FILM OPENING

HERE IS...

remains;

Hope you enjoy!

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CREATIVE CRITICAL REFLECTION

 Here are my CCRS!

Interview of remains;

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Presentation of remains;

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REFLECTION

HII BLOG!! Today officially marks the day that the AICE project comes to an end! Although I can't help but say I'm excited, but also extremely grateful to have gone through this whole process, and especially to go through it with my closest friend, Nicole. Without her, I literally would NOT have known what to do and would've been so lost. These past 9 weeks have been stressful, yet super exciting and fun as it is rewarding to see everything come together in the end.

Honestly, the whole 9 weeks did not feel long at all and felt like 4 weeks at most. From the beginning, I had serious doubts about this and was extremely nervous, as this was something super new to me and my partner and we had never even THOUGHT of doing anything close to a movie opening. But as time went on, I soon learned that I knew more than I genuinely thought I did, as everything that I had done prior in that class all came together and helped me in the making of this. Since this project allowed so much creative freedom and was not strict on rules, it helped me and my partners' creativity flow as much as we wanted it to, which helped us a lot too as we never felt restricted or like we could not put our own original ideas out there.

One of the things I mostly struggled with was editing, as prior to this project I had only done minimalistic editing for basic projects, but I knew that for this one it would be more complex. Something that really helped me was the own schedule I had made prior to even starting the project, which helped with staying on track and helped me notice if we were ever falling behind. Even though the schedule was not followed, it was still a good guideline to have.

I can honestly say that in these past 9 weeks, I have learned so much. This project helped me with not only editing and filming, but also managing time, and with skills that I will need for my whole life. I can proudly say that these 9 weeks went by smoothly, and I'm super grateful to have the end product of our opening, remains;

My last 2 blog post will be my CCRS and opening. Thank you for following along this journey, and I hope you enjoy!!

CCR REDO

 HIII BLOG!! So basically, the first CCR I did which was the talk show host one got deleted for some reason, but I had made sure to download my clips, so all of today I made sure to re-edit the CCR, and I have all done! 

As for my second CCR, I will be doing a canva presentation and speaking over it, but to not make it boring I will make sure to include many clips of our movie, so the audience does not get bored. This CCR I will be finishing tomorrow, as I have the presentation done but I was extremely busy over break and could not get to it. 

As for the film editing, everything has been going super smooth, and I and Nicole have been switching between various different editing applications, as different things are easier on different platforms. 

I have decided to edit my CCR's on capcut as it is the easiest platform for me to use. The hardest part of this project has been the editing part, as I am very good at filming and with shots and angels, but usually not very good at editing, as that is why I only know how to use capcut, but this project has helped me step out of my shell to try new things.

FONT RESEARCH

 For the font of our intro, we have decided to do research and not just pick any font, as we know that font is also a specific detail that helps shape movies in general. We wanted to find a font that fit the specific genre we were doing, but we also wanted to find a font that fit our specific movie opening as well.

Some of the options we had were:

Madina

Magnolia Script

The Muday

Bebas

For me and Nicoles movie opening remains;, we have decided to pick the font Bebas. We chose this font due to it fitting the many different movie openings that we watched. We made sure to watch many openings that had similar plots to ours and mystery movies that included teenagers, and the font Bebas was the one that was the most similar to our genre and plot.

CCRS/EDITING

 HIIII BLOG!! So basically, this week has been super rough due to it being spring break. Me and Nicole have started editing, but I do not have any pictures due to it being on Nicoles computer.

Our intro starts off with a black screen, then it cuts to them talking that was filmed on a digital camera, and then the screen goes back to black with the title name appearing. 

For the font, we are not really sure yet what it will be, but my next post will be figuring out which font we will choose. We want the font to be a distinct font that shows the fear and mystery that we want to project in our movie.

Also, for my CCRS, I have officially finished editing my first CCR! For my second one, I will probably film it tomorrow it Sunday. It will be either me talking to the camera, or I will make my mom or dad asking questions pretending to be part of the press. When I was trying to research ideas for my CCR, that came up and I thought it was super good, and it gave me some inspiration, but I don't know if I would do that, due to my first CCR being that someone already asked me questions.

FILMING/CCRS

HII BLOG! So today we OFFICALLY finished filming! I do not have any footage right now as I have not taken it out of my camera, but when I do, I will be sure to show you guys some clips and funny bloopers! 

Today filming went great, everything was super smooth, and we had an amazing time! I'm super grateful for my friends Gabby and Alex for letting me use them as my main characters!

Now, the next step after filming is to move to editing. Me and Nicole still have to discuss some of the techniques we want to approach while editing. Tomorow I will take out all the footage and send it to Nicole so she can put all of the clips together, and then we will meet up to edit them some day this week. 

As for MY next step, all I currently have left to finish is my one CCR, which i'm still not sure what I will be doing. I was discussing with some of my friends, and I was thinking about sitting at my desk and answering the last two questions, but to not make it boring I would add many funny sound effects, or just sound effects in general.

(Me doing Alex's makeup before filming (Mise-En-Scene elements))

CCRS PT2

 HII BLOG!! So we had to push our filming section back due to Alex going on a cruise!! (HAPPY BIRTHDAYYY), so, me and Nicole are going to finish our CCRS this week so next week all we have to do is finish filming on Sunday, and then edit.

Even though the CCRS are separate, me and Nicole will be helping each other with each others (only on one though). For the one that we will be helping each other on, for hers, I will dress up as a talk show host and ask her questions, which is the same thing she will do for me.

3/23/2024

HIIII BLOG!! Me and Nicole have just finished filming our first CCRS! We helped each other. The theme that we went for the talk host vibe, though Nicole's was a day time show and mine was a night time show. We made scripts and did research on the longest questions, as we thought it would fit the talk show vibe. 

The filming process went smooth, as we have previously prepared but making the script and doing research prior to filming.

Since the CCRS are separate, me and Nicole will not be helping eachother out on the second ones and will be recording those ourself. For mine, I was thinking of doing a podcast episode, but I do not know how to do that without making it not boring. 

Another thing I was thinking about was just sitting and talking to my camera but adding special effects to not making boring, but I yet do not know.

WE ALSO FINISH FILMING TOMORROW!!!!

Title

 HIII BLOG!! Today, me and Nicole have been thinking and working on our title. We wanted to film first before making the title, so we could see and really get a feel for what our title name should be. 

After researching mystery film titles, we realized that they are only one word. Since our film includes depression, we want to include ";", as a symbol that even though her friend passed away, she kept going. And also, the semicolon is used to signify mental health, and how if you have it, you are still here.

THOUGHT PROCESS

- So, after searching many titles, we have come up with a couple options

-end;

-remnant;

-remains;

After taking into consideration the options we have, we have decided to choose the title "remains;". We have chosen this title due to Aurora using remains of what Adaliah left behind to find out what happened to her, and the semicolon symbolizes the mental health battle that Adaliah went through, which is shown throughout the film.

DAY 2 FILMING!

 HII BLOG!! So today we finished the second half of filming! Unfortunately, we did not finish the whole project, as we needed our friends Alex mom and she was not available today, but we hope to squash the filming part by tomorrow so we can start assembling and finish by this week, so we have all of spring break to do/help each other with our CCRS!

As for our filming project, the first day of filming went smoothly, and the second day went even better. For the first day, we filmed all the scenes that we had to film in the house, and then the second day we went to Town Center and Sawgrass Mills to film some scenes we had to film there.

On the last day, we plan to finish the scene we have to do with Alex's mom, and we will finish and edit the project, which me and Nicole have already set up a date to start editing, but for now she is assembling all the clips together.

SCRIPT IS DONE! / DAY 1 OF FILMING

 HIII BLOG!! So basically, me and Nicole finished our script YESTERDAY!! The process was easy, but at first, we did not know what we were doing, and even now we don't know if we did it right. In our script, most scenes do not talk, like in the first couple of ones it is just flashbacks and no talking, which makes the filming process a little less awkward and easier.

As for our filming, me and Nicole have decided to film today, 3/15/2024, and on Sunday, 3/17/2024. We will be editing on a digital camera and then an actual big camera, because I think it'll make the film look better. If we realize we cannot film on those due to it being too hard, we will switch to using the phone.

DAY 1 OF FILMING

The first day of filming went super smoothly, as we got a good amount of scenes done! On Sunday, we will finish the project and put it together to see if we need any other scenes or if we need to redo one. Also while filming, I made sure to film the same scene twice or three times just in case.

CCR

 HIII BLOG!! This week in Aice Media, my teacher went over the second part of the Aice project that is required, which is the CCR. 

Im still thinking about some ideas that I could do for my CCR, but in class I had one that I thought was not bad. I used to watch a lot of celebrity interviews, and one that ALWAYS caught my eye was the ones that were "replying to my hate comments" where celebrities would go on social media platforms and find hate comments and reply to them in a serious yet funny matter, which I thought would be a good idea for my CCR. 

When I went to talk to my teacher about it, she told me that it wasn't bad, but that I would need to include something extra to make it interesting, as we only watch those specific YouTube videos because we like those celebrities. I was thinking that I could maybe add some music in the back to make it a little less boring and not just me talking, or I could add humorous background noises or pop ups to make the mood light hearted. 

I'm still brainstorming my second CCR. Even though I am not sure what I am doing for my second one, I think my idea for my first one is good and will show Cambridge my creative side.

Filming/Story Board

 HIII BLOG!!! Basically, as you can see from my last post, I was not here (in Weston) ALL WEEKEND, so while I was out, Nicole was making the story boards so we could film this upcoming week/weekend. We have previously discussed what would be on our story boards. We also picked out where all the scenes will take place so it will all be planned out for when we film. One last thing we must discuss before actually filming are the little details the characters will have.

Some examples of this are bracelets, or necklaces with special meaning behind them, since our piece is a mystery, it should show lots of symbolism. Another thing we must discuss are what our actors will be wearing all throughout the filming, as our piece has many different scenes and shots. 

 NEW UPDATES!! Also short blog… SORRY

So since I’ve literally been gone the entire weekend… Nicole told me she went on and started the storyboard! She just told me that a good half of it(maybe more?) was done, she’ll finish it tomorrow and we can review it on call. Then we will work together on the script and before the next weekend so we can get to filming. 

She showed me 2 notecards with the filming locations on it and it looks pretty easy to do! A lot are close together, and a lot are just in Alex’s house. 

Here’s what’s been written so far of the storyboard, details are also included like if any effects are used, dialogues, and also a short description of the scene below. ALSO the time stamps were gonna be put in all the scenes BUT Nicole said she couldn’t really predict how long they’d be and even if she did, it could be wrong and screw up the WHOLE length of the project. 

Notecard of locations: 

The unfinished storyboard:

Next update will most likely be about the entire storyboard and any progress on the script! 

Setting

 HII BLOG!!

Okay so this week me and Nicole are planning to get everything ready before we start filming, which includes the outfits, location, and areas we will be filming in. Since in one of the scenes we plan police to tell Aurora that they have closed the case, we plan on asking the police if we could film inside their offices for a more realistic look.

Now, before the group meetings, me and Nicole were super skeptical about this (but it was still an idea), but after Nicole brought it up to her peers in the group meeting, they gave us the courage to AT LEST ask.

(This is the police station we want to call, ask, and film in.)

Also, since the setting of our opening is a lower-class area, we will be doing very tight and personal shots in the office, as the offices are probably nice. However, we are still discussing the shots of when filming inside the police station. Another thing we can also do as stated in my previous blog, we can put a yellowish filter on top of the scene to make it look dirtier.

For the neighborhood and houses both girls will be living in, we have decided to pick my neighborhood. We have decided to pick my neighborhood because when we were researching lower-class neighborhoods, we saw that all of the houses were close to each other, similar to townhouses, which is perfect because I just so happen to live in one.

For the funeral part, we have decided to not make it an actual funeral, but that our character Aurora will go crying to the park in a black dress, (which is what you wear to a funeral), and have a picture of them while crying.

Character Background

HIIII BLOG!! So last week, me and Nicole have finally found our plot out, we are going to be deciphering our 2 main characters and showing you guys a little of their backgrounds.

For a little background, me and Nicole did some research and found out that lower funding for police means higher crime. Since in our opening, they closed the police case of the girl, we thought it would make sense to make the setting in a lower-income community, to show the unimportance the police have for the case. To do this, we will embed a yellowish undertone in the opening to show the "dirtier" community that the girls live in. 

Adaliah comes from a low-income family (as the setting is), but she will be poorer than most people. This is one of the main causes that she will be bullied. Due to her life at home and how her parents treat her, she becomes a shy character, which makes the bullying even worse due to her not being able to stand up for herself. Her outfit choices will be like any regular teenage girl's, nothing too shabby but nothing that makes her stand out. She dresses this way to try and fit in with everyone else surrounding her, proving to them that she is no different. As time goes on and she gets more and more bullied, her outfits will change from clean, fresh clothes, to baggier clothes, not caring about her style any longer. 

Aurora will also be poor but have more money than Adaliah. Aurora conflicts with Adaliah due to Aurora's home life being great, as her family is super close, and all get along with each other. Aurora will live in a different neighborhood than Adaliah, but Adaliah will go over to Aurora's house often, (due to her not wanting to go home), making a second family with Aurora's own family. Aurora will also dress like a regular teenage girl, not standing out much. Aurora's personality will also conflict with Adaliah's, as she is super social and everyone likes her, making her have many friends. 

In the opening, when Adaliah passes, Aurora will wear the necklace that Adaliah always wears as a way to honor her. 

Group Meeting #1

 HIII BLOG!! So, after the group meeting on 2/28/2024, I learned so much. This is just an appreciation to my group to thank them for helping me so much in trying to figure out what I want to do. They gave me so much clarity. 

In the group, I gave my own feedback. There was someone in my group who had an amazing idea of a ghost movie for kids, which was a super good idea, but she was stuck on her own plot and the names. In the group, we gave her many ideas, one being zap. We told her that the name of the ghost could be Zappy, and the movie could be Zap. This could symbolize how the ghost died in the first place. I also told her to not mention how the ghost dies in the opening but to show it, so it leaves the audience pondering about what truly happened to the ghost. Another person in my group needed help with coming up with names for his own film, and the monster of his film. We searched up many horror Moster names, and eventually, someone in my group told him to name it "Mirage" due to his monster being a shape shifter, and mirage meaning illusion.

In the group meeting, I presented them with my idea, and they told me it was good. The only problem I had was that me and Nicole did not have our opening planned out, nor an idea of how it could start. To my relief, this was a very common problem we all shared which I was really grateful for because it made me feel less alone and as if I was not so behind. After telling them my story, they gave me feedback, one of them being that the opening can start off with the girl already being dead, instead of making her die in the opening. This is a great idea due to the viewers do not know what happened, which is perfect because as the movie progresses, the audience finds out what happened to Adaliah with Aurora rather than already knowing and just waiting for Aurora to find out.

 

Another idea I got for the project is that since we MIGHT do that, she is already dead rather than killing herself in the opening, they gave me another idea to establish the relationship of the friends. An example of this would be that in the funeral speech, the main girl, Aurora, could be talking about how they were such good friends and how she can't live without her, etc. By doing this, it will establish that Adaliah was a special person to Aurora, which will then lead the audience to understand why she will try an find what happened to her. 

Another great idea we got was that Adaliah could help her friend, Aurora, and help her out by giving her clues. Kind of like a "ghost" but not really if that makes sense. Like she would drop things that help Aurora and open doors you know? While I think this idea is great, I think it is too much for the opening, and would be amazing for the production itself. If we do this, we could only add one scene where this happens, and I would make it, so the audience doesn't know that it is her friend, but it hits at it, to add on to that mystery vibe. 

I want to be able to make my viewers question what is going on, making them ask why, who, when, and where. The group meetings helped impact my portfolio due to them guiding me and helping me get a better idea to my own plot. My group helped me move forward, as me and Nicole were genuinely stuck in what to do and had no clue how to move forward and plan. Even after watching openings, none of us would have been able to come up with the idea of making the girl start off as dead, or even the ghost part, which makes me super grateful for my group.

WEEK 4!

 HIIII BLOG!!! So, since me and Nicole have found out our plot, we wanted to make most of the things symbolic, as mystery contains much symbolism. For naming our characters, we have decided to make them contrast, and make them pertain to what will happen to the girls. For the girl that kills herself, we have thought of two names, Adaliah and Chiwa. These names both mean death, as that is what will happened to her. I think Chia is a very cute name, but Nicole does not think it is, so we are still deciding on that. Now for the girl who will find out what happened to her best friend, her name will be Aurora, as it means light.  

We have picked these names due to the plot of our story. We are also still in the process of picking a title, but we will probably do that today. To do that, we will have to make it symbolic, yet with importance to the story, so we will have to sit and think of the title. 

We will also start story boarding TODAY and HOPEFULLY start filming tomorrow. I know that to do this, we will have to focus and be serious about the work, BECAUSE I WANT THAT FREE SPRING BREAK. I still have to ask the girl that will play Adaliah if she can be in our project, I think she will say yes (HOPEFULLY). 

RESEARCH 2 (kinda)

 HIII BLOGGG!! So since me and Nicole have found out what our plot is going to be, we have started talking and planning how the opening will go and what will happen when. After researching the mystery genre openings, there are things that I have seen from the openings that I would like to include in my own.

In the credit scene, the names of the people that worked on the film all appear as things are happening, and its not just a blank screen. Also, the name of the characters does not appear with the character as they show up, but in different times while other things are happening. We will do this by putting all the credits in parts where the characters are not shown yet. Here are 2 opening examples where this is shown.

Another thing I have noted about mystery movie openings, is that the title is always imbedded behind things that are happening and are not shown on a black screen like other genres. These are 2 example that illustrate what I have discussed. 

They also start a lot of times with the production company, but I'm pretty sure every movie does that??? I'm not really too sure but I want to include that in me and Nicoles. 

When me and Nicole have our whole intro set up, I will discuss in deeper terms how these things will all be incorporated into me and Nicoles intro. I also want to start finding the name of the movie, and I want it to be symbolic to what actually happens.

WE FOUND IT

HIIII BLOGGG!!!! Today, me and Nicole researched TOGETHER and found the plot for our opening. It will be mystery, and it will about these 2 friends, and 1 of them is getting bullied but nobody else knows, and she ends up killing herself. The police open a case but struggle and find little to no evidence on why she killed herself, her friend, knowing her, knows that she would never do this as she was a happy light spirit, so she goes on her own mission to find out why her friend killed herself.

With this plot, I already have some characters in mind and the people who can play those 2. My friends Alex and Gabby are the PERCECT PAIR for this project. 

The way the opening will be planned out will be that it starts with the production companies name, then a part of the scene starts, then the name of the movie will appear, and then the rest of the opening will show. Me and Nicole still have to plan the whole thing, but we are really grateful and happy to have gotten our plot down after a week of going back and forth, and we are happy that we found something we FINALLY agreed on. We still have to figure the name out for the characters and film, but we plan om story boarding first to get an idea to see if we can connect the name to the opening.