CCR - Question 3

How did you production skills develop throughout this project? 

My production skills developed greatly throughout this project. Overall, I have a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the filmmaking process than I did when I first began. Going through the three steps (pre-production, production, and post-production) helped me achieve this. With pre-production I learned how to effectively plan for a film. During production, I had my first hands-on experience with the equipment necessary to make a film. I have filmed videos on my phone before, but I’ve never had to use a tripod, much less move it around to capture specific angles. Even though I wasn’t the editor for my group, I still learned important editing skills. Part of the reason I wanted one of my CCR posts to be an edited video was so I could practice these skills. My problem-solving skills were put to the test during this process. There were many unexpected problems that came up during all three steps. By learning how to confront and overcome the issues my group encountered, I learned how to find creative solutions and adapt to change. Additionally, through the filmmaking process I learned the importance of clear communication when it comes to working with a group. As the director, I learned how to effectively guide a group of people with varying ideas toward a unified vision. I also learned how to budget by learning how to make an effective film without spending any money. There are many things I learned through Whispers Across the Board that I plan to take with me to my next film. I will keep in mind any problems I encountered throughout this process to ensure that I do not repeat them. My next film will only go up from here.

Whispers Across The Board - Final Cut

 

CCR - Question 4

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

CCR - Question 2

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

For this CCR question, I had one of my peers (Male, 17) watch our film twice. I told him to watch it twice to ensure he had a solid understanding of the film. I asked him a series of questions afterwards. I am the interviewer labeled below and the "audience member" is my peer. 

_______________________________________________________________________

Interviewer: What were your initial thoughts of our film?

Audience member: It was super intense. The chess game and the fear shown by the other characters  solidified the intensity. I liked when the characters ran away towards the end.

Shot of characters running away

Interviewer: What was your overall impression of the story? 

Audience member: The film delayed my expectations because of the suspense throughout the film. I didn't expect the closing reveal, but I also didn't know what to expect. 

Interviewer: What do you think the film is trying to say about mental illness? 

Audience member: The people watching the girl playing chess may think she is possessed, which explains why they are scared of her. The girl playing chess may have a serious mental illness though. So, the film brings up the question whether the fear from the characters (the bystanders) is justified or not. 

Interviewer: Which shot stood out to you most and why? 

Audience member: I liked the shot that was over the chess board, where the characters are moving the pieces. It helped emphasize that the game was actually happening and added to the reveal at the end. 

Overhead shot of chess board

Interviewer: Can you identify any symbolic elements in the film that support the genre (thriller)? 

Audience member: The most obvious symbolic element is the dramatic music. The editing also made it look tinted, which kind of resembles the dark lighting you see in thrillers. 

Interviewer: If we were to distribute this film as a real media text, what platform do you think it would be most successful on? 

Audience member: TikTok, because nowadays everyone is on TikTok and when they scroll they are likely to watch more videos than on any other platform.

_______________________________________________________________________

Final thoughts: I agree with my peer on what platform this film would be most successful on. YouTube is another platform it could find success on, but the downside is that it is hard to discover new videos/creators on YouTube. On the other hand, TikTok has a prime focus on discovering new content  and it is more accessible. 

CCR - Question 1

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

Chess Film: CCR Planning

This is a brief overview of what I will include in my CCR, along with some ideas on how to present my information. 

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

-This question could be answered either in writing or a voiceover, which would use parts of the film to show where the conventions and representation occur. 

-Our film uses conventions of horror/thriller films (tension music, dark colors through clothing, close-ups showing emotion and montage editing) 

-Social issue: mental illness (psychosis) 

-Our film explores the discrimination against those with mental illness. Specifically, how many people fear engaging with those who have mental illnesses, often labeling them as "crazy" due to misunderstandings and stigma. 

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

-For this question I may have one of my peers watch the film and interview them afterwards.

-Some questions I may ask: 

1) What was your overall impression of the story? 

2) What do you think the film is trying to say about mental illness? 

3) Which shot stood out the most to you and why? 

4) Can you identify any symbolic elements in the film that support the genre (thriller)? 

-Distributed on social media (YouTube, TikTok, and/or Instagram) due to its length 

3) How did your production skills develop throughout this project? 

-I think I showed major improvement throughout this project. Learning about filmmaking is very different from actually making a film. My skills improved in every aspect: pre-production, production, and post-production. I will talk about things I will do again, but also things I will not do again when I create my next film. 

4) How did you integrate technologies - software, hardware, and online - in this project?

-I will show the equipment we used, the editing software, and any app used for sounds. 

-This could be shown in a PowerPoint as I could easily organize the information by assigning each technology a slide.

Chess Film: Directing Everything Together

Our sound designer and editor had the heaviest workload during the post-production process. Although, as the director, I still had to make sure everyone's vision was reflected in the film. This was more challenging during post-production because, while I was very hands-on during filming, I wasn't always with the editor and sound designer while they were putting the film together. Luckily, our editor and sound designer were very communicative with the choices they were making. This way, I had the ability to suggest certain ideas if something wasn't aligning with our original intent. 

Sound ideas 

One of the ideas our sound designer had was to incorporate a ticking sound during one of our most intense shots. While watching our film, I noticed that although our actor followed our direction (looking left to right), it didn't come across as intensely as our sound designer had envisioned. So, we decided to include a quick sequence with alternating shots of our actress's face and the chessboard, bringing us back to when we discussed using montage editing during pre-production. The issue was we hadn't filmed the chessboard with this shot in mind, as we hadn't planned for it beforehand. My solution was to reuse a shot from the beginning of our film. Since the shot would be split into really quick cuts, it would be difficult to tell if it is the same shot from the beginning of the film. 

Our editor splitting up the original shot into smaller cuts 

Chess Film: Changing The Order

Problem 

As my group continued through post-production, we encountered a few problems. One issue involved the order of our film's shots. Although we visualized our film through our storyboard and shot list before filming day, we overlooked one crucial detail. During our film proposal we were told our storyboard was too brief and this became apparent after we had finished filming our film. While editing, our editor realized a lot of the shots looked very similar making the transitions look choppy. This happened because on our shot list some of the shots we planned were too similar to each other. My group learned it is acceptable to use similar shots in a film, but they should not be placed consecutively. When similar shots immediately follow each other, the transition between shots can appear unintentional, disrupting the flow of the scene. So, as a group we needed to figure out how to rearrange the shots without compromising the plot of our film. 

Solution 

There was a variety of ways we edited our film to solve our problem. Rearranging the order to prevent similar shots from following each other was the simplest solution, but we couldn't rely solely on this because we couldn't alter the plot. 

Solution 1- Moving the shot 

This shot was originally intended to be shot 3, but we moved it to break up shots 11 and 12, which were shot similarly. In the end, shot 3 surprisingly ended up working better in its new position. 

Solution 2- Zooming in 

Another way we addressed our issue was by taking two shots that were similar and zooming in on one. Our editor adjusted the settings, shifting the focus to just one character instead of two. 

Solution 3- Adjusting where the shot starts/ends

The last way we addressed the issue was by shortening the length of the shot. Our editor cut parts of the shot out (either the beginning or the end), which changed the positioning of the characters, making the transition to the next shot feel smoother. This method worked well specifically on shots where the characters were moving.