Final Task - Catfished Film and CCR

My final task was by far the most complicated project I've done. It was also the one I was most proud of. I think that the entire process throughout the year was to lead me to this point right now and I am very proud of myself. My movie is about a guy who gets kidnapped by his crazy ex-girlfriend. She pretends to be someone else online in order to trick him into trusting her. They plan to go on a date and she knocks him out and brings him to her garage. She keeps him there and tells him her story. I edited my film to show a flashback at the beginning. It then goes back to real time and shows a timeline of the events leading up to, during, and after his abduction. 

Re-editing blog: Re-editing Any New Footage Filmed

I finally finished editing my video. I finalized my script for my voiceover and timed it so that it would start right after the title sequence and end when the trunk closes. The voiceover definitely solved any issues with timing and the different sounds I am supposed to include in my film. The new clips I filmed were also inserted at this time. Since there were only a few this was very simple. As I was editing, I realized that I did not have the required shots and angles I needed. Because I am missing just a few, I think I will do another day of re filming my movie. I want to make sure it is truly perfect and meets all requirements. I think I will have Mario, the other actor in the film, peer review my film. I was at a disadvantage because the person who was supposed to peer review my film did not show up. I am very proud of my editing so far. I think I have come a long way since our commercial as far as using the software. This is good because I can apply this to real life. There are a lot of things I can use these skills for, even if I am not making films. Using software like iMovie  can help me use other softwares like PowerPoint. I have progressed by learning through my errors. The difference between my editing now and before is immense. My film now is very clean. My edits are smooth and make sense. It looks a lot more professional and well done than my other works. I think my film is going very well and I’m getting close to finishing!

Re-Shoot blog: Re-shooting My Film

I have not been able to re-shoot some parts of my film. Because of how busy I have been, and my actor, we haven't been able to find a time. On Tuesday, we have a day off of school. I plan on re-shooting the kidnapping scenes using my camera instead of my phone this time. The quality on my phone camera was not very good because of how dark it was outside. This time I plan on filming during the day now that I know how to turn down the brightness. Hopefully this won't take long as I only have a few shots to film. The first one I have to re-shoot is the scene where I kidnap "Mateo". Because I filmed it on my phone, it came out vertical, but the rest of my film was on my camera and those shots are all horizontal. The next one is where I'm dragging him to the car. This part was really shaky because my 7 year old brother was holding my phone to film. The last thing to re-shot is me putting him in the trunk. This was also shaky and dark. Additionally, I will have my acting partner peer review my film to see if I am missing anything in my film. Based on this, I will see if I have to add any more shots and angles as well. If I am missing anything, I will have to re-shot again. Once I am done re-shooting is when I will do my voiceover. I wrote out a script for it and timed it well enough that it will fit the timing of the film without going over the title sequence. I will do this later on next week, around Wednesday or Friday. After that, I will be completely done with my film.

Peer Review: Watching Another Group’s Film

One thing I liked about the other group’s film was the storyline. The film is about a guy who gets robbed and has to find a way to get back all the money he lost in the robbery. I think it is a good idea for a movie and could be good as a mystery or comedy film. Their film was not finished, so I only got to see the second half. Because of this I feel like I can’t accurately judge their film fully. That being said, from what I can see, I think it would be beneficial to add some background music because right now with just dialogue, it sounds dry. My biggest suggestion would be to work on the editing more. In one scene, the main character is filming a pov but when he looks at the mirror you can see him holding the camera. I don't think this was intentional considering it isn't supposed to be a documentary where that would be a normal sight. Also another big issue is that of the titles. I realize that I only watched the second half of their film, but working on the titles would definitely be beneficial. Another concern of mine is that their second part is about 48 seconds. I worry that they may not be able to reach the 2 minute mark. Overall, I think the acting was not bad. It was a little stiff, but none of us are professional actors so I can't be too harsh on that. They also did not meet around five of the required shots and angles, but maybe they will include these in the other half. On the bright side, the transitions are clean, not choppy or immature looking. Also the lighting and sound were very good. The lighting matched the tone of the film and we are able to see everything clearly. The sound is great, you can hear everything clearly. However, there was only dialogue in what I saw, so no background music had been out in yet.

Editing blog: Finalizing My Editing

I've been running into a few issues with my film. My biggest issue is the time. My movie is currently about 3 minutes long, which is almost a minute over the cutoff. However, I can't find anything to get rid off without botching the storyline. I was considering getting rid of the scenes in the garage, but I feel like the movie will lose structure if I do this. There are some clips here and there that I might be able to cut, but the movie won't make a lot of sense. One idea I came up with was doing a voiceover for the movie and getting rid of the garage scene. If I do this, I can establish the "catfishing" plot and go into even more detail. This is, however, going to mess up my timeline and maybe put me behind schedule. I may be able to get it done by this Thursday, but most likely Friday or Saturday. In order to do this I would also have to come up with a script and take into consideration music, which I have also not done. The next few days will be focused on the different sounds I'll incorporate into my film. I have to work on adding my diegetic, non-diegetic, and ambient sound in addition to my voiceover. I'm beginning to worry about my film. Hopefully I can figure out the voiceover and time issue. My plan, once I'm done, is to do some peer review and see how else I can improve my film. I think that with a few more weeks work I can my film to where I really need it to be. Today I will work on finalizing my editing as much as I can. My biggest concern at this point is keeping my storyline and finding a way to to show the viewer what's happening. I might turn my speech in the garage into the voiceover and change the words.

These are the clips I am thinking about getting rid of.

Editing blog: Fixing Any Mistakes

Today I started wrapping up my editing. I had some issues with my title sequence. For one, I could not figure out how to move the text, so I was not able to display more than one title at a time. Another issue was that I could not make them any longer than 2 seconds each, even though I wanted to. I think that because of this it looks rushed. I was also thinking about getting rid of the portion in my film where they are in the garage after she kidnaps him. I feel like because of how short our films are supposed to be, I can't develop the story well enough to add the garage scene. I need more specifics when it comes to the parts leading up to his kidnapping. I'm not entirely sure yet if I will delete this part or not. I'm going to finish editing completely, watch it over a few times, and decide at that point if I should get rid of the footage. I began to clean up the editing more today. I had cut a lot of unnecessary footage yesterday and spent my time today going into detail of where clips start and end. I started adding some transitions like fades and crosses. I wanted to keep transitions to a minimum though. I feel like it looks more raw and authentic with hard cuts than the other transitions. I also worked on my action match. This was more difficult than I thought because I had to time it perfectly so that it looked smooth and cohesive. I also got rid of a few clips that seemed random and unorganized. One of them was just a clip of me driving in the dark, but I had another one and I felt that two would be overkill and boring. Another was in my room where I am moving to the other side of my bed. To me this looked sloppy so I scrapped it. The third was a close up of the bag that I put over his head with a dumbbell in it. I got rid of this because I felt it was, again, unnecessary and I also decided to not use a weapon to knock him out, so it would not make sense to show a weapon.

Editing blog: Getting My Footage Ready

Today I took all of the footage from my camera and my phone and dumped it onto my computer. I created a folder specifically for the footage and managed to transfer it all with no difficulty. I opened iMovie and I began creating my film. I went through each clip I had and arranged them in the correct order. Because I filmed out of order, this was pretty difficult and time consuming. I then decided to tackle any lighting issues I had. I was able to make the scenes I filmed on my phone brighter. Now we can actually see what's happening. I also made the garage scenes darker. This was great because I feel like it would not have felt scary without it. I also made up my title sequence. In my storyboard, I had it so that each title would have its own screen and would be on their own. However, because my film was already over 6 minutes once I dumped, I decided to go with my original idea. I had the first 5 titles on their own with a black background. After the title of the movie appeared, I put a fade into the first shot. I then added each additional 6 titles one by one, after each other. They each last about 2 seconds and have half a second in between. As my original plan directed, as one title faded out, a new one would fade in. I really like how my title sequence is looking. I think it gives off a very professional feeling and I hope when I add more effects and music, it will only get better.

Filming blog: Filming My Movie- Second Day

Today I filmed the second part of my movie. This time I filmed the parts that only I was in. I was able to do this on my own because my camera has a tripod, so I did not need anyone to hold it. My process was fairly easy. I only filmed for about 30 to 45 minutes and finished all the scenes left in my storyboard. There were some parts that were difficult to set up. For example, my over the shoulder shot was a hit or miss, and I had to redo it a few times. Also, I realized that when I was filming on Sunday, I forgot to film the other half of my action match: the car door closing. I did it today, even though it was still light out, and I hope I can make it look a little darker. I am definitely worried about the lighting in my film. The issues with the garage lighting may make the movie less creepy if I cannot fix it, as well as the lighting for the action match. Another difficulty I faced was that my family was home. I think they were quiet enough that I should not have to detach the audio when I'm editing. I should be able to just play over it. These were pretty minor issues and nothing I couldn't easily overcome. Luckily, I was able to film everything at home and didn't have to go anywhere. This saved a lot of time and energy. I actually really enjoyed my filming process today. It was definitely easier than Sunday, when I started filming my own movie after being in another movie for almost 5 hours. Based on how today went, I feel pretty confident in the other aspects of my film. Once I add background music and edit, I think it will be a really good horror/thriller film.

This is one insert I am going to put in the movie to make the conversation between the two characters easier to read. These were fabricated for the film specifically. 

Filming blog: Filming My Movie- First day

Due to timing conflict, I have to film my movie on two separate days. The other actor was unable to film on Saturday and cannot film during the week. We decided to film his parts yesterday, the 23rd. We began at 5 PM and finished around 7:15 PM. The reason we started so late was my actor had to film his movie first. I was also a part of his movie, and we decided that it would be smart to film both of our movies in my house. We filmed his movie for about 4 hours and we had to recharge my camera a few times. It wasn't dark outside yet, so we decided to film the inside portion of my film first. The part that we filmed first was the main male character getting ready for his date with "Amber". I used elements like pan, close up, over the shoulder, and many more. I wanted the viewers to feel like they were in the room with him and could feel his nervousness. I also wanted to create a fun, upbeat montage of him getting ready because I feel like it will add depth to the movie and show that it is not just a scary movie. After this we moved into the garage. Here we filmed the part that showed him after he was kidnapped and being held. Here there was an issue with light. I could not turn off the lights in the garage completely because the camera would not be able to pick anything up; it was pitch black. I decided to leave the lights on, and hopefully I can fix the lighting in editing to make it darker. This part was also very easy, except that my camera's battery died right when we finished. Because of this we had to film the outside portion with my phone. For the outside part, it showed me creeping up on him, knocking him out, and putting him in my trunk. This part was difficult to figure out because of lighting and we didn't know whether or not we should use the flash. We decided to not use the flash, and again I hope I can fix it in editing.

^ Screenshot of me closing the trunk using a low angle, point of view shot from what would be the victim's perspective.

Filming blog: Why I Didn't Film

This past weekend I was very busy and I could not film; I was very upset. I went out of town for our 4-day break and was unable to bring any equipment or actors. Also, I did not have my settings or props seeing as how I was not home. I plan on filming next weekend. Hopefully I can finish all of it in one day. I wish I could have filmed this weekend because I am now worried that I am behind. I created a schedule for myself that will hopefully let me manage my time so that I am not behind. If I do not get all of my filming done next weekend, I will have to continue during the week. I hope I can pull this off because I do have school this week. It will be difficult and time consuming but I think I can manage. If I do finish all of my filming in time, I can begin my editing process earlier than scheduled. The hardest week for me will be next week. I plan to write a blog every day. I also have to edit my film every day and/or film anything additional. After I finished my story board, I made some minor changes. During my title sequence, I had the titles coming in through a black screen. When going over this sequence, I realized that if I do it this way, I will go over my time limit. Because of this, I decided that I am going to have my titles going in and out of the screen after my movie has started. This will save me almost 30 seconds of film and I can make my film even better by adding more footage. This was my original plan that I changed, but I have now reverted back to.

Planning Blog: Storyboard

This week, I worked on my storyboard. Storyboards are the written version of your shooting and sound scripts combined. Here we can see the story coming into shape. When I began drawing my storyboard, I realized that I wanted to have my titles on their own, not playing in the background of the shot. I am still not fully sure if this is how I want it to stay forever, but once I get to editing my footage, I will figure it out. An issue I ran into was that when I finished my storyboard, I realized I missed a lot of details that I shouldn't have. To solve this, I decided to label each box with a number. My titles and my footage are separate so one goes from 1 to 12 while the other goes from 1 to 48. I did this because I wanted to get the full effect and show the potential I believe my film has. The numbers are a little scattered, but they are all together so it should not be hard to follow.

Planning Blog: Title Design

This presentation will explain my titles for my film. The first slide is about font to set tone. I decided to use a creepy font in order to make the film look scary. Next was about color. I decided to use a black background with white writing. The next slide was about spacing. I decided to do one space in between letters and two in between words. My working title is "catfished." I also spoke about my editing and how the titles will come in and out. My last slide is about how long the titles will stay in screen. Typically, titles last 2-3 seconds, so I decided the working title will last 3 seconds and the rest of them will last 2.

Planning Blog: Schedule, location, participation, and health and safety

In this presentation I am outlining these 4 aspects of planning. The first few slides contain my timeline. These are subject to change as nothing can be set in place this far back. The next few contain my locations. These are also subject to change because there may be an unpredictable occurrence to prevent us from filming there. Next is participation. For my film I only have two actors but three characters. The main female character is posing as another girl online but she only appears in pictures. As for health and safety, I only had two major concerns, which I explained in the slide. The purpose of this presentation is to prepare myself and plan accordingly.

Planning Blog: Sound Script

This is my sound script. This is how I will convey the other elements of my film. These include diegetic sound, non-diegetic sound, score, dialogue, and ambient sound. This part is extremely important. A thriller movie must have elements of sound, seeing as how sound is what scares the viewers. Creepy tones can show the viewer who the "bad guy" is. More upbeat, calm tones can show the viewer who the main character, and usually victim, is. I found that this was much easier to write than the shooting script. The dialogue in the last few scenes is very important, especially since there was none until scene 10. I feel like my dialogue can really help keep viewers on the edge of their seats, creating the want for more of the movie.

Planning Blog: Shooting Script

This is my shooting script. I created this as a way to see camera angles, shots, and movements at the same time as the storyline. This could be interpreted as the written version of my storyboard. I plan to create my storyboard based off of the details I described here. My script has a total of 13 scenes. Hopefully this will be enough to reach the threshold of 2 minutes for the opening of my movie. I wanted my movie to be dramatic. I decided to go more towards the thriller side of horror than the gore side. This means my film will be psychologically twisted, with a lot of shocking elements. The colors i will include in the opening title sequence will be black and white.

Title Research: Get Out (2017)

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? 

Thirty. 

What images are prioritized in the opening sequence? 

We first see a man getting into a car and driving off. We then see a view of a forest as a car speeds by. We then see a few black and white photographs and the interior of the main character's apartment. The clips cut between the man in his apartment and a woman in a bakery. The last image we see is the woman showing up to the man's apartment and we see that they are love interests. 

What connotations do the images carry? 
When we see the first scene, we are left to wonder about the context of it, as it seems random and isolated from the rest of the scenes. We do not know yet what this means. The forest shot leads us to believe that a lot of the story takes place there. The two characters we see are clearly love interests. 

How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? 
In the outset, there is not much to link it back to the horror genre. The only thing that can come close is the opening car scene and the view of the forest, as the forest is often a setting in horror movies. 

How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
We wonder what the car scene means. We also wonder what takes place in the forest in the second shot. 

What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience? 

We see a couple who seem very happy, but since we know this is a horror movie, it is apparent that one or both will die. This makes the viewer interested in who dies, how they die, and what else happens. 

How has technology been used effectively? You want to consider camera angles, transitions, and editing techniques. 
Because this was an opening sequence with the titles playing over the clips, there was more attention paid to the clips themselves and their actors. The transitions between clips were blunt, except for from the car scene to the forest. The transition between the titles were fades. There was cross-cutting when it went between the bakery and the lead's apartment. 

Title Research: Split (2017)

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? 

Twenty four. 

What images are prioritized in the opening sequence? 

The opening image shows a man in a car with a gas mask on attacking someone. The images that follow show air vents and a girl being dragged to a room, coming in and out of consciousness. The last image after the titles shows the girl waking up on a bed of hay. 

What connotations do the images carry? 
The opening image creates the idea that someone is being attacked in their car. The images afterwards show that the girl being dragged is the man's victim and that she had been drugged and brought to a secondary location. 

How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? 
The genre is reinforced through editing, colors, fonts, sounds, and images. The title sequence is very creative. Some titles  come one after the other, the screen looks as if it is glitching when it changes to a new title. The other come right after the appearance of a clip from the kidnapping scene. The titles are only in black and white, the font is large for the names, small for the descriptions, and in all capitals. The sound is very sinister, making the viewers feel anxious and empathetic. The same aspects for the clips matter as well. We see a dimly-lit hallway with filthy walls and flickering lights, as well as a room with a bed of hay. 

How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
The viewer wonders who the man is, who the victim is, and how they know each other. They then ask themselves where he is taking her, how did they get there unnoticed, and what is going to happen now that she is awake. 

What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience? 

The creepy music draws people in, but the part I believe appears the most is the insertion of clips through the title sequence. People want instant gratification, and they receive it when the title and opening scene of the film are going on at the same time, intertwining and creating a story. This makes the viewer want to watch the film more, as they do not have to wait for the title sequence to be over to begin the film. 

How has technology been used effectively? You want to consider camera angles, transitions, and editing techniques. 
The angles are used to show the perspective of the victim for the most part. We see first the man attacking her in a point of view shot. We then see a low angle shot showing the flickering lights and the room she is moved into. The transitions between the clips is very harsh and sharp, no fades or dissolves, just one clip to the next. However, the editing for the titles has a glitching effect which is very interesting and appealing to viewers. 

Title Research: Halloween (2018)

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? 

Thirty one. 

What images are prioritized in the opening sequence? 

The only image in the entire sequence is a jack-o-lantern. While the titles are going by, the jack-o-lamtern is slowly inflating, coming back to life from being squished. 

What connotations do the images carry? 
There are 13 films, to date, in the Halloween film franchise. This specific one is a direct "sequel" to the original 1978 film, even though there had been 10 films made in between the two. The connotation of the pumpkin in this 2018 film is that Michael Myers has returned, and will continue to, no matter what. 

How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? 
The genre is reinforced through the use of color and font. All of the titles are in capital letters, but only the name of the movie and names of the actors, not the descriptions. The colors orange, red, and black are used throughout the sequence as well. 

How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
The film creates an enigma by asking making viewers question what is so important about Halloween? Why does he choose to kill on that day specifically? 

What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience? 
The iconic Halloween theme song is played during the title sequence. This draws viewers in because it is a part of pop-culture, the sound is very well known. The slow resurrection of the pumpkin also appeals to audiences by creating confusion and interest in its symbolism. 

How has technology been used effectively? You want to consider camera angles, transitions, and editing techniques.

The transitions between the titles were used effectively. The titles appeared as red, then changed to orange, then changed back to red, and finally turned into the next title. The animation of the pumpkin also attracts viewers and keeps the attention pointed there. 

Title Research: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?

Twenty nine. 

What images are prioritized in the opening sequence? 

There are no specific images per se, there are more graphics than images. For the first minute and a half, it is primarily a black screen with red, dripping details. Some of the details look like grass or a forest. In the last 40 seconds, there are faces made out of the red detail and well as a clearer forest view. 

What connotations do the images carry? 

The abundance of grass and trees shows the viewers that the movie may take place in a forest or that forests play a large role in the film. 

How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? 

The genre is enforced through codes through the use of color, sound, and imagery. The opening title with the name of the film has creepy, suspenseful music, but the rest of the sequence has a calm, pop-sounding but still menacing song. The colors are solely black red, colors always used in horror movies. The font also reflects horror technical codes by being in all capitals and "scary" font. The graphics are creepy, and dripping with blood. 

How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?

By showing characteristics of a forest, the viewers are lead to ask certain questions: What importance does the forest have? Is the movie set in the forest or a graveyard? What are the characters' connections? 

What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience? 

The menacing music entices people. The forestry theme prompts the audience to question things, making them want to watch more. The use of "scary" and "dark" implies that the movie will in fact be scary and dark, pulling people in. 

How has technology been used effectively? You want to consider camera angles, transitions, and editing techniques.

The transitions are fade and dissolves. The titles dissolve into one another, one name transforming into another. The graphics are the most important part, again with the forestry and blood dripping details. 

Title Research: Watch the Titles Website

This is the second site I am looking at. This one is called Watch the Titles. This website is basically the same as the other one about titles. I feel like this one was much easier to navigate and find information from. I saw the same exact things as I did on the last website. I noticed that the set up of how the titles were arranged was much easier to interpret. I again noticed that the color schemes for horror movies consisted of black, red, and gray. The video lengths vary based on the films. Some may be only 42 seconds with others going up to 4 minutes. The titles must always include the name of the film, actors, production studio, director, and more. The fonts and styles of the movies also vary. Horror movies will typically be in all capital letters, large font, and some sort of creepy effect. For other genres the fonts may be small and simplistic or large and loud. Based on my research, I have found that title sequences are shorter now than movies in the past. This may be to the impatience of our society, the need for instant gratification.