"Daybreak"

Creative Critical Reflection

Reflection

     Hello and welcome back to one of the few remaining postings with the due date of this Sunday, April 7th, approaching. It has been a journey, to say the least. So much has happened so far this year, and I am not just talking about this project, I am speaking of life in general this year, my senior year. It has been filled with many ups and downs, and twists and turns, with this project being no different.

     Ryan and I have had our ups and downs, and twists and turns, along the way to completing this AICE Media Studies portfolio project. We have not agreed on everything, but we have worked through our disagreements to get to the point we are at now, nearly finished and proud of our work. We have learned a lot along the way, leaving us feeling more skilled and capable for future media work. 

     Having a partner for this project had its pros and cons. As previously mentioned, Ryan and I did not agree on everything and had to come to compromises on things such as the genre, settings, and source material. Also, having to stay in touch with a partner proved to be a job that we had to stay on top of or else we'd fall behind, which was a lesson learned for us. This helped us learn how to better work in groups though, and so we feel more equipped to do so in our future studies. On the plus side, having a partner for this was good once we formulated a well-structured plan of action for each of us to follow. This included Ryan specializing/focusing on the foley sounds, and me focusing mainly on the filming. Then we edit together, combining both of our work in a collaborative, and effective, way. This resulted from good communication that we developed along the way working together. Overall though, I am glad to have had Ryan as a partner for this, we get along well and so we had fun in the process of this project.
     At first we were unsure of our filming location. Then, we decided on Chase's house & garage, and either the airport (where he works in real life) or the Everglades (on his speedboat). Issues arose, however, and both of the latter pair were unable to be utilized in our filming. Chase's job as a TSA agent in the airport prevented him from filming there. As for the Everglades and his boat, well, I was advised against it by many people for safety reasons, and Chase's boat is not operable currently. Perhaps it was a sign those people were right. Our settings, though, are perfectly suitable for a film opening.
     I am close to finishing, and looking back on this I have learned a lot. I am better prepared for bigger projects like this in college now, the ones that span over months like this one did. I learned how to pace myself, sometimes the hard way by falling behind, but the hard lessons are the ones learned best usually. Over the past months I have grown not only as a student, but also as a person. I am coming out of this as a better person, someone I am proud of.  I am excited to turn in the finished product. I am excited for life (:

     

On Track

     Welcome back to the blog, there's much to report, so let's get right into it. I filmed more shots tonight, and began the editing process throughout the course of the day today with the shots I already had. Now, with all the shots taken, I can see what to cut and what to keep since I have an abundance of media material to utilize for this film opening, which is intended to be only two minutes. I am starting to put the intro credits in on the scenes shot, which supports the idea that this is a film opening rather than a trailer for a film. These are important things for me to remember and consider whilst wrapping this project up to ensure it meets the requirements in place for this film opening project so that I can earn a high score and be proud of the work I turn in with it being my best. I am happy with how it is coming along, and believe that I am on track to complete it by the due date this Sunday, April 7th. We shall see. As the week progresses, and I make progress on this project, I will update this blog with fresh postings, talk soon!

Planning = Success

     Hello and welcome. Although our progress was stalled a bit, we are back on track. Ryan is working away, and as am I. We plan on meeting after school a few times later during this week, like Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I plan on taking more shots of Chase tomorrow night when he gets back from work, and should be close to finished with shooting. When Ryan and I do meet up we will compile the clips into a coherent video draft, then whatever shots we feel need revision we will reshoot, edit, or replace with new shots. So far, so good.
   

The royalty free spy background music my partner and I decided on

Partnership & Planning

     Welcome back to the 'richblogdog!' My partner, Ryan, and I have been unable to meet up since he lives in Hollywood and neither of us can drive because he doesn't have his license and my car needs a new front tire, therefore, through the beauty of technology, we are working together while apart.  I am filming Chase, my sister is taking behind the scenes shots, and Ryan is working on the foley sounds filming his foley stage. This is the plan we both came up with over the phone since we have been incapable of meeting up lately due to many valid reasons. It seems to me to be a good plan, we shall see. Hopefully plans will work and schedules will cooperate.

My sister as the behind the scenes helper

Filming and Overcoming Challenges

     Hello there and welcome back. I filmed some more yesterday that I didn't get the chance to fill the 'richblogdog' on. So, to film the morning wake up scene of Chase as a spy getting ready for his day upon waking, we need it to be dark outside, it needs to be 'daybreak.' Well, the day I filmed I was not there early enough to be shooting before sunrise, daybreak, and so I had to overcome this challenge.

     To overcome this hurdle I taped up black garbage bags with red tape to his bedroom window. This not only completely darkened the room, but also gave a red tint to the room, which is the desired effect I wanted to achieve to emulate sunrise hues of color peeking through the window.