CCR Script blog post

Please discuss each question in relation to course topics (Cinematography, Mise En Scene, Editing, Sound, Audiences and Institutions, ETC.) using relevant vocabulary words.

How do your products use or challenge conventions and how do they represent social groups or issues?

The opening sequence uses conventions of mystery films by building up tension and what to expect as the opening sequence progresses forward. The opening sequence is not a "whodunnit" mystery film, which in itself goes against this specific convention of a mystery film that movies like "Knives Out" and "Murder on the Orient Express" use as a framework for a mystery film. It falls more into the category of realistic, grounded, and possibly gritty mysteries that are more linear and are not a range of suspects that could have committed a crime. The convention of a normal world until it isn't is also used, where the main character is enjoying her life at first until she cannot when she stumbles onto the mystery which upends her reality. This is something that is discussed in the Save the Cat Writes a Novel writing guide, where it outlines and explains how the character's status quo at the start of a plot will be different and will face change, challenges, and obstacles as they adapt to the changing world (discovering the mystery), and a formula that is also explained to be used in successful films where characters will face such challenges as they grow and learn from their experiences that occur in the plot. Looking back on the project, I feel that I almost fully interpreted the mystery genre but with some improvements, as I feel audiences may be bored by walking scenes (even if enhanced with mysterious music that makes life seem normal), but with my interpretation and vision, it was meant to build up tension and provide continuity and fitting all of this in two minutes. 

The opening sequence represents social groups through portraying the characters onscreen as normal teenagers doing normal teenager things, such as scrolling their phones, conversing about life (like go getting ice cream), and asking whether the main character was available to hang out. The main character is arguably portrayed as an outgoing person who has time to for friends, but their instincts take over when a friend (named as Lewis from the opening frames of the text message) to go investigate when this text message serves as catalyst for the opening sequence's storyline to occur. There was not much thought into representing social groups, genders, races, etc. in certain ways, it was more of gathering my friends who were available to help me film this opening sequence given my limitations and the resources and assets that would be available for my use to the fullest extent. Preferably, I would have had male friends in the group the main character walked with in the start of the shot, but they were unavailable at the time of filming and therefore used female friends who were available at the time. 

How do your products engage with the audience and how would they be distributed as real media products?

The opening sequence engages with the audience by making them reading the screens to obtain crucial information to understand the opening sequence, such as the text in the first screen where a friend asks the main character to check the mailroom. This sets up the opening sequence's storyline where the main character then proceeds to the mailroom to check out something suspicious. The engagement with the audience is seen again at the end where a mysterious and unsettling text message pops up, and when the audience reads its contents, they may realize that the main character has stumbled upon something more serious than expected, setting the tone and objective for the rest of the film. The audience is also engaged in the film through the soundtrack in the background that keeps them interested, where the contemporary and mysterious soundtrack helps adds meaning where the character does not know what they are stumbling into, and this arguably keeps audiences hooked and not knowing what to expect next. The opening sequence also engages with the audience through relatability, where the main character speaking with her friends at the start represents a normal life a teenager would expect to have, hanging out with friends, going out for snacks, etc. as an element that blends the concept of normality before the world is upended through mystery and relatability to audiences as normal life activities. 

This opening sequence (and theoretically, a full film it it was created) would be distributed as real media products by being posted on a platform like YouTube for viewers to see, since if we consider that this is more of a small, independent, and student production, it would not have the backing, visibility, and distribution power of the major industry studios and players that specialize in producing and distributing big budget films backed by these corporations. I would aim to keep this project towards a small scale distribution if it was made into a full film, where if submitted to any film festivals, it would try to capture the spirit of small scale independent filmmaking to put ideas into reality with footage made into a storyline that audiences could enjoy. This is a realistic and grounded approach I feel would be plausible rather than expanding more into a realm of bigger budget films that are backed by the major corporations and studios. 

Arguably, the lack of faster cuts and each cut be lengthier, but methodical with intention helps set the pace of the film for audiences to understand and comprehend how this is not an action film or anything that requires cuts and fast movements, but is something that is continuous that is happening and requires attention to understand what is occurring. The film builds into audiences figuring out the pacing, clues, and the concept of normality before it isn't, as looking back on this now it may not feel as obvious to an audience member who watches the opening sequence with little to no context, and the text message at the immediate start of the film may feel too sudden for some, and be confused with the walking scenes on it's true purpose of adding to the meaning of the opening sequence's plot without being seen too much as filler. 

How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

My production skills developed throughout the project by improving my editing and cinematography skills. An issue that came up in post production was mitigating sound issues with scratchy audio, which was difficult having to use only the free tools on CapCut that did not require a Premium subscription. However, I felt I reduced this my using the isolation of voice and background features to emphasize the conversation while reducing background noise where it is not as distracting compared to no editing. It was also challenging in some ways to ensure I respected the time of my friends I enlisted to help shoot this project while ensuring I got the footage I needed to work with in post production. This helped realize how challenging actual film productions are when studios, directors, and actors need to film their scenes to a satisfactory standard in a set amount of time, budget, and effort to ensure production does not run behind schedule or overrun a budget, something I did not have to worry too much about as I knew I had ample time to film but it was up to my friends when they were able to help film my footage. 

The cinematography aspect of this project was something I am most fond of, as it was useful to continue develop my framing and cinematography skills to ensure tracking shots stayed smooth and kept actors in frame to a satisfactory standard. Matching the speed of a walking actor was something that felt secondhand, natural, and adjustments made in my mind felt subconscious as I felt I was able to take some lessons and experience from sports/action photography to adjust framing while footage was rolling to ensure moments were captured as they happened and not having to constantly reshoot something. Walking scenes did not take many cuts to film, as I feel my coordination was clear enough and concise enough for my friends to understand and what was needed to film the required footage for the storyline in the opening sequence. I felt that I improved my movement by trying to make it smooth as possible with soft steps that did not pick up too much unnecessary noise (and could be masked with the steps of the person onscreen that was walking), and feel that I used the surrounding spaces effectively for composition such as resting elbows on hard surfaces for more steady shots, along with dynamic shots with moving frames to keep the onscreen action interesting rather than just completely static shots for every scene and cut. 

The editing aspect was constructive as I decided how long each scene needed to be to stay within 2 minutes of content, while including crucial aspects of an opening scene such as actor and production credits through text boxes that faded in and out to make the scene feel smooth. The available fonts, text bubbles, and animations on CapCut also helped me add to the overall meaning of the scene where I chose a text bubble during the title card that could evoke mystery along with an investigative like feeling, where the opening title card shows that mystery the main character has just stumbled into. I felt that if I had more time, I could have reshot some of the scenes to avoid the scratchy audio but the execution may have not been as perfect compared to the first time (and the final cut that is used) because myself and my friends are not professions; we are just students making this not just for enjoyment but for the purposes of this course, a process that we were positive throughout and able to create our opening sequences with little to no negative hassles.

How did you integrate technologies in this project?

I integrated technologies in this project by using a mobile device to film the opening sequence. It was nothing fancy like using an expensive camera (like a Canon or Sony, which to my knowledge is the best performing brand for videography) to film but my mobile device (despite the OnePlus10t's flaws in camera quality compared to contemporary competitors like Apple) did the job fine. Using a larger and more dedicated camera like a Canon EOS R100 (which are available at the school) would have been not as purposeful as I had only used the camera for photography, not videography and the mobile device was smaller, more compact, and easier to handle and understand it's functions. The 3-inch LCD screen of the R100 would not be as helpful for checking composition compared to my mobile device's larger screen regardless. It's not like we were filming this project with expensive, professional, and complicated digital cameras, but being able to complete this project with mobile phones highlights how our creativity and ideas were not limited by tools that are not as expensive and not having tools that could provide greater results, but not as accessible. Despite having no steadying equipment of any sort, I felt I was able to compensate for this through walking smoothly and smooth arm movements for smooth dynamic framing instead of something that would look like an earthquake occurring. Enabling the rule of thirds for videography helped with framing, along with another tool that measured the phone's tilt to ensure it was parallel to the ground and was not angled. 

Technology helped drive the plot forward where one of the characters used a mobile device to help convey meaning on screen, where a new text message appeared on their phone. At first, the main character receives a message from a friend telling them about something about the upcoming fundraiser, then later on, the the main character received a rather unforgiving and chilling message from an unknown number warning them of what they were up to. The use of phones also helped convey the sense of normality for the main character, where scrolling and using their phone is now an integral part of teenage life and adds to the mise-en-scene of the opening sequence to portray normality of a teenager's life. The use of technologies is integral to the project given the demands and connectivity of the 21st century as demonstrated in the opening sequence. 

Editing software like CapCut also helped integrate sound effects such as notifications of text messages to ensure meaning was created through sound for an audience to understand that the character received a new message on their phone. The use of fades for transitions also helped convey meanings like the passage of time in between one cut of the character sorting papers in the mailroom, along with giving the establishing shot a smooth opening without being too sudden after an audience is introduced to the plot with a text message from a friend about the fundraiser. It was also useful to experiment with where I wanted the credits to pop up on the screen, when they should pop up, for how long they appear, and how they transition in and out with fades for smoothness that is not distracting and adds to expectations of an opening sequence.