Who Did It?

 My Short Film Package

Who Did It?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyiCjzQKIqI

jassydownloads.wixsite.com/website

CCR

How do your products represent social groups or issues?

Our product represents social groups and issue because it identifies a specific social group. After analyzing this I feel that our product mostly engaged with people that enjoy watching thrillers. The thriller genre can be described as the type of genre that comes with suspense, so the audience is never ready for what’s to come. Another group that would be engaged in our film is any type of group that advocates for female empowerment and women’s rights. I say this because my film is based on a woman, who worked as a job for the local court system. That is a hard job to earn so that itself would attract groups that support female empowerment. In my movie the woman was killed based off two things, anger, and jealousy. This film addresses the issue that people in our society have with jealousy now. For example, if someone doesn’t like the fact that someone is simply above them in the food chain then they will become jealous and go to extreme lengths to knock that person down. Once a person becomes jealous you never know what might happen and this film portrays this. Not only could our product apply to women empowerment groups, but it could also apply to groups that deal with jealous people and getting them, some help. Also, my product can apply to anyone that finds themselves in a similar situation. Situations of jealousy are often seen in today’s society, so I know for a fact that this film represents several social groups and or issues.

How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’?

The elements of our production work together to create a sense of branding by showing a preview of our film. For example, our website was used to preview the movie. On our website you can find what our movie is about as well as what you, a person of the audience should expect to see. The website also shows the release date of our film and the places it will be played at. On our website you will find different pictures. These pictures were used so that they would correlate the movie. We used images such as murder scenes, caution tape, and knives to show what our movie was going to include. By seeing these images someone could assume that in our film a murder took place. Not only did we use images like this on our website, but we also used them on our other platforms such as our social media accounts. Each of our social media accounts have the movie listed as the name and the profile picture is of caution tape at a crime scene. We decided to do this because we were doing a film in the thriller genre and we thought that picture created a sense of mystery and suspense as well. Another thing that was noticeable was our color scheme. On all of our platforms you will see the colors red and black a lot. We did this to create a dark and scary mood. All our platforms including our postcard, our social media accounts and our website portray exactly what we want the audience to see from our film.

How do your products engage with the audience?

In my opinion, I feel that our products mainly engage with our audience through our social media platforms. I say this because nowadays social media is one of the largest platforms used by gen z and older some older generations. Everything can be discovered on social media, for example, you can find long lost family members or even find new information on things you weren’t aware of. When new films are coming out production companies tend to advertise them by using social media. For example, Marvel Studios just released the cover of Black Panther 2. I was scrolling through Instagram and it happened to pop up on my feed. It was probably seen on other social media apps like Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat. By doing this the audience gets intrigued and has the urge to purchase tickets to go see the film. For our film we didn’t use Snapchat as a way to engage with our audience, however we did use Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. On each account we made different posts which basically told viewers what they should expect to see in our movie and sometimes we posted behind the scenes shots while filming. There were enough posts to advertise our film, we also posted dates and times for the movie release as well so there was no confusion about that. We also had the idea to take a survey by using the polls feature on Instagram. We asked questions that would help us get a feel of what type of audience we were dealing with. We wanted to know some of their dislikes and likes when it comes to watching movies and we also wanted to know what they expected from films that fall into the thriller genre. Overall, I truly feel that we successfully engaged with our audience throughout this entire process.

 How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?

The research I did on thriller films helped me get a better understanding of how to film my film. I researched some thrillers and found that there were different types such as romantic thrillers and action thrillers. I also did a background on the sales of some of these thrillers. I wanted to see how much money was made from the sales of these movies. Many of these movies made tons of money and the audience had great reviews about these movies. Before we started filming, we did some research on the elements found in the thriller genre. After going over, them we decided that we wanted to stray away from these elements. Two of the conventions that we mainly strayed away from were low key lighting and black and white shots. When we filmed, we had very bright lighting rather than dim lighting mainly because it looked way better to us. The low-key lighting just didn’t fit our film how we thought it would. We needed the audience to be able to see the actor’s facial expressions. We didn’t do the black and white shots because we didn’t want it to seem as if we were filming something that occurred in the past rather than in the present. However, we did include the convection that involves changing the angle of certain shots. We had to do this because our film included a lot of dialogue and we wanted the audience to see different points of view during the conversations instead of seeing the conversation from one specific angle. One of the biggest convections we used was tension music. This played a big role in our film because it’s what added onto the suspense. The music created tension and suspense all at once and it was very effective during the climax/action scene in our film. These convections were extremely helpful when it came to building up the suspense and animosity in our film.

Last day of filming

 Hey guys so today was our last day of filming. Now we're only focusing on editing our film and getting it turned in on time. Today I filmed the last two interrogation scenes. The scenes were with Briana who was played by me and Stephanie's sister who was played by my younger sister. In these scenes I used many over the shoulder shots. I did this mainly because it was a conversation. The conversation was between the detective (my mom) and the suspects (Briana and Stephanie's sister). After I gathered all of the footage I went through it. I deleted the scenes that were bad. Afterwards I sent the left over footage to Jasmine. She started to edit the rest of the film. While she did this I decided to try and find free music. We wanted suspenseful music in our film so I had to do some research. I found a website that listed several different sites where I can find free music and download it. Once Jasmine and I completely finish editing then that's when we'll insert the suspenseful music. When Jasmine was editing I suggested that we should change the lighting in the interrogation scenes. For example, it could like the lights are dimmed or it could look as if it was a black and white scene. We haven't decided what to do yet but we will soon. I think that the storyline is obvious and it's easy to follow. Overall I think viewers will be satisfied with the final product.

The editing starts

 Hey guys I'm back at it once again. This is the final week of filming. It's also the first week back from our two week long winter break. Over the break we filmed many scenes. We also started to edit a little bit. However we aren't completely done filming. As previously mentioned in other blogs Jasmine and I reviewed some of the footage and began to piece it together. Jasmine had the task of editing. So I sent her the footage that I recorded and she looked over it. She carefully analyzed them and made sure that everything looked okay and matched our storyline. I had to use my iphone to film and Jasmine had to use her iphone to edit due to the pandemic. I told Jasmine to use an app called Leap to edit certain scenes. I'm not quite sure what she did when editing. When editing jasmine did make sure to communicate with me. We wanted to make sure that we were on the same page. After we discussed some things Jasmine continued to edit the film. I'm going to film the final scenes of our film over the weekend. It shouldn't take as long because we have most of the footage already. I just hope that our movie reaches the proper time limit. I'll be back later this week to blog again and keep you guys updated.

More filming and editing

 Guys our film is finally starting to come together. Today I focused on two things, the filming and editing aspect of our movie. My family helped me film more of the interrogation scenes for about a hour or two. I didn't want to start filming the end just yet. I used iMovie to edit again. It was kind of hard to figure out but eventually I got the hang of it. I dumped all of the footage. It took a while because we had many takes for each scene. After I did this I had to narrow it down. I watched all the takes and only kept the ones that I thought looked the best. The transitions from each scene to the next was like a swipe kind of motion. This somewhat bothered me. I wanted to try and fix it but for today I just left it alone. I also wanted to add in music but Jasmine and I didn't find any free music yet. So over these next few days that is on my list of things to get done. While editing I noticed that the dialogue was heard but it could've been higher. Luckily iMovie has a feature where you can increase the sound of a take. I ended up having to do this for most of the takes that included dialogue. I sent some of the edited footage to my friends to get their opinions. So far they seem to think everything looks good which is great!

Re-filming the beginning of the movie

 Hey guys I had another successful day of filming. This time I re-filmed the beginning of the movie and also started to film the middle. My dad was actually excited to film today because he barely had any lines. So before I started to film I had my younger sister make fake blood. She used corn syrup and red food coloring. It took her a total of 20 minutes. I found some of my dressy clothes that I didn't mind messing up and put them on. Then I smeared the fake blood all over my parents bathtub. I used a paintbrush and my hands for this. I also put some of the blood on my clothes. After doing all of this I got in the tub and laid down in a position that i made it look as if I was murdered. My sister started filming my bod from top to bottom. At first she did a close up and then switched to an establishing shot. My dad, who plays the victim was standing over me holding a large knife covered in blood. Eventually we finished shooting this scene and started to film the flashback scenes from earlier that week. I also played the role of Briana, Stephanie's (the victim) bestfriend. My mom played the detective interrogating me. While filming I noticed how bright my kitchen lighting was so I realized I had to darken the lighting while editing. My sister played the role of a random person in Stephanie's life. My dad played the role of a man that was just released on probation. My mom interrogated us all. We had to record many takes because there were several mess ups. Overall, today was a productive day!

Change of plans

 Hey guys I have a new update for you. So as you can see by the title of this blog there has been a change of plans. As you know I've been filming this week. Well today I decided to start editing the footage that I've recorded to get an idea of what it would look like. All of the footage rounded up to 2 minutes total. This was only the beginning of the movie, we didn't even get to the middle yet. Once I realized how long the beginning was I decided that something had to be changed. After texting Jasmine we decided to cut the beginning. Now we will start the movie off straight from the murder scene. After that scene then the flashbacks will occur. I think this would be the best thing for our film. I didn't delete the footage that we already have because I wanted to keep it as a backup. Also, I realized there was an error in our storyline. Since the name of our movie is "Who did it?" I realized that the audience isn't supposed to figure out who did it. But in our storyboard we made it to where the killer would be revealed. To fix this issue I decided to do a black screen with a voice over of the killer on the phone with a voice disguiser. This way the killers real face or voice won't be seen. Hopefully, jasmine and I can figure out a way to properly edit that part and make it look good in our film. Today I was going to film but I decided not to. Tomorrow I will get back to filming and hopefully I'll have everything filmed by the end of this week.

Another day of filming

Hey guys today I continued filming some more. Today I had help from both of my parents. I had my dad dress in all black and a hat. He was supposed to be portrayed as a robber. For this part I had to use a long shot. Since this scene was mainly focused on him I was able to record these takes. It only took us a couple of takes. While my dad was walking around the house looking for me (Stephanie) I used a high angle. I bet you're wondering how. Well I stood on the top of my stairs and stretched my arms as far as possible. This made it look like a high angle which was the goal I was aiming for. My dad forgot some of his lines so we had to film many takes until he got it right. After we did that I switched back into my clothes and started filming the next scene. In this scene I was in my room listening to music while packing my luggage. For this scene there was no dialogue which made it easier to film. I used a long shot and a mid shot for this scene because I wanted the luggage to be shown but not at all times. My mom assisted during this scene as well. I had her call our house phone. She did this so that it would ring and I would pick it up. This is where the suspense started to build up. After picking up the phone several times I heard nothing, this happened a few times before the climax was set into motion. When I grab a knife I make sure to get a close up of this to add emphasis. Eventually the action scene takes place. I used a zoom shot and a tracking shot for this. When I saw my killers face that's when the zoom shot was used. After this the camera was extremely shaky. Due to the tracking shot. I had to run downstairs and my sister was filming so she did also. When running I also used a hand held shot. I did this to show my face while running. After this another action scene will occur between my dad and I. In the end he will kill me and flee the scene.

Second day of filming

 Hey guys I’m back again with another update. I’m slowly making progress with the film. Today I filmed the 2 scenes. The scenes that I filmed were the scenes where I was entering my home and began to walk upstairs. Last time I filmed I left off filming right at my front door. I used a close up shot for this to show my hand movements as I opened the door. I forgot to mention that I have new filming equipment. Today was Christmas and I got a new ring light. I also got a small tripod. I used the tripod for many close up scenes or scenes with me walking. Anyways, back to what I was saying. Today I had to film many scenes using a tracking shot. This was because I kept walking in many scenes today. For example, when I was walking in my hallway and the stairs I had to use a tracking shot to track my movements. When we finally began to film me entering my room that's where it started to get difficult. The angles were kind of hard to get but we made it work. I had my sister stand in a far corner in my room to record me entering. It looked as if we filmed this part using a wide shot. When I opened my closet I used an over the shoulder angle which switched to a trunk shot. I wanted the audience to see two different perspectives and I have a good feeling we achieved this. I've decided to film certain scenes on my younger sisters ipad pro. I made this decision because it carries more storage than my phone and it also had a great camera. For scenes that require hand held shots then of course I'll use my phone. I can't believe I spent Christmas afternoon filming, however it was a very productive day.

First Day Back Filming

 Hey guys we're finally on winter break which means that my partner and I are back to filming. We decided to split the filming and editing process. I will be filming the entire movie from my home and Jasmine will be editing everything. Of course, I will be assisting with the editing and giving my input. So today I pulled up my storyboard. After reviewing it I decided that I will be filming the first scene. In this scene I will be getting into a car and driving while having a conversation. I don't have my licenses yet, however I do have my permit. While I was driving today I had an adult over the age of 21 in the car with me. Since my character was a lawyer I decided to put on a business casual outfit. I also had my younger sister record everything. I used a tracking shot when I was walking into the car. I had to record several takes for this part because I had to make sure not to get my house in the background. The goal was to make it seem like I was just getting off of work. In the car I used a wide shot so that the entire background could be seen. I drove around my neighborhood rather than the main roads because I'm not a really experienced driver. During this time I was talking to myself. I did this to make it seem like I was having a conversation with Briana, Stephanie's (me) bestfriend. After recording several takes and driving around my neighborhood for a good 5 times I finally pulled into my driveway. For this scene I used an establishing shot from the front and back. I did this because I didn't want the licenses plate in the movie. This was basically everything that I filmed today. Below is a picture of the outfit I wore.

Re-editing

 Hey guys today was another day of us not filming. However, we did manage to get some things done. Before Jasmine and I decided to put a hold on our filming schedule we had already filmed some scenes. We had also started to edit. Even though we started to edit we didn't get as far as we wanted to. So today I had some free time on my hands and decided to review the footage. After I looked over the footage we had I decided to start re editing what was already edited. I normally use iMovie to edit. iMovie is a great editing software on apple devices. However I also wanted to use other editing software as well. So I did some research of my own. I ended up finding an app called "Videoleap Video Editor". It's basically a free video editing app. On this app I'm able to combine different video clips together and add thing such as special effects. I think this is really going to help us when editing. I never planned on using any special effects but now I might want to add some in. I started combining the footage and it looked great. However, I wasn't able to figure out how to insert music with this app. I might have to use iMovie for that. Although, we didn't get any filming done today we still managed to have a somewhat productive day. I can't wait to see the final product of our film!

Another day of not filming

 Hey guys so by the title of this blog you already know what's happening. Unfortunately my partner and I didn't film today. After discussing our options we came to a decision. My partner and I decided to continue filming the rest of our movie over winter break. Winter break is two weeks for us. That should give us more than enough time to film an edit our movie. We decided to do this because we think that it'll give us more time. This way we won't have to rush to film and edit like we are doing now. This is definitely something that causes a lot of complications when filming. This virus has changed the way that I have to do everything. For example, I can't film a movie like I did last year. Last year I was able to use a camera provided by the school as well as a tripod. Now I have to use my own devices. Furthermore, my partner and I reviewed our storyboard. Originally we thought everything fit perfectly. After we reviewed it we decided to change some of our scenes. For example, we chose to tweak our murder scene because we felt like it was too predictable. We want to keep our audience guessing. And we also want to keep the suspense throughout the entire movie. We also changed our interrogation scene. All we really did was switch up the conversation between the characters. Overall I think that we really had a productive day even though we weren't able to film.

Starting the editing process

 Hey guys, we already started filming. We just had to adjust the way we filmed as previously mentioned. Anyways we have started to start editing as well as searching for music. For example, we have been editing and finding music for our film. You're probably wondering how we started editing already if we don't have all of our final footage. Well to answer that question, we started to edit the title page and edit the footage of the scenes that we have already filmed. We've also started to work on adding words in between flashback scenes of our movie. We decided to do this so the viewers won't be confused when time goes back during the film. For example, during a flashback scene we plan to put words such as "earlier this week". Things like that will alert the audience that this particular event occurred before the present scene taking place. While doing this we realized our film needed background music. We wanted music during the suspicious scenes. Another thing that we wanted was music during the ending of the movie. Obviously we would have to get permission from any artist that we choose to use music from. We have to do that unless we're able to find free music that fits our film. We're currently looking for music that have the audience anxious and on edge. I think if we do this it would make our film 10 times better. Our main goal for this movie is to give our viewers a feeling of suspense and excitement mixed together. While the plot is slowly building towards the climax of our movie we want the audience to literally be on the edge of their seats. Hopefully we'll have music picked out by the time we start to put all of our footage together and edit it. 

Starting to film

 Guys guess what!!! We finally started our filming journey. The wait is officially over. I am beyond excited guys. As you all know we are currently still in the middle of an ongoing pandemic. Due to this we had to adjust how we film our movie. Jasmine and I both started to film. However, we filmed at two separate locations. She filmed one scene at her house while I filmed another scene at my house. I decided to film the murder scene. So basically this scene was the climax of our movie. I started filming upstairs in my bedroom. I had my younger sister assist me with holding the camera at certain angles. During this scene there were many different camera angles. I mainly used a high angle and a low angle though. In this scene I played the role of Stephanie, the victim. I kept stumbling over my words when filming so there were many takes. I also used my ring light as a stand to hold my phone. It was also used for better lighting as well. After filming upstairs I went into my parents bathroom. My younger sister created some fake blood for me. I was supposed to pour it into and around the bathtub to stage the crime scene. But I was unable to do this because I had to go somewhere. As of right now that's where I stopped filming guys. Everything went great! I'll be back with another update later.

How we didn’t film

 Hey guys I can’t believe we’re in December already. We just came back from a week long Thanksgiving break. Although we wanted to film over the break unfortunately we couldn’t. We both had busy schedules. Also I had friends and family stay with me during the break. Even though we weren’t able to film we did get some things done a couple of days before the break started. For example, we finally launched the website for our film “Who did it?”. Our website has several things on it. It has information on the movie. It also has social media links to our film. We did this to give our fans the option to keep up with the making of our movie by following our social media accounts. Moreover, we plan to film during winter break because that would work best for the both of us. We have midterms coming up. Because of this we decided to prioritize studying for our exams first and then filming. We also plan to edit over the break as well. I think our biggest issue is figuring out how to film. COVID cases have recently been rising again. Due to this are parents want us to social distance as much as possible. Hopefully we’ll be able to meet up and film while following the social distancing rules. If not then we know how to accommodate. We will just film different scene separately. Afterwards we’ll just edit everything over the phone. Hopefully we’ll have a better update next time. 

Creating website

 Hey guys we finally started opening our social media accounts. We also created our website. In order to create our website we used wix.com. It's basically a website that allows you to create and personalize your own website. We had to create social media accounts to link to our websites. We now have a Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube account for our movie. Oh by the way we decided to title our movie "Who did it?". On the website we were required to put different information about the film. For example, its release date. When you first open our website you will see the movie title. Below that the directors names are stated as well as the movies release date. The release date is set to be on 1/11/2021. That's approximately 2 months from now guys. We're so ready to start filming! Furthermore, you will see what our movie is about and also some critic remarks. Some of the remarks say things such as "the movie held my attention the whole time". On our website you'll also be able to find links that lead to all of our social media accounts. We will use these accounts to keep people updated on the movie until it is released. We decided to have our film premier at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival. On our website we needed to include pictures of the cast and crew. We used our school ID photos for this. This is basically most of the things that we incorporated into our website when creating it.

Storyboard for short film

 Hey guys, we finally started to draw our storyboard. I can definitely say it's been fun but the drawing has been kind of difficult. We drew our storyboard according to the order of events in our script. The first three boxes show Stephanie making her way home from work. In the first scene she is in the car speaking to her friend Briana. Once we make it to the second box it shows Stephanie making it home and walking into her home. The following boxes show Stephanie walking into her home and heading upstairs. In the fourth box on the storyboard that's when Stephanie starts to hear the phone ring. Throughout the next few boxes Stephanie will be very cautious and paranoid because of the suspicious phone calls. In box 5 Stephanie answers the phone and holds a short conversation that will leave her in a state of confusion. In box 6 Stephanie grabs a knife. Even though she does this she is completely unaware of the killer being inside of her bathroom. In the next box the phone will ring again and Stephanie answers it. Except this time the killer is standing right behind her. The next few boxes are the action scenes. After realizing that someone is trying to kill her Stephanie fights back. As seen in the boxes she kicks the killer down the stairs and goes to hide. Even though Stephanie is hidden the killer finds her and murders her. In the boxes after that scene you will see the killer calling Briana to notify her that Stephanie is dead. After this scene the next scene shows Briana comin to Stephanie's home trying to make it seem like all of this is news to her. In the next boxes the police arrive and conversate with Briana. After this the flash backs from earlier that week will begin to happen.

Planning for short film

 Hey guys we're so close to getting ready to film. But before we an do that we have to plan. We decided to start planning by coming up with a filming and editing schedule. Due to the current circumstances that we're under because of covid 19 our filming process is going to be slightly different. We will both be filming different scenes from our own homes every other day of the week (Mon, Wed, Fri). We haven't decided who will get what scenes yet but we will figure that out sometime soon. After we gather all of the footage from those three days we will work together to put the footage together and edit it. There will be two filming locations throughout the whole movie, my house and Jasmines house. During the movie different parts of the homes will be used for different things. For example, my bathroom will be used as to portray the crime scene. There will be several participants. We will be in the film as well as our family members and some friends that we've reached out to. In our film a knife will be used as a weapon which will fall into the health and safety category. The knife will be real but there will be adult supervision the whole time. Some props that we plan on using are knives, guns, and a face mask. These props will most likely only be used during the beginning of the movie when Stephanie (the victim) is murdered. There will multiple costumes featured in the movie. One will be a police uniform. Another costume will be the killers outfit. The killer will be dressed in all black with a scary mask as a disguise. Other costumes that will be featured will be casual clothing that the suspects will be wearing. We're so ready to start filming!!!

Research 9, the short

 Hey guys I'm back blogging again. This time my class was assigned to watch the short film titled "9". It was a film created by Shane Acker and it was released in September of 2009. Honestly I wasn't too impressed with the film. I say this because I was sort of expecting more. There was no dialogue in the film which automatically made me lose some interest. Although there was no from of dialogue I still was able to understand what was happening. I was able to understand what was happening through the actions of the characters. There was a small action scene. The action scene did spark my attention. It sparked my attention mainly because of the special effects used and the camera angles. The director used plenty of high angles and low angles during the action scene. Other shots such as a zoom shot and an eye line match was used. This film also had diegetic sound. For example, the audience was able to hear 9's footsteps when running away from the machine that was attacking him. There was also some non diegetic sound added. The sound was added when the machine was making noise. There was also character development in 9. After his friend died he learned to be brave and step up to the plate. After he did this he was able to out smart the machine and defeat it.

Research 9, the feature film

 Originally Shane Acker created a short film called 9 that was 7 minutes long. The short film did so well that it got it extended to be a hour and 19 minute long feature film. I watched the feature film last night and I was beyond impressed. The plot of the film was perfect. Basically the story was about the world being destroyed in a war that happened. This war was between humans and machines. I know that sounds impossible but in the movie it happened. 9 was a doll created by a doctor and at first he thought he was alone. After that he was lost for a while until he discovered that there were others like him. After him and the others teamed up they decided to fight back against the machines. Throughout the movie the main character, 9 had a ton of character development. In the beginning of the movie he was extremely shy and fragile. Over time he started to become braver and more independent. The film used several different camera angles. One angle that was used quite frequently was the two shot. I saw this shot during many of the dialogue scenes of the film. For example, when 2 and 9 were talking about what happened to the world that they were in. Some other angles that were used were a long shot, a close up, and also a high and low angle. Visual special effects were also used frequently throughout the feature film. There was a ton of animation in the film also. Overall this film was executed perfectly and I would definitely recommend it to to others.