Okay so this is actually the final blog for this project. I have worked really hard and I am sooo excited to reveal my project! I honestly can't believe it's already over, time really flew by. Enjoy!!!
Film Opening: https://youtu.be/f5z_57Y5AlU
Well everyone, I did it, I made it to the end. Just kiddinggg (kinda). For this post, im going to be talking about my personal thoughts on the project, so be prepared cause I have a lot. I am currently writing this blog in Texas, cause it is my spring break, so let's get through this so I can go to bed. ( I had to leave at 3:30 for the airport, I am exhausted).
So in order to get my full opinion on the project, we need to go allll the way back to August of 2024, when I found out this was going to be part of my cambridge exam. I kid you not, it almost made me drop out of the class. I know what you're thinking " Oh she probably doesn't like being on video or working with technology". NOPE, I just despise editing that much that it would make me drop out of a class. Funny enough i'm a dancer, so I love being on camera and being the center of attention, but that's just my personality. However, when I told my parents I was going to drop they weren't very fond of this idea. "This isn't a valid reason to drop a class." LIKE LITERALLY YES IT IS, but whatever, obviously they forced me to stay otherwise this blog would be non-existant.
From September to December I honestly just tried to push the project to the back of my mind in hopes it would just magically disappear. Low and behold that did not happen, but it's okay. In January my instructor annouced we would begin to work on the project and we had eight weeks to complete it. We had the option of working alone or in a group up to four people. Being in Aice Media actually allowed for me to connect to one of my friends from my childhood, and her name is Simona, and we decided we would tackle this project together.
I remember the day when Simona came in to class and practically screamed she had the perfect idea for the project. She expressed how she wanted to do a psychological horror about how a women murders her husband. Now to be honest, I was not completely on board. Personally, I hate horror, I will proudly admit I am a wimp and cannot watch it, so I didn't have a whole lot of background knowledge of the genre. Simona however, knew a lot as she loves horror, so she gave me a basic run down of everything I needed to know, and I did some other research to make myself more knowledgable.
From here on we decided to divide and conquer, I immediately told her how I absoluteley did not want to have a major role in the editing process. I could give my opinions on it, but if I was going to edit I would have to find someone else. She said she could handle it, and since it was her idea she wanted to be the one to put it all together. So we put my skills to work more of in the behind the scenes. All of the mise-en-scene you will see, that was all me. From deciding the characters costume to her hair and makeup, as well as finding locations. Honestly, I really enjoyed it, more than I thought I would. I think if I would've had to work with the technology portions, this would have been a completely different story. This project taught me a lot on how to manage time, and honestly bring out a bit of my creative side.
As for the CCR part, I didn't really care for it. I was very much dreading the editing, but I thought filming them was pretty okay. Like I said, I like being on camera so I found that entertaining. Deciding which two media options I was going to do was pretty easy. Literally the editing was the worst part and I never want to do it again, so I can't complain too much.
Overall, I learned a lot. One, that going into film making as a career is definitely not for me, perhaps something more center spot light, but probably not. Also, how much effort it takes to create a short film, let alone a whole two hour movie. It opened my eyes to how hard these people work and how simple others assume their job is and when in reality it is not. If you fall behind by a week, there can be major complications. HOWEVER, this project I am 99% confident is the reason I had to get blue light glasses cause I started getting headaches for how long I was staring at my laptop, either that or my screen time cause that's uh, concerning. Let alone, I had a fun time and definitely learned stuff, and I am lowkey happy I stayed in the class, even though I complain about it a lot.
I DID IT! I MADE IT THROUGH EDITING! omg the amount of times I literally wanted to chuck my computer across the room. Good news though, my laptop is still intact. I know ive said it a lot, but I hate editing. Literally hate it. Anywayyy, editing my CCR wasn't as bad as I thought, I learned that I talk a lot and really fast, which is definitely I should work on. However, getting the hands on experience with different editing softwares was useful. In the past I have only edited on IMovie, which isnt as proffesional, but it has just enough resources in order to put something together. For my CCR's though I used Davinci Resolve 19. I actually have used this platform in the past, but it was like wayyy back in middle school, and I honestly forgot how. So after re-learning how to use the software, and getting very frustrated, I could finally started editing my CCR's.
Personally, I found editing the podcast to be a lot easier, maybe because I just had to put audio over a logo. Nevertheless, it still got on my nerve having to do it, regardless I made it through it.
For the house tour though, that was a completely different story. Hated doing it, never want to do it agian. Trying to figure out how to put the images over the video got on my last nerve. This annoyed me so much, like its crazy. I looked up sooo many tutorials and I still had issues. Regardless, I did it, and I couldn't be happier that it is over.
Ultimately, incase it wasn't obvious by my tone, im very happy the editing in finished. I learned a lot, and it definitely tested my patience. Overall, I did learn something, and I am very very excited I dont have to do it anymore!!
Heyy yalllll, we are finally in the middle of creating both of my CCR's!! Oh yeaaaaa. So, how I decided to handle this was actually filming allll the footage for both of my CCR's in one day. Not because I procrastinated, literally because I need all the time in the world for editing otherwise it'll drive me crazy. My friend Veronica came over to my house which is where we did all the filming. She is also the co-host in my podcast, so I thought it was just easier to ask if she could film my other one.
CCR#1: So, my first one is a podcast. We literally recorded this in my bed before I had to go to work and we used microphones in order to enhance the sound. Oh my lord, I didn't realize how hard it was to make people in my house quiet, until I listened back to the audio and heard my mom coughing in the background, like the audacity.
CCR#2: Number 2 is my video inspired my Vogue house tours. filming this one, took a whileeeee. I kept messing up my lines and there were multiple times where I hear " Oops, I forgot to press record". However, we did learn throughout how to play with lightening, in order to get it perfect. We found that turning on the flash in darker spots of my house, actually lit me up pretty well, however at moment it was sorta freaky cause my eyes would start glowing red.
Ultimately, I had a really fun time filming with my bestie. We messed around and had fun, so it was really good experience. Now time for editing, yay... ( I'm gonna cry).
Oh my gosh, we are finallyyy on the last question of the CCR. This is very bittersweet, but we made it, and just gotta push through to the end. So question 4 out of 4 asks " How did you integrate technologies, software, hardware, and online, into your project"? Question is 4 is being answered along with question 3, and that CCR is inspired by Vogues house tours. So let's get on with the script!
Script:
Cameraman: Wow Addison, learning about how you improved has been really interesting.
Addison: Well thank you, ive spent a lot of time working hard and learning new things, so hopefully my film reflects that.
Cameraman: I bet it will, one more question before I leave you, what type of tech did you use in your film?
Addison: Well, that question has multiple answers, you see, there isn't just one type of technology there is multiple.
Cameraman: Oh really? what kinds?
Addison: Well first there is Software, that would be the platforms I used for editing and post production. Hardware, which is the physical tools I used for filming. Finally, online, which is the resources, references, and sharing platforms I used.
Cameraman: Oh! I didn't realize there were multiple types of tech.
Addison: Yea, there is, now to answer your question. For software, our editor used Adobe Premiere pro, where she had the resources to enhance the lighting and add special sounds bites in order to keep the tension buling throughout the film. We found sounds on Pixabay, because horror relies heavily on the sound effect. The heels clicking, to the squeeking of the cart, created more of an unsettling tone.
For hardware, we used an Iphone 15 to collect all of our footage. We used the iphones built in stabilization in order to keep the shots smooth. Although it's not a fancy camera, we focused on the composition and movement to enhance the tension within the film.
Finally online, I used platforms such as Youtube in order to do research on psychological horror films. I found out how proffesional film makers use technology in order to increase the tension throughout a film. This is also the platform I plan to post my whole film on. Ultimately, I have used technology in every stage of creating of production. It wasn't about just using the tools, but using them right in order to get my point across to the audience.
Cameraman: Well thank you so much for sharing all of that with me, that was all very interesting.
Addison: You're very welcome, it was a pleasure talking to you.
Cameraman: Thank you for your time, have a good rest of your day.
Addison: Thank you! you too
Door closes...
Ahhhh, CCR #3 is crazyyyy. That means my CCR's are halfway done meaning the project is almost overrrr. I have very mixed emotions about it being over, I'm happy, I'm sad. I don't know, what I do know though is I am ready from break, sooo let's get on with this CCR. So my second CCR is going to answer questions 3 and 4, and I want to do something inspired by Vogues house tour while answering the question. This post however is going to be answering question 3, " How did your production skills develop throughout this project."
Script:
Cameraman: (knocks on front door)
Addison: Um hi, can I help you?
Cameraman: Oh! are you Addison Whitney?
Addison: Uh yea I am, but who are you?
Cameraman: I'm with Rogues House Tours, and viewerd really want to see where you live, could we have a tour?
Addison: Oh! sure, come in.
Cameraman: Ooo very nice house, so I hear you have a new film coming out.
Addison: Thank you! and yes I do have a new film coming out, it's called "Till Death Do Us Part".
Cameraman: That's cool, personally, have you noticed any skill improvement while working on this project compared to others?
Addison: Yes! definitely! This is the first project I have actually developed from scratch. My job as the producer tought me how important it is to keep things organzized and stick to the schedule. From finding locations to film, to deciding which shots to include in which scenes was a difficult task. However I think my favorite part of it all was deciding on the mise-en-scene. We even got to create a fake body. Me and my director wanted to make sure we had every little detail down to a T.
Cameraman: Man that sounds like a lot of work, all I do is hold a camera and talk to people.
Addison: Yea it is, speaking of the camera. I also realized making sure you have enough footage is crucial. Just to make sure you have the perfect clip for the scene. I also got to learn a tiny bit of editing, hearing each little sound from heels clicking to doors slamming. Made me notice how important those tiny details actually are, and how wrong a scene can look if it's missing.
Cameraman: Wow, it seems like you learned a lot all from this one project.
Addison: I definitely did
Cut to next scene...
Hey queenss, so this blog is actually a continuation from one I did last week. Remember how I talked about having to do a CCR for my project? Well, for CCR number one (which is a podcast), I am answering 2 out of the 4 questions. I already wrote the script for my answer to question 1 in the blog last week, sooo if you havent seen it you might wanna do that, orr this might be a little confusing. Anwayyyy question 2 asks " How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?"
Script:
End Commercial Break...
Veronica: So Addison, I have to know more about this project.
Addison: Okay girl, what would you like to know?
Veronica: Well first of all, how is your film engaging, like is it going to make me fall asleep?
Addison: Haha, no girl, it shouldn't wanna make you fall asleep. My film is set at golden hour, in order to create a tense and spooky feeling for the audience. From the very beginning the audience should begin to feel uneasy, as if they suspecting a jump scare. Throughout my film, suspense is the golden ticket to keeping the audience hooked. I want the audience to feel that instant creepy vibes and engage with the mystery that builds throughout. Which is why I decided to film at night, to build up the tension and spook factor.
Veronica: Okay yea, my timbers are shivered. You put a lot of thought into getting the audience to feel spooked.
Addison: Yea, that's kind of the point of a psychological horror, if your not feeling a little bit uneasy or scared, something is wrong.
Veronica: True, okay another question, how are you going to make your film known to people? You're not exactly a professional film maker.
Addison: Wow, rude, but your right I'm not. However, lucky for me social media exist. I am able to put my work on platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo, where people can go and watch on their own free will. For marketing purposes, I can put little bits of the film on platforms like TikTok or Instagram, and this will get people excited for the film. There are also small film festivals which allow smaller creators to share their work. One of them located close to me is called Film Gate Festival Miami. They except films in any genre and welcome anyone. It is a non profit organization for local creators to express their work.
Veronica: Oooo that cool, is there any festivals that are more horror oreinted?
Addison: Yes! there is. Another option that is more specific to horror films is the Crimson Screen Horror Film Fest in south carolina. It is South Carolina's first and largest film festival, and they are always interested in looking for fresh talent. Competitors have the chance to win a " Crimmy" ( which is similar to an oscar) in over twenty different categories.
Veronica: Wow! I had no idea there were festivals specifically for horror. I think I am going to have to book a trip to South Carolina now.
Addison: Well that seems interesting, I say we make it a girls trip.
Veronica: YES! I can bring face mask and pop corn. OO and we can have cute matching outfits while we watch the horror films!
Addison: Okay vero, if thats what you want.
Veronica: It is, and you're coming. Anways, thank yall for listening to us yap, she's Addison.
Addison: And shes Veronica.
Veronica & Addison: And we're the demure duo!!
Music Fade Out...
Okay so this is actually the final blog for this project. I have worked really hard and I am sooo excited to reveal my project! I honestly ...
