Creative Critical Reflection - Final Task

1.     How does your product use or challenge conventions AND how does it represent social groups or issues? When starting the process of creating the final task, my group and I studied the opening sequences of actual movies in the same genre. This allowed us to get an idea of how we wanted to film, what kind of music to use, what types of editing was needed and so on. The main shots used in our film were POV, extreme-close ups, over the shoulder, and a few more. This was to make the viewers have the same thoughts and feelings as the characters in the film were having. The side characters in the film such as the mother, cops, news reporters, and the main character wore regular clothes such as a shirt and pants. The murder wore dark clothes and a black hoodie. Normally in horror movies there are plot twists that have the audience on the edge of their seat. Our film stuck to the plot and tried to keep it in line. This was to make sure it didn’t look all over the place. If you noticed, there wasn’t any blood shown or actual murder. We tried to avoid anything that had to do with gore. Props like knives and other sharp weapons were not included in the film. We want our film to be aimed at all ages and in order for that to happen we must keep it PG. Our final task represents the awareness that people nowadays must have when going places or even just stepping out the house. Our final task is meant to represent people with internal problems. For example, anxiety and depression is a very big cause of bad dreams and it is something people struggle with every day. It can affect the smallest things they do in their everyday life. Other sleeping conditions that may cause bad dreams or even trouble sleeping are shown. People overlook how big these problems are for some people and it is important to bring awareness to them. At first glance this film may seem like another horror movie but it’s not. It shows a problem that many people struggle with each day.

1.    2. How does your product engage with audiences AND how would it be distributed as a real media text? The last thing anyone would want is to watch a boring movie that makes no sense. The best part about a horror movie is the suspense. You never know if you’re going to get jump scared or not. In my opinion, the music was a huge part of all this. Choosing the best music to fit the video help that horror aspect of the film. Obviously, we aren’t perfect actors. Many takes were needed and even then it doesn’t look perfect. Because of this I think the film may even give someone a little bit of a laugh. In a film, everything matters. The smallest details can have a huge effect on the entire film. The plot, props, and acting all contribute to how people interpret the film and how they feel while watching it. Each viewer may see something completely different, but that’s the best part. My groups vision was a girl that was stuck in a dream because of an internal struggle. But someone could’ve seen it in a completely different way. This leads into the next part of the question, because people see the film in a different way they are going to speak their opinions. With people taking about it other people because interested and this may make them want to watch the film. Our film would be available on popular movie streaming platforms such as Netflix, Prime Video, Peacock, Hulu, etc. Social media platform can be used to showing the trailer of the movie. Getting millions of people excited to watch a movie and streaming it in the movie theaters. All movies that would be made would be released at the same time so there will be no need to wait. If all movies are released at the same time the popularity will skyrocket. The last thing someone wants to do is wait a year after being left on a cliffhanger. Eventually after waiting too long you give up and don’t care as much anymore. Having the movies come out at the same time will keep the excitement and hopefully make the movie more popular.

 

 

1.    3.  How did your school production skills develop throughout this project? Everyday my production skills were improving in different ways. When we first started the process of making the final task I didn’t know very much. Although I had learned a lot from past projects, this one was the biggest one and needed the most effort. Editing was NOT my strong suit at all. I was more of the person filming and being on the screen. In the past project I had a lot of screen time because my group was trying to balance out the roles and tasks that everyone had. This time, everyone was on the screen, and everyone edited, filmed, and did anything possible to make this film great. My group mates helped me in areas where I was struggling. The best thing about my group is that everyone knows how to do different things. One of the main things I did struggle with was actually working in a group. I rather work on things alone because I tend to get things done quicker. Obviously, there were bumps in the road but that is expected. We are 4 teenagers filming a film. It’s not going to be perfect. This group helped me push myself and helped my communication skills. I don’t have much patience with people and it very hard for me to stay focused. I will admit it was very hard for me to stay focused while filming at first. I was constantly laughing and I wasn’t able to look at anyone or else I would burst out laughing. After a few takes I was able to control my laughter and we got the job done. Like I said earlier, editing was not my strong suit. This project allowed them to improve in more ways than one. I got more familiar with editing software, and I learned how to add sound effects, use a green screen, trim clips, and so much more. Multi-tasking with this project was a huge challenge for me. I had homework and tests to study for while going through this whole process. At times it was a lot, but I was able to handle it and I think I did a pretty good job. In total, the final task took about 2 weeks with filming and editing. I got to be honest we did procrastinate a little bit, but luckily for my group we were able to stop that and get to work. We were making great progress, it might have been slow but we were getting there. By the end of this I knew way more then I knew at the beginning. I think you could say I’m a pro. No I’m totally kidding! But I did improve a lot more then I thought I would.

 

2.     4. How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project? For this film my group decided to use an iPhone to film. This is simply because an iPhone is more convenient than a camera. We were going straight from school to our film locations and carrying a camera in our bags could risk breaking it. We weren’t completely sure that the camera would save everything we filmed and the very last thing we wanted was to lose footage and have to refilm. We used iMovie as our editing software because we were all very familiar with it and everyone was able to help. It’s an amazing app that is already downloaded onto our iPhones and it's really easy to use and navigate. It allowed s to add out titles, transitions, add sounds, and so much more in an easy manner. A new app that we decided to try was CapCut! We used it for a few scenes and it honestly changed the game. There were so many templates and different fonts. It truly was a game changer and I recommend it to anyone that wants to film! YouTube was a huge help with the editing process. Tutorials on how to do EVERYTHING were on there. I’m honestly so grateful for YouTube because some of the editing steps were difficult! It also provided out group with hundred of copyright free music that was perfect for the film. Choosing our music was a little overwhelming with the number of choices but I’m so happy with the one we picked!  Blogging this process was actually pretty difficult. Keeping you guys updated plus all the filming and editing was frustrating. Obviously, I was able to do it but in the moment it was really overwhelming. Blogger has allowed me to share my experience of making this final task. Using Blogger allows me to see how much I have progressed through this stressful school year. But I am very proud to say that have progressed a lot more than I thought I would!

Thank you, guys, so much for coming along with me as I cooked dinner and answered these questions. I’m so glad I got to share this journey with all of you! Bye for now!