Portfolio Project: CCR Distribution (Q2)

 Hello Blog.

How's it going? I'm back for a new week of blogs and this time they're aaaaall (mostly) researching for my CCR videos. Continuing from last blog, which covered how I tackled CCR Question 1, today, I'll be covering....... CCR Question 2. 

Question 2 goes like this: How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text? 

The target demographic of our film ranges from people aged 18-24 (no specific gender) who like fast paced action OR spy films. It is common for action comedies similar to ours to target a younger audience, especially because the elements present in these films such as the big exciting action sequences and the humor are built to keep viewers engaged in the film, and due to their larger consumption of digital media through social media in comparison to older age groups, the engagement factors are becoming a more necessary aspect of films trying to market to those younger age groups.

An example of some of the comedy in our film

We want people to enjoy our film in its true, highest form factor, which is the movie theatre, but we also want people to access our film with ease which is why we've come to the decision that, if this film were a real media text, it would be distributed as a double release, dropping both on one exclusive partnering streaming platform (eg. Peacock, Paramount, HBO Max) as well as having a proper theatrical release. While this may lower the box office revenue of the film, I feel it would be beneficial for us to get the product straight to our target audience as they tend to not attend the theatre on account of having other things to do and being too lazy to drive out. This idea was directly inspired by the Five Nights at Freddy's Movie which released in theatres at the same time as it dropped on Peacock.

Portfolio Project: Post Production

While we haven't yet finished filming (there is a single shot that will show the film continues after opening) I have begun on... THE EDIT!!!

Main actress dancing on set after a great take

Post production is always my favorite part of making a project as I can only then see our ideas truly come into fruition. So far, I've edited very little but I've begun understanding the flow of the conversation our characters are having AND I've begun to hone in the coloring for the film. It is quite dark so I need to be careful of raising the exposure too much and introducing grain to the shots, but the colors are beautiful. 

So far, I've come into an issue with the movement of the very first shot matching exactly with a closeup of the main antagonist's watch in the next. I am going to have to move those clips around and see what will look the best, it's nothing I haven't had to deal with before. I may want to do a reshoot later (or just getting more shots) because I am a strong advocate for shot variety and so far I don't see that in the edit. The project feels kind of flat. But I am going to edit the whole thing before I decide on anything.

Premiere Pro timeline of our project

Portfolio Project: CCR Challenges to Social Issues (Q1)

 What is up Blog!!!

It is time to talk about the..

C!

C!

R!

I have a list of FOUR questions that I will have to respond to in 2 videos by creatively and critically reflecting on the portfolio project I've been working on with my team as a whole. 

The first question I have to answer is: "How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?"

A quote made by the character Knuckles in the TV Show "Sonic BOOM"

Our product uses conventions to its advantage. We wanted to create a fun Action Comedy Spy movie and there are a plethora of great movies that fall into each of those separate genres for us to take inspiration and learn from. The structure, for example, looks a lot like it could fit the opening of a Bond film, having a cold open showing the main character in a situation that has less importance to the rest of the plot but showcases their skills as a spy. The comedy is very similar to movies such as Guardians of the Galaxy or Bullet Train which is very situational and interlaced even into serious scenes. And the action is similar to the Bourne or, again, James Bond movies. These conventions all helped us to create a film that is worthy of the genres it is placed under.

Our story opening is based around a girl, Agent Vienna, who is a superspy on a task to take a dangerous case from a male villain character and take it back to her base. She is driven afterwards by her assistant, Jolly who is also a girl. Vienna's character is a mix between James Bond and Tony Stark, both male characters. Vienna breaks the gender conventions of this genre as most of the "cool secret agent" characters are played by men. In most spy films, women play either a sexualized twist villain, a love interest, or a secretary from a spy agency but never the main character. Vienna coming in and tricking a villain into giving her the case shows how the main spy role can be played by a woman and be just as amazing, believable, and intriguing as if it were played by a male.

Portfolio Project: Filming!!!

 Last night... We FINALLY started filming the project and from looking over the footage... it's pretty cool. 

The location we ended up shooting at was different from the original but it still had the proper set pieces to make the film flow correctly. The coloring was very warm and delivered a very cool vibe (especially with the neon lights) that captures some of the aspects I saw in Bullet Train. 

Our actors worked very well given that it was their first time acting and they even suggested an extra scene that we had not put in originally but brought a great sense of humor that helped the comedy genre side of the film.

I shot a majority of it on a tripod but there were various scenes in which I went handheld either to track the characters or to drive home the action feeling of the film. At times it got dark which is what we wanted, but I'll have to be careful when coloring so as to not put too much grain in the film. 

I feel that the footage came out great and I am excited to edit everything together. This is going great! (PS: There is a scene in which I will be making the main actress disappear behind a car and I will be using various masking techniques to perfect the effect. I haven't done this specific trick before but I think I'll be able to do it.)

Portfolio Project: Group Meeting 2

 BRAND NEW WEEK, Brand new ideas and updates from fellow students in my Media Studies Class.

There were a lot of new ideas thrown around at this meeting we had today. My classmate who had in the previous meeting discussed an idea of a project similar to "The Hangover" has now further developed his project, giving details about his filming process and dialogue which he was struggling with before. We were able to give him some critiques to further improve his project.

Another team was working on a Mafia style film with intermingling relationships similar to Romeo and Juliet. They had a very solid filming plan which had them shooting the majority of their project tonight (as my group also is). 

Portfolio Project: WE ARE SO BACK

 WE ARE SO BACK!

My team have just now, after not getting permission to film at a location and losing an actor, found a new location and TWO new actors to film this Tuesday. This is monumental is it means our project can actually continue and won't be stalled in the preproduction process till the end of time. The location is actually closer to us and has some very good burgers (which I will be munching on after the shoot) and the two actors are two of my buddies who I see almost every single day. I am so excited to be back on track and to finally be able to film something for this crazy cool project.

Portfolio Project: What to do if you get rejected twice on the same day

 Welcome back to the blog, Today's is going to be pretty short.

Our previous filming location has not given us the "ok" to film at their establishment and our original actor now has conflicting plans with most of the days we want to film. We really don't know what to do as of right now since one of my teammates and I are leaving on a big trip next week that will take up most of our time until Tuesday of the next week. We need to find something and someone else STAT or else this project could fall flat and fail.

We are looking at other potential actors, including one of my close friends, and other locations to see where we can shoot fast while  having a good final product.