The End, Links to Project (#30)

It's still Monday thank God. I finished everything a day before it was due. We are so back. Here is my film opening and my two CCR's.

CCR 1

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x6JbGsAK3I5wtczfr94TqiRxMidZbjjh/view?usp=sharing

CCR 2

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cbnjjb64pO4OUDAWwalawaguE5BpRGV-/view?usp=sharing

Film Opening

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bro0HTj29p_ndMdW9-fic5PD-QIt5t5I/view?usp=sharing

Do You Have the Time, to Listen to Me Reflect? (#29)

 

This is what I'm referencing in the title. Live, Love, Laugh, Green Day.

I learnt a lot while creating this project, most specifically, that I am not a perpetual motion machine. I can't work and work and work and expect to not be burnt out. I feel like this project was started eons ago and it's finally over. But, thus with the conclusion of this project also comes the time to reflect. Ready? Let's go!

Editing:

I forget how fun editing is. I would say it's a hobby but sadly I also don't enjoy being sat at a desk for over 4 hours. If editing was somehow faster, if i could wirelessly transfer my thoughts from my brain to my computer, then I'd love editing. Tall order, I know. Despite that, this project reminded me how much I love staying up late and doing work (that isn't sarcasm, I'm a weird kid.) I find darkness very peaceful, and I like the quietness that comes with being the only one awake in the house. Maybe I actually am Batman, all that's missing is the "billionaire" and "orphan" part. (That's a joke, Mom and Dad, please don't die. I would be really sad)

However, I could've improved my time management. I know editing kind of takes a long time, that's part of what makes it so fun, but i could've worked arround that. I could've gathered B-roll on my phone when I didn't have my laptop on me, I could've looked for music. 

Blogging:

I found out that I really enjoy blogging. It's like having a journal but better because I can upload whatever photos I want. Often, I would start writing blogs the week before posting them because I enjoyed it so much. I think I'm going to keep this up, I even made a personal blog. It's called The Walrus' Voyage because walrus' are cool and the word sounds like my last name. 

Sleeping:

At one point or another, I forgot that I'm not Raphael from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and that I'm not a being of the night. I am very much a diurnal creature. And I need to rest. So, when the sun has gone down and the moon has come up, I must be asleep for the sake of my health. School work has made me forget that my life has a purpose outside of my education, and obviously, that made me burn out. But hey, part of reaching for the highest banana is being smacked in the face by branches, almost falling off the tree, and trying to avoid nasty bugs. I hope that metaphor made sense. 

That's all for now Glorp, I'm going to enjoy my spring break. Good bye!

He Clime, He Rhyme, but Most Importantly, He Edit the CCR (#28)

This is me right now. I should be wondering the whimsical woods with a weird stick and white beard, but here I am at 11 am editing my CCR. I can't believe I'm starting spring break by doing schoolwork. Yucky.

CCR #1

Before I went out to shoot, I decided to outline where I wanted to have b-roll. So, I color coded my script.  This way, when I'm up high in the tree, I can focus on not falling off. And, actually, this proved to be really helpful. It meant I didn't have to memorize the entire script, only the parts where there isn't any b roll.

My color coded script

Also, since I couldn't shoot Wednesday, I took that time to gather the b-roll and create the graphics I'm going to need, that way editing could go by a lot faster. But, when I did sit down to edit, I did have some slight issues. 

Problem #1: I was unable to transfer files on my phone to my computer in a way where the file doesn't get compressed. So, I just sent it to myself through WhatsApp and saved the file on my computer. This means that the video is going to have lower quality than usual. Buy, honestly I don't know any way to work around it, so it's staying that way.

Problem #2: It's Friday, and when I made the schedule I forgot it was my brother's birthday today. Holy moly, I'm a terrible brother. So, I can't finish the edit today since I'm spending the day with him. It'll have to be tomorrow, sorry Ms Stoklosa. However, I do have a line edit done, all I'm missing is graphics, captions and music.

Problem #3: I talk too much. I tried to get my footage to just what was in the script and it's still 4 minutes over. Whoopsie, I guess I have to find a way to work around this.

(My nine minute long timeline)

While editing, I used the best tool in all of Premiere Pro, Text-Based Editing. This thing is a time saver and the only reason I enjoy the method of self-torture known as "editing". The person who created this feature deserves a raise.

What my timeline looks like right now, 

I'm using text based editing to make my line edit.

I'm also making my own graphics with After Effects! I really like the way they are turning out. I followed this tutorial, but played around with some of the texture and effects. I found it really helpful and actually learnt a lot of things with it! Here's one of my graphics.

For music, I wanted something slow and relaxing, so I picked a playlist off Youtube and chose my favorite songs from there. I think this really added to the "relaxed and enjoying life" mood I was going for.

Barabim baraboom! I'm done with my first CCR! And only a day later than expected! Now for number two.

(I'm so proud of how neat this timeline is.)

CCR #2

I just watched Emi's first CCR, it's not done but it's so good. I want to make something good like that and she just motivated me to do so. So, I rewrote my script for CCR #2 and now I have a better concept. But, I'll be honest, Glorp, I didn't have many ideas for this CCR. I mean, I have what I'm going to say, but the "creative" part of this Creative Critical Reflection has me stunned. So, what does a lunatic do when he's out of ideas? He opens up a random word generator and plays an association game until the goblin in his head shouts out ideas.

Bottom > bottom of a flower pot > dirt > burial site > dead boss

Charlette's dead boss emerges from the grave, sets up camera, and talks about the movie. It'd be fun to do something similar to the Who Was Show in a sense that the characters know that they are in a show despite being from eras where that kind of technology didn't exist. Here's a good example, during her introduction, Amelia Earhart discovers that the narrator is a man. She doesn't like that, so she walks off stage and replaces him with a women narrator. I'm not going to get the chance to make something with this many actors nor do I want to copy their idea. But I think something with that level of goofy self awareness would be fun to make. Don't ask me why it's in a language that I don't understand. 

Here's another example that's in English. It isn't as self aware as the prior example, but this one is at least in a language I know how to speak. 

I have just finished my script, but I don't want to post it because I know Emi will read it. Dear Emi, I'm not going to let you see anything I'm doing until the CCR is done. Love, Football. Anyways, I asked Emi to do some emotes in costume for my graphics, I didn't explain what they where for and she asked no questions. It's turning out very well. Also, I used the songs from Minecraft soundtrack and this western music for my video. The plan is to film the rest tonight to avoid daylight affecting my lighting. You aren't ready for this Glorp.

(behold the finished timeline)

Graphic Time! Gather All Your Friends, it's Graphic Time! (Extra Blog, #27.5)

Hello Glorpie! This is just a quick update blog for the portfolio project. The plan was to finished these last week but oh god, life happened. When I say life happened I mean it happened. Anyways, I got After Effects open and got to work making graphics. I talked to the group about my text and we decided that ZebraWood is by far the best font to use in this situation. I think it fits very well. 

Most of the effects I used:

• Camera movement tracker, which the text is linked to, that way the graphics moves as if it where a real object in the scene.
• Rotobrush, it is to make Emi or and object go in front on the text. I think this just made the graphic so much cooler.
• Just a vague drop shadow. This is a trick I learnt from my guardian angel, Gus. He's the man I go to with all of my After Effects issues. This little addition to my graphic makes it look so much nicer.

And with that, our opening is done! It will be posted with the CCR's in a blog later.

Productions and Plans of the CCR (#27)

Dagnabbit Glorp! 

Guess what? Well, you can guess but you can't say what because this is my blog. It's literally a one sided conversation. By all means, speak to your computer screen, it won't respond though. Did you speak? It's fine if not, I won't make you guess. My portfolio project is due the 25th. T w e n t y - f i f t h ! ! ! That is in 7 days! And my mind goblins haven't even gone around to filming the CCR yet! I hope my use of exclamation points demonstrate my concern! I am very concerned!!

Me, trying to fix this issue.

Here's the plan buckaroos'.

Tomorrow is a Wednesday (19th). Tomorrow is an "A" day, meaning I will likely have minimal school work and homework. When I get home, I will grab my script, grab a wireless mic, grab my camera, and clime trees. 

Thursday (20th), my 11 year streak of owning a green card comes to a halt as I swear my faith in America and become a citizen. Since that's a "B" day, I'll be chained down by my teachers' wonderful ability to assign homework that makes me want to tear off my ear and gift it to a cleaner at a brothel. (lib.berkeley.edu.com, 2019) But, regardless, an attempt at a line edit will be made. 

Friday (21st), I plan to have the first video fully done by 10 am. I have no school so 7:00 am, so my little legs will be sat crisscross applesauce at my desk, ready to start editing. Also, the plan is to record my second CCR and get a line edit done (by 3 pm). A lot of work in one day, I know. Consequences of my actions. (I don't want to link the source of that reference because the artist is problematic and I'd rather not promote them. Just pretend this is a funny joke, maybe exhale a little bit of air through your nose.) 

Saturday (22ed), I hope and pray to all the Mayan, Greek, and Roman gods to ever exist. By 10 pm I wish to have both projects done. This will give me ample time to overthink my work before submitting it on Tuesday.

I See, I See, and I Are? (#26)

Welcome Glorp to my humble abode. This is the first time I'm writing a blog post at 6 am. "Why?" I hear you ask. Well, I'm going to a renaissance fair at 9 and I also have a lot of home work. So, as Pokey from my favorite childhood book said, I'm putting work before play.

My entire childhood in one photo. 

Pokey, my G.O.A.T, looking radical as always.

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

Software:

We used Premiere Pro and After Effects to assemble our project. Our school pays for a subscription so we don't have to. It's the best thing in the world and I appreciate it every day. 

Zach thoroughly contemplating his great editing.

Hardware:

The editing is done on Zach's laptop and the graphics are done on mine. We used Zach's amazing, beautiful camera to film. I felt like I had a bar of gold in my hands while shooting, but it was better than a bar of gold because gold can't record video. It's not Zach's camera. Also, while shooting we had no tripod. Zach said "It's fine, I have a makeshift tripod." His makeshift tripod was a tube light. We just placed the camera on it and hoped to god our two feet whould be sable enough. The entire time I was recording, only one though rushed through my brain. "I am one with the tripod. I am one with the tripod. I am one with the tripod." There never existed a Greek god of tripods, but that day I manifested his existence. Statherón is his name, coming from the Greek word statherós (σταθερός), meaning "stable."

Online:

I used the internet's wealth of resources to research our project. Thanks to the internet, I didn't have to touch a library throughout the entirety of this project. (I'm sure before the internet they were lovely, but they've really gone downhill since.) I loved researching this project and I learnt a lot about Victorian era in the America west. I know Zach also used free online databases to get sound effects for his sound design. I listened to what he has so far, it is beautiful. Apollo would be proud.

Okay, I'm going to get ready for the fair now! I'll C, C, and R you later Glorp.

C and C, but where is the R? (#25)

Dear Glorp,

Today I washed cars and begged people for tips.

Edit: Me, harassing people for tips. Your welcome CBTV,

If they are going to make me work, at least make me beg people for money. It's what I'm best at. (This is a joke)

How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

Believe it or not, I'm not a people person when it comes to getting stuff done. When I fool around, I'll admit, I'm a goofy guy. But when I'm focused, all other things don't exist and I feel like my purpose in life was to be the thing I am doing. If I am writing this blog, my mother might as well said "this child will be writing blogs until the day he dies" during my birth because this is the only thing I am right now. Blogs. Blogs. Blogs. That's the only narration in my head because I am so focused. I am a blog. The real blog is me. 

The only issue with being so focused is that I tend to be ignorant of other people. Which is bad when I'm working in a group. So, I learnt to cool off and be a little more passive this time around. I decided to expand my knowledge on westerns so much, my pert in this group became niche. Throughout this project I was the groups' Google. They'd ask me anything about the Victorian era and I would give a very specific answer. 

Production wise, I'd say my skills are good, I didn't learn much because I've done productions like these before. I was just going through the motion. Zach did remind me that the rule of thirds existed and I was like "Oh, yeah right. I should start using that again."

Okay, that's all for tonight Glorp. Buh bye!  

CCR - Portfolio Blog Post #24

I need my eight hours of sleep. I don't think you understand how serious I am about my 8 hours, Glorp. Call me an old man, I don't care. But recently, I think I've been cursed, every night without fail I think "ooohhh I'll just stay up a little more." This is in large part due to my chemistry teacher and her miraculous ability to make me want to end it all. So, I spend 2 extra hours studying and then I go to school with 6 hours and get a 73% on my math test. (What's this? Oh no! The consequences of my actions!) Long story short, this week feels like I cut off my legs and dragged my bleeding torso through hell. 

Anyways, today I was in class and the teacher told us we have to be creative with our CCR. I really hope my idea is creative, I don't have a solid way of knowing. 

How does your product engage with audiences?

In preparation to answer this question, I found a document and thoroughly read the conclusion. Pretty much, westerns severe the purpose of being a comfortable form of media. People seek it when they wish for a simple and reliable story. Here, men are always the heroes or villains and women are always the damsels in distress. "People find westerns reassuring because gender roles in westerns are more clear cut and life is slower and simpler." Real life issues seem to be separate from the western world, everything there is predictable. Despite focusing our film on a woman, gender roles are still a large part of this movie. In this world, men are still powerful and, for the most part, women stay home. Because of this, I think Charlette's personality could be considered a form of both rebellion and conformity. She is a quiet pacifist, which could be seen as her trying not to draw attention to herself. But, she is also a cowgirl in the wild west who doesn't apologize for being herself. Her existence is political, but her personality isn't. This would make our movie seperate from most westerns and might even challenge the ideas viewers have on westerns.

While reading this paragraph aloud to myself I mispronounced "pacifist" and accidently created a new word, "pethacy" It means..... uhhh.... ummm....?

How would it be distributed as a real media text?

I would honestly love to have a DVD of this movie, but I know they probably won't sell. Assuming this media text would be an indie project, I'd decide to distribute it in the weirdest way possible. I would create an ARG (Alternate Reality Game) with all sorts of clues and riddles. ARG's are interactive online games that uses different forms of media to deliver a story based on the collectives actions of the players. Game Theory covers a lot of these, here's one of my favorites.

I love the idea of having a western themed ARG as a form of marketing. I'd have a website for the film like Welcome Home does, but have hidden clues that lead to a streaming platform that supports indie film makers, like Nebula or Mubi. From then, I'd make the film hidden somewhere on their website. I'd also love to have a DVD hidden somewhere and on the website have cryptic coordinates that lead up to it. Maybe hide a few clues in the movie itself. 

Oh em gee. What if, hear me out, I make my CCR a video like Game Theory. I have the skills to edit like that! OH EM GEE WAIT! I can pretend to be going through the ARG I created. Holy wack unlyrical lyrics. I am insane. 

Shout out to Emi's blog. I read it sometimes (https://emvaicmedia202756.blogspot.com/) because she is basically me if I drank caffeine and had undiagnosed autism. Okay that's all, buh bye Glorp. 

Group Discussion - Portfolio Blog #23

Hello Glorp! 

Before I start, here's a photo that sums up my week. I am burning out :D

Today we were sorted into groups and discussed our project for peer reviews. Here's the recap.

Miguel:

(His blog is down, so he gave me his group member's blog instead)

https://joseph347.blogspot.com/

Miguel is going to film soon, likely today he says. His story is in the horror genre. The plot follows a high school band with an outraged guitarist. After an argument, the guitarist get kicked off the band. This influenced his final decision to kill off band members one by one. Something I found really cool about his project is that the way the band members will get killed. It has to do with the instrument that they played. For example, the drumist gets drum sticks wedged into his eyes and the bassist gets strangled by an amp chord. They are also making their own music since each actor already knows how to play their instrument. I honestly really like that idea. Truly, I wish them the best. 

Sophia:

https://education-rua.blogspot.com/

Her opening follows a group of girls who have a prank war every April 1st. During the preperation of a prank, one of the girls gets murderd. Sophia didn't say the genre, but I assume this is also horror. I really liked her idea of having two camera's on set. One recording the regular way and a small digital cameria for the girls to record as a vlog. I think there can be some really good use of POV shots with that, so long as it's used with intention. Sophia told me that the way she plans on showing the murder is by using fake blood and only showing the hand of the victim. This is a good way to hide the fact that we are jobless highschoolers and don't have the budget to make a murder scene look realistic. She was planning on making blood out of corn syrup and food dye. I suggested adding one part blue food dye and four parts red. This gives the fake blood a deeper, more realistic color. Also, to watch out for stains and to keep a wet rag near her, things can get sticky quick.

Roman:

https://romancambridgeblog.blogspot.com/

Roman, if you are reading this, I'm sorry if I spelt your name wrong. Roman already filmed his project, he is doing something in the action genre. The opening is focused on two men involved with trading drugs getting caught by the police and being interrogated. The character played by Roman snitches to the cops. At first, I was skeptical. How is this kid going to get access to a cop car? Handcuffs? Police uniforms? A police station??? He assured me that, since his girlfriend's dad is a cop, he has access to all those things. I'm still a little skeptical. Personally, if I where a cop and my daughter's boyfriend wanted to borrow my expensive equipment for a school project, I'd say no. But, I'm not a cop, I'm a kid who hasn't even finished high school. So what do I know?

My Project:

Talking to my group members, I realized my film has no name. I instantly texted the group chat.

So the film is now called Death Wears a Dress. I really like the name. 

With my group, I went over the line edit and showed them the text I planned on using for the graphic. Miguel said to use the Zebrawood font because it looks more "western" compared to the Discourse font. He said it looked like a sticker from the 80s, I see what he means and I and agree. 

The plan is to add the graphics today, but it's already 8 pm. So I guess this is good night, bye Glorp!

Filming Day 2 - Portfolio Blog #19

 Yes Glorp, I know these blogs are out of order. So sue me. 

Today my team went out and filmed the missing clips for our project. We had 2 - 3 shots we where missing, and they went out and got them. 

Zach recording Emi and her cross.

Nico, Emi, and Zach getting the sounds of the shovel.

Thank you to my group members for being able to go out and film without me, you guys are amazing. Bye Glorp.

CCR - Portfolio Blog Post #22

Hey Glorp! 

Back in the day, I would grab my phone and my microphone and film myself climbing trees while talking to myself. So when I heard about the CCR, which is expected to be me talking to a camera, that's the first thing that came to my head. I plan to go out around 3 pm and maybe stay for the sunset. I'll also have a script and bullet notes so I know what points I wanna make. Lucky, question #1 is one I've already asked myself.

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

We decided that our protagonist should be female. This is to challenge how the protagonist of a western is always a white man. Many women where cowgirls back in the Victorian era, they just have never gotten the same representation in media as men. The western landscape was a lot fairer than people make it out to be, most believed that woman were equal so long as they can do the job as well as a man. I know western movies aren't always known to be historically accurate, but the genre can do with a little change up in gender. This will expand the target demographic to women and younger people. Not to mention, women in the western genres are typically a damsel in distress. Our character isn't in distress, in fact her personality is very masculine. Not using this trope at all turns the convention on it's head, and shows that film can be made without using tropes that reinforce the patriarchy.

Yay feminism!

Voice Recording - Portfolio Blog #21

Guess who's still sick? I am! This morning I awoke level headed and forced myself to school. But the hellish critters violating my immune system forced me to the nurses office. Suffice to say, Glorp, I had to miss the recording my group did. Here's a update blog. 

While I was resting at home, my group went to the recording studio in the TV room. They stayed in there for a good thirty minutes or so to get the line right. Zach and Nico instructed Emi to say her lines in a morbid, ponderous voice. According to her, it took a few attempts, but she eventually got there. They decided to only say 2 of her 4 lines since the spare 2 might give too much exposition. 

They got rid of these two lines:

Then, Zach instantly put those recorded lines in the project. Here's how they turned out.

Me personally, I really like it. I think Emi did a great job. A part of me wishes I could've been there to help direct, I think her voice is a little too cheery. But, Emi herself is a cheery person so I don't think I could've done much regardless.

That's it for today. Buh bye, Glorp!

The Text - Portfolio Blog #20

Hey Glorp!

Something I take pride in is my immune system, I often say it's made of steel. Well, my pride was taken from me this week at STN. The lack of sleep weakened my army of white blood cells and I started feeling terrible. I'm home now, but I'm still sick, I'm being forced into rest by my dad. I woke up from a fever dream about graphics and instantly got to writing this post. 

During my research for movie openings, I realized that all the text used by westerns are thick and capitalized. The colors used are reds, blacks, and whites, and the graphic is meant to grab attention. So, with all of this is mind, I looked through Adobe Fonts to find the perfect text. Here are a few of my choices.

I like how clean this one looks. A lot of the fonts I found sacrificed their vide for legibility. This one is the perfect mix of both. The only issue is that it may be too clean. Western fonts, from what I've seen, aren't this bubbly and neat.

I think this font really adds to the western vibe. I like how theres a flat color and a detailed version, but I doubt that it'll look good if we use something with so much detail. 

This text has a little bit of texture, which I really like. None of the font's from my research had this, but I think that a little texture will really add to the aesthetic of our opening. 

Should I have to pick one, I think I'd go with Discourse and I'd add a little bit of texture on After Effects. That way I'd get the best of both worlds. Okay, I'm going to go convince Zach to let me have control over the text in our opening. Bye Glorp!

Editing in Post - Portfolio Blog #18

Hello Glorp! All of today was spent filming and editing. Now I’m at a social mixer hidden away in a corner because loud noises overwhelm me. Anyways, Zach finished the line edit! We plan to have a voice over the entire thing, but we haven’t recorded any of it yet. Also, the music we added is temporary and will likely be changed. I also plan to add more noises like wind, dirt, and clothes with foley and free online sources (pixabay.com)

That's all for today! Good night Glorp :)