G O O D B Y E W O R L D (of AICE Media)

 What a ride.

Thank you to Anabella Giampolo and Kiarmary Roman who were on my team as well as Gabe and Rodrigo for acting for us. And a huge thank you to Zach London for the inspiration to join this class and become a better version of me.

Here is the link to the 2 Minute Film Opening "Agent Vienna": Agent Vienna

Here is the link to my First CCR Video covering Questions 1 & 2: CCR 1

Here is the link to my Second CCR Video covering Questions 3 & 4: Gus In Premiere

Thank you for your time and consideration.

And in case I don't see ya...

Good Afternoon

Good Evening

And Good Night.

My Reflection

 This whole journey through the Portfolio Project has been wonderful. Ever since I got my team members together, I knew we were going to make something amazing. I would definitely say I grew in my teamwork skills, having to work with a group that is differently versed in the world of production. I grew in my pre-production skills, most certainly, being more capable of planning projects out in order to have a significantly better outcome. And I am overall so incredibly proud of this product. I can sense a piece of my soul still attached to some of the shots, especially the cowboy hip angle shots (as I've had that in almost every one of my projects), and I finally learned blocking! (see below)

(Obstructing your frame with something in shot to guide your audience's eyes to your subject)

And now... we're done. I'm forever grateful for this class and the valuable lessons it's taught me throughout the year, not just in this project. I'm grateful for the classmates that have been there for me and have guided me to a different path I wouldn't have been able to access before. I had a lot of fun.

Thank you AICE Media.

CCR Post-Production

 What's up blog! I still can't believe that this is one of the last times I'll be saying that.

Anyway, I've been getting some good work in on the Post-Production for my Critical Creative Reflections. 

My first video requires a lot of text graphics to amp up the vibes of the video. There is also a section I am leaving open for the "travel vlog" part of the video. All masking and editing is done in Premiere Pro. I did have to cut some parts down as it felt like it was dragging along and getting sidetracked but I was able to fix it.

The second video is fully complete AND came out a lot cooler than I had expected. I managed to composite myself within layers of computer screen footage so it would look as though I am stuck in the computer. I used only Premiere for this process, utilizing the Wonder Glow and Basic 3D effects to warp the computer screen footage in order to emulate the perspective of being inside the screen. I did have to mask myself out using After Effects as at times the Premiere version was not clean enough, but the product turned out great. 

CCR Production

 What a journey this Portfolio Project has been. Already doing the CCR videos and finished with the short film.

Speaking of!

We're here today to cover some of the production of these CCR's! 

The first video, which is a sort of YouTuber style video was shot at my desk with me talking directly to the same camera I used to film the short film opening. In it, I cover CCR questions 1 and 2 and parts of it will be shot over my spring break in the mountains of Canada!

The second CCR will take place with me being stuck in Premiere Pro and I have to find a way out of the program. Along the way I'll be reminiscing over the portfolio project and explaining both questions 4 and 3 (in that order). I will be masking my self out using Premiere Pro and digitally compositing myself into the software. 

Portfolio Project: CCR Production Ideas...

 HELLOOOO BLOOOOGGGG!!

Get excited because we are ALMOST done with the film opening (coloring, SFX, and overdubs need to be made) and now that I've done my research for the 4 separate questions I need to cover in my CCR, it's time to cover my Production Ideas. 🤩🤩

Visual representation of me locking in for this project

CCR VIDEO #1:

For this video, I want to emulate the style of a modern high production quality YouTuber/TikToker. They often utilize warm cinematic lighting, smooth editing techniques, heavy sound design, and plenty of masking. 

I absolutely love this style of video. It's super engaging and that's why I want to bring some of this style into my first CCR. I will most likely be masking myself out to add text behind myself, emphasizing what I'm saying. and adding text in interesting ways such as the 3D text in the third image I posted. This CCR will cover questions 1 (How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?) and 2 (How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?)

CCR VIDEO #2:

My second video will have me get "Jumanji'd" into my computer as I explain some of the technical aspects of the film while I walk around Adobe Premiere (which I used to make my project). I will also bounce around inside of After Effects and other places I used to make the project. 

I'll pop in and out of the windows explaining my answers to Questions 3 (How did your production skills develop throughout this project?) and 4 (How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?) of the project.

I'm gonna have a lot of fun filming both of these videos as I finish editing the film opening.

Portfolio Project: Technological Integration (Q4)

 Welcome back to the one and only GBlogz!

Today, it's time to cover arguably the easiest question for my Creative Critical Reflections; "How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?"

The team used PLENTY of technology in the production of our film opening.

Sony a6700 Camera with G-Series 16-55mm lens

Starting with the hardware, we used:

• My camera (Sony a6700) | Used in Production Phase
• Hollyland Lark M2 Lavalier Microphones | Used in Production Phase 
• My dad's old photography tripod | Used in Production Phase 
• My computer (Dell G16 7630) | Used in Pre-Production and Post-Production Phases
• (Surprisingly Good) Apple Earphones | Used in Post-Production Phases

The filming was done with the first three items, and since we did audio dubbing for both of the main characters, we reused the Hollyland Mics after having filmed the main product. Most of the coloring of the film came directly from the camera's inbuilt LUTs (or look up tables) but I also did a good bit of color using...

The Software:

• Adobe Premiere Pro | Used in Post-Production Phase (Full Edit, sound, music, credits, some masking, and coloring)
• Adobe After Effects | Used in Post-Production Phase (Title Graphics and final disappearance)

All of the editing and putting clips together was done in Premiere which was quite a long but fun process as I've paid a lot of attention to the foley and pacing with the music. There was a scene in which we completely missed a man sitting in the corner of our shot and it's the FIRST shot you see! Thankfully, I was able to use Premiere's masking feature to grab a take where the man was not there and overlay that corner of footage over the main take to get rid of him and keep our continuity on track.

I even grabbed the stems of the song we're using and restructured it to fit our film as you can see below.

But where did I get the stems? Ohhh right, I got them...

Online:

• Blogger | Used in Pre-Production, Production, and Post-Production Phases
• Epidemic Sound  | Used in Post-Production Phases
• Google Docs  | Used in Pre-Production, Production, and Post-Production Phases

Our use of Blogger through this whole project was instrumental to our success in creating our film. We were able to plan everything and jot down each little detail along the way. It also helped me stay organized when looking at the script which we created in Google Docs and while grabbing music from Epidemic Sound. The main song we chose came with the different instruments of the song split into different tracks that you could play separately AKA stems. This allowed me to cut out certain parts that took away from the moment, add one's so they would elevate the scene, and rearrange the entire track so it would perfectly match the video.

Portfolio Project: CCR Skill Development (Q3)

 What is UP blog?!?

We're back with another blog in the CCR series, now moving to QUESTION NUMBER 3... which asks...

How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

This is a great question that I really enjoyed looking back on. At first, I didn't really think that I had improved much. I had the same cinematography and editing skills as before and I didn't feel much different while on set. I felt very in my element. But, I then looked at why I felt so at ease during filming.

 The pre-production! 

I had gotten a lot better at planning my projects because of the film opening. Before, I would go in and basically make my film guerilla style with little planning except for a very strong idea in my head. It would work often but the project wouldn't come out as good as I had hoped, having shots where a motion in the camera was supposed to connect them but that motion was missing. I now have better experience organizing my shots, my script, and my ideas to come out with a better product. It actually has not just been this project that has helped me improve my pre-production but this class as a whole has helped.

I now feel like a pre-production GOAT as I now plan my projects for my other television class much better and, so far, everything has come out much stronger than before. 

FOR EXAMPLE....

This is me after winning first place in making a commercial in 6 hours at the Student Television Network. I paid much closer attention to little details like the pacing of the script while writing, mise-en-scene elements, and other things in pre-production and that's why we won. A huge thanks to this class and how it has helped me improve as a creator