CCR & Film Opening

CCR's 

CCR #1/2

CCR #3/4

THE OPENING

Pushover

The END

     After eight weeks of hard work, we are finally at the end. This project was nothing like I've done before, and it's made me realize that school lacks the opportunity to give students the free will to create anything meaningful. In the four years of my high school career, I've never been granted the opportunity to create something with so much time and effort up until taking AICE Media Studies. I'm very grateful that I was given the opportunity to do this project, especially after learning so many things.

    One of the things that at first made me a little uncomfortable and stressed was the blog post. At first these blogs felt intimidating but with time they became part of my routine and gave me a perspective in relation to how films are planned and made. Looking back I do wish I added more personality to my post but to me I think it's really important that I did them as a whole. 

    The project in general was a great experience. I learned a lot of what it takes to work with other people, especially when not everyone has the same perspective in things, but its taught me how to perceiver through different situations. When taking a look at planning I wish I put a bit more effort, to be honest, not because I don't think I did a great job but because I think I could've made a better product. I feel strongly about this when thinking about the way we organized the filming process since it was such a mess at times. Other than that, a lot of the time I felt that my production abilities were reinforced and strengthened, by the constant immersion in the project. 

    And for my final message. I'm hoping that students in the future are given more opportunities to create what they want and learn how they want. Thank you very much AICE Media Studies, for all the moments of growth and reflection. 

     

CCR Post-Production

    Now that I'm finally done with all the production for both of my CCRs, it's time for me to begin editing. 

    Since, my CCR for questions 1 and 2 involves the use of a green screen, I needed to find a way to key it out in the editing software. I used Premiere Pro for the first time for this CCR, and yes I did use it for the opening but that was mainly Brennan, so this was the first actual time I was using it. I did some research on how to key it out and it was pretty simple. All I had to do was go to the effects setting and use the Ultra Key and select the color of what I wanted to key out. Now, that this was done, I needed to figure out a way to add the opening in the green screened monitor. For this I added a layer below the layer that was masked out and with the use of the corner pin tool under Distort (effects), I transformed the video to fit the monitor perfectly. I also did this for the rest of what would appear later in the video, like references and sources. Another thing I did was add background music, to not have such a dull video especially since most of the time only my face appeared. For the music I went with Jazz music to add a calm tone. Then in addition to the music I tried to limit the amount of jump cuts which were only around two, and they were only visible when talking about different CCR questions and the ending.

CCR's 1 & 2

    The second CCR which answered questions 3 and 4, had a bit more to it in terms of how the sequence went. This production involved a back and forth with T and me, so it meant that clips needed to be displayed accordingly to not mess up the set of questions. While, editing I found that I should probably add some text before the "interview" began to let the people know the name of the show and who was being interviewed. So, this is what I did and had the text fade in and out with the footage as well. Compared to the other production there was not that many technical components involved in terms of effects, but overall it was a successful post-production.

CCR's 3 & 4

    One thing I forgot to mention about the first CCR production was that when I would answer the questions for the CCR I would make the foreground into the background by blurring it and adding text stating the question. This was something I thought added a little more personality to the production and made it a bit more engaging. Another detail that I saw was that there was too much negative space so I decided to crop the footage and make it more appealing. 

    Realistically, I think I'll probably do some final touches and revise what I have. I don't want these videos to feel basic and dull, so even though there's not that much going on I think editing is what's going to save me in terms of professionality and creativity. 

CCR Production

         We are getting closer and closer to the end. Yesterday, while discussing my production ideas I settled with what I had and today I began filming. For my first CCR production I went with questions 1 and 2. This production was heavy in camera angles and focused a lot on the editing opportunities. The second production was for questions 3 and 4, and was a more of a gag type of production.

    While, filming for my first production, I moved several things in my room, for me to get the best angles and efficiency. But, most importantly I thought of something that I mentioned in the production ideas blog, which was making my monitor a green screen so I could show media through it. This was honestly my favorite detail and it was something to give the video more life, since my overall theme was just a "movie review." One thing that had me a little frustrated was the fact that the tripod I've had for years was broken, and I didn't have either the time to buy another one or money. Luckily, I remembered that my family had these banner stands and the to legs that held it were pretty much a tripod itself. So, that's what I used and I can't even lie it was way better than the one I had before. Also, this production took about an hour. including the set-up, which meant that I had enough time to film my other production later on in the day. 

Green Screen Monitor

Tripod

    For my second production, I went with the, "Therapy for Actors," which is intended to be an interview like show that asks questions to actors in a easy but detailed way. I decided I'd film this in my living room where the ambience was clean and simple. Since, I had no one else to film this scene with I had to "improvise" and play T, the therapist, and myself, Jean Paul Hernandez. While, it was a little frustrating trying to get all the dialogue right at the time, I think that with my responses, which were the answers to the CCRs, it felt realistic because of some of my delays in thought. And no this does not mean I did not know my lines, but I think it did give it a bit more of a real feel to it. For, both of the characters, I had different hairstyles and clothing to differentiate who was who and it definitely contrasted them both. I do think that there was some things that I could have improved, like some of the script, but I think it tied together pretty well.

Living Room

CCR Production Ideas

     Now, that I've answered all 4 CCRs it's time for me to think about how I could bring these answers to life.

    For the CCRs 1 and 2 I'll be producing one video. Here I was thinking of making a YouTube film review type of video. Meaning that I would answer the questions of the CCR as a person talking about the film and analyzing the conventions and how to access the film. Since, this production will be quite simple, I wanted to give it a little uniqueness through using my monitor as a green screen and inserting parts of what I'm talking about in the screen to give it a bit more creativity. Other than that, I think I'll have some background Jazz music to give it a bit more character.

    Then just like the other two CCRs I'll be having the questions of CCR 3 and 4 in the same video. For this production I want it to be a less generic than my last. How? Well, I was thinking of making a "Therapist for Actors" type of show that has T the "therapist" ask questions to me the, actor. These questions will be CCR 3 and 4, but will have mini questions in between that add more detail to the answers. Honestly, I think it'll work more as  quick interview type of thing, but I think it'll be very fun to film since, I'll be playing both roles.

    Hopefully, this turns out to be a fun little project that's going to help reflect my experience throughout this eight week journey. 

Question #4 (CCR)

 Now, the very last question of the CCR, how did you integrate technologies - software, hardware, and online - in this project? To me this is a pretty cool question since it helps understand, at least to me, the different technologies go into making a a film.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT:

• Discuss any type of technology
• Different types of hardware: cameras, lighting, mics, etc.
• Any software: planning, editing, animation, tools, etc.
• How were these technologies used?

CCR#4 SCRIPT:

    Through the process of making a film, there is one thing that gets written out of the equation. What is thing? Well, that would be the technologies used to make these productions. That's why when understanding the production of, Pushover, technologies are quintessential. 

HARDWARE: 

    The camera used in the film was obtained through Brennan and his connections with the TV production crew at our school. The camera was phenomenal and had a microphone attached to it which was very important when recording the dialogue. 

    Lighting wise, we didn't have much control in the park scene, but in the tracking shot of Asher at his house we used the natural lighting in the house and ring lights that helped tone the film down. We also played with the lighting in the editing software, but that'll be talked about more later.

SOFTWARE:

    For the software used in the planning and post-production, there was a nice amount of helpful tools. For example, websites like StudioBinder were very helpful in research and planning processes like the storyboard. 

    Editing wise, we used Adobe Premiere, which was provided to us by the school. This site is great in terms of productivity and was a key tool in the lighting due to it's tone changer. It's also very helpful with it's advanced but simple interface. 

HOW WERE THEY USED?

    While, at times some of these technologies were tedious to work with, the understanding from me, Vanessa, and Brennan worked together in a interesting and interactive way that glued everything together. 

CONCLUSION:

    I tried something a little different in the script for this CCR and that will probably will be reflected onto the script of the third CCR question. It's likely that both CCR's will change a little when coming up with the production ideas, but for now this is what I'll be working with.  

    

Question #3 (CCR)

     As previously mentioned, both CCR #3 and #4 are going to be composed in the same production. Because of this I'll be making a script for CCR #3 today. This CCR asks, how did your production skills develop throughout this project? This question is great and gives a reflection of how a person grows over time.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT:

• How have your skills evolved throughout the production
• How it began and how it ended
• Research & planning
• Approach towards production

CCR#3 SCRIPT:

    This script involves me answering the CCR question, although there's a good chance that for the production I'll have more character and idea built into it. 

    For the production of, Pushover, I had previous experience in several other film productions from film classes in the past. Some of these projects were really short films, music videos, and even stop-motion, but I've never done a project with so much thought and energy until this one. 

    During the previous projects for my film classes I didn't necessarily research or plan anything out. By not doing this, the end results were not so good. But, unlike those productions, this was one was the complete opposite. I thoroughly researched many different topics, techniques, and ideas that elevated my work a lot. This was evident while researching for my genre, because beforehand my knowledge on thriller was limited and by researching I understood things within the conventions of the genre that helped give a blueprint on how to make thriller. This leads me to my next point which is planning. Planning was also something that I had lacked in previous projects, but while filming this project it was really helpful, especially as a guide. Also, planning through storyboarding was great, since it lead as a visual representation of what scenes were to look like. 

    By incorporating these tools, it lead to approach the production in a more professional and concentrated way. Meaning that with the brains of three people, we discussed ideas in a mature manner. If we didn't agree with something we would speak up and adjust our views. This was something that guaranteed me certainty that I was both growing as a film maker and as a someone who could overcome difficulties.

    As the project developed it gave me time to see the steps of where we as a group started and how we at first struggled creatively and how we then ended up as people that can create something meaningful and entertaining. 

CONCLUSION:

    Just how I mentioned earlier, this is just a blueprint of my answer/script to CCR#3. When I come up for an idea for this production I'll be sure to add a creative aspect that helps generate a less boring product. 

Question #2 (CCR)

     For the second CCR it asks, how does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text? This question has two major parts that are very important towards how audiences interact with the film. Smaller films normally don't have huge budgets since they're either independent or not directly supported through a big production company. Meaning that for this CCR I'll be focusing on the way that Pushover is going to be distributed through its small budget. 

    Also just as a little update, I wanted to say that I'll be making a piece of production for questions #1 and question #2 and another production for questions #3 and #4. So, in the script shown I'll be talking about both question #1 and #2, just to clarify any confusion. 

SCRIPT

CCR#1

    Hello everybody my name is Jean Paul Hernandez and today we are going to talk about the opening scene for the highly recommended film, Pushover, from Briggs Productions. The films opening follows the sequence of the murder of Austin, a teenage boy that plays the role of a "bully." In the opening he gets killed by the protagonist, Asher, a strange kid that has mental problems. In just the first two minutes of the film, it already uses conventions within the thriller genre. The suspense that is built through both Asher's and Austin's interactions hooks the audience instantly and perfectly demonstrates the blueprint that thriller films convey. With the use of these conventions the film also stays focused on thriller by representing different social groups that are evident in both Asher and Austin. The way in which Asher physically portrays himself acts as a mask for his true psycho mentality building up the mysterious sense of thrill. Now, Austin's appearance acts more as a reflection of what Asher is and helps develop their characters at deeper level.

CCR#2

    Now, that we have settled the films narrative its time to take a look at how this low budget film is being distributed for people to see. From what I've been told Briggs Productions is independent and due to money have limited ways to distribute their film, Pushover. That's why they've decided to self-distribute and release their film through the Thriller/Suspense Festival. This is an online festival that accepts submissions from all over the world. Meaning that it's a great way for production companies like Briggs Productions to distribute and embrace their films. Through this festival, films are recognized and can get awards like, Best Performance, so it creates an engaging stage that also grants the audience a way to become involved in how the film pushes its popularity and success. 

CONCLUSION

    This is pretty much a completed version of my script for both the first and second CCR, but honestly when filming the production for these question I'll probably add a bit more character to give the "review" a bit more personality. 

Provost, R. (2025, January 13). What is film distribution — The ultimate guide for filmmakers. StudioBinder. https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/film-distribution-guide/

https://filmfreeway.com/ThrillerSuspenseFestival

Question #1 (CCR)

     For the first question of the CCR we are asked, how does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues? For this specific question t here are many different things that can assumed for a film. This would also be the case for my opening, due its representation of thriller and identity.

    Because our film's genre is thriller I researched a lot on conventions within the genre. A lot of it is based suspense and intense atmospheres. Some films that represent this are in the John Wick series and Inception (2010), that have a bases surrounding thrill. One of the sub-genres within thriller is revenge thriller, which illustrates a protagonist experiencing and solving a problem that is personal to them. 

    Immediately when being introduced into Pushover we are given thrill, which is a use of one of the films conventions. As Asher gets harassed and demeaned by Austin, it fuels Asher just enough to kill Austin. This scene alone showcases the suspense within this genre it also captures the dark atmosphere that lingers. Within this scene, a sense of revenge is captured through Asher that the audience is yet to understand. It perfectly demonstrates the genre through a short period of time, that is efficient through the fact that a lot of these thriller films have a way to hook the audience instantly. Hence, the reason why we decided to not really challenge the genre's conventions since it's already a blueprint that works well in itself. By being able to appropriately follow these "rules" it helps tell viewers what the film is meant to be about in just the opening alone. It's a great way to develop meaning too, between characters and their traits.

    These conventions that the thriller genre has, is a perfect way to introduce social groups and issues. Both Asher and Austin can be characterized immediately just through the limited time they have in the opening. Asher faces a truth that is demonstrated by his appearance and work. He appears to follow the stereotypical architecture of a person that only focuses on school. Then once, the suspenseful scene where Asher runs to kill Austin, it causes there to show the mental struggle he faces at home due to his home life. Now, for Austin his clothes show the constant variable where baggy clothes and tough character represent a person that faces issues at home. Both of these characters are very similar in a way as both struggle at home, with relations, but their appearance tells another story. Through Austin's death the conventional use of revenge identifies issues that Asher has and also his emotions.

    The use of conventions, while repetitive at times, is a form of setting a base and establishing what is to come. This gave me and the group a grounding as to what the film's opening was to show. Personally, I think that films that are thriller based, need to have it established immediately to apply a more tone driven piece.

Post-Production #2

     After talking about an issue that we had as a team last blog post I want to try and elaborate more on how we overcame this. After Brennan sent a draft of the opening me and Vanessa noticed somethings that we felt we could improve on. 

    First of, when editing I feel that we made the clips cut too fast, especially the establishing shot. Personally, I feel that when introducing a film the first shot of the movie should be around 5-7 seconds so the story could be introduced naturally. Which leads me to our next problem that involves the lead up to Asher's killing. Here it felt that a lot of the clips were also cut too short, which is an easy fix since we took over 100 different shots in total. The reason why I think this draft was not up to par with what our group wanted, was honestly miscommunication between the three of us. That's why we decided to talk about these things in order for us to have a more accomplished blend up of our ideas.

    Then for our second issue was using the incorrect clips for certain parts. This is understandable in a way due to us having an immense amount of clips and also because during this part Brennan was editing on his own time and we weren't with him to have all three of us agree on the right clip. Once again, this was just miscommunication within ourselves and it's just another easy fix that just needs to be revised. 

    While, this blog post isn't very long. I think out of the majority of my blogs this one is a very important one. I believe that it's easy to blame a person but not to blame yourself. In this situation I think a lot of the reasons why me and Vanessa weren't so happy with the draft was because of miscommunication between all of us. On my behalf, I think that not speaking up or voicing my opinion cost us time and work. So I'm really hoping that for the sake of the team we can better communicate with each other in order to satisfy our artistic opinions and have a polished project by the end.

Post-Production #1

    For our first editing session we wanted to focus on the lighting and sound. Obviously while doing this we were composing and bringing together all the clips so we could get ahead of our work as well. 

    In this film we wanted the color be a very important factor involving the films tone. Lighting is very important in terms of how a film develops, meaning that this could give us a way to add significance to the overall feel of both the outside and inside scene. The very first scene in the opening is outside, which means that the natural lighting of the film is more vibrant than what we want. This means that for this specific scene we want to change the lighting through the Adobe Premiere. Using this software we were able to change and add tints to the film layer creating a cooler less vibrant ambience to the scene. While doing this we experimented with different cool colors like blue and green to see what fit best in terms of the visuals. As everyone in the group discussed, we landed on a blue tint that would adjust the color to a more preferred tone of ours. After settling, we applied this tint to every layer and were successful in creating the vision we had. 

    The audio just like lighting is critical in developing meaning, especially during post-production. We added tense music to add suspense, but to be completely honest I'm not sure if I really like it. Here are where things between the group are getting tricky. As Brennan was editing he did a lot of the work himself, which is perfectly fine, but through this he used audio that me and Vanessa aren't too sure of just yet. Also when editing and looking back at draft pieces we noticed some of the dialogue didn't get picked up well so, we are either going to find a solution within the software or do a voiceover. With this voiceover I'm not sure it would seem natural in terms of what the audience sees so I'm really hoping we are able to fix this issue. 

    Now, that we have these issues with sound, tomorrow me and the group are going to call and see areas that we could improve on, not just from lighting or audio, but also from the editing aspect of things involving shots and timing of cuts. I know this is a not a very lengthy blog post, but I felt it was necessary to talk about the amount of editing we did and also the problems we face as a team, good and bad.  

Some Hurdles

     Now, that me, Brennan, and Vanessa got done with all of our production we are now transitioning into our editing phase. With that being known, I want to focus on some of the obstacles that we faced when filming for Pushover. 

    First of, right when we arrived at our desired spot there was a lot of people, obviously since it's a public park at1-2 PM, and I'll admit that this was definitely a miscalculation on our end since we didn't really take that into account. Luckily for us we noticed that on the other side of the park there were two tables under a little tent, almost exactly like where we originally planned to film. However, there was a lady there and when asking her if she could move to the other tables, she said no because she was there a while already and didn't want to move, understandably, but I kid you not even 2 minutes later the lady leaves. Which was good for us, but had me a little confused not going to lie. 

Original Spot

New Spot

   

    That was our first problem, now for a second problem we realized that we we're somewhat unprepared. Like for instance, when filming some of the shots especially the one's containing dialogue I did not identify different shots when making the storyboard and instead just did one, and we felt that this would make the scene boring. So, it lead us to have some artistic freedom for that part in specific, but at times we had no guideline to tell us what shots we should shoot. This was really annoying since it delayed our filming, which was not ideal especially due to the heat. Although, after sometime we were able to adjust and get the shots we wanted.

Storyboard

    Our last major obstacle was when filming the tracking shot in the house. During the filming of this scene we had to retake it about 20 times. Each time we filmed, we found a new issue or way to improve the shot itself. When entering the house we wondered how Asher (Brennan) could walk inside and close the door without me (the cameraman) and Vanessa (who was holding up the mic) being in the way. So here we adjusted by making it seem like Asher forgot to close the door and here we would sneak in behind. Then after this we realized that there was a mirror that could showed me filming; so once again we had to change things up a little bit to make sure that part looked good. Then another issue we faced during this was the lighting. When Asher would walk to his room the scene was extremely dark due to the closed curtains, so we decided it'd be better and more natural for Asher to turn on the lights as he enters his home. That's pretty much the major issues and hurdles that we faced during our production.

    A lot of it was fun, but it definitely was tedious at times when we we were lost artistically and technically. For now, I'm just hoping that when editing there's not as many problems concerning the footage. 

The Second Meeting

     Today we had our second meeting. I saw new faces, those being Sebastian, Juan, and Mia, but I also saw some old faces those being Carolina and Andrea. 

    We first began through Carolina where I already had an idea of what her story was. She told her idea to everyone and the different things she added and adjusted from her original concept. Out of everyone she was the one that was most ahead and had filmed weeks prior. What she was mostly struggling with was her idea for the CCR which we recommended her to make it seem as if she was still in the asylum and answer questions that way.

    Then we went on to Juan who's story, who is working with Lydia from the first meeting. His story was practically the same as what Lydia told us but with some tweaks. Him and Lydia were also done with filming and according to him he found it to be a very enjoyable time. Him just like Carolina needed help on his CCR which we suggested him to make a Back to the Future type of theme or use the glasses from his story and answer things that way. 

    After Juan, Sebastian went. His idea was one I was yet to hear and it involved a similar story to mine where the first scene was the crime scene and the rest of the movie was the 5 hours before the crime. What Sebastian mainly needed advice on was filming since he had not started yet, but here we suggested that the scene that involved a police officer he should try and contact the sheriff office and see if he can use some of their equipment. We also suggested something along these lines for his CCR by having the officer ask him questions while in the back of the car. 

    Next after Sebastian was me. Here I explained to my group my story and what I had done in the last week. I mentioned that what I really needed help with was the CCR, so I had a couple of ideas brought to my attention. First came the idea to make a draw my life type of thing from YouTube which I found interesting and the one after that was the idea to make a posterboard that would represent Asher's and Austin's project from the first scene of Pushover. For now, I like these ideas and will look into them a bit more, but as of right now I'm not a 100% sure what to do.

    After I went, Mia went and here she told us her story and what she had done. She also talked about the obstacles she went through trying to film, but was unsuccessful in the end. Due to this she was definitely in need of help when filming and we suggested that she should be patient and have fun so she doesn't get frustrated with any inconvenience. Out of everyone she was the most complete when it came to her CCR as she already had an idea and pretty much had her overall plan set. 

    Finally, we get to Andrea who was our last group member to present. Andrea had done a majority of her filming done and was a little hesitant on her last scene. We advised her to try and have an officer knock on her door and then the opening would end, she was unsure of this but was taking it into consideration. Then for her CCR, like most of us, she was unsure. Here we suggested that she could have one of the officers ask her questions and make it almost like an interview/interrogation. 

    That was pretty much what this session was about. We had a lot of important pieces of ideas being suggested to everyone. It was nice and it definitely helped me in terms of how I could improve and think of the CCR. 

Designing the Set

    Now, that I showed the filming process in the last video I want to talk about the set design and the difficulties that came with it. 

    

    For our first scene which involved being in the park, we had to make sure all the materials that Asher used were properly organized so it would develop his character like we wanted to. For example, in the picture to the bottom we set every piece up in a specific way so it would add to Asher's character. This was pretty easy to do, but with the wind coming in every one in a while we had to redo some parts sometimes. Also, since this scene was out in a park our setting was pretty much set and we didn't really have much to do in terms of how this scene was organized other than the things on the table.

    Then after this scene was done we transitioned into the next scene which was the more detailed scene. Here we needed to find ways we could maneuver things so Asher could be represented through his belongings. As Asher enters his house we noticed that originally there was too much light that would construct a more lively ambience that we didn't want, so we decided that almost every curtain would be closed except the once's near the living room which helped bring in a little cool light. When recording we did feel that it was too dark so to combat the closed curtain we felt that it would be good to have Asher turn on the lights in his house when coming in. This helped with the lighting of the whole place and overall set a nice cool tone as Asher through.     

After this part we come into Asher's room, where we, once again, made Asher organize all his materials in a specific way. We also removed things that Brennan had in this room beforehand to give it a more realistic view into Asher's home life. Then for the lighting in this scene we put a ring light in a place that was hidden away so when he came in the room it wouldn't be so dark inside. This helped in creating a little contrast in the shot so it wouldn't feel so dark and closed. Also, when setting this scene up we cleared Asher's desk to make it seem like he is solely focused on his work and things related to his computer. 

    Overall, the experience was fun, but frustrating at times especially when dealing with the troubles nature can bring with either wind or light. 

The Shooting Process

     Today was the day we got all our filming done. We began around 1:30 and ended at 5:30 and personally it felt like a very long day; since I was the actor for Austin I needed to wear a black hoodie with jeans in 80 degree weather which was horrible. I was sweating the whole time and the sun was facing directly at us, but other than that I'd say it was a pretty fun day.     

    During the first scene which was outside, we felt that there was some things that didn't line up. For example, the original setting for where Austin and Asher would have their scuffle was taken up by some people so we needed to pivot and decided to go to some tables on the other side of the park, which actually ended up working better for us that if we used the original tables. At this new spot we weren't in the way of people coming in and out of the park, so it was very helpful when people started coming through during the shoot. 

    For much of the beginning scenes we had a very successful run in terms of efficiency due to there not being any dialogue, but then we started shooting scenes that involved speaking and things started to get more complicated due to laughing or generally just messing lines up. Thankfully, we navigated through this and instead struggled on getting the right angles since we felt some shots in the storyboard worked better closer and further away. This was really the only thing that made us struggle after the dialogue, although I did feel that when filming the scene where Asher runs up to kill Austin we had to do many takes since a lot of the time the shots felt awkward and unrealistic. However, we were able to get the perfect shot and even some backups incase of any issues.

    Now, we transition into the second scene that involves Austin entering his house into his room. Here we originally had Brennan's mom screaming to Austin, but due to difficulties and unavailability we couldn't add that too our scene, but personally I think this better develops Asher. Why? Well I think that him coming into a home that has a dark cool tone to it with no parental figure around helps attribute the fact that Asher is someone who struggles mentally due to no reinforcing figure around to help him. Pivoting, into the actual shooting of this second scene; there was a lot going on between us as a group in terms of how we were going to film this tracking shot. We felt very iffy and unorganized at first but through the process of taking so many takes we were able to have everything and every idea down. The part in which Asher walks into his house was annoying to film since we kept bumping into things and we had no idea how to close the door after Asher entered the house, but by deciding Asher would come back to the door almost like he forgot to close it, it would look natural and that's what we did. Another thing we noticed when filming this scene was that the lighting was off so we made Asher turn on the light when coming in the house.

    Then, as we finished the tracking scene into Asher's room we noticed there was a lot of depth missing, so we as a group decided to add some shots right when Asher turns on the lights in his room, here we would show Asher organizing his materials in a specific way into a close up of all the things neatly put together. And that's it for out filming, I thought it was definitely a learning experience and it helped me put into perspective the dedication it takes to craft art like this into something great. 

Logo

     For the logo/name for our production company we felt that it should have some back story in order for the company to have some sort of history and meaning. Due to this we struggled on choosing a specific name that would make sense to the group in general. Many ideas flowered from different companies and we studied them to understand how these company names were created. One that specifically stood out to all of us was Walt Disney Pictures, because it originated specifically from Walt Disney himself. This got us thinking that we should have one of the members names as the name of the company. So, this lead us to Brennan's last name "Briggs." We felt this name was unique and definitely  had a story behind it since Brennan told us that we he was younger he had come up with a production company himself, which we felt spoke a lot of what the company's goals are about, like expressing and making films from people who are passionate about their art. It all went smoothly and we landed on the name, Briggs Productions. 

    Now, that we settled on the name we focused on the logo next. We wanted to keep our logo simple, yet we wanted it to follow conventions between other logos like DreamWorks and Columbia Pictures, which are both simple but also effective in representing the company. DreamWorks keeps a simple yet iconic design that is very well planned out and executed; on the other hand, Columbia Pictures follows a simple design but also has an image on the right of the logo that develops the brand and its goal. So, with all this in mind we felt that our logo should obviously say Briggs Productions but also have a picture somewhere near the words. This lead us to finalize our logo into Briggs Productions with a pair of glasses at the bottom of the text. These glasses are meant to focus on two things the fact that me, Brennan, and Vanessa wear glasses, and also to show the time we have been putting into this piece of work, since glasses are normally used long-term. 

BRIGGS PRODUCTIONS LOGO:

   

    This is what our logo looks like, and honestly I really like since it's not really overcomplicated in any way and it keeps it simple yet effective through different fonts. Another thing I like too, is the glasses which are to me are very essential in terms of what the company means.

A Blueprint for Our Story: The Rework

     So, previously in one of my post I talked about my storyboard and the general idea of what me and my group are going to do. However, we decided as a group to rework certain things, like the interaction between Asher and Austin, as well as, the second scene that shows Asher several days before the incident.

Original

    Here I want to compare our previous storyboard to the newly made one. On this first page of the original storyboard we have don't really have an establishing shot that gives us an idea of where these characters are at. It also gives in to a very cliche interaction between Asher and Austin, which doesn't really introduce us to who both of these characters are. Another thing is the lack of detail between different shots that does not help develop these two characters. 

    Because of these issues, we decided in adding an establishing shot in order to give the audience context on where our characters are located. Another thing we change compared to before was to make Asher sit down and do work instead of walking, so the scene feels more believable, where as Asher just walking around doing work would seem unrealistic even for someone as smart as him. Then, we thought about how Austin would interact with Asher by thinking of a way to avoid Austin bumping into Asher; this is where we thought that since Asher is already doing their work Austin should sneak up on him and talk a little bit and then attempt to take away Ashers work. 

Rework

    Now, for the second page of the storyboard is where Asher gets to his tipping point and decides to kill Austin with his pencil. Not much changed for this part except, honestly, the how Austin provokes Asher, since we felt it was pretty tame beforehand. Also, we felt that there was not much attention to the weapon in the first storyboard as in the second we focused more it. Something that our group got suggested to do, which we thought was great, was to add a shot where Asher is sharpening the pencil in order to have the best shot at killing Austin and to develop Asher's messed up character.

Original

Rework

    For our third page of the storyboard, this is where things start to become a bit more developed compared to before. In the original we cut to a black screen that comes in place as Austin gets killed. Then shot cuts to the evil eyes of Asher that are followed up into a match cut to Asher's eyes but several days prior to the incident, which pretty much sums up the page. 

Original

    In the reworked version we show Asher jumping towards Austin, into the black screen which is also the title card, into a medium shot of Asher's back facing the floor, to a shot of Asher's bloody pencil, which then finally cuts into the shot with Asher's eyes to the match cut. Overall, I feel that this creates a bit more understanding for us as a production team and also it develops more meaning into the story for the audience. 

    

Rework

    In addition to all of the different things we changed, we also added the second scene of the film that wasn't even started in the original storyboard. In this scene we begin with the eyes of Asher from the match cut, which then zooms out of his eyes into a tracking shot of Asher walking into his house, to his room. This scene is meant to work as a look into Asher's personal life, that describes a little bit more on who he is and what his environment feels life. It always works as a great way to continue the film since the end of this scene is concluded by entering Asher's room where there is a computer that has very important information regarding the story.

Audio Time

     While visuals are critical in developing and creating meaning in a film, sound is just as important. Sound builds the characters, environment, and structure of how film is perceived by an audience. This is why, me and my group are going to focus and have attentive ears on what we develop in the films audio.

By Jackson Lee Nesbitt

    First of, I want to talk about the score of the film, which we mostly just have an idea of what it'll consists of. Right around the time in which Asher kills Austin we want intense music, likely violins, to build up suspense right up until the title card, then when the title card ends we start once again with some more music up until the match cut with Asher's eyes. The whole point of this is to build suspense and to show the build up of all of Asher's emotions taking place and turning him over the edge. Which personally, I feel would be a great way to develop more of Asher's character without the use of visuals. 

    Then I want to focus on the dialogue, The dialogue is going to obviously be based on the script, which I'll be talking about in a later post. In this dialogue we want to build emotion and character, so we want to have both actors, me and Brennan, to be solidified and hyper focused when filming so we can get the right emotions out and properly adapt the audio into the film. Also, while I know this is not the best thing to do, if anything goes wrong we plan to use voice overs just incase. Another thing that we want to do with dialogue is incorporate while the camera is on someone that is not speaking but instead receiving so it feels as if the character and the audience are getting the same message together. One last thing, that I want to mention is the fact that we will be using microphones so we can have seperate layers when filming so we can adjust the voices properly. 

    Finally, we get into the foley part of our audio. Here we want to incorporate foley in instances where Asher, is working on his paper or when Austin is walking towards Asher. This will heighten the suspense since the audio will be more in tune with what is going on. Then, we also want to use foley for specific sounds that are hard to come by. For the environment, we are going to have a mixture of both sounds made by us and sounds found online from websites such as, Pixabay. Our reasoning for this is quite simple, since it better helps us find sounds that cannot be recorded without interruption of there sounds and since it allows us to have more control when editing. 

    With everything mostly planned out, we fell that we have a very good understanding of the things we'll do in terms of audio and quality as a whole. 

The Locations

    For our project, our scenes contain only two possible locations, a park and a house. We've already established these location from our knowledge of places around the area. 

    First of the park. We decided we would go to a local park called, Indian Trace Park, which is a very reliable park since it is close proximity to all of us. This park is normally crowded depending on the time, but we already established that this scene would take place between 2-3 PM, where, from experience, there is normally not many people around due to the heat. So, because of this we felt this part was perfect as well as it having tables which is critical for our first scene. 

Indian Trace Park

    Then for our second scene which involves the home for Asher, we decided we would make it take place at Brennan's house since it'll be easy for us to incorporate Asher's mom, which would be Brennan's mom in this case. It's also reliable since it's one of the home's of one of our group members meaning we have a little bit more freedom in what we can do. Additionally, this environment will help us by already having an understanding of where everything is going to be at. 

    With everything already being established, we feel that these locations will work best due to not only reliability, but also visually due to the tidiness and comfort that these places bring. 

Meaning in the Light

     In order for me and my group to capture the emotional disparity within Asher we felt that colors/lighting was the perfect way to represent Asher.

Taxi Driver - 1976

    We want our film to have a cool tone that doesn't have many vibrant colors that could distract the audience while focusing on our protagonist, Asher. This cool tone is meant to resemble the difficulties and challenges that Asher goes through within the film and it capitalizes on this in the very first scene. It's meant to create an atmosphere that follows the emotional state that Asher is in, which contrast his physical appearance. This contrast between him and what the audience sees visually, in terms of color, acts almost like in similarly to Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver, where the main protagonist begins in a more normal state and with the films colors he turns into a mentally messed up character. We want to create a similar environment and have a tone that plays into Asher's emotions. 

    For the first scene where Asher is given a hard time by Austin, ultimately leading up to his murder, Asher will be wearing clothes that highlight his "innocence" and the tone of the film will tell the audience that there is something wrong in the atmosphere which leads up to Austin's end. It also works in a way that symbolizes his home environment, which is very depressing. 

    Then in the second and last scene, where we get a glimpse of Asher's home life, we are going to use darker tones that give into the idea that while Asher is this intelligent, oddly organized man, he still struggles with his home environment. In this scene he has some unusual things going on around to resemble him going through "Murphy's Law" and these darker tones will reveal the depressing ambience that follows him in his life. The lighting here, once again is darker than usual, so even though he's at his house we're going to likely add a tint with the use of Premiere Pro and tools like color grading, which is something I forgot to mention we will do in the first scene as well. It'll allow us to have more control over what our colors will look like, but we'll also focus on incorporating physical products/items that give this sense of tone in both scenes. 

Ray Ouladi - Color Grading Essentials in Premiere Pro