Reflection Project Blog Post

    For my Portfolio Project, in order to correctly follow the directions and obtain a strong score, me and my group would have to create an original idea and then act it out while filming ourselves. Then, we would have to edit it into a cohesive two minute opening and support it with the adjustment and adding of audio, lighting, and color elements. This in addition to the huge amount of research that would have to be done helps to show the size of what is required for this assignment over about an eight week period.

    As you can see, this is a massive project that requires a lot of time, preparation, and effort. Even though this was a hard assignment to complete, I enjoyed every stage of producing my project with my group and I believe that I have learned a lot about the inner workings of major films and productions. This is because I now know what decisions and actions must be taken when studios are given a deadline for a certain assignment they may have. 

    For example, me and my group had to create our own calendar to assess when we would most likely be finished with different parts of the assignment. We also would have to account for any mistakes or problems within our project, helping to add more realistic pressure to our assignment.

    This preparation stage helped me to see the amount of effort and time that would be put into this project, helping to show me that I would be working on something that would be unparalleled in my academic career.

    As our project shifted more towards the actual filming, I was very happy that I was able to use my film equipment from CBTV class. Not only was I experienced with handling the equipment, but I also knew that if used correctly, it would heighten the quality of our project significantly, helping to create something that we could all be proud of. However, I must say that the equipment would prove to be very annoying at times. This is because constant clicking noises being made apparent in the audio as well as other undesirable background sounds.

    Here is an example of the clicking noises in the footage:

    Then, when we were successfully able to finish our filming, we began to edit the project. Because I had the most experience with editing in programs such as Premiere Pro, I would be in charge of the editing with help and changes being provided by Jean Paul and Vanessa. However, when the editing process had begun, it would take a lot longer than expected because of those audio elements I was talking about previously. I had not realized the scale of it until the majority of the footage was in place. With the footage being side by side, you could tell that the auditory transition between each sequence was off, which had made the project worse. This in addition to the background elements I was talking about earlier had caused the project to be strong in its video footage, but lacking overall in its audio. So, after working to correct the problem, me and my group had managed to fix the audio to properly fit our footage in the opening.

    When talking about the issues about my project, I would say that for the most part, the project had been relatively successful without any major mistake or flaw that had impeded or caused retakes to be made. For the audio, because of my experience with other projects, I had planned for the specific scenario of the background audio being an issue. In my previous film projects for other media classes, a main issue in editing the projects would be that I would not have enough background audio to replace certain sequences that had an undesirable sound element. So, through recording our surroundings when filming, we were able to ensure that this problem was prevented from any possible reshooting and delay in production.

    For the research aspects of the project, I would spend a huge amount of time searching the internet, trying to find information relating to my research topic. For instance, for the "Lighting Schemes Blog Post," I had done, I used strong sources such as StudioBinder to provide me with a basis of information. Then, after becoming familiar with the topic through it, I would use it to then find openings that had exemplified certain qualities that I was trying to explain. In doing this, it would take up a huge amount of time and effort. However, I would also have a complete understanding of concepts such as lighting in movies, allowing me to properly apply it to my own project. 

    Finally, for my Creative Critical Reflections, I wanted to make something that would perfectly summarize my thinking of the project and the inner workings of it. Through advice provided by Mrs. Stoklosa, I decided to center my two Creative Critical Reflections around my actual opening. In the first video, Asher would be interviewed by the Police about two CCR questions, with him humorously not wanting to answer them. Then, in my second video, me and my dad would be doing a podcast while answering another two CCR questions. I think that through this, I was able to create something that would not only entertain, but provide a short and concise look into my entire production process.

    Overall, through this project, I have been able to expand my knowledge of film productions and what is exactly required to make it as strong as possible. I am very glad to have been able to be a part of this project, because now through it, I can apply this experience towards any other more film projects I may have in the future, for both my own personal life as well as school affairs. This will then allow the project itself to be a pivotal and important part of my high school career and ultimately a memorable experience of my teenage years.

    

CCR Post Production Blog Post

    When I first started to edit, I wanted to achieve my objective of editing both CCR videos in an engaging and informative way, allowing my audiences to
fully grasp what I did for my project. I believe that with this plan in place, my audience will completely understand my inner thoughts and what I am trying to do.

    For my first video, I wanted to have an uninterrupted video of the officer beginning to speak to my character. This would allow a very serious situation to be created that would then be subverted by Asher's response, which is what I intended. Then, in order to ensure that my audience doesn't get bored and to follow Mrs. Stoklosa's guidelines, I placed images from the internet of different pictures pertaining to what I was talking about in a given moment. For the most part, I used Pixabay for it because it not only had access to millions of photos, but it also was a website that was easy to navigate and one that I was familiar with. The combination of my recently taken footage along with these condensed and edited sections of pictures allowed my first video and idea for it to be extremely strong in its execution.

    In this video below, you can see my footage that is moving through the timeline, with the photos popping up at the exact moment that it was being spoken about. This was to allow a seamless transition from footage of myself to direct material that I was referring to at that moment. This factor allowed me throughout the editing process to include the various photos I mentioned earlier as well as raw footage from my project. This gave me a huge advantage displaying my project, with a professional look due to the execution of displaying my thoughts and ideas with certain videos and pictures.

    Now, for my second video, I wanted to follow the same format that I had for my first one, strong footage and audio supported by edited sequences. However, this time, I would include some more footage of the actual conversation between me and my co-host talking to each other. In doing this, it helps to make the podcast feel more realistic and helps to differentiate the two different CCR videos even more. 

    Additionally, I wanted to include an introduction to the podcast, so I pulled footage from it and used it as a background for the opening of the video. You can see it below, with the words moving together to form the title against the background of me and my father talking. This helped to give our video a more official status, showcasing it in a more realistic manner.

    However, even though I wasn't able to finish the entirety of the two videos, I will be able to finish it in a short time because I have laid the groundwork for the project in this current editing stage. This will allow for more creative elements to be added in the advancing stages, increasing the quality of the project entirely.

    Overall, I believe that my editing process was extremely strong and that I was able to create two informative CCR videos because of it. Not only has my editing process and eventual product been quick and efficient, but I also utilized ideas that Mrs. Stoklosa gave me in relation to keeping the video engaging. Through this, the video accurately reflected the creative process I was thinking of when creating my main opening.

CCR Production Blog Post

    During the production of my Creative Critical Reflection videos, I managed to create a realistic environment where I would help to depict my plots for both in an engaging fashion.

    I made a couple of changes to my script to fix what I would actually say. I did this for both scripts because I thought that with these changes, the story would be improved significantly as well as my score on these assignments. 

    For the first one, I focused the story more on Asher wanting to talk about his experience, with the police officer wanting to talk more about the murder of Austin. In this way, it still keeps the comedic and engaging elements I originally planned for as well as more accurate as to what could more realistically happen.

    For my first video, as I said before, Asher would be interviewed by a police officer who is trying to find out more about his project through two Creative Critical Reflection questions. As you can see from the picture below, we had made the set a harsh and colorless area because of the seriousness of the situation. I had a lack of eye-catching things and there was a very bright light pointed at Asher's seat because it helps to show intensity in my scenes. This also helped to correctly depict both the seriousness of the situation and what an actual police interview room would look like.

    In these two videos, you can clearly see the footage of me and the officer, played by my mother, interviewing each other. We were out of frame for our own individual footage because it would allow for a seamless transition from the edited footage I will put in to the dialogue sequences of both of our characters. 

    When I first began to film, I had wanted to originally have different lighting on both of our characters. In doing this, it would help to accurately depict the feelings and emotions of the setting and character. However, when realizing that this could mess up my score by having inconsistent lighting, I had changed it in order to accurately show a police-like building. This feeling will then be accentuated during my editing process, which is when I would help to tint the footage to a more darker color. Overall, the filming of this CCR had gone extremely well, with little to no mistakes on either of our parts. This is because even though I changed the concepts of some of these videos, I kept my answers to the questions the same. This allowed me and my mother to have a firm grasp on what we would be talking about, which would also be the case for the video featuring myself and my dad.

    Thanks to the advice from Mrs. Stoklosa, I realized that I should change my original idea of having Asher escape his house while the police are there. She helped me realize that the first Creative Critical Reflection was too much like the second one, which could lead to a lower score. As a result, I will now have a podcast where I answer the next two CCR questions along with my co-host, which will be my dad. In this way, I can still add in different edited images while having the audio of a normal conversation between the two.

    For my second video, as you can see, we have created the set where the podcast will take place, with different film props coming into play to help set the scene for a podcast related to my project. With this set, I was able to create a calm and relaxed environment for the audience to then engage further into a normal and realistic conversation.

    In the video below, you can see the footage of the opening featuring me and my father, where we introduce the CCR podcast before we begin to start talking about it. With this introduction, we are able to entice and attract the audience to learn further about what me and my co-host will be talking about.

    I think that during our filming process, we were able to complete it in both an efficient and effective manner. This is because we had done it all in one take, allowing different sections to be cut out and replaced with the extra edited aspects of the project. In this way, I have a huge amount of footage that I will be able to have for the entire project, which I will then be able to cut out if I want to edit in something for a certain section.

    During this process, I have been able to obtain footage in the manner that I wanted in order to create two CCR videos that accurately describe me and my group's creative process. This will help me during my editing process, allowing me to not have to make many major changes towards my actual base footage and instead focus on supporting it.

Picture of the final script:

CCR Video #1:

CCR Video #2:

CCR #4 Question Research Blog Post

    For the final Creative Critical Reflection question, which is "How did you integrate technologies - software, hardware, and online - in this project," I can answer it with a highly detailed and accurate answer.

    This is because in the production of our project, me and my group have utilized a variety of hardware and software that have allowed for a strong finished product to be created.

    For the hardware used, because of my access to the CBTV program's equipment, we were able to have access to their high grade filming and audio equipment such as an AG-AC8 camera, microphone, and headphones. This allowed us to have footage at an extremely high quality and relatively no issues when transferring the footage from our SD card to the editing software. 

    In relation to software, because me and my group had access to Premiere Pro, we were able to access to a strong editing program that allowed for multiple footage and audio changes to be made. For the audio of some sequences, with undesirable background noises become very apparent, I was able to adjust it to properly fit the story. These adjustments I can make to the audio also allow me to make the transition to corresponding scenes as seamless as possible. Additionally, with this editing software, I could change the footage of the scene to match whatever purpose I had for the scene, allowing me to change the fabric of the videos we captured entirely.

    For online resources, some applications such as Canva and Pixabay served vital roles in making our production stronger in quality. This was because Canva gave us access to several creative tools, which we were able to use to create our production company logo. Then, with Pixabay, we were able to find copyright free music that would help us to perfectly portray our story in the creative manner me and my group had intended. With those two songs, we were able to have a product that would support the main opening scene as well as the title card sequence, drawing in audience attention further.

    With these various assets at our disposal, me and my group were able to create a strong project that allowed us to make something that met our original expectations for our end product.

    Here are the pictures of the part of my CCR script where I answer this question:

Olson, G. (2014, April 4). Panasonic AG-AC8 Video Review. Videomaker. https://www.videomaker.com/video/watch/reviews/17488-panasonic-ag-ac8-video-review/

    Here are the links for the tense suspense music we used for our project:

Pixabay. (2025). Pixabay.com. https://pixabay.com/music/suspense-tense-suspense-background-music-442839/

Tunetank. (2025, June 4). Cinematic Tense Music / Royalty-free Music. Pixabay.com. https://pixabay.com/music/adventure-cinematic-tense-music-347671/

CCR #3 Question Research Blog Post

    Throughout this whole production, I believe that I have advanced in my knowledge of production and the actual amount of planning that goes into it.

    So, when asked the question, "How did your production skills develop throughout the project?" I can confidently provide an answer that encompasses all of the production process.

    When me and my group first began to think of our production, I provided several ideas about what our production could be about. Then, after debate and thinking about how we could accurately execute the plot, we decided on a story where a meek and timid kid would be met with a bully who wanted to take advantage of him. However, we would eventually and easily drop the bullying factor, which was advised by Mrs. Stoklosa, in order to make our movie seem less cliche. Although this was a shift in the story, with having done previous research on bullies in famous movies, we were still able to use the belligerent student, Austin, for our main purpose, which was to drive Asher over the edge.

    For the entirety of the project, because I have extensive experience in film and media classes, I believed that it would be a relatively easy experience with no challenges. I was wrong. Even though I focused on sections of media production, I had not done a project where all elements would be put together. I realized this during the setting up of the calendar, which indicated to me the sheer size of the production. Even though this was a lot of work, I am very glad that I was able to take part in this. Now having this experience, I know more of the inner workings of major film productions and projects and the intricacies of them.

    A major part of my production skills developing was the editing process. When I was already deep into the editing, I had not realized, but there was a large number of issues with the audio. As you can see below, the dots on the blue line indicate areas where I would have to manually adjust the audio. This would either be because the audio for adjacent clips would be different, the transition for audio between two scenes would be very noticeable, or there was background noise becoming very noticeable. This caused the editing process to take longer than expected.  However, its effects were limited due to the calendar schedule I had prepared and the initial preparation of my project. With this foresight, I was able to make sure that the editing process would accurately reflect the amount of effort put into this assignment.

    Through this project, I have been able to adapt and grow in my experience and knowledge relating to media production. I now have a more comprehensive picture on what exactly is required in order to create a film of high quality. For the future, I will make sure to have more takes filmed with quieter background noises as well as provide myself with a strong calendar. In doing this, I will be able to replicate the success I had for this assignment.

    Additionally, here is the picture of my script where I answer this question. It will be the first of two questions in my second video, and as I have said in my previous blog post about the CCR videos, it will be about Asher trying to skip town after being interviewed by the police.

    

CCR #2 Question Research Blog Post

     During me and my group's initial planning phase, we were planning on how we could use the conventions of our selected genre to our advantage. We had also discussed how we would realistically distribute our project in the media sphere as well as who our target audience would be.

    This allows us to answer the Creative Critical Reflection question "How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?"

    With the opening revolving around Asher and Austin, who are two students at the same school, it will help to establish a connection with our target audience, which are younger and middle age audiences, specifically GEN-Z. We had also supported our appeal to this audience by having fast-paced editing as well as consistent action through the storyline. This, in addition to our tense music, creates a piece of media directly engaging our core demographic.

    Stories that revolve around situations their viewers can relate to have been a major aspect of many cult-classic coming of age films. We can see this through the popularity of movies such as "The Breakfast Club," which centers around a group of teenagers from different cliques becoming friends while in detention. With the setup from this story being relatable as well as the depictions of the characters with their different personalities allow for a story that directly speaks to its core audience.

    This proven success attributed to our selection of our core audience, with the story we selected having proven to setup success among this specific demographic. 

    For the actual distribution of this opening, we would choose more cost-effective methods in order to reach our target audience just as well. This would be done through both long and short form media platforms such as Youtube, Instagram, and TikTok. With these areas having a significant amount of young viewers, we would be able to personally advertise towards our main demographic without a strong fiscal responsibilty. To continue to maintain our low budget and spread our film, we would also send it to as many film festivals as possible.

    This tactic has been seen working for companies such as A24, which has completely reshaped the way movies can be advertised. We could see this from the film I hadresearched extensively for my class prior, which is "I Saw the TV Glow." For the advertising of this film, with its plot centering around nostalgic elements of the 1990s and children's television, it had focused its marketing towards younger and middle age audiences. They did this through the social media methods and film festival plan I discussed previously. Although A24 had a larger advertising budget to work with, I still believe that by targeting areas that most of my core audience reside in, more individuals who could like my film would be able to find out about it. These marketing strategies of A24 apply perfectly to my story, which would already be a great plan in advertising to more youthful audiences.

    With all of this information, I will be able to have a strong viewer base for my film, which they can relate to, as well as a set plan for how to distribute it. This will allow my project to have more depth as well as completely answer this Creative Critical Reflection question.

    Finally, in my previous blog post, I had not included my script for my first CCR video for the first question answered. As I have said in my CCR Production Ideas post, the first story is about Asher being interviewed by the police during questioning. Here is the full script for the video, encompassing both questions answered in these first two blog posts:

IMDb. (1985, February 14). The breakfast club. IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088847/

Schoenbrun, J. (2024, May 17). I Saw the TV Glow. IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15574270/

CCR Production Ideas Blog Post

     For my Creative Critical Reflection videos, I wanted to create something that would not only entertain my viewers, but help to provide actual insight to me and my group's creative process.

    I managed to do that through the creation of two videos, both of which will be related and connected to the overall plot of our opening.

    For the first Creative Critical Reflection video, it will be about Asher being interviewed by the police for more information. As you can see in the picture below, it will start out in a very serious tone, emphasizing the implications of Asher's situation. The police detective then confronts him with a question that everyone wants to ask Asher. This would then be an unexpected moment where the detective asks about the Portfolio Project for Aice Media Studies. This would allow for a more upbeat tone to be created from the previously serious introduction.

    I also plan to have Asher wearing dreary clothes, like a basic t-shirt and pants in the police building, which would help to symbolize the setting. Meanwhile, the interviewer would wear more formal and prepared clothes such as a blazer and cardigan. 

    After that, I would then go further into my project and describe the underlying tactics I used for the creation of the opening, such as the conventions I had used and why I decided to use them. I would then discuss how I decided to represent my characters, showing that there was meaning behind their intended portrayals. After that, I would talk about my creative decisions to obtain my target audience and my plan for a possible release of my opening. Finally, it would wrap up by continuing the plot about the aftermath of the opening, which would be continued in the second Creative Critical Reflection video.

    Through these strategies, I believe that I have created a strong video for my first Creative Critical Reflection recording. Not only does it connect to the story and entertain viewers by comedically contrasting their expectations, but also informs them in a direct and strong fashion about how I wanted to follow and challenge different aspects of my genre.

    Now, for my second CCR video, I decided to continue from my previous one, with it opening on Asher getting ready to leave his house and in a tropical outfit with sunglasses, clearly prepared to go somewhere. I plan to have him talk about how he is going to skip town, which would continue the previous plot line of the other CCR, bridging continuity as well as create a cohesive plot that also explains what I did for my Portfolio Project.

    After that, he would continue explaining the other two Creative Critical Reflection questions, talking about how his production skills and how they have developed throughout the project. Additionally, he will talk about the various technological websites and resources that were used, such as software and hardware.

    Overall, with these ideas, I firmly believe that my project will have two strong Creative Critical Reflection videos to back it up. In this way, I will be able to support the decisions I made for my project as well as create something that continues the story that I had originally made.

Editing Process #2 Blog Post

    After we edited the project, we wanted to go over the project overall to see if it met the expectations we had set when we first began editing.

    Even though we had not been able to finish the entirety of the editing, we still wanted to review over our footage to make sure that we felt it was strong before we continued with editing our project.

    To start off our editing revisions, we began to realize that we were missing clips. We had come to this realization because Vanessa pointed out that her clip of something wasn't there. Her footage of Asher's pencils and highlighters at the park were somehow erased from my SD card, causing us to lose it entirely. Even though we didn't have the clip, we had made up the lost time by already wanting to extend the length of some clips.

    Another point of interest during our revision process was the conversation between Asher and Austin. With my group trying to include music along with the sound of the conversation and the background noises, a lot of conflicting sounds were erupting from the sequence. This had caused some of the points in the conversation to feel obstructed by the surrounding audio and noises. We eventually ended up lowering the music in the scene to let the conversation play more naturally, allowing the sequence to feel more real in the process.

    However, a major piece that was missing from the opening was the sequence involving Asher sharpening his pencil, which would help to build tension right before he murdered Austin. When I was editing the surrounding sequences, I had most likely assumed it was an outtake because it had started like another sequence. However, with the overall review of the clip, we were able to add in the sequence and make it more like our planned outline from our storyboard.

    We had also been able to catch more sequences with accidental reveals of equipment and elements that we had wanted to remove. In doing this, we were able to help finalize and make our footage more professional.

    Unfortunately, Jean Paul did not have time today to help in the revisions. However, me and Vanessa were been able to finish most of our revisions, and we sent the overall footage to Jean Paul, who will be able to provide his insight to our changes.

    Even though we have not been able to finish the rest of the editing and still have some revisions to make, we have fixed and are now fully confident in most of the major section, which is the park scene, of the opening. With this assurance, we can quickly edit in the coming days along with preparing for our CCR and doing research on it.