Question 1 - Actor Interviews
How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
Question 2 - Competition Day Vlog!!!
How does your product engage with audience and how would it be distributed as a real media text?
Question 3 - Competition Makeup Get Ready With Me
How did your production skills develop throughout this project?
It's here!!! After countless hours of blogging, editing, producing, filming, and researching. My final production is here. I want to say I am so thankful for this opportunity, but most importantly the "command Z" back button. (that has saved me numerous of times especially when I accidentally deleted my whole project😅) I won't forget all the memories made during the creation of this project. Especially during stressful comp days, it was nice to have something to focus on rather than competing.
In this blog post I will be making rough drafts of what will be answered in my CCR posts. For the "creative" part I have a few ideas where I could film my answers. My goal is to be very creative while answering each question to show how I can produce something unique. Also, I'll explain each idea so I can have a guideline while I film each video.
1. Vlogging at a competition- My idea is to use the same digital camera used in my film opening to vlog my day throughout a competition while answering each question. Although this might be a little challenging especially because I will be busy most of the day. I think it'll be a really cool way to get to answer the CCR questions.
2. Making a "Get Ready With Me" (GRWM)- This GRWM is a popular source of content used throughout many social media platforms like TikTok. I will film this on my phone while getting ready possibly for a competition. This includes hair, makeup, and costume. I can break down different parts of the question into three sections to answer. By staying in this common theme of the colorguard sport, I believe it is helpful and creative when it comes to answering.
3. Having my actors interview me- This video will be done with my older actress, because it'll be easier for me to see her rather than the other two. So, I will have her ask me a series of questions that will help me answer the CCR questions.
4. Directors commentary- This is done with a screen recording by breaking down scenes from my film opening. I want to have a dual cam, meaning while I record my screen you can also see me explaining my answer.
My approach to these CCR questions is to create kinda of like a script or guideline I can go off to answer each question. So, the following paragraphs or bullets are what I will be basing my answers on for each question. Also by doing this I can figure out which way I'll answer each question.
Q1- How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
For this question I want to have my actor interview me. I feel like by using this method I can really take advantage of the question by having an interview to really breakdown each part.
Actor 1: “How does your film opening use or challenge typical conventions?”
Me: “My film opening uses common conventions like close-up shots and limited dialogue, + fast pacing to build tension. THis is done to focus on the character’s emotions. These are typical in more emotional or character-driven openings. Which is needed in my Bildungsroman film.
At the same time, I challenged conventions by not focusing on action or a clear storyline right away. With the opening scene being a little girl failing at colorguard leaves my audience questioning what is going on. Instead, I focused on the internal mental struggle of the character, which links to my genre of a bildungsroman, where the story is about personal growth and not just to perfect side to every sport.”
Actor: “Why did you choose to challenge those conventions?”
Me: “I chose to challenge them because I wanted the opening to feel more realistic and personal. Instead of showing the performance itself, I focused on what happens mentally before going on, which is something audiences don’t usually see.”
Actor:“What social groups or issues does your film represent?”
Me: “My film represents teenagers, specifically performers like color guard members, and the mental pressure and anxiety they experience before performing. It also highlights the issue of how people can seem confident on the outside but struggle internally.”
Actor: “Do you think your representation was successful?”
Me: “I think it was successful because it challenges the stereotype that performers are always confident and perfect as seen on social media. Instead, it shows a more honest and relatable side, which allows the audience to connect emotionally with the character.”
Actor: “So overall, how would you describe your use of conventions and representation?”
Me (Ending): “Overall, I used conventions to make my film feel like a real media product, but I also challenged them to focus more on internal emotion. This helped me create a more realistic representation of performers and the mental struggles they face.”
Q2 - How does your product engage with audience and how would it be disturbed as a real media text?
For this question I believe it will be easy to answer in the form as a vlog. This is because the audience is of course teenagers and younger adults, but most importantly people who relate to the struggles before performing their sport/art.
Here is a short script or guideline I am thinking of abiding by when answering this question, as I do this I plan on sectioning the video in different parts of course because a lot happens at a competition so I will be breaking down my question into a few parts.
Opening- Hello everyone, today I will be taking you guys along with me at my competition as I answer the question on how my product engages with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text! My film opening is a Bildungsroman, meaning it focuses on personal growth. It follows a colorguard member from a young girl into an older performer as she deals with the mental pressure and anxiety before performing.
How it engages the audience- My product primarily engages audiences by focuing on relatable emotions and internal struggles. Every performer has doubt before going onto perform, I know I especially do. But that's why seeing the real emotion is so relatable. Even if one doesn't understand waht colorguard is, anyone can connect through nervous feelings because we all get them.
Target audience- The target audience is mainly teenagers and young adults, especially people involved in performance activities like dance, theater, or color guard. However, the theme of overcoming self-doubt is universal, so it can also appeal to a broader audience.
How it would be distributed as a real media text- As a real media product, this film would likely be distributed through
-online streaming platforms
-social media marketing to reach younger audiences
Platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram could be used to share trailers, behind-the-scenes clips, and short edits to build an audience around the film.
Because the film focuses on performance culture, it could also be promoted within dance and color guard communities, which would help it reach viewers who relate directly to the subject.
Ending- Overall, my film engages audiences with the emotional relability, the tension experienced before performing, and personal growth after accomplishments.
Q3 - How did production skills develop throughout this project? Short answer A LOT!
My production skills developed significantly throughout this project, both technically and creatively. At the beginning, my filming was more basic and I did not fully consider the purpose behind each shot, and my editing mainly involved simply putting clips together. By the end, I became much more intentional with my choices, ensuring that each shot contributed to emotion and meaning.
- I learned different ways to incorporate the lower thirds by using the opacity settings on premiere pro
- getting help through friends who already have prior experience at west broward tv program
-doing notes in my aice media class learning different camera angles, shots, sound vocab, editing techniques
-learning the editing software premiere pro
Overall, my production skills have progressed tremendously from 0 to a lot more of an experience. Instead of doing things unintentionally I had meaning and understanding behind what i’ve done.
Q4 - How did you intergrate technologies- software, hardware, and online in this project?
In this project, I integrated a combination of hardware, software, and online technologies to create my film opening. For hardware, I used two cameras to capture footage. The first one being Kodak PIXPRO FX45 and second which was used majority of my film called Canon Rebel T7. This camera allowed me to film detailed close-ups and different angles to convey emotion. Without the use of different angles etc. I would be telling a completely different story.
For software, I used editing tools such as Premiere Pro to construct my final film. This allowed me to:
-cut clips
-add in transitions
-add in different editing techniques like "shot-reversre-shot to demonstrate a conversation
-add in sound effects + music
-change the sound overall some scenes were quiter and vice versa
This helped tell a story and build tension guiding how the audience experiences the film. The editing process was essential in shaping the narrative and ensuring the film felt cohesive and engaging.
Online technologies also played an important role in my project. I used online platforms to research film opening conventions and gain inspiration from similar media products. This helped me make certain decisions and influenced giving me a guideline on how to do things
Overall, each type of technology had a specific role: hardware was used to capture the footage, software was used to edit and construct meaning, and online resources supported research and planning. Together, these technologies enabled me to create an effective film opening.
This week I will be focusing on my last 3 scenes; the opening scene, competition, and the last shot entering the performance area. As I write this, it is currently thursday and I plan to film and edit during the weekend. I have a competition where most of my footage will be shot at, and finally this sunday I will get to see my younger actress to play my young protagonist "Aliya".
2nd update: I completely finished gathering all of my footage. I filmed all of the scenes now it's time to edit and plan CCRs. Since it is spring break I have plenty of time to focus on my editing and completing the most important part of the film opening: lower thirds.
In this blog post I will be showing some clips of the footage I gathered from the past weeks, explaining the media conventions behind why I chose to film a certain way. Starting with my opening scene from my digital camera.
Hello! On saturday I got the opportunity to start filming for my film opening at practice. Thanks to my teacher letting me borrow the Canon T7, the filming process went smooth. I started filming at lunch because we had a busy day at practice and I didn't want to interrupt or disturb my team. We only had 50 minutes so I had to work fast. However, this wasn't a problem because I was prepared with my storyboard and draft of my script.
If I could go back and change some things I did for my first time filming I would for sure invest in camera holder. Looking back at my clips I feel like theres a lot of random movement that should be cut out. Although partially my fault, it is also my first time filming these shots and having a steady hand was hard for me. I believe if I invested in the equipment below, my shots would have turned out a lot better. I especially struggled with the tracking shots.
Question 1 - Actor Interviews How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues? Questi...
