Creative Critical Reflection

https://youtu.be/u1vcgzxYiRw

or

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7_nw4M5dRIhYTRWZ3VEWk5BdWc

Final video!!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhJjUUNn_BQ&t=25s

Okay so I was wrong

I don't think I told you guys but Im going to Aruba on spring break or more I am in Aruba for spring break because I am in Aruba as I am typing this blog. I actually left my house 3 AM this morning, Why? you might ask. I have no idea. Anyway, This didn't leave me much time to finish the opening, finish my blog, or record my CCR. No worries though because I think I pulled it off, considering that  I am writing my last blog post right now.

On Thursday, my group met up to record the screaming part for the red world. Isa finished editing so we discovered we still had a lot of time to do a credit scene. At this point Thursday night, we started to stress out a little because Jessi had something to do at 6:30 and had to leave 5:50 and I had to go pick up my laptop from Aventura. Oh right, I got a new laptop just in time to be able to do this project in Aruba because I didn't have enough time to finish it before I left. Honestly, I could rant about the difficulty of getting decent wifi in Aruba but you guys don't need to here about my wifi problems. Anyway back to Thursday, I arrive at Jessi's house at 4:15 and we are ready to go. We record an amazing screaming match and was good to go. However, the new credit scene was a little more difficult than expected. We had the idea down, which was to pile newspapers on top of each other each with a different credit on it, it was executing it that was tricky. We had to do it about 10 times before we were okay with the outcome. Basically, everything is done now. All we have to do it finish editing and add some music from purple planet or ben sound. This shouldn't be too difficult and we have more than enough time to finish.

Considering this is my last official blog, I want to thank everyone that helped me through this project: my group members for being creative individuals and not giving up on an idea,  my best friend for allowing me to rant to him about my frustration towards this project and just always being there for me in general, and last but not least, my teacher and classmates for being supportive during this stressful process. The fact that we were all in this together made it worthwhile. Everyone wanted to help each other out and it was just a beautiful experience. Well I guess this is it.

                                                                                                For the final time, xoxo Laerke

Discoveries through editing

Today, Isa and I went over to Jessi's to film the last part of our opening. Turns out during the day, Isa had started to edit and found some mistakes. So we waited until it got dark outside and started to re-film certain shots due to lighting issues or continuity issues. I had to be lighting person for the evening. It was pretty funny because our "light" is one of Jessi's mom's lamps with a blue or red bulb instead of the regular white. To get the correct lighting, I had to stand behind Jessi, as she filmed, and hold the lamp above my head and at certain angles depending on the shot. Although that isn't the traditional way to do lighting, the experience felt professional.

Anyway, we fixed all the shots we needed and filmed the ending. Now we have to double check that everything looks good. Isa will edit through school Thursday and then we're meeting up after to finish the last of the opening. Basically, we just have to record some yelling to put into the red world to establish anger.

It's getting harder and harder to write long post. I guess because the project is almost over and their isn't much physically happening anymore; we're just wrapping up loose ends. I can't believe this project is almost over. I know I complain a lot throughout the project but now that is almost over, I can't help but feel kind of sad. I learned a lot while doing this project and Im excited for everyone to see the final result.


                                                                                                      xoxo Laerke

Friends are funny

In my last blog, I was telling you about my friend's project and how he had asked me to be his actress. Today comes around and I get a text from him saying "please don't hate me." Of course I could never hate him, so when he told me that he decided to change his whole idea and that everything we filmed yesterday was for nothing, I accepted it and laughed. He felt really bad but I didn't mind helping him out even if  it didn't work out in the end.

I did help him in other ways though. Throughout the day, he would text me and ask me about certain shot ideas and plot developments. Even though it wasn't exactly how he planned his project to go, he is really happy about his new idea and I'm glad he figured it out in time. I really like the idea myself and I hope others will too.

This experience showed me that some unexpected curveballs can hit you, but you have to choose to get up and keep fighting. That was really cheesy, I'm sorry. All I mean is that this is a creative process and all we can do is hope that our knowledge, of what we've been learning all year, will help us through it.


                                                                                                               xoxo Laerke

Helping out a friend

This is a picture of him and I.

Last week, my best friend asked me if I could be his actress for his portfolio project. He was hesitant to ask me at the beginning of the project because he knew I would be busy with my own. However, his actress turned out to be really busy, so he asked me anyway. I agreed to help him, mostly because I knew that he would only ask me if he really needed my help and I knew that my group was filming yesterday so I would have today off. So I went over his house around 3 and we filmed a little at his house before heading to the park near his neighborhood. Basically, him and I were the main character in the film and we were dating. However, it turns out my character is psychic so I have a vision of him dying and the beginning is just me learning about my ability. While we were filming at the park, he kept changing his idea and it was a cool insight on how everyone else was doing on their project. I felt really bad because I kept laughing, I couldn't stop myself, it was really funny. There was this one scene where he had to sing to me, and let me tell you this kid can sing, but I couldn't stop laughing. I could tell he was starting to get a little annoyed with me but its okay , he should be used to it by now. I learned a lot form being on this side of the filming process. When filming and dealing with other people, you have to be patient and roll with the punches. This was definitely a learning experience for the both of us. I hope his project turns out great!

                                                                                                                      xoxo Laerke

The struggles of a filmmaker

So I just got back from filming at Jessi's! I think it went really well. Jessi and Isa started last night because I was working, again. They filmed up to the part where Isa, the actress of the main character, is about to walk up to the house. The only real trouble we had was finding the right shot and angles that went along with the vision in our head. The plan is to add most of the sound during editing, so we can establish the right tone for each world.

This is the light contrasts of the two worlds.

I really like the look when its right in the middle of the two worlds. This is one of our shots when Isa is walking into the blue world. Actually, for this shot Jessi had to lay on the floor and position the camera on the metal divider just to get the right shot for the scene. I'm excited to see how the whole things turns out after all the editing. Reflecting on that experience now, I actually enjoyed filming this opening. Although we had our difficulties through out the project, I would consider doing this again, which is good since I'm taking AICE Media A next year. We haven't completely finished filming but we plan on meeting up on Monday to film the last couple of seconds. We figured out, that to do the last shot, we need a second blue light bulb, which hopefully Jessi finds.

                                                                                                                     xoxo Laerke

*screams in frustration*

Since the beginning of this project, I knew that I was leaving April 7th to Aruba for spring break. As soon as we were assigned this project I informed my group members of the situation. They both said that it was perfectly fine because they wanted to finish the project before that anyway to make sure we had enough time incase we had to fix a couple things. Our project was due April 9th until our teachers decided to change the due date to April 11th. This is perfectly fine but my group really wont be able to use that time. However, my group members will have more time to complete their blogs and their CCR. I'm not worried that I wont have time because I have confidence that ill finish but I don't have the security of more time incase something goes wrong. I'm really excited for Aruba and I love traveling, so this will be a great experience but I wish it was under different circumstances.

This is how I found out. I'm actually really excited because these past couples of months has been really stressful, so I'm happy I finally get to take a really break from life.


                                                                                                         xoxo Laerke

Story time!

Today in class, we wanted to figure out what the newspapers were going to say, to establish the difference between the two world. Jessi and Isa told me that they brainstormed for 45 minutes and couldn't figure out the right story to have in our project. For some reason at that moment I was thinking about California, so I just suggested that the headline should be the "California: bans gay marriage" and they both thought that was a great idea. This headline would be for the red world, which is about fake news and a communism government, (oh! we decided that the government was communism to establish why the citizens of the red world were so angry) because California has always been a liberal state and has one of the largest gay population in the world (oh! we decided that the government was communism to establish why the citizens of the red world were so angry). So obviously, California would never prohibit gay marriage. However, I didn't come up with the idea for the blue world. Jessi and Isa decided to make the story for the blue world about a study that proves isolation is healthy for the world, I think. Everyone liked the idea so we stuck with it.

The next step was to figure out the masthead. For the one in the red world, we decided on "Mars Times." I really liked the idea because in roman mythology the God, Mars, is the God of war. It really fit the theme of the red world. For the masthead of the newspaper in the blue world, it would be "The Neptune Chronicles." This also fit well because Neptune is the God of the sea which could represent isolation.

I really like the idea for our newspapers and, hopefully, it will effectively establish the worlds.


                                                                                                                       xoxo Laerke

Well that didnt last long!

Okay, so Jessi, one of my group members, wasn't ready to give up on our first idea. Today after school, she asked us to come over so she could discuss the project. However, I had work so I brought my uniform with me and went right to Jessi's house after school. Isa, my other group member, couldn't make it right after school, so Jessi told us separately. One of our major problems with the first idea was that we couldn't figure out how to establish the two worlds and how she was going to move between them, but Jessi figured it out.

 This is the storyboard for the new and improved idea that we previously had. Basically, the opening starts with the main character in the red world looking down at a news paper that is obviously a lie. She then walks over to a set of doors a looks inside. The inside of the house is blue and the main character gets confused and is hesitant to go inside. She kind of walks in and out the house confused on why it is blue and the outside is red. The main character finally walks in and find another news paper with an article describing the world. She finally looks back outside and discovers that the outside is blue, symbolizing that she transported into the second world.

Although we had trouble with the idea at first, I like how Jessi was able to figure out a way for us still to use it. Jessi and Isa plan to film on Friday but I have to work so I wont join them until Saturday. Hopefully this works out well.


                                                                                                               xoxo Laerke

They agreed!!

So we decided to change the whole project. Everyone in the group decided it was best to change the idea and make the project easier on ourselves. However, we didn't decide this with ease. For the first hour or two, we tried our best to come up with a solution to our problem from Thursday; that proved to be difficult. After some long silences, we decided it would be more proficient if we changed the plotline. I actually really like the new plotline better than the first one. So our new idea is about this dystopian society where everyone is glued to their technological device. We start the opening with a credit scene of a bunch of different people speaking different languages on their phones. The different language part is to establish that this is happening all over the world. Each group of people will speak a different language and will be talking about a different social media site. When we zoom in on their phone, it will show a credit, such as "directed by" on Snapchat. The screen then goes black and the title "watch Now" appears. With the use of a mastershot and moving between low and high angles, a group of 4 friends walks through the house and into the backyard, while not looking up from their phones once. Half way through the hang out, every friend gets a notification at the same time. The camera will zoom into the main character's phone and the notification will state, "your father just died. Watch video now." The main character is the only one to react, all the other characters remain unfazed. The main character starts to freak out and realizes how screwed up this society is. Then, the camera cuts to a high angle of the other three characters completely passive and all pressing "watch now". I really like this idea, not only because it is much simpler than the other idea, but because it exposes a sad truth about our society today. Instead of enjoying the things around us, we spend most of our time looking down on a small screen.

Additionally, this change of direction still fits in our previous genre. However, I am going to research different case studies that are more similar to this storyline. I'm not really sure what the rest of the plotline will be,  but I believe the main character meets other people who see how awful the society is. Eventually, they find enough people to join their cause and start revolting against the society. This story really reflects society today. In our generation, there are a group of people who are technology bound and couldn't think of living any other way, while others reject social media.

Hopefully, we stick to this idea and start filming soon. I have great confidence in this storyline and I believe everyone will enjoy it too.

                                                                                                                    xoxo Laerke

professional opinion

Today in class, our teacher called up each group to discuss the progress of the project. My group was called up first, honestly with my luck it wasn't surprising, and my teacher asked us questions about the ideas and progress of the project. She asked us why we choice certain directions, such as why we choice loneness as the tone of the story. Basically we learned that we really have to rethink some things. When we went back to our desks, we decided to tweak some areas. As I listened to my group discuss alternative options to establish our storyline, I began to realize that the story became increasingly difficult to express to the audience. Next time we meet up, I think we have to think of other things to do instead of this. I really like the idea we have but we don't have the budget, resources or the time to create something as difficult as this. Hopefully my group members will agree with me.

                                                                                                                  xoxo Laerke

Group meetings

Today, as a class, we went to the media center to present our project ideas to the rest of the class. Each group was split up into a different group so they could each discuss the project to different people. In Jess's, one of my project members, group, someone suggested that in the blue world, everyone should be isolated; No eye contact, no conversation to establish a kind of wall between emotions and truth. In Isa's, another one of my project members, group, someone pointed out that we have to clearly establish what each of the world mean. Additionally, in my group, someone suggested changing the main characters physical features, such as her eyes. Every time she which's between the two worlds, her eyes would change from red to blue or blue to red. Every group had really good feedback and ideas to improve on our project.

I really liked this group activity because I got to see all the project ideas and how they would evolve in the end. This communication between people who are going through the same tings you are, is very helpful and I hope we do it again.

                                                                                                                  xoxo Laerke

*music plays in backround*

Music plays an important role in establishing tone for the film. We initially decided that the tone would be suspense, but thinking about it now, and listening to samples on purple planet, I think we have to take a different route. Purple planet makes it easy to look for different music in different categories. I listened to a bunch of them and liked "trail of tears" from the reflective category at first. However, listening to it a second time I realized it wasn't exactly the right one I wanted for the film. I did learn that I wanted something calm and reflective, rather than suspenseful. Of course I have to discuss this with the rest of my group, but I am confident that we will agree on something.

Movies such as the Hunger Games and Divergent are dystopian films about a  single main character on a journey to change the views in society, who seem to have a reflective tone.

"In a world divided by factions based on virtues, Tris learns she's Divergent and won't fit in. When she discovers a plot to destroy Divergents, Tris and the mysterious Four must find out what makes Divergents dangerous before it's too late." (IMDB.com)

"Katniss Everdeen voluntarily takes her younger sister's place in the Hunger Games, a televised competition in which two teenagers from each of the twelve Districts of Panem are chosen at random to fight to the death." (IMDB.com)

I feel choosing a reflective music tone would be the best choice for a dystopian/science fiction film. Especially considering that the opening credit is more introducing the main character's journey. I haven't picked the song yet, but having the tone/category will be helpful in finding the right one.

                                                                                                                      xoxo Laerke

References:

Purple Planet Royalty Free Music. (n.d.). Retrieved March 19, 2017, from http://www.purple-planet.com/home/4593438321

The Hunger Games (2012). (n.d.). Retrieved March 19, 2017, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392170/

Divergent (2014). (n.d.). Retrieved March 19, 2017, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1840309/

Storyboards

Soooo apparently, we were not on the same page.

On Friday, my group member and I were discussing

options for the rest of the 2-minute opening. This

is when I discovered that the two worlds weren't

technology vs. not technology, but fake news vs.

not having news. Honestly, this really bothered me

because the whole time that I was talking about

the open credit scene, which involved showing

the theme of technology, they agreed and said it

fit well with the plot line; well news flash It doesn't

(get it news flash because its about

news.... not funny, well okay). Anyway, we

decided to change the credit portion of the opening.

Instead of computers, smart phones, and other types of technology appearing on a black surface while a long take will show the different credit names, the camera will follow the main character around in the first world, the red one with fake news, while closing up to specific pictures showing the credits.

There is a second option incase the third group member, who wasn't there on Friday, doesn't like the first one. The second option starts the same way as the first but ends in the second world which is blue and has no news.

We decided on red and blue as the theme for each world because red is typically associated with anger, while blue is associated with being calm.
This alludes to the fact that people in the red world  will be angry about the fake news that is being reported to them and the people in the blue world are calm because they have no idea what is going on around them .



                                                                                               xoxo Laerke

genreeeee and stuff

According to Wikipedia.com and ScifiDefinition.pdf, the genre of science fiction is a film involving any kind of science not fully accepted by mainstream science. Some science fiction movies express political and social issues at the time of production. Additionally, films in science fiction connect between real world and "supernatural" world. The "supernatural" world could literally mean a world where super natural beings exists or a world that different from the real world, such as utopias. Common motifs of science fiction films are voyages, expeditions, dystopias, and utopias.

    Transformers: An ancient struggle between two Cybertronian races, the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons, comes to Earth,    with a clue to the ultimate power held by a teenager. (IMDB.com)

In the opening scene of the first transformers movie, they give background information to inform the viewers about the autobot's origin.  Additionally, they leave the audience in mystery towards the end of the opening to emphasize suspense.

Guardians of the galaxy: A group of intergalactic criminals are forced to work together to stop a fanatical warrior from taking control of the universe. (IMDB.com)

In the opening scene of Guardian of the Galaxy, they introduce the main character by giving Peter's background story. Additionally, they introduce the element of science fiction through the mom's description of the father, "he was an angle, composed out of pure light."

Drama film is a genre that connects to human emotion and involves dramatic elements, such as human struggle (thescriptlab.com). There are different sub-genres such as biography, melodrama, courtroom, ect. All of this are different situations where dramatic elements are implemented.

Accountant: As a math savant uncooks the books for a new client, the Treasury Department closes in on his activities and the body count starts to rise. (IMDB.com)

In the film opening of The Accountant, it alludes to conflict and leaves a sense of mystery behind as to what just happened? and how did he get there?

These elements and examples of science fiction and drama allow our group to figure out how most of these movies start, to emulate the right structure for the genre. For example, in the movies , Guardian of the Galaxy and Transformers, they both give background information to inform the audience of the situation in the movie. This makes me think that giving background information is a excellent idea for movies in science fiction and allow the plot line to flow fluidly.

                                                                                                                          xoxo Laerke


References:

Science fiction. (2017, March 15). Retrieved March 17, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction

Transformers (2007). (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2017, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418279/

Transformers film opening. (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2017, from https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=transformers%2Bopening%2Bscene&&view=detail&mid=868EA61EDD1EC14DFEC2868EA61EDD1EC14DFEC2&rvsmid=868EA61EDD1EC14DFEC2868EA61EDD1EC14DFEC2&fsscr=0&FORM=VDFSRV

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2017, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2015381/

L. (2015, June 24). First Five Minutes Of Guardians Of The Galaxy. Retrieved March 17, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPB-qGDAQkI

Buffam, N. (n.d.). Drama genre. Retrieved March 17, 2017, from https://thescriptlab.com/screenplay/genre/drama

The Accountant (2016). (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2017, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2140479/

Accountant film opening. (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2017, from https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=the%2Baccountant%2Bfilm%2Bopening&view=detail&mid=B4F790B141F8F6A295C1B4F790B141F8F6A295C1&FORM=VIRE

*tweak* *tweak*

So its the end of the first week and the end of this post. Just kidding, but on a more serious note, it took me a long time to write this post. I wasn't sure what I wanted to write or even if I had to say anything of value, and I thought about it really long and hard until I realized something. In a process that requires so much time and dedication, such as this project, every idea and every change of focus is important to the creation of the product itself. We, as human beings, get influenced by so many different things, that in a blink of an eye, ideas shift.

Over the weekend, I was thinking about the next step of this project. I continued the research into the song for the opening credit scene; I still haven't found the right song *sigh*. However, I conferenced called my group today and we talked about our filming opening, so we would know what to write in our blogs. We confirmed that our genre would be drama and science fiction. Additionally, we talked about introducing our character, which lead to a slight tweak in the story line. Originally, the plot line was about these scientists who created two separate worlds, one with technology and one without, both of them trying to solve the same problem. Instead, it changed to a story about a girl, the main character, who is able to travel between the two worlds but doesn't know how.  Actually now that I'm thinking about it, I might have another idea that would work better, hmmmmmm.

                                                         xoxo Laerke

When you think you're getting somewhere

When brainstorming, ideas can come slowly, other times its a constant flow. For the credit scene, which will be the first 30 seconds or so of our film opening, computers, smart phones, and other types of technology will appear on a black surface while a long take will show the different credit names. As the camera sways from computer to phone, the surface changes colors and the credits starts appearing on items that are not related to technology at all, such as paper, pencils, ect. So, in my head I can clearly picture the twists and turns of the 30 second reel; however, last night I realized something important that I missed. How does someone pick the right music? Can someone explain this to me? To have the right music is so important, it sets the tone for the rest of the movie so I cant exactly just pick something random. I guess its time for some research.

                                                                           xoxo Laerke

Decisions, Decisions

As a class, we were informed about this project back in October of 2016. We picked our group members and whether we wanted to do a film opening or a magazine; I picked the film opening. Recently, we were officially assigned the project and given permission to work on it. Day One we discussed possible genre. From the beginning, we decided, as a group that we didn't want to do anything romantic to avoid being cheesy. We talked about mysteries, drama, comedy, ect. It wasn't until Day Two that one of our group members came up with an idea involving two different worlds, almost a parallel of each other. As we discussed her idea, the group increasing started to get inspired with ideas related to the two worlds. From time to time, we would come up with an idea but realize that it was too similar to an already existing series or movie. It wasn't until we side tracked into a conversation about the TV show, Black Mirror, that we found our inspiration for our opening. Tweaking a little here and there, we finally came up with a brilliant idea. Imagine a social experiment conducted by scientists, who collected two groups of people and put each group in a separate world. One world would be technology free and the other containing every piece of technology one can think of. From this understanding of the plot line, we were ready to start planning shots, angles, mise-en-scene, and composition. I'm really excited about our idea and I hope that everything works out well.

                                                                      xoxo Laerke