Creative Critical Reflection

 The final moments (almost brings a tear to my eye)

After a lot of recording and even more editing, my CCR is finally complete. I really enjoyed working on this part of the project, as I could also use a lot of my imagination. I really hope you guys enjoy this and I hope you guys have enjoyed this experience as much as I do

The first CCR is me reading "fan mail" from people around the country after watching my film opening (The link is the one below)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncGxqIyM9lk

The second CCR is me getting interviewed by a random stranger who is asking me questions based on my comment section of my film opening (The link is the one below)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T8B8EQ64TY

Thank you guys for reading this even if it wasn't by choice, this journey has not only shaped me as a student, but more importantly as a person. I have learned skills that I most definitely will not forget in my entire life. Thank you guys and hopefully this isn't the last time I say this, but...

Peace everyone.

IT'S TIME: Film Opening

 Hey guys!!!!!!

After 8 weeks of working with Francisco, we are finally ready to present our film. Drum rolls please...... Rising Baller is now published and we are so excited for you guys to watch it and to finally enjoy what we are so proud to have made.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cze3ivniSLM

The link above is the film opening for my portfolio project: Enjoy :)

Reflection

Hey guys, I am finally done with everything. After all these weeks of hard work and communication, I really think that this project is one of the hardest editing tasks I have had to do in a while, maybe even my whole life. I really enjoyed this experience even though it was very stressful at some times. In just a couple of hours I will be making the last 2 blogs that include my film opening and my CCR projects. Thank you guys.

First day filming

 

March 20, 2024

Hey guys hope you guys are all doing well today and are excited to read what I have written for today. I came back with a fresh mind after last week and I felt like I did a lot of good things that I wanted to share about.

As you guys can see by the tittle of this very blog, we have some very exciting news to share with you guys. Me and Fran started filminggggggg.

I can picture in my head that you guys are jumping on your desks from the excitement that you have after reading those really big news. And not going to lie, everything went kind of perfect. In the following texts, I am going to guide you through the whole process.

How we approached this:

So me and Fran realized that we needed to step up our game in order to not fall behind compared to other students, so we realized that we needed to start filming as soon as we could, to get comfortable with the camera and acting in front of it. We picked out that the day we would be filming would be on Tuesday. Now I know it's strange, but it was the only day that me and Fran could both film without having any issues time wise. We went to Regional Park (the location we had mentioned in previous posts) which is a 15 minute bike ride for me, and we got straight to work.

The issues:

We had two very bright minds (I like to think) but neither of us knew how we would start, so we decided that we were going to calm down and that we were going to straighten our minds so that we could start the right way. We also decided that it was best for Fran to be the protagonist and me as the bully, because he has a lot of retro soccer shirts that have been worn a lot by his dad, and him. This was perfect as I also wanted to explore the bully role because it is a role that I think I could pursuit perfectly and I have learned a lot from Fran in the previous blogs that we have done. Another main issue that we had is that the fields were all occupied when we wanted to film. Remember how I told you guys that finding a field would be easy as not a lot of people use them? Well apparently I thought wrong, because I have never seen the fields so busy. It took us a while to find some space and an open goal, but we managed to make it work.

The progress:

Once we found an open area and goal to work with, me and Fran never looked back. We were able to get a lot of the compilation done, which was one of the biggest concerns that me and him had internally. I never mentioned it on the blog because I felt that it was an issue that we could resolve issue, and we did. Now, I hate do disappoint you guys, but I am not going to show you any footage or pictures from our progress while filming because of 2 reasons.

1: I don't want to spoil all the fun for you guys. I get it could create a lot of enthusiasm for you guys if you see some footage from what me and Fran have done, but I feel like if I don't show you guys anything, then I am going to be able to have you guys on the edge of your seats when the final weeks approach.

2: If I show you guys the footage and pictures from what we have done recently, then I am not going to have  a lot of new footage to show you guys during my CCR project which is coming up very soon. I think that the CCR is a big part of my grade so I want it to be to the best that it can be.

Back to the progress. Me and Fran had a fantastic time doing this filming and we felt like we got to know each other in a lot more ways than we had planned initially. We were able to take off a big part of this project that we felt was necessary to do. The only issue that I have, is the fact that Fran is going to be leaving on vacation soon, so I am very worried as to have we will edit with him being gone for a while. 

However, I am looking forward to being able to continue working with Fran on this amazing project and creating the bets film opening that we can for you guys. These blogs have gotten easier and easier to write every day. I feel like I am progressing significantly in my blogs and this progress is something that I will definitely be showing in my CCR as I feel it has helped me grow as a person and as a media student.

That's it for today guys. Thank you very much for reading this, I hope that you guys enjoyed what I had to say, and are as excited to watch the opening for our film as we are. Next blog should be tomorrow as I have to do 2 more by the end of this week to stay on schedule. If everything goes right, I should be able to call Fran later today and talk about the editing subject that we have.

Peace guys.

Music

 

March 14, 2024  HAPPY PIE DAY

Hey guys hope you guys are all doing well today cause I know I am. Today we have to talk about music. Music is always a fun part of the project because I love listening to all types of music and getting to expand my taste. However, I have to be very careful to not get sidetracked along the way because we got work to do for the project. Me and Fran have been wanting to choose a song for our soccer compilation at the beginning of the opening ever since we got the idea. Since we are going to record at Weston Regional Park (our local sports park), we are going to most likely have the field to ourselves, which is amazing cause then our possibilities are pretty much endless.

The issues with music:

At the start of this project, it was made very clear to us that we could not use copyright music without the permission of the artist that created the music. And with all due respect, I don't have the time to be writing to some artist asking them permission to use their song in my project without the guarantee that they are going to answer my text. It's frankly just too risky because of the time restraint that was put on us.

Another major issue that I have been concerned about is the fact that there are so many songs out there that are in the inspirational category that we want to do, but at the same time, we want to make sure that the song fits the timing and pacing of the scene.

How we're approaching this:

So me and Fran talked for a while and decided that whining about our issues isn't going to get the job done. We decided to search up "Inspirational copyright free music" on google and see what we got, just to get a basic sense of what we are going up against. We clicked on a page called Pixabay. We thought that we had found the perfect song but then realized that at the bottom of the page it mentions that the songs of creators can't be sold or distributed in any way which led us to have to find another page that did not impede us from using the song in our production.

We decided to ask our teacher for some websites for not only music, but sound as well. She talked to us for a while asking us what we were looking for out of songs and what tone of music we were hoping to find. After telling her the information, she gave us 3 pages that we could use to find music.

What are they?

- Free sounds.org

- Bensound.com

- Bulletproofbear 

With these websites in mind, we were able to explore a lot of sounds and music that benefited our production the best. Only one small issue.... We went with a completely different page and chose a song that was not in either one of the 3 that she recommended. Now it's not that those websites didn't have good music, because they really did, we just felt that the song we chose best represented the style and pacing that we have envisioned for the scene.

So what the heck did we choose?

Well, after a lot of research and much more arguing between me and Fran because we have very different taste, we decided that the song that is going to start off our amazing production is going to be Hero's Time by Paul Kalazzi (DUN DUN DUN). We chose this song because it flows with our opening and it allows us to not only put the credits so that the reader isn't attracted immediately, but it fits with the scene and makes it almost look natural.

The following image is the License code image for the song saying that we have downloaded the music and are ready to start using it wherever we please.

I know I know, very impressive.

The last thing that me and Fran have to do regarding music is choose when we are going to cut certain parts of the song to fit with the time frame that is in our opening, and at the same time, not make it sound unusual or unappealing to the human ear. I have decided that I am going to take care of implementing the music into the video because that is something that I do have experience on when it comes to making projects that need music.

https://click.pstmrk.it/3s/uppbeat.io%2Ft%2Fpaulo-kalazzi%2Fheros-time/vZub/XvmzAQ/AQ/395e3a98-96a3-4cea-a3e6-b07732502c92/4/4YQP7UOplD

The following link is the link to the website where we picked our song from (It is called Uppbeat) here you can see what our other options where for choosing songs by choosing the "Inspiring" tab on the "Mood" category when you first enter the website. Hopefully you choose to listen to the song and can imagine a soccer compilation occurring while you are listening to the song, and can just picture the ball swirling into the net continuously with your eyes closed (and if you can't do that well then we're in trouble).

All this talk about inspiring music has me feeling like this:

The reflection and the next blog:

Well guys that's it for today. That is all I got for this subject and I just have to say that just like I predicted, this blog was so fun to drive. I feel like time passed really fast today and that's because I was so focused on my goal. The next blog is predicted to be tomorrow (Friday the 15) and I am going to tell you about how me and Fran are going to start filming and the ideas that we have in order to make this film the best that it can be.

Peace guys.

CCR brainstorm and information gathered

 March 12, 2024

Hey guys hope you guys are doing well and are ready to read about what I have to say today. I know that last week I was a bit inactive, but today I am really excited to tell you guys about what I was shown in class and how I am going to use that inspiration later on in my project for the creative critical reflection

I know the creative critical reflection is one of the last things that I should be doing in this project, but today in class, we were shown examples of projects, tips on how to make mine the best it can be, and things to avoid which leaves the viewers bored and distracted form the production. I am going to try and organize this to the best that I can and make it as neat as possible.

What am I getting done?

The creative critical reflection project is a project to ring out the creativity of students in order to answer the questions about the project that is asked.  We are asked to create a minimum of 2 products to answer these questions in the most engaging way possible.

Here are the questions:

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

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

3) How did your presentation skills develop throughout your project?

How I'm going to take this on:

The first two questions of this project are going to be very challenging to answer as they require the most time (there is a maximum of 10 minutes for all 4 questions), but the last two are going to be the most fun to talk about because I have so much to share in those topics.

Must do's:

Create a script

Present into creativity

Incorporate research

Make it engaging

Use your imagination

DO NOTS!!!!!!

Have a talking head for most of the presentation

Wing it (this is a large part of your grade don't be dumb)

Provide a general response

Reflection

Anyways guys, that's all I have for today, as that is what we talked about in class for a while. I feel like the creative critical reflection is going to be one of the most fun parts of this project as I can do it independently and I can talk to many of my friends in order to help me make this really entertaining.

I'll write in here tomorrow for a special blog :)

Peace guys

Storyboard

 

March 5th, 2024

What's up guys I hope you're doing well today. I know I forgot to post the last blog post for last week yesterday because I was extremely busy studying for 2 tests that I had to due today. Anyways, today is a different day and a new week, which means that I am going to be productive and start working with my partner. There is only oneeeee tiny issue...

FRAN'S NOT HERE.

I can't express how much that picture describes my heart right now

In all of my years of being a human being, this is the biggest sense of betrayal I have felt in my life. But it's ok, because we knew eventually something like this would happen and we prepared for it. Today we are going to start on the storyboard

How I feel about them:

So I have a love-hate relationship with storyboards. My teacher says that our drawings do not need to be at a professional level, and not to worry about whether or not we think it looks good, BUT I SUCK AT DRAWING. IT'S EMBERASSING AT THIS POINT. And while her advice made me feel better about myself, my inner me is competitive like no one you've ever met, so I want to make the drawings as sick as possible.

My stick figures make this drawing look good by the way.... Imagine how bad they must be.

The Plan:

The idea for our storyboard is basic and shouldn't me more than an hour to do. We're going to do probably about 9 frames of drawing just to organize our thoughts and our shot ideas so that we have no issues filming later on. Speaking of filming, I am going to ask Fran about whether or not he would be down to record later this week so that we do not get caught lacking by the project in the later projects.

Fran texted me yesterday saying that he for sure wants to start off with the opening as the protagonist training soccer and working really hard so the audience completely understands that he is hard working and very passionate about the sport that he plays. This will also help us get the title introduced very early on into the opening. This will solve one of the biggest issues that we had regrading the tittle, and then we would need to just figure out the font we are going to use {Which is also killer don't worry :)}

So for the compilation of the protagonist shooting, I am thinking that we get an intense close up shot of just the ball getting kicked by the protagonist. I think this will help us stand out in projects and will be a unique aspect that only our project includes. Ima storyboard this really quick and let you know how it goes. Ok so I'm back and it actually wasn't as long as I thought it was going to be.

After the compilation, Fran wants to have the kid go straight to school all sweaty and dirty in order to show that he has no time to play after school because he is poor so he must use his sleep time in order to put the hours in to achieve his dream. To get this image of him walking to his mom's car to drive to school, we are probably going to need to use a tracking pan shot from left to right to show him walking with all his stuff

In the car we are going to probably have constant cuts from the protagonist and his mom having conversation about how the training went, to where the protagonist starts getting angrier because he is upset about the life that he has.

At school we are probably going to use a lot of close ups and long shots of the bullies walking around and messing with the protagonist to show the deep and complex issues that he has to go through because of his hygiene and his clothes. This is going to take me a lot more to illustrate on the storyboard, so I will write back as soon as I am done with this. Ok so that one took WAYYYYYY longer than it should've but it got done. I am going to text Fran about how he wants to do the shots for the final of the opening because I feel like we HAVE to get that right as it is one of the things that the viewer is going to remember the most. He responded very fast (why are you not in class if you're not brutally sick or dead Fran......) and said that he wants to focus more on the protagonist's phone as he is asleep and show the constant notifications that he is getting because he is about to blow up overnight.

I am going to list that last shot on a zoom shot, that will slowly close in on the phone as the notifications start to get more rapid and in a way, more dramatic, The shot will get closer and closer to the shot which will help create suspense inside of the viewer and make them want to keep watching.

The end of today:

Anyways guys that's all I got for today, I know it was a bit of a short blog, but that's because I can't really do much without Fran here. Later today I am going to stop by his house and give him the storyboard so that he can add any details that he wants to add, and I will post the final storyboard later today or tomorrow by latest. I think this whole idea of a storyboard is going to hep out tremendously when it comes to shooting because me and Fran tend to panic when it comes time to film. By doing this, I feel like it will help us organize our thoughts when we record. I am going to probably update this a lot later but I feel really good with what I have written down.

Our thoughts after doing this storyboard (well organized in case you couldn't tell by the image)

(Just between us, Bob Ross had nothing on my drawings today)

Peace guys.