Final Cut

 

CCR 4

 How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

CCR 3

  How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

This is my director's commentary. However, the audio from the YouTube video did not play so some parts aren't as understandable without it.

This is the audio for the film

CCR 2

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

This trailer will be posted on YouTube and in theaters. It will be in theaters for just that day and then it will be released on YouTube after 2 months.

CCR 1

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

CCR Question 3- Research and Planning

 How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

For this question in particular I wanted to do a director's commentary as well as a peak into the musical score.

How to do a director's commentary

the director's commentary for "the vvitch" is extremely funny

After watching this breakdown of the director's commentary for the vvitch I learned some things such as:

• Period accuracy: Meticulous recreation of historical details is essential to Eggers’ filmmaking process.
• Immersion: Authenticity in physical details helps transport audiences to the 17th century.
• Supernatural believability: Realistic grounding of setting and mindset is necessary for viewers to accept metaphysical horror.
• Director’s self-criticism: Eggers is unusually harsh on his own work, focusing on small errors invisible to most viewers.
• Artistic evolution: Eggers sees The Lighthouse as a more successful realization of his creative ambitions.

So, in my director's commentary I want to make sure to be critical on the work, especially in parts that I thought I could've done better.

How I am going to achieve this

So, in my commentary over the final cut, I will make sure to pause and replay some parts after saying what was wrong. Also, I will include mini pictures of the script to basically state how I envisioned it to be. I will make sure to go over how some of the things in the film helped me become better as a director and how it helped develop my skills.

Summary

Directors' commentary is mostly me (the director) going over what went right and what went wrong in my vision. Also, it's a way for people to better understand my vision on how the film was supposed to look vs how it actually turned out.

CCR Question 1- Research and Planning

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

For this question I wanted to do a type of digital breakdown on what is going on.

How to do a Digital Presentation

How to Create a Presentation on Canva in 20 Minutes

In this video I learned multiple steps into making a Canva presentation. I will make sure to include clips from the film and what representation theory this appeals to. The video goes over:

• Editing text, images, and using frames for photos: Customize slide content; drag & drop images into frames; reposition and resize images
• Changing background colors and global styling: Match colors to images; apply color changes across slides
• Adding arrows and text boxes to annotate slides: Insert and customize graphical callouts
• Adding new slides with full-screen images; background removal: Use background remover tool for clean image cutouts; create thematic slides
• Adding and customizing slide transitions: Apply dissolve, slide, and other transitions; adjust durations and apply transitions globally
• Creating dynamic content through slide duplication: Use multiple slides to reveal bullet points or content progressively
• Using presentation modes: standard, autoplay, presenter view: Present slides manually or automatically; view presenter notes and upcoming slides
• Collaboration with comments and task reminders: Add comments for team collaboration; use checklist functionality
• Sharing, exporting, recording, and cloud accessibility: Share via links, record presentations, download or print; work from any device

With all of these strategies in mind I will now be able to accurately plan out an outline into what I will be saying in this digital presentation.

Planning out the Presentation

A person walking outside a sliding door then picking up a cup

When using clips like these I will be able to describe what it means towards the film's representation. Also, appeals to the mystery conventions as the person about to find the body finds a hint, which then tells the audience that whoever had that cup/ used the cup is probably dead, but they don't know where or how (until it is revealed).

A person creepily watching their friends walk away from their house

The social groups represented in this is friend groups. This person in particular even after being in the friend group they still feel a bit left out. It highlights that even if you are great friends with some people, you can still feel a bit left.

CCR Question 4- Research and Planning

 How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

For this question I wanted to do an interview but before tackling the interview I have to know exactly what to put in the interview/what makes an interview an interview.

How to Make an Interview

How to Conduct an Interview

In this video I got to learn about how to conduct an interview. This also went over some tips and tricks to think about while setting up the interview, such as:

• Interviews provide original information directly from the source, unlike secondary research which relies on existing materials like articles or books (this originality can add unique value to academic or journalistic work).
• Using eye contact and clear speech to foster trust.
• Staying attentive is crucial

This information will help me be able to make this interview as real as I can while also answering the question. Also, it helps make sure that if the audience (Millennials-Older Gen Z) were to watch it they would still pay attention to the interview, while also soaking up important information regarding the film.

How to Set Up an Interview

After gaining all of those disclaimers from the video I can now plan out and write the script. For the interviewer I wanted to make the question appear more "normal"/"natural" to say out loud. This means that I will rewrite it so it can flow more effectively when the person says it.

For the interviewee (me) I wanted to make sure to set up exactly what I was going to say. This will ensure that whenever I stumble on a word, I can still see it, I already know I get very nervous whenever I am recorded even if it is with/by someone I know. So, by adding that script I have a pillow to fall on incase I start to screw it up.

For the interviewer I wanted to do something like this:

In your film how did you integrate different technologies? Like how did you use different software's, hardware and online. (This is just a planning out/ rough draft the question might change a bit more)

By rewording it, it becomes easier for the interviewer to say the question. Also it just sounds more like an interview question than the original one (in my own opinion).

For the interviewee (me) I wanted to say something like:

For this project I used software called Noteflight. Where I was able to make a unique musical score for our film. In that app I was able to combine different musical elements for mystery films. In mystery normally as you get closer to finding the dead body the music builds up. At first, it starts off as seemingly nonexistent in music terms, I used the dynamic called pianissimo which means very soft, almost unable to be heard in the beginning of our film. But as the finding of the dead body gets closer the music is becoming louder. However, for the interrogation scene I wanted a calmer vibe as it was meant to be a moment of grief for the host. But I keep a type of mystery vibe to it to make it so that even though the host is in a grieving mood the detective does not care and still wants to find out more details into who the killer is and if anyone in the friend group had any type of motive. 

In the film the building up of the music was to indicate that something bad was going to happen. Signaling to the audience that something is wrong, whether it be to the host or someone who attended the party.

This will help me stay focused and not just speak nonsense (This is just planning out what I am going to say so some parts may be deleted to make it flow better).

Conclusion

For CCR question 4 the strategy that I picked was an interview. In this I learned how to make a nice interview while also staying on task and answering the question.

CCR Question 2- Planning

Creative Critical Reflection 2

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

After picking what type of trailer I want to do and how to make it seem like a trailer and not an opener, I am ready to now plan out how I am going to achieve this trailer look.

‘Cinematic Trailer Tutorial ’|| Capcut 🔥

For editing the trailer, I wanted to use Capcut. In this video I get to see a visual of how to make a trailer using Capcut. From this I can see the different elements needed for the trailer such as:

• Fading to black in between the clips
• Text to enhance the excitement for the audience

For the fading to black I do feel this will help with the tension (as described in my last post). By fading to black after each clip, it can tease the story without revealing too much information (e.g. who killed the victim), the pause helps make the viewers wait for the next sliver of information given by the trailer. When ending each of the clips with a black screen, the trailer will force a pause in-between the informational visuals. This allows for the viewers brains to have time to process everything they have seen, causing the next visual that they see to have a more impactful feeling. Also, this pause (the fading to black) will help create a dramatic pause or emphasis on some important clues for our film.

What Clips Should be in the Trailer?

The Girl on the Train - Official Trailer - In Theaters October 7 (HD)

This is what I wanted to base my trailer on. First, we can see the main character of this film then followed by an establishing shot. The cut to black is shown in this example of a trailer, as well as the cut to text (which aids in contextualizing what is going on).

A car driving past a house

I wanted to use this clip as the establishing shot. Also, I can add a "vroom" aspect of the car driving past to divert the audience's attention to the car. The use of that aspect can also aid in making the trailer less boring making people more likely to want to watch the film. Then, I can use other elements that are shown in some openings. Like showing the main character and also showing the main issue the film is about for the dramatic and tension filled aspect of trailers.