Links to Film Opening and CCR Videos

Below is the links to my two CCR videos and the link to my film opening.

 AIRBALL Film Opening

CCR #1

CCR #2

Final Reflection

 I have officially finished the project and all the steps that come along with it, The final step of this process is to submit these last two blog posts. Over the last few months I have learned a lot about the production process and myself as well as a student.

During the first few weeks I recall the hardships we faced trying to come up with a good idea for our project that would stick out from the others. Every idea that we bounced off one another didn't quite stick, until the idea for Air Ball appeared. Once it was brought up everyones eyes lit up and we immediately started thinking of ways to expand on this idea and really make it the way we wanted it to be. One of the key elements we kept having ideas for on how to improve the idea was comedic aspects. This leads into part of the reason I truly enjoyed this journey with my group members.

My group for this project was all of my friends so we already had relationships and didn't have an awkward phase and were already comfortable expressing our ideas to each other. This helped in progressing the quality of the film, but also made for lots of great funny moments. In our planning stage many of the ideas thrown around were wild and outlandish, but that made them even more funny. The production of the film itself had to be the best part in my opinion. During the production of the different scenes over multiple days, there were many cuts due to us not being able to hold in our laughter from anything from the dialogue, to the actions, this experience is one that I deeply enjoyed.

Apart from all the jokes and fun times though, we were very on schedule with our plan and the schedule that we set for ourselves was one that we stuck to for the duration of the project. This was one of the key factors for our project having the quality that it does as none of it was saved until the last minute due to procrastination.

All in all, this was one of my favorite projects of the year and I am proud to be submitting what my group and I have created.

CCR Post Production

 The editing portion of my CCR videos proved to be not nearly as challenging as the actual movie opening was. The majority of the editing process included weeding through the bad clips, putting the clips in order, and then cutting them down to make the shots transition smoothly. I edited these on my phone as it didn't require an advanced software to complete the task.

CCR Production

 Creating my two different videos for my CCR was a very fun process that allowed for lots of creativity and ingenuity to result with a product that I was satisfied with.

For the video relating to questions 1 and 2 my friend Federico was kind enough to help me out and be my host on this show. Originally in the script we had planned for the foods that I was to eat was a pickle and a carrot, as I don't like those foods, but I forgot to grab the carrots at the store and was trying to figure out how to solve this problem. As I was scouring through my kitchen, my brother gave me this candy he had gotten from one of his teachers. On the label it looked foreign and had an odd looking flavor that I couldn't understand as it was in a different language. We all assumed it was avocado flavored and couldn't be too bad. When we shot that scene we all had no clue what was it would taste like. As I ate the hard candy I bit into it, and that is when the flavors hit my mouth and I had to rush to the bathroom. That candy was definitely not for me and that reaction in the video is my real reaction to its taste. In the end it made for a good video so it was all worth it.

For the video relating to questions 3 and 4 I wanted to do a street interview type of video like the ones seen on social media, but I though the idea of filming on the glasses would be a nice unique touch that could separate it from the others. At first I was hesitant and a little bit anxious as I wasn't sure how good the quality of the audio would come out especially with other elements contributing to the soundscape such as wind, other people, cars, and the usual bustle of a city center. This turned out to not be a problem at all and the quality of not only the audio but also the visual elements from the glasses camera impressed me. I had my friend Nico be the filmer and he was the one wearing the glasses. during shooting. This was a lot of fun to film as it was in public with lots of people watching us which made it awkward but funny at the same time.

Overall the production of these two videos for the CCR portion of this project was a very nice addition to the project that allowed me to think deeper about the decisions I made throughout this project in relation to several different aspects.

CCR #4

 Questions 3 and 4 will be included in this video. this street interview will provide a unique way to portray the interviewee in a way unlike others.

The two main points we will be trying to get across in this video is:

• How did your production skills develop throughout this project?
• How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

The following is the script for answering questions 3 and 4:

SCRIPT FOR CCR 3&4

Interviewer: Excuse me Mr. Taylor could I have a minute of your time? My name is Charles Hartfield and I go around doing impromptu street interviews with the biggest names in the film industry and I was wondering if you'd like to answer a few questions relating to your highly anticipated film, Airball?

Wyatt: Yes, of course, I'd be happy to, but I must ask, where is your camera?

Interviewer: Thank you so much, it is actually a part of my glasses, these glasses allow me to take videos and record audio just like any other camera.

Wyatt: Oh, wow I have never seen anything like it before, this is the most unique interview I think I've ever been on!

Interviewer: That's good to hear, ok for the first question, how did you add on to your already stunning production skills during the course of the production of the film?

Wyatt: This film in particular really opened my eyes to crafting the different perspectives of the several characters through the different types of shots and angles that we used in the film. I had been paying closer attention to this than in the past and I believe that really is where we exceeded all of our expectations in terms of the final product of the film.

Interviewer: That is great to hear! As I was watching the film opening I really connected with J.D and I can't wait for the full film to be released so I can watch how the movie plays out.

Wyatt: Well I hope you enjoy it.

Interviewer: I myself am an avid user of technology as you can tell by the glasses, but I was wondering how you integrated technologies such as online, software, and even hardware into this film and its opening?

Wyatt: One example of the use of technology in our film opening comes from the scene where J.D puts the headphones on and listens to music as he is benching in the gym. This scene utilized a combination of hardware being the headphones, and online resources being the music that is playing for the audience, to immersify the audience within the film opening and get them hooked and excited to watch the full film on its release.

Interviewer: That was one of my favorite scenes from the film opening after all, thank you so much for your time I hope you have a great rest of your day!

Wyatt: Thank you, I enjoyed this interview have a good one!

CCR #3

 The second video that I will be doing for my CCR posts will be a street style interview with a fan and myself. These interviews are often shown on short-form content platforms such as Tiktok, Instagram, or even Youtube Shorts. 

Videos such as these tend to go viral and millions of people love to watch these for hours on end. One of the main reasons of this is the human aspect of these unplanned and sudden interviews which can show the true side of someone, especially when they are just being themselves at a given location.

I liked this idea, but I couldn't figure out a way to make it my own and add my own touch onto it, until I remembered I own a pair of the Ray Bans Meta glasses. These glasses have a built in camera that allows you to do many things such as take pictures, record videos, listen to music, and even ask meta AI anything.

This way of recording the interview will add a touch of creativity and will seperate our interview from the others on the internet. This angle of recording records at a POV shot which will allow the audience to feel like they are in the conversation and can feel more connected to the video. 

This video will be used to answer questions 3 and 4 of the CCR.

CCR #2

 The first two questions of the CCR postings will be included in one video. This podcast-inspired video with some twists will be a good way to get the point across and answer the questions asked with a unique element to it. 

The two main points we will trying to get across in this video is:

• How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
• How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

The following is the script for the video answering questions 1 and 2:

SCRIPT FOR CCR 1&2

Host: Hello and welcome back to the word OR mouth podcast, a show where our guests either answer our questions, or are forced to eat one of their least favorite foods.

Host: I'm Jared McGee and today on our show we are bringing on the world famous actor and director Wyatt Taylor. Welcome to the show today Wyatt

Wyatt: Thank you for having me on! I am a loyal fan of this show and I am excited to hopefully not have to eat so much let's just say "not tasty" foods.

Host: Well we will see what happens but I heard you are quite the picky eater is that correct?

Wyatt: Yes, ever since I was a little boy I was not one for new foods.

Host: Maybe today we can expand your horizons on the delicacies of the world.

Wyatt: That would certainly make for an entertaining episode!

Host: Ok, lets get started, I think I speak for everyone when I say we have been marveling at your film opening countless times since its release, one of the big questions that seems to be on everyone's mind is how does your opening utilize typical conventions of comedy movies into your film?

Wyatt: That is a great first question, Our film, similar to other films within the comedy genre have several different characters that contrast each other, J.D and his brother Jason being one example of this. Most of the settings and locations the film was shot at also played into those typical conventions as they were very bright and there was lots of activities that could be created purely from the setting.

Host: Very interesting, and what about how it challenges those norms?

Wyatt: J.D's internalized doubts and uncertainness for the future creates a whole different aspect to the movie which doesn't follow the cookie cutter standards for a comedy movie. As this aspect is shown more in the actual movie, the audience will be able to see how this film is a step in a different direction than most comedy films.

Host: Well that is a very intriguing answer Wyatt, thank you.

Wyatt: Of course, 

Host: Moving on to the next question: How does your film represent certain social groups or issues?

Wyatt: Your on fire with these questions today, OK, well our film is guided towards raising an awareness of the insurmountable amount of pressure many young children are under today and how often times it can seem to go unnoticed. J.D is our take on a young man trying to navigate life under such stress. 

Host: Wow, that really adds depth to the true meaning behind the movie.

Host: Now I have to know, does J.D eventually make it big in basketball during the movie?

Wyatt: Hmm, I'm going to have to eat something for that one.

Host Ahh well it was worth a shot, the first dish we have prepared for you is a singular pickle spear fresh out of the can, dig in!

Wyatt: Oh you must've done your research on me and my hatred for pickles, this isn't going to be fun.

*Eats the pickle*

Host: Not so bad see,

Wyatt: I now remember why I don't like pickles, that was rough.

Host: Time for the next question, How does your product engage with the audience and how do you plan to distribute this film to the world?

Wyatt: Our target audience for this particular film is young male adults and teenagers, which is one of the reasons we opted for a sports element in the movie. Millions of people around the globe bond over their love for sports daily and this will be a great way to engage with them from film to audience.

Wyatt: This film is to be released in theaters initially, and then eventually it will transition into being available on certain streaming platforms.

Host: Another great answer Wyatt Thank you. I personally can't wait to see this film in theaters.

Host: Speaking of seeing the movie, you and your team have been keeping the release of the full film very secretive, do you have an idea of a date in your head you would like to release it?

Wyatt: Whats the next food you have for me? I'd rather keep it a surprise for you all.

Host: Ur a tough cookie to crack Wyatt, the second dish we have prepared just for you is a singular fresh carrot.

Wyatt: Oh man, at least it well help my eyesight,

*Eats the carrot*

Host: looks very appetizing, well that's all the questions we have for you today Wyatt thank you for joining us it has been a blast.

Wyatt: The pleasure is all mine I had a great time answering questions but not such a good one eating the food. See you next time.

Host: That wraps it up for today's episode stick around next week for an inside look of what the rich and famous are doing this spring break. I'm Jared McGee signing off.

Group Meeting #2

 Jayden-https://jdaicemedia.blogspot.com/

The girls mom dies and the dad starts to neglect her. Before the mom's death they were very religious, however after her death the dad starts drifting away from religion. This happens until the dad finishes grieving.  After this happened they moved to a very religious town to reconnect with god. This leads into the main characters realizing that it is all about the community around them. The use of props were very good and set the scene very well.

Shira-https://shirula1.blogspot.com/

A family is living in amongst a zombie apocalypse until a zombie breaks into their house and murders the parents. The kids are then left to survive and fend for themselves. This movie follows the kids as they try to stay alive. One of the main challenges for them was to find good lighting as they were shooting in the dark. They solved this by utilizing a flash from a phone and placing it in a way where the effect was created perfectly.

Veronica-https://veronicasblog6697.blogspot.com/

Coming of age about this girl that is being peer pressured into doing bad things by her "friends" and after her mom's death her grievance and need for companionship pushes her do explore these things that are bad for her. The location of the film had to be changed on very short notice as the sunlight during the sunset at the beach was very inconsistent, so they decided to do it at the pool. This alternative ended up working well.

Maria-https://maria-c-g.blogspot.com/

A school-age girl is a misfit in comparison to the rest of the kids at school and the film is about how she doesn't fit in with the others and her actions and color scheme in her costumes and props emulate the main character's behavior. This film was able to be filmed mostly at school and at the group members house. She created a soundtrack by hand with her piano at home and recorded it to be used in the film opening. This sad tune compliments the story.

CCR #1

 The first question for the CCR(Creative Critical Reflection) is about discussing topics such as genre conventions and representation.

As I began researching actors of comedy movies and YouTube videos about them discussing the film they were in, they often did it in a podcast-style with a question and answer structure. This will be what I plan on doing for the first question as myself and others seem to find podcasts like these entertaining and fun to listen to and watch.

This image shows Adam Sandler talking about his new movie coming out with Netflix soon with Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show.

This video and others inspired me to want to do something along these lines. I will have J.D be the interviewee and I will be the interviewer and as I discuss different topics about the creation of the film I will discuss with him the different genre conventions we incorporated and the use of different props as representation in the film.

Editing Process Post 2

 This post dives deeper into the details of the more technical parts of the editing process. after we cut the clips down and fit them into place, we have to come up with appropriate ways to introduce new scenes and changes in location.

As you can see from this snippet, to switch from the basketball court scene to the coaches office scene, we experimented with different fades and cuts to transition properly and to give the shot the intended effect. 

We also plan to integrate sound into our project as we will need to do a voice over of some of the scenes since there is heavy background noise during a few shots. This voice over will need to be added in during post production. We also plan to incorporate diegetic sound in when J.D is at the gym and he plays his headphones, this will be when the audience is able to hear what J.D hears and the outside world noise is cut off. This will also have to be done in post production.

Editing process Post 1

 This post is centered around the beginning of the editing stage of this project. We have officially finished filming and have shifted our focus onto editing and adding the finishing touches onto the film opening.

The first step in editing the film is transferring all of the clips into the editing software and choosing which clips fit best and deleting the other cuts that are not as visually pleasing. Once the correct clips are left, we have to cut them down so the different clips seamlessly transition from shot to shot.

As you can see from this snippet, we are cutting the clips and editing them to fit the timing so they can properly switch to the next shot.

Our film opening will not have too many difficult/extreme editing incorporated into it so this process shouldn't take too long.

Coaches Office Production

 This scene is the one that is set to follow the opening scene of J.D missing the shot on the court. During this scene the coach is talking with him about his performance and his dreams.

This scene took much longer than anticipated as the acting required a serious tone when saying the dialogue during filming, but due to the comedic nature of the phrases and other elements, this turned into a scene where many cuts were needed. After all the shenanigans, however, we completed the scene with all of the intended shots with several different angles for the post production process to have more options to choose from.

 This snippet shows an alternate angle that we shot to allow for more of a selection to choose from to create the best looking story. As shown in this shot, J.D's coach is upset with J.D's performance and is having a stern discussion with him. 

As for the location of the scene, we had trouble finding an actual coaches office as they wouldn't let us film in the one in school and some of the teachers desks could've worked if there weren't other kids making noise. This worked out well in the end as we were able to go to our friends house and shoot both the room scene with J.D's mom and this office scene at his house. The office space you see here is my friend's dad's office that he let us borrow.

Even though it isn't a real coaches office, it still fits and the scene still looks as it was intended.

Gym Scene Production

 After the production of the basketball scene was complete we moved into completing the gym scene that we had planned. In our script and storyboard we called for a shortened version of this scene to end off with, but we thought it'd be best to have more footage that we could shave down than add more at a later date.

This angle is among others used to show J.D benching during his workout. This clip is a crucial one in the scene as it introduces the diegetic sound that J.D and the audience hears of the music playing from his headphones and it adds a comedic element to his "intense" workout as he is struggling to bench the bar.

We incorporated different parts of the body into this scene to be able to show him working out on different machines without it being too repetitive. This treadmill creates symbolism as no matter how hard J.D pushes to be better, he is still stuck in the same spot.

 

This scene doesn't include too much dialogue so we were laser focused on the acting being on point so we could accurately tell the story the way we intend it to be told.

Basketball Scene Production

 One of the scenes that we filmed at L.A Fitness was the opening scene where J.D is playing basketball. When we were filming there were other people on the court but out of view which made the soundscape very messy, but this will all be fixed when we add in the audio ourselves.

Overall this scene was the most fun to film and it didn't take very long at all. We based our shots and lines off of the script and storyboard we had created and even with our creative tweaks added on during filming, this scene was pretty smooth throughout.

This snippet is a part of the first sequence in this scene where the audience sees J.D go up against another player in basketball. This is the first impression J.D will have on the audience.

This scene introduces many of the characters very quickly and they are all represented well with their outfits, dialogue, and role in the scene.

This scene is definitely one of the ones that plays more into the comedic aspect of the movie as the dialogue and acting go hand in hand with the hopes of amusing the audience.