Portfolio Project Links

Hi blog. I can't believe it. We made it.

I hope you have enjoyed my journey throughout this project. Thank you for reading. 

Link to the Tunnels film opening

Tunnels Film Opening

CCR Questions 1&2

CCR#1

CCR Questions 3&4

CCR#2

Project Reflection

Hi there, blog. I'm going to be writing a little reflection on the project.

This project has been a rollercoaster; there were fun times, stressful times, and happy times, but I'm happy it has come to an end. 

I remember there was a time when I thought this project was going to be a disaster, but I'm really happy with how it turned out. 

I'm glad it's over, and I can finally delete all the clips, screenshots, screen recordings, and photos that have taken up all the storage of my computer.

I have learned so many things, and my skills have improved so much from when I first started this class. I'm so happy I got to work with amazing people and had good communication with my partner.

I got to try new things like contacting an artist to ask for permission. (That had to be one of my favorite parts) and doing my first directing project and working with actors. 

From this project, I learned responsibility, leadership, and friendship. I made a little blog of the shooting day of the counselor scene. Hope you enjoy it. 

Tunnels Production Blog

CCR post-production

 Here is a time-lapse of my CCR editing process 

CCR Production

 Hey blog, today I filmed both of my CCRs. Here are some clips and bloopers of the production

CCR ideas

 Ok, so now that I have my questions done, I have narrowed my ideas of the CCR to 2 media products

For questions 1 and 2, I can do a cooking interview show pretending I'm a famous director for making Tunnels and responding to the questions while making pizza. Or something similar to the show Hot Ones.

Here are my inspirations:

Hot ones

NYT Cooking

For questions 3 and 4, I was thinking of a college interview because it relates to Tunnels

Inspo:

Work It-Netflix movie

A director's commentary discussing my project "Tunnels" would be good because the answers are about what you learned and what skills you gained from the experience. I can also add a lot of visuals, which will help people understand my ideas more clearly.

Research CCR Question #4

 Q. How did you integrate technology, software, hardware, and online in this project?

A. The hardware that we started using was my camera, a Sony ZV 1F (insert picture of camera), a tripod, lights (insert picture of lights), and microphones

The only thing that changed was the camera on my phone. I decided to switch so we wouldn't have the problems we had when we first shot, so Iused the Black Magic app. It basically has all the features a camera would have. 

Software platforms we used were Adobe Premiere Pro to do the editing of Tunnels

We also used an online website called Epidemic Sound for the sound effects 

In premiere I added all the clips and cut them. After laying all the clips out, I played around with color grading to adapt the mood of the film. Then I added the sound, the dialogue we recorded, the foley of some shots like the backpack closing and opening (insert picture), and sound effects found on Epidemic Sound. 

We used Adobe After Effects to create the title effect of disappearing/burning (insert video). This effect means that Ana is slowly losing herself and pushing her loved ones away, which will eventually disappear from her life 

We also used Canva and an online website to create our production company. We decided to keep it simple, using our initials as the main logo. Here are some of the options that we assembled. For the final version, we wanted to add a little color and some animations, so my partner and I decided on pink since we both like that color. 

and finally, Blogger (also online) to plan and research all the processes to create the film opening. 

Every single thing we did, I documented in Blogger. It served as a place where I could pull out all the information for these questions. Its bassically all the ideas I had in my brain and the process I went through in this production. It helped me a lot to keep track of my progress and what we needed to get done. Posting everyweek has helped keep me focused and not get behind on the project. 

Research CCR Question #3

 Q. How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

A. Tunnels was an interesting experience for me because this was my first project where I had to actually plan out a whole movie. When our teacher first introduced us to the project and the expectations. I immediately got excited to start the project. I initially wanted to do a romance, but my partner and I agreed on choosing a darker theme and went for a psychological drama film. I also wanted to integrate color theory from the beginning, and did a whole research on color techniques, lighting

So the main idea came from my partner, who was heavily inspired by her friend, who overworks herself with school, so she wanted to create something related to that. During this time, I was also going through a similar situation; I was thinking too much about school and putting too much on my plate. So we both agreed on the main plot and began thinking about what we could do for the film opening

At first, I pictured the opening scene of Ana doing homework in her room. I wanted to show how she worked all night and eventually fell asleep. This way we show how she is obtaining unhealthy habits to be perfect 

We had the first minute setteld but we didn't know what to do for the 2nd minute. After a group meeting, my partner suggested we could do a therapy session. I liked the idea, and we adjusted so that the therapist was a school counselor. 

After we made the storyboard and script, we scheduled production day for the opening scene. And well, I didnt go as planned. Our biggest issue was lighting. We started the production a little late, so when we finished setting up the set, the sun had gone down. I started filming with my camera (insert picture of camera), but it was my first time using it, so some of the shots came out unfocused and like this.

But our biggest issue was lighting. We tried our best to take advantage of the lights that were on in the room, but it was too difficult to find one that had a balance with the blue light. (insert picture of light) And every shot we did seemed to have a shadow or a reflection of the lights. 

After seeing this footage, we knew we needed to re-shoot everything. So we wouldn't have the same problem. I researched and used a camera app called Black Magic and tested the features like focus and unfocus (insert video of Black Magic feature), and other ones like whitebalance and shutter speed. 

We started filming again, and everything went smoothly. 

We positioned the lights better (insert pictures of re-shoot production day)  

On the day of the therapy session, we went to our local library at 10:00am and waited for the study room to be free. When we got in, we arranged the room to look like an office. (insert timelapse of rearranging the room) After that, we started shooting. I already had experience shooting a conversation between two characters, so I used the 180-degree rule. (insert pictures of productions) We also used microphones and hid them in the set out of sight of the camera.

Overall, I think what I learned from this project was that this happens in a set; not everything goes to plan, and there are a lot of stressful times, but in the end, we always found a solution to fix it. 

Looking back to my first projects, I think I've come a long way. Now I'm more experienced in lighting, working with actors, getting permission to use songs from artists, and especially in sound. My first project in sound was... I little bad; most of the sounds sounded fake and didn't feel like they belonged in the environment. (show example of project) So I'm very proud of the soundscape of the Tunnels film opening. I think I did a great job.

Research CCR Question #2

 Hello blog, this week I will be working on my CCR answers. Here is question #2

Q. How does your product engage with the audience, and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

A. Tunnels has a wide audience range, being a psychological drama film, but most will be girls, teens, and young adults between the ages of 15 and 20, who could relate to our character portrays adolescents suffering through real-life problems and facing battles with themselves.

One way we showed this in our film was by adding shots of Ana working on homework constantly throughout the film's opening (insert shots). We also created a jumpcut (insert jumpcut sequence) to show how Ana was progressively doing homework the whole night, and as time passed, she got more tired and eventually fell asleep. Some teens will find this relatable because they know the feeling of staying up late and falling asleep doing homework. 

The therapist scene is also something that this type of audience can relate to. Nowadays, therapy is very popular, and most teens are attending sessions. In the case of Tunnels, this is a school counselor/therapist, but it plays the same role as the character who understands Ana and will eventually help her find her way. This is the case for many girls who have passed through a rough time; they had a person who helped them pull themselves up from drowning in their own minds. 

As for distribution, I will make this film available through independent distributors. Our production company will partner with AVOD (Advertising-Based Video on Demand)  platforms such as YouTube, Tubi, and Crackle. These platforms are free with ads, although this distribution process is not ideal for revenues, it allows Tunnels to be globally exposed to many audiences. 

This way, it will be easier to market the film and to start being recognized as a filmmaker. For me its more important that a lot of people see the film rather than gaining money from the views because I believe it touches topics that are real and are not discussed as they should be. Also, by gaining audiences, the next production that comes out will be more appreciated and could be distributed on bigger platforms. 

https://www.lafilm.edu/blog/indie-film-distribution/

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/film-distribution-guide/

Post-Production Part 2

 Hi there, blog!! Here is a time-lapse of the editing process.