conventions we used was the trope of the obsessed investigator. In the second scene of the opening, we showed Matthew sleeping on the couch with the room appearing very messy with a newspaper about Shade and other papers as well. Matthew even states that he’s been up late working on this case which helps show that he has been working on this case for a while and it has practically taken over his life. Which leads to a social issue that I will talk about later.  

Even though we followed some of the typical mystery genre conventions, we still wanted the story to feel unique. One way we did this was through the inclusion of the deuteragonist, Oliver, aka the second most important character in the story and focused on the relationship between him and Matthew. We show that he cares and worries about Matthew’s well-being, which makes their relationship feel more genuine. 

Another convention that we used is the phantom thief trope with the character Shade. Shade is portrayed as a thief who can break into places and escape almost like a ghost leaving behind very little evidence. This is done to make him feel more mysterious and dangerous, as the investigators, police, or really anybody knows how he does it or who he really is. 

Our film also represents specific social groups/issues. A lot of mystery films portray their main character as a “lone wolf” someone who works alone and is much smarter and superior compared to everyone else. Characters like Batman, Doctor Who, and Sherlock Holmes are some of the more iconic representations of the archetype. We challenge this convention by having them work together and portray them as equals, which makes them feel more human.  

Tying back to what I said earlier, we show the issue of work obsession. Matthew is so focused on the case that he starts ignoring his own health and personal life which reflects what could happen in real life when people become too consumed by their own work and responsibilities. We still showed that Matthew still has some semblance of a life as he showed to have a girlfriend which we wanted to indicate that even though it may feel impossible you can break and exit the cycle. 

We also represent the fear of the unknown, which is something that many people experience. Shade represents that fear because nobody knows who he really is or when he might strike again. This uncertainty creates tension for the characters and viewers alike. 

CCR Question 2 Research:

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

Our film opening engages with audiences by having them try to imagine and guess the answer to various different questions they have as the opening progresses. For example, what’s the identity of Shade, how does he accomplish his heists, what are his motives, etc. All of these questions are put into the audiences’ heads as they try to look for any clue or trace that could lead them to the answer. They also get engaged when they try to imagine what Shade looks like underneath the mask as they create their own mental image of what its most likely going to be. It engages with target audiences that mainly consist of young teenagers to young adults (15-30 years old) with it appealing to audiences that prefer viewing more intellectual content with problem-solving and stories that rely on clues and details over stories about violence.

For the distribution our film would mostly likely be distributed through both physical and digital copies. Physical copies can be distributed in forms like DVDs, hard drives, USBs, etc. while digital copies can be distributed through streaming platforms like Netflix or Youtube. Youtube would garner more attention as it doesn’t cost money and we can post tiny clips and shorts onto the platform which can help with the marketing aspect of our film. Other platforms like TikTok, Prime Video, Hulu, Spotify and other can also be used to help distribute and market the film. Another plan to promote it is to get celebrities or other creators and directors to talk about my film which will increase public awareness about my film. 

CCR Question 2 Script

Another important thing I thought about while making Calling Card was how the film would engage the audience. Mystery films work the best when viewers feel interested in the story and want to keep watching to figure out and learn more about what's going to happen next. 

One way the film engages with the audience is through imagination. Since Shade’s identity is hidden behind a mask, viewers are left wondering and thinking about what he might look like. This engages the audience as they create their own image about what he might look like when they’re watching the film in their heads. 

We also thought about the target audience when creating the film as they are very important to the success of the film. Calling Card is mainly aimed at people between the ages of 15 to 30 who enjoy more intellectual content such as solving puzzles and interesting stories. They prefer this type of content instead of content based mostly on action or violence, as our film focuses more on suspense, storytelling, and relationships between characters. 

If Calling Card were to become a real film that releases publicly, it would most likely be distributed through steaming platforms. Streaming services and online video platforms would allow the film to reach a large variety of audiences quickly.  

Social media would be used to help promote the film as we could post short teasers and highlights from the film. This could attract attention from viewers and get them interested in watching the full film. This would be extremely effective for reaching younger audiences who, as we learned from AICE Media Studies and statistics, spend a lot of time on social media. 

We would also plan to distribute the film through physical copies, such as DVDs, for collectors and people interested in owning a physical version of the film. 

Overall, while directing the opening of Calling Card, we accomplished our goal of combining classic mystery conventions with an interesting premise and meaningful themes.