CCR Production Ideas

As you all may know, my idea for Video 1 of the CCR part of this project will be a TikTok-like interview where a man walks up to me in my car, and proceeds to ask about questions 1-2 of the CCR. In between the more serious questions will be follow-ups and less serious questions. I tried to make the script sound as human as possible, to make a sincere-sounding conversation. 

I will be filming this with my friend since kindergarten, Wyatt T; he is also taking this class, and we will both be helping each other out with making our CCR's. We will be using Wyatts Meta AI Ray-Bans to film the entire interview. He will be the one interviewing me. As for his project, well, you will have to see for yourself on his blog. We will begin filming and hopefully finish on this Thursday, March 20th.

However, for video 2, I was thinking to switch it up a little bit. I kind of wanted to do something where I am interviewing myself, sort of like a podcast, but the interviewer is wearing a wig and a mustache, to add kind of a comedic part to it. I was also thinking of doing an AI interview, where an AI person is interviewing me, but that just seemed kind of weird. For the interviewing myself thing, I was thinking of setting up my phone on a tripod in front of a large table in my house, and sitting on one side of it, while I ask questions, wearing a wig and mustache, to nobody on the other side, or maybe someone sits there kind of as a placeholder so it doesn't look weird, and then recording the same thing except I'm on the other side and I'm answering questions. Then i will edit out half of each video and put them both into one video on Premiere Pro, using my masterful editing skills (that was not sarcastic)

I know this might seem kind of like a weird concept, so I drew it out in MS Paint so you can kind of visualize it. (Dont judge my drawings please.)

I also wanted it to look as authentic as possible, so I will probably be adding stuff that you would usually see on a podcast: microphones; product placement and advertisements; audio content, including music and sound effects; as well as something in the background that can indicate which podcast we are on, like a banner or something on the wall.

That's all for this blog. I hope you enjoyed my somewhat chaotic brainstorm. My next post will be about a group meeting about our CCRs.

Question 4 CCR Research

Question 4 for CCR is:

How did you integrate technologies—software, hardware, and online—in this project?

In this project, I got to experience using different technologies to create my final production. I used Adobe Premiere Pro to edit and assemble our film. I added credits and titles, using specific fonts to enhance the visual storytelling. I integrated music and sound effects, and used After Effects to create a visually stunning title sequence. Background noise was removed to enhance audio quality; all of this made me realize how crucial editing is in filmmaking and how much it can elevate a project.

We also used hardware, such as the phone we used to film the scenes, and the drone that we unfortunately didn't use for the final cut. I used my iPhone's cinematic mode to capture high-quality footage, including smooth focus pulls. I learned how to stabilize shots and adjust movements effectively while filming. Our shot list included close-ups, mid-shots, establishing shots, and over-the-shoulder shots. I also incorporated dynamic movements such as tilts, handheld shots, and low-angle shots to give better visual storytelling.

To stay organized, we used Blogger.com to document our entire production process, which helped us schedule tasks and ensure every step was accounted for. I also referenced YouTube tutorials for editing techniques and watched other film openings for inspiration.

Overall, these tools and techniques allowed us to successfully complete our project and achieve a high-quality final product.

Thank you so much for reading my final CCR Research post, Next post will be about my CCR Production Ideas

Question 3 CCR Research

Question 3 for CCR is:

How did your production skills develop throughout this project? 

Working on this project significantly improved my production and editing skills, especially since I was responsible for filming some of it, as well as editing all of it. Throughout the process, I applied many of the techniques we learned over the year, which helped me refine my abilities.

Before starting, I already had some editing experience from previous projects, but this one was different. Since it was a film opening, every little edit and design I added to it would mean a lot since it was only a 2-minute video, where we had to demonstrate our ability to use techniques, be it camera movement, lighting, or editing, to give a scene more meaning.

I mostly worked on editing. Working on adding the little things nobody thinks of, like the sound of footsteps when Leo is running, or the clock ticking in the background. Sound design played a huge role in creating suspense, and we carefully selected audio effects to enhance the tension in our film opening. I also learned a lot about font choices and how they affect a film’s tone. Certain fonts and colors didn’t work under specific lighting conditions, and I realized how crucial credits are in setting the mood. Even small details, like the color and style of the title, contribute to the overall atmosphere. 

However, I also was filming. I filmed most of the scenes inside the house as well as all of the scenes inside and outside the car. During filming, I thought of using camera movements to communicate different ideas. We applied a variety of angles that we had been studying in class and saw how they can actually work to influence real productions. Using my phone, I filmed many moving shots, experimented with focus pulls, and adjusted lighting to highlight characters and create suspense—perfect for our chosen genre of horror.

This project pushed me to improve in multiple areas, especially filming and editing, as well as understanding the impact of post-production choices.

I hope you have enjoyed this blog. The next one will be about Question 4 CCR Research

Question 2 CCR Research & Video 1 Script

Question 2 for the CCR is:

How does your product engage with audiences, and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

First, let’s focus on the target audience. Our target audience with this film opening is young adults and teens; this is shown by the main character being a teen, and our genre—horror/psychological thriller—being most popular in ages ranging from 15 to 25 years old. 

The way we engage with audiences in our film opening is using a large amount of techniques, such as creating tension by using suspenseful pacing, a chase scene, and minimal dialogue to engage from the start and give the audience anticipation for what is to come. The most successful openings in film history are ones that engage the audience from the first second. Especially in horror, some films openings can be very boring and repel viewers. That is why it's important to sort of “hook” the audience in the first few minutes.

We would distribute our film by posting on sites like YouTube, Vimeo, and others, as well as on VOD (Video-On-Demand) sites. We would also attend many local film events, such as:

Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF):

Dates: November 8-17, 2024 (past) 

Description: FLIFF is a major regional film festival showcasing American indie and studio films, international films, student films, and special tributes. 

Venues: Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Lauderhill

Website: www.fliff.com 

FilmFreeway: https://filmfreeway.com/FortLauderdaleInternationalFilmFestival 

South Florida Film Forum:

Dates: March 29-30, 2025 

Description: A two-day event celebrating South Florida's unique cinematic voices, featuring panel discussions, networking opportunities, and screenings. 

Website: https://filmlauderdale.org/film-festivals/ 

Other Film Festivals in the Area:

Boca International Jewish Film Festival: February 23 – March 16, 2025 

Gasparilla International Film Festival: March 25 – 30, 2025 

Miami Film Festival: April 3 – 13, 2025 

My idea for the CCR video for questions 1-2 is a vertically filmed social media-like interview, starting with an interviewer walking up to me with a microphone and asking me questions like if we had just met, but they know who I am. They ask me questions like “What do you do for a living?” and such, and then get to the CCR questions, asking about distribution, representation theories, and other things that have to do with the film opening. The script will be uploaded below.

CCR Q1-2 SCRIPT.docx

Thanks for reading my blog; I hope you enjoyed it! Next blogs will be about Question 3 CCR Research

Question 1 CCR Research

Question 1 for CCR is:

“How does your product use or challenge conventions, and how does it represent social groups or issues?”

The question consists of two parts. The first part asks whether our film uses or challenges conventions, which, based on my research, refers to whether it goes towards or away from already established filmmaking expectations. I think our film, Erebus, follows conventional film structures. It also doesn’t stray from typical expectations in a movie/tv show, as it avoids elements like flashbacks or time loops, instead putting the story in chronological order.

The second part of the question focuses on how the film represents social groups or issues. While Erebus doesn’t specifically target a social group, it does however target the social issue of mental health. This is evident in the portrayal of the main character, Leo, whose depressive state is shown through his facial expressions and dark clothing. His vulnerability, leaves him more susceptible to torment from the demon. Up to the film’s opening, it remains ambiguous whether this torment is in his imagination—tied to his mental condition—or a real supernatural occurrence. The theme of mental health is further emphasized when Leo calls his therapist from his car, showing he has had problems in the past with this.

Sources used in research

https://library.fiveable.me/key-terms/film-and-media-theory/audience-expectations

https://scriptclickcreate.weebly.com/conventions.html

Thanks for reading. My next blog post will be about Question 2 CCR Research, as well as the CCR Video 1 Script

EDITING DAY 2

 Honestly, editing was pretty uneventful, I just put most of the videos together using Premiere Pro,

 but I haven’t yet added any sounds, and we need ALOT of sounds, some of them are:

• Footsteps for Sebas running
• Breathing for Sebas (it wasn’t loud enough on the video, so we couldn’t hear it)
• Car starting
• Car sounds
• Ambience
• Music
• Forks on plates
• Stings to increase the scariness 
• Some more I can’t name off the top of my head.

I will try to use either a sound database or make them using foley.

That’s mostly all we need to finish up our film opening, I will try to finish this by the end of the week and post the final blog about the film opening. And move to CCR questions

My next blog will be about starting the CCR questions, I hope you have enjoyed our process for creating our film opening!

EDITING DAY 1 (title card)

 Today, I started editing, and I have seriously taken 4 hours to make this title card sequence, I had the idea of the text popping out under the car, but I didn’t take into account how long it would take me to learn and actually be able to make this. But i powered through, and now we have a final product. I used Adobe After Effects to create this sequence, however, I imported it into Premiere Pro, which is where I will be editing the rest of the video. I also added a little flicker effect, to further emphasize the theme and genre, and also to make the title less boring and feel a little more alive. 

I had a difficult time choosing the fonts, here are the ones that I had originally thought of.

In the end, I went with American Slasher, just because it really popped out to me as a horror film looking font, and i want the font to really interact with the story we have. So it’s really perfect to me. We all agreed that American slasher was the best one, so i used it in the title card, however, i used eurocine for the credits, as they are calm, and contrast with the horrorness (i dont know if this is a real word) of the title. 

For the credits i did all of these, as they are the ones that are mainly seen in films now.

Without further ado, this is it!

Overall, i am having a great time learning new things, and without further ado, this is our title card/ credits.