Madison Rubin AICE Media Studies Final Project

Next week, my main focus on what I want to complete is my CCRs which are my Critical Creative Reflections. I am not totally sure on what I want to do for the four questions but  I do have a general idea. My ideas that I am almost certain I am doing for sure is interviews. These interviews would allow me to get different perspectives and opinions on my final project. These different perspectives would help give me advice on my future endeavors.  Another idea I am sure I am doing is a power point with a voiceover. In the voiceover, I will talk about the question that I choose for this creative reflection. This will allow me to explain information on certain important pictures that better convey the question. 

Last week, I began editing my final project by adding in the scenes of my main female lead. This week, I finished filming my main male character's scenes and added in my scenes.  Since I already fixed the difficulty I was having with split screens and cropping before, I was able to not face any issues this time around. This saved me a lot of time compared to what I would have had to otherwise.  Although I have done most of my editing, I still have small details to add. This includes my title sequence and the credits within them. This creative and technical process after production will allow me to learn from many mistakes that I will face in the future. 

 Representation in films is an important aspect by which it refers to how characters, cultures, and ideas are portrayed in movies. This is important because it helps refer to how movies address issues of identity, such as race, sexuality, gender, and even disability.  Representation is a good aspect to have in films but can also be harmful when constructing negative or positive stereotypes. Although it can be harmful, it can also be beneficial. Representation can portray meaningful details and provide the audience with deeper emotions towards the characters and film in general. In my final project, it goes against common stereotypes like the woman typically being the victim. However in my film, she is seen as the more dangerous one. However, although it is going against a common stereotype, it cant also be seen as supporting one. By showing the woman being crazy over a man, It can make her be seen as emotional and crazy. Which supports the main female lead as an unreliable cha...

 The shooting of my film took around three days in total, however was spread out over the course of two weeks due to scheduling. Filming is a long process that takes not only a lot of time but also many thoughtful processes to be able to be successful.  Two weeks ago, I finished filming the first half of my film. This week I finished the rest, which includes the scenes involving my main male character. This filming wet by smoothly and did not have many mistakes. There was some retakes that were needed due to laughing or other distractions but we were able to overcome this.  I will continue to edit these opening two minutes on CapCut.   

 In my film, while shooting my scenes, I pieced together small similarities in details to create a parallelism. Parallelism is when a repetition pattern happens that highlights similarities in characters.  For example, In one of my scenes both characters are set in candle lighting. This flame helps represent how they both have a burning desire for the other. However, to show the difference between these two characters, the woman is in dark red lighting while the male is in bright lighting.  In scenes that showed similarities, I made sure they were still different in the details. This way the audience could see how the two characters were not the exact same and one was more dangerous then the other. 

While filming in the outdoors, you have to make sure that everything in your set matches the theme of your film. When filming the scenes for my film that took place outside, I took this in consideration. These scenes can be difficult due to the multiple interactions going on outside around your set. However, as a director you have to be able to overcome this difficulty. When filming my scenes, I had to decide to do them when it is either light or dark outside.  For my daylight scenes, I did the scenes that took place when the stalkers are watching each other. This way the audience is able to see clearly what is happening including the small details like the tree the camera is slightly placed behind to give off a hiding effect.  For my scenes at night, I did the scenes that needed to be seen as more creepy. So when it gives off the effect that he is following her, the darkness represents that he is doing it at any time of the day. 

 During a film, the decoration of a room and the props that are in the scene should always be there for a reason. Every prop should have its own meaning to the scene and sometimes a significance that adds depth to the film.  A set designer does this job to make the scene more realistic and as well as believable to the audience. Set design also helps contribute to the mood and atmosphere of scenes. This influences the audience's emotional response to the characters and movie itself.  This contributes to my final project by teaching and allowing me to be able to know what props to place in my scene. This also teaches me how to correctly design the set while keeping the audiences focus. 

CapCut is a free video editing app that allows users to create and edit videos on their phones and tablets. I decided to use this app for editing my final project. I made this decision because of multiple reasons that will benefit me. These reasons include a user-friendly interface and as well as a wide range of creative effects and transitions. This editing app also allows me to edit on my phone instead of a computer.   

Lighting is an important aspect in films that helps set the mood, atmosphere, and visual impact. This includes the direction, color, quality, and source of light. For my final project, In a few of my scenes, I used candle lighting.  Candle lighting is when the main source of light is a candle. his is often used as a visual cue to create the sense of warmth. However, I used this to provide a sense of depth to the atmosphere and suspense. This lighting helped me make the scene more mysterious but also provide enough lighting to allow the audience to be able to see. 

 A storyboard is a visual representation of a sequence of scenes. This helps show how the scenes will playout and look. I decided to do a storyboard on the first scenes that I did with my female main character. 

 While editing my film so far, I have faced a difficulty. This issue is how to crop my scenes. I need to crop my scenes down to be able to do my split screen effect.  When filming my scenes so far, I did not take into consideration how I would need to crop the scenes.  This caused me to have to find a way to fix it.  Luckily, I was able to correctly crop my scenes without getting rid of important information. Being able to overcome this challenge allowed me to realize that I am capable of overcoming the multiple challenges that will be thrown my way in the future.

Film editing is one of the most important parts of creating a movie. Editing is the process of cutting and assembling footage to create a finished movie. This editing helps create the final vision of the movie. I have officially began editing my scenes. This means I have imported some of the scenes I have filmed so far over the music. By doing this, It allows me to see what scenes I still need to film and any changes I might need to make.  I have not been able to add all the scenes I have already filmed due to the dependency on the scenes I still need to film. This corresponds to my final project by allowing me to face difficulties and overcome them. 

 I have now finished the planning of my final project and as well as filming my main female characters scenes. On my first film day, I decided to focus of my female actor's scenes due to upcoming events that prohibit her from being able to film other days.  Filming some scenes was very difficult and I needed to take multiple retakes. Taking these retakes allowed me to correctly line up my video with my time stamps. Initially, my actor was laughing in serious scenes but after multiple takes and practice, we were able to perfect the scenes.  Overall, I have finished my first part of my final project. Throughout this experience I learned that not everything will go to plan and multiple aspects will have to be changed when needed. 

 The way a camera moves correlates with how an audience interprets the movie. Camera Panning is one of the least dynamic types of camera movement. Although this is true, it is a very useful movement.  A camera pan helps create an immersive environment for the audience to get more involved in the film. A camera pan is defined as a horizontal movement in which the camera moves right to left or vice versa from a central axis. This is considered different from dolly shots because the mounting system itself moves.  This will be used in my final project to allow the audience to see the full scene without any cutting. This will also allow me to elevate the tension that is needed to make my final project a thriller. 

 In one of my scenes, I have decided to use a fake weapon. This fake weapon was purchased for my brother on Halloween and we never got to throw it away.  This fake weapon will be used to show the thriller aspects apart of my final project and as well as show the extreme lengths that my female character is willing to go to stalk my main male character. This weapon will be fake due to keeping my final project safe while filming.  This will affect my final project by allowing me to keep my actors and myself safe while also letting my project look realistic at the same time. 

 While I was planning what times to film my final project, I faced a obstacle. This obstacle was that my actors were busy on different days to the point that there was no day that was good enough to film on.  To fix this issue, I had to come up with a quick solution. This solution was me making the decision to film their scenes on different days. This was possible due to there being no scene where both actors were needed at the same time.  This has proved that I am capable of overcoming issues that will pop out while in my planning period and learn from it. Due to this solution, I am now able to continue on with planning and filming. 

For my final project, I have chosen the title "Twisted Obsessions". The title of a movie is one of the first things shown about the movie which gives the audience a look at what is to come.  This title suggests how intense the characters feel towards each other, foreshadowing them stalking each other.  The word twisted hints at the plot twist that happens when the audience finds out that the woman is also stalking the man.  My title will help set up emotions that will be conveyed throughout my opening minutes, it also allows the audience to understand the depth and lengths that the movie will explore.

My first actor in my final project is Audrey. She is going to play my main female character. Audrey is able to give up a strong female vibe with her expressions and her dark features, such as her hair. Audrey will make a good addition due to her ability to remember lines and have good chemistry with her fellow actor.    For my main male character, I have chosen Ethan. He will play the original stalker. Ethan is very tall which fits the general description I was thinking of when planning my script. Ethan is a good fit for this role because he is an actor that will be able to play multiple feelings that need to be conveyed. 

 In films, several different camera shots are used throughout them. These techniques have many ways of affecting the film itself. Director choose from these shots to help portray stuff throughout their movies.  Camera shots are used in movies to affect how the audience sees characters and events that happen in the film. These shot are used to give off different emotions which correlate to the emotional response of the viewers. This helps draw the attention of the audience and as well as direct their interpretation of the movie.  Camera angles also connect things within the story together like foreshadowing which allows the audience to feel art of the story by witnessing things that characters are but also aren't. This relates to my final project by letting me know what to do with my shots to allow the audience to feel like this. 

 An extreme close up is a shot that frames the subject as close as possible. This helps capture specific details that the director wants to be noticed. This also helps further the storyline.  An extreme close-up is not to be mixed up with a normal close up shot. Th difference is in the distance and details. Somebody's whole face being shown would be considered as a close-up while an extreme close-up would be someone's specific facial feature like their eye.  I will use an extreme closeup in my final project to help highlight certain features that strengthen my storyline. 

 A close up shot is a type of camera shot that focus on an object or person in a close range. This allows more detail to be shown compared to other shots.  This shot is used to convey emotions. For example, doing a close up of an eyeball or somebody's face to focus on reactions. This allows the audience to connect with the characters by making them feeling what they are feeling.  Close up shots can also show importance within a scene. Doing a close-up on an object, making it the main focus, shows the audience that it is important and can eve foreshadow to what will happen in the future.  This is important to my final project because I plan on using close-ups for these purposes as well as others. 

 Throughout these past few weeks I have faced one obstacle that has affected my planning period. Due to this issue, I have faced a set back that I am currently trying to overcome right now. This obstacle is time. The person who i have planned for my female character lives far away so I have to be able to film her scenes on the weekends. However, I have recently been too busy on weekends to get together to film certain scenes, setting me behind on my previous schedule.  To overcome this, I have finally found an empty weekend where I am free. This obstacle might have affected my previous plan but i am slowly getting back on a new schedule that will fit into my free time.