Critical Reflection Blog

    In terms of social groups and issues, the film doesn't really represent much. The concept of the film was close to me and it could very well be seen as an extension of myself. In my little premier to some family and friends, I did notice something in regards to the critical reflection questions. While my audience watched, the interpretations and the perceived message of the film varied. I realized that the film could serve as an allusion to the mentally ill, more specifically those who suffer from schizophrenia. I think that the interpretation of mental health adds to the films and gives a little dash of uniqueness. Though it wasn't intended, the film can represent and interact with the mentally ill audience. It's not light by any stretch of the word but, it's surely fitting. With the time period especially, dark and gritty media has never been more relatable. And only after sitting and thinking that I realized that, with my films, I have unconsciously increased the extremely under represented women in media. I have a team consisting of four young women, who contributed so much. And though pieces here and there might floater, I could not have done it without them. If this were to become a feature film or something, I would be proud to stay that these young women helped me to achieve that. As the year's progress, more and more women rise to positions of power, and its a shame that it hasn't always been like that. With this project, I hope not only to show that women are equal to men and worthy of praise and recognition but are vital and instrumental to the way of life we have grown accustomed to. With the newly elected and soon to be integrated female Vice President of the United States, one can only hope that this message is spread wider for younger and younger generations to learn and internalize.

    Which brings me to the engagement of the target audience. Not only does the audience get to feel represented after such a tough year, but the audience is also treated to mind blogging thrills. The film is meant to leave the audience questioning. Mainly, how did the film begin and how does it end, and what do the events mean for them both. Truth be told, as the writer and director, those were my questions too. I wrote a story that unfolded in front of even me, with no clear reason why, and I wanted to leave the room for speculation. As a fan of super natural shows, I love to question works and theorize on outcomes, beginnings, and practically any part of a series I can. I wanted to achieve that through the creation of this film, and essentially gift that to others the same way it has been gifted to me before.

    Branding for the most part was no sweat. I tried my best to polish the brand of this film. I chose a daisy to represent the film because while it doesn't have meaning itself, it's a perfect shell to stand for the symbolism I hand in mind. When thinking of the concept for the film I wanted the movie to be an experience, and I ended up achieving something akin to a dream. Or at least that's how I feel about it. Branding became very important to me when I hit the post production stage of the film; after seeing that the outcome I envisioned had changed. It's almost as to cover it up, but I tried to well in other areas to my work balance. Don't think anyone can be as critical of this film as I have been, or maybe not. Because feel as though I let my film down by not being able to give it the professionalism it deserved. I don't think I hit my highest potential with filming, so by doing the best I could in the marketing and post production stages, I regained some pride in my work.  I aimed to generate mystery for the film, to have the audience talk and theorize the meaning and essence of the film. And if the outcome isn't grand, by marketing it well, and creating a recognizable brand it will still have ground to stand and be discussed.  I'm focusing on the mystery and shock value of the film really. To me, that's one of the most important aspects of branding in order to get an audience interested. Going in blind, to an unfamiliar setting has a way of drawing people in.

    I chose to genre this film as a thriller, and base it off an episode of a Nextflix Orginal, "Love, Death, and Robots". When reaching, I knew I would have to interact with the audience, and decided to through the use of perspective and limited information. I learned that thrillers are too, defined by the moods they evoke, often by toying with audiences' perception synthetic and heightened feelings of suspense, surprise, anticipation, and anxiety.  It was my goal to replicate the surprises and anticipation building. I liked how the audience was made to always on the edge of their seats.  Thillers are made to appear as if everything is so normal, but knowing what the movie is about from trailers and such, audiences are made so that they're always on the look out for somethi

ng to happen; waiting for the other shoe to drop and the chorus of music to begin to cue the racing of their hearts. I had to stray from a lot of conventions, some intentionally, others happened as a result of the circumstances in which I filmed. I couldn't spend much time building up to the weirdness of the film because of time, I think I did well enough while both simultaneously introducing the led character and setting.  Didn't utilize much of low angles, dutch angles, or extreme close ups, but got to use tracking shots, shot/reverse shots, and high angles which were very common in the films I researched to create a sense of space and relism. Music was a challenge since there wasn't much to do with royalty free music but I succeeded in capturing doors, footsteps, and the surrounding nature including the typical warm colors and natural lighting,

Short Film Package

My Film Package

Daize Chain 

The Film

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7q2iy1oKAk

Postcard

 

Website 

Link: https://daziechain.wixsite.com/daziechain

Editing Further

 

While editing is on its way and deadlines approach, problems persist. To aid in my editing endeavor I downloaded an editor software on my laptop. After some searching, I came across a free software that had access to a large royalty-free library with sounds, songs, and transitions. The problem again laid with the importing and exporting of footage. Using Google Drive turned out to be harder than I initially thought. Michell and I are still having trouble uploading in general and getting the footage to edit, When I uploaded it seems that it automatically uploaded as an .MOV file rather than a .MP4 file. We, unfortunately, can't use an .MOV . We figured that we could and would have manually renamed all the files. That's over 100 files to redo though. And even with accomplishing that alone, we'll have to scrap most of them anyway. If it's the only way that we can use the footage so we might just have to deal with it. It's going to take a while, and that's considering that the upload process without the renaming was already a pain, to begin with. For some reason, it seems that this project is attempting to thwart itself at every corner. It could just be me though. This project is turning out to be the hardest out of the bunch. Possibly because I chose to do it all alone. If there's a next time, Ill surely take the help, if I can. Not that I could or wanted to this time, but Id definitely like extra hands for my next project.

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Editing Blog

    Today officially marks the start of the editing process. This is usually of the most exciting parts for me. It's often the time when everything comes together. And you when you see all the work you've put into recreating your storyboard. With this project, however, it's vastly different. Instead of watching the birth of an idea I fostered in my head for months, I will watch it die. It will limp and flail in agony until its inevitable demise. I let it down by not being able to give it the professionalism it deserved. All I can do is salvage what I can, and do the best I can in the marketing and post-production stages. It won't count for much with low quality work, but if what big blockbuster movies have taught me over the years, is bad publicity is good publicity. I want to generate mystery and hype for this film. And if the outcome isn't grand, by marketing it well, it will still have ground to be discussed. 

Similar to the recent musical "Cats". It sparked heated debates, for the amount of money that went into it for it to become a feature film. Still, whether you air on the side of good or bad options for the film, it is still remarkable how far it reached in media. Going to try my best t wrap up even things in a nice bow. I'm just aiming for the film to have a smooth finish and not feel chopping or rushed. Another concern is time. I hope I have enough footage to fill my time. If not, I'll have to make some emergency shots.

 

The End of Filming, and The Beginning of Editing

   Moving on from filming, the editing process is going to be that much more tedious and exhausting. At least with the editing process, I won't physically have to deal and interact with others. I was planning on taking the brunt of editing all on my own, but as seen, plans change. Luckily Michell is returning to the fray. She has offered her services through the assistance in editing, Being away now she can edit without needing anything. But as always, there's a caveat. It isn't a major problem, but boy is it a headache to deal with.

    The issue is sharing and receiving or importing and exporting the footage across platforms, at a distance. The distance is the key component here. Usually when filming one would use an SD card to store the footage. But while using a cell phone, that's not necessary. Using a phone you can share footage easily via text, and the files are too big, on Apple devices, one could airdrop files. Airdrop through work via Bluetooth. And that means I cannot utile this feater in the case. Michell is too far, therefore I must find a new way to give her access to the footage. I tried using email too, but Gmail too has a limit on the size of the file that can be sent. It does however have google drive, I thought, where you can upload and extract files from a bank/sever. The process is usually straightforward, on the computer, but for some reason more complex on the app. Its taken some time, but most if not all the footage is uploaded.

Parting ways with Justin

 

   After everything was said and done. I decided against using a third. With the scenes filmed with Maddison and Hezrona, I already had everything. There was no more reason to put participants at risk from leaving their homes to assist in this project.And despite how much I wish to say that this was all my decision, it wasn't. I would have loved to reshoot and gather extra footage while editing. Justin however was key in allowing that to happen. He, unfortunately, was unavailable. He canceled last minute due to work.

    Its possible that this is decison is overall for the better anyway.While it would neat to have the element of a changing figure, it isnt praticale. That and I feel that my abilty in film is up to the task. During this process, I think I dratic over estimated not only myself and my abilities, but my partipants and failed to consider crutul real world logistics. I wasnt the best director and that led to the fustration of my team. And with lower moral came lower and lower video quality. In all, everything is set to begin editing. All shots have been taken, and every scene filmed.

Filming Inside With Hezrona

   

 Wrapping up with filming with Maddison, we filmed all but on scene. The scene in question was the shower scene. It again didn't go as planned. I first attempted to film in the bathroom closest to our starting bedroom. The problem was that the silhouette did not shine through to get the effect I wanted. Despite shining a flashlight through the curtain from the other side, we could get a clear image of our mysterious figure. We then decided to move to the second bathroom. The second instead of curtains had glass so we saw both participants. This gave the added problem that my sister was of course not going to be naked on camera. We were able to grab the illusion of such in some shots, but not others.

 

    With Hezrona, we simply completed the missing scene. We were on a time constraint, and wish I could have made duplicate scenes with her. She was closer to my sister's skin tone and It would have been easier to maneuver in certain shots. I wouldn't have to worry about her appendages showing. In all, a pretty successful take. The shots were really easy to shoot for these scenes. There was the slight problem of the matching clothes again. Hezrona didn't have a matching sweater or similar pants. We ended up making do and swapping tops when my sister entered the shower.