Final Film opening and CCR's

CCR #1: CCR #1

CCR #2: CCR #2

Film: ManSlaughter Film

Final Reflection

     I found this entire project very eye opening for me. I never truly realized how much work went into film creation but thinking of ideas writing a script, and planning shots being this meticulous and taking this long just for an opening has made me realize how complex the industry is. The project was very fun to complete and while being challenging, I think I learned a lot and I am happy to have done it although looking back its not somethings I ever wish to do again, at least not in such a limited time frame.

    I am also happy to have created my CCR's, I thought they were a cool and creative way to talk about my work which I felt let me really express my ideas. I found them to be an important and interesting part of the project however I wish I worked more on them because think they could have definitely turned out better.

    Overall, I am happy to have done this complicated project and would definitely recommended my friends to join this class and try it out! I think it has definitely changed me as a person especially when thinking about film.

CCR post-production

     For my CCR post-production I only really had t work on one of the media products. My second media product being a presentation with voiceover only required for me to add the voiceover onto the presentation and that was it. On the other hand, my 1st media product being a podcast required a lot of editing.

    For this podcast product I had to record a long voiceover which I then had to divide between the 2 characters. I also had to edit the hosts voice in order to make her distinguishable from me during the podcast. Finally, I had to add some sound effects as well as intro/outro music to bring it all together. The final piece was adding a cover for the podcast.

    

    That was all for my post-production work, it seems easy summed up, but it took a lot of time especially on the podcast. I think they turned out all right in the end and I definitely am proud of the podcast product.

CCR production

     For my CCR's I began with filming my visual detective themed media text. I changed this to a Canva presentation with a voiceover since I was having trouble with filming. I completed my script, made my presentation, recorded audio along with the presentation played and completed the product. There is not really any postproduction work for this except making sure that audio is clear and the presentation is smooth.

Script: Welcome to this investigaton into filmmaking. I am Detective Bella Montanari and today I will be solving 2 mysteries, How does my product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text? as well as How did my production skills develop throughout this project?

 

Filmaking is a process that requires constant problem slving which s why I have been assigned to investigate these 2 cases, the case of the engaged audience and the case of the evolving filmmaker.

 

The case of the engaged audience: Engaging an audience isn’t just about telling a story iuts about pulling them in byy using techniques and causing them to feel what is happening within the film. Audience engagement is usually driven by strong visual storytelling and emotional moments and effective pacing. Viewers are more likely to connect with films that evoke emotions through characters and immersive visuals. For my film I engaged with audiences by having high entansity raw moments that made them feel for the victim in his struggle while also understanding Elena’s anger at standards not being met due to the high standards she upholds for herself. My product allows audiences to relate t both tthese characters emotions and brings them into their shoes in the film. I also engaged with audiences by having relatable characters that are conventionally regular so people can see themselves as the character. Another aspect of the filmis how t doesn’t follow standard gere conventions which make it a unique hooror film that keeps audiences interested.

 

A sub tab of this case is the case of distribution. Since I am a new filmmaker global distribution through major theaters wont be possible yet s instead I will docus on digital platforms like youtbe which has been a go to for idie filmmakers with over 2 bllion worldwide users. I also plan on distributing my woek at local film festivals which can help make the film known. By publishing the film on these online platforms and showcasing them at festivals I can make mysekf know as well as the fim. I will also advertise the film on other socal meias like tik tok and Instagram. Doing this can help make me and my work known in the film world t expand my product.

 

Moving on to the case of the Evolving filmmaker. Throughout this project I have evolved as a filmmaker. Initially I struggled to get usd to the amount of work, time, and effort goes int this but I have evvled as an editor. I mostly struggled with pacing and audio but I have improved at better timing my clips aswell as creating a more understandable and satisfying audio. I have learned to focus more on hw to create a functional story through proper pacing and I believe it allowed the film ti be more successful. I have also improved upon the editing of the clips in general as you can see in these comparisons between raw footage and postproduction.

 

And there you have it, my film engages audiences by pulling them into a story with emotional moments, solid pacing, and strong visuals. I have evolved as a filmmaker by learning from mistakes and improving with each shot, every frame, every edit, was a clue that led me to this point. Case closed.

    Next, I started my auditory media text the podcast. For this media text I wanted to really makes sure that audio was very clear, I put in my headphones (since I think that makes audio clearer but im no professional), and I shut my doors. I propped up my phone extremely close to my mouth and attempted to speak as clearly as possible. To do this I also made sure to practice my script even though I would be reading it because I thought that having it be familiar would prevent mistakes. I stopped recording after every paragraph to take breaks. I recorded all this audio on voice memos so I could easily store/label them. I took a few takes each but after a while it got easier. Once I finished since this media text didn't need any props, I quickly completed it an threw all the recordings into a file. However, for this media text I needed sound effects, so I began browsing through possible options, I didn't really make any decisions, and I have been looking through a couple websites, I am going to look a bit harder when I'm working on editing later. 

Script: Welcome back to “Behind the Scenes” *intro music plays during title announcement* the podcast where we dive into the world of media production in films. I am your host Rachel Sparks and today we have a special guest, up and coming producer Isabella Montanari here to discuss her latest project a film called “ManSlaughter”. *Swoosh sound to transition*

Host: Isabella Montanari that you s much for joining us today!

Bella: Please call me Bella.

Host: Lovely, so Bella can you quickly tell our listeners what this project is about?

Bella: Of course! My project is about a woman named Elena who is looking for the perfect man, so she invites them to dinner s she can test their attributes, however when someone doesn’t meet her standards she gets rid of them permanently.

Host: Ooh sounds mysterious, and you didn’t mention what is the films title.

Bella: My mistake, its called “ManSlaughter”!

Host: And hod did you decide on this name?

Bella: Well me and my team thought that it was a creatuve play on words, she is slaughtering a man not accidentally murdering someone.

Host: Wow! That is an interesting title it reallu calls attention by making it sound like the film is about an accidental event opposed to it being about a murderer of man. *Voice distorsts and glitches*

Host: But before we dive deeper into this film I’d like to take a moment and talk about the sponsor for today’s episode, SereneSound. For clearer audio recording purchase SereneSound Pro Studio Microphone today! Thanks to SereneSound for elevating our sound and making today’s episode possible, now back to the interview! *sound effect of audio cutting*

Host: Alright Bella lets jump into some more complex questions, we all know that genre conventions play a huge role in hw media is perceived but you have mentioned that you have challenged some of those conventions in your work. So my questions for you today is “How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

Bella: Wow Rachel that was a mouthful. Well my project challenges genre conventions y having a female murderer which is not a typical characteristic of horror films. Usually the victims are female and seen as the powerless figure. By having a female killer this challenges gender norms and flips the scrpt of what’s traditional for the genre. Conventions are also challenged in the setting as it is a dinner setting which is warm and social opposed to usual horror settings that are desolate and eerie. The contrast in the seemingly normal setting with the dark acts occuring creates a chilling juxtaposition. The killers motive challenges due to it being a deeply rooted societal expectation as opposed to rage r revenge which most horror villians have, her standards follow conventions by being based on usual standards for how men should behave, dress, and treat woman, she also has those roles for herself by believing in doing typical woman things like cooking dinner and setting up the dinner table. It follows societal norms for men and woman which follows conventions. The film will also challenge conventions by being less reliant on fastpaced action and sudden violence which is tyupically done in the genre, however it will build suspense through conversations that slowly unmasks the mans flwas and set the stage for the violence to follow.

Host: I didn’t realive the variety of conventions present in the film and I love how you challenged some of these, especially by having a female killer challenging gender norms but having her also follow typical gender roles in society as well as expecting them to be followed.

Bella: And this film also represents the issues with setting ubsurd standards especially based n gender norms for both parties. It shows how Elena drives herself to gruesome acts to uphold these norms against potential partners and restraining herself to the norms for herself as a woman. It depicts how these standards are cruel for both parties while still being an entertaining film I was very adamant in expressing that.

Host: I see, well that is a very good poit and im very impressed with hw you expressed this important message while keeping the film horrifying.

Bella: Thank you Rachel!

Host: On this podcasts we like to provide a wide viariet of information so lets move onto a more technical aspect. I want you to tell us the choices you made in terms of technology so the next question we have for you today is “How did you integrate technologies like software, hardware and online in this project?”

Bella: Wel echnology has been a huge part of the process. I used online platforms like blogger to post about y journey and canva to make text elements for post production, I made the titles, credits, and other text elements on there. My partner Victoria Duque provided the (camera name) camera and the (lighting name) lighting. We kept it minimal and basically only used those 2 hardware’s. A nice advantage of the (lighting name) was that it was able to change colors so we were able to utilize it to make red lighting and save time in post production. Ultimately for softwares we used apps like word for planning the plot and script. We utilized Adobe Premiere Pro for editing as well as pixabay for our sound effects and youtube for our music. These technologies allowed me to bring this product to life in a way that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.

Host: That is fascinating! It really shows how much technology goes into products and how they are necessary to elevate the final piece. Did you have any challenges when using these technologies.

Bella: Its funny you asked that since I indeed did have issues. Most of the technologies worked very flawkessly, the issues we did run into were mostly having a limited variety of font that fit the vibe of the production that was also easily legible on canva and finding good music for the film out of all the options online. We struggled to find what we were searching for as nothing we liked appeared when we looked online so we had to dig deep. Another issue we had was with hardware. Their were multipe instances where shots weren’t coming out exactly how we hoped due to our hardware simply not cutting it. There we some shots that we couldn’t get the exact angle we hoped due to these limitations however in the end I was satisfied with the results.

Host: Well that is all we wanted to ask you Bella, thank you so much for jpining us and providing some insight on your world. It has been a pleasure learning more about your creative process and I cant wait to see the film.

Bella: Thank you so much Rachel, it has been so much fun talking about my project!

Host: Before we sign off I just want to remind everyone you can learn more about Bella’s work on her blog (blog link), and don’t forget to check out SereneSound for all your audio needs. Until necxt time this is Rachel Sparks signing off from “Behind the Scenes”. Stay creative! *Outro music plays*

    I feel like these projects went well and smoothly so I am satisfied with how this filming worked out, I am very happy with my two varied media texts and can't wait to post my final results!

CCR #4

     This media text includes both questions 1 & 4, In my post about question #1 I discussed the idea for the media text however in the post I will be going more in depth about the script's. As I had said this media text will be a purely auditory except the cover podcast.

    This will begin with an opening where I introduce myself the hist and the person, I am interviewing which will also be me. The host is interviewing me (Bella Montanari) as a special guest up-and-coming producer. We will begin by having me introduce the film and then the host will ask me 2 questions. She will ask question #1 How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues? and question #4 How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware, and online – in this project? in that order.

    After we finish the opening/background the host will interrupt me to quickly talk about the sponsor which will be a media themed product such as a mic, but I am currently undecided. After the ad I will be asked question #1, I will respond and during my response I respond as if speaking to a primary ad secondary audience, the host and the listeners. The host will sometimes cut in or ask me to elaborate on questions, the 2 questions will be broken into smaller sub-questions so the host gets more interviewing time like a podcast/interview would have. The host will then ask a small filler question followed by the second real question #4. We will finish the interview by summarizing the questions, having the host say how excited they are to see the film and thanking me for coming on the show, we say goodbye to the audience, and it ends. I am still unsure how I will smoothly include resources without it wasting time/appearing tacky, so I need to continue brainstorming.

    Some factors I am going to include are altering my voice in editing when I am speaking as the host since the podcast is purely auditory, I want the 2 characters' voices to be distinguishable, so i will be playing around with voice effects. Another feature I want to include is intro music and sounds from the film opening. The final thing I want to include I discussed in CCR #1 which is a cover for the podcast which I think I will make on Canva, I want to make it fun yet professional. Overall, I think the podcast is a very fun idea to do and will let me experience a lot of audio work much like a sound effects project we did earlier in the year which I enjoyed.

CCR #3

     CCR #3 is answered in my second media text which is a detective themed video that will feature backgrounds, props, inserts from the film opening project and more through editing. In this media text I am answering both 2 and 3, I went over the idea in my post about CCR #2 but here I will go more in depth about the script. I am going to try and keep both my media texts within 5 minutes which I think is plenty of time to go over my responses. Question 2 is How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text? and question 3 is How did your production skills develop throughout this project? 

    This media text will have a short opening scene that will show the cozy cluttered office space for the detective, I will have scattered notebooks, film equipment, coffee cups, and a case file called "The Filmmaking Mystery". I will then be seen sitting Infront of a camera in a business casual outfit Infront a neutral background with some office decor like a bulletin board with clues pinned together with strings or a whiteboard with drawn connections. I will start with a narration: Welcome to a day in my office, my name is Bella Montanari, and I am a detective in the filmmaking industry. Today I am investigating 2 mysteries: The Case of the Engaged Audience and distribution, and The Case of the Evolving Filmmaker. Let's crack these cases wide open!

    After this narration I will start talking about target audience engagement and distribution of the media text with visual elements I will also use a lot of detective language like transition between statements by saying things like I have uncovered a clue etc. I will also show me editing or moving around features integrated with audience sound effects like ooh's and ahh's. I will review for question 3 raw footage compared to the final cut's. 

    I will finish this media text by stating: The cases are closed. My film engages audience with (summary) and I have evolved as a filmmaker by learning from (summary). Every frame, shot, and edit was a clue that led me to where I am now, the camera zooms out to show my desk, I narrate: "another mystery solved... until the next one." and it fades to a black screen that will then display rolling credits with detective graphics on the sides.

    I think this idea will be fun to create and achievable, I want to make sure to keep it fun, visual, well-paced and within a 5-5-and-a-half-minute length.

CCR #2

    For question #2 of the CCR which is: How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text? To answer this question I would have to

1. Discuss how I arrived at this target audience

2. Discuss how my production choices, content, etc. work to engage with the target audience 

3. Finally I would discuss how I plan to make my film available to audiences 

For all these steps I would need to cite my research and be realistic for the wuestions response, tgis is a new film by me a new producer so it wont be released t theaters globally however it could be uploaded to sites like youtube, shown in a smaller theater that works wityh up and coming crfeators, and/or local film festivals.

    For this media product I will be including questions 2 and 3 so I will discuss specifics with the third question in a later post. Since my 1st media product is a podcast being solely audio, I would like this media product to be a very visual piece.

    First, for the media product, I will address questions 3 and then 2 because I think it makes more sense to first address the improvement of production and then distribution. For this media text, I am going to make it nice and visual with a lot of editing/graphics. It will be a detective who is diving deep into each of the questions and answering them as if they were a case to crack. I will be filming this in my room by clearing my desk and surrounding items will be relocated. I will decorate the desk with items that seem like a detective's area, it will be scattered in notes/clues/stationary. I will need to focus on fun editing and inserts of film clips. One of the most important things I need to do is make sure I don't just have a floating head; I will film in an interesting/engaging environment that is not too wacky and out of place. So, I will film myself against a blank wall so can cut my head out from the background and place myself in the detective environment.

    Visuals I will have are detective backgrounds, my desk decorated with plenty of clues and stationery but not too many words that will distract, and I will have clips from the film opening.

    I will also be utilizing props like notebooks, magnifying glasses, staplers, pens, maybe hats, formal attire, sticky notes, if possible, a bulletin board. I think this idea could be fun to edit and could be visually creative as a final product which I am excited to create.