Portfolio Project Post #22 (CCR)

My final post for my portfolio project will be my creative critical reflection (CCR). I need to answer the following questions.

-How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

-How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

-How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

-How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware, and online – in this project?

- I would say my product challenges conventions by being more like a YouTube video rather than something which you would usually see in a film. That wasn't planned, but it ended up that way. I also think adding animations and onomatopoeia with sound effects was something unique to my opening. My product represents mental illness issues since Will shows signs of depression and schizophrenia as he mopes around and imagines the things happening around him as he talks directly to the audience in some scenes.

- My product engages with audiences by breaking the forth-wall and having Will talk directly to the viewers. Since the product is supposed to be a film it would likely be distributed through movie theaters, DVDs, and most importantly streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.

- I wouldn't say my pre-production or production skills developed much throughout the project, but when it came to post-production I learned a lot. At first, I wasn't sure I'd be able to make everything look good or have smooth pacing, but once I started adding sound effects and music I was able to notice what parts would benefit from having onomatopoeia and graphics. Most of the words seen on screen were thought of during editing and the light bulb graphic was added later as well because I saw that the scene would benefit from having visuals. I also learned how to use after effects to track and animate my graphics so they would stay still and move as I wanted them to.

- I integrated a lot of different technologies. The software I used includes Adobe Premiere Pro, Photoshop, After Effects, and my brother used Procreate to draw my graphics. For my hardware, I used an iPhone for filming, MacBook Air for research, Omen laptop for editing, my brother used his iPad for illustrating, and I learned how to format my external hard drive so I could transfer data between devices. The online websites I used other than blogger include YouTube, YouTube to MP3, Chosic, and I had to use Gmail a lot to transfer data I couldn't use my hard drive for.

Portfolio Project Post #21 (Opening Video)

Finally, after about nine and a half hours, I finished editing. The coloring techniques didn't really make in the end, but I added plenty of sound effects and music to push the mood of each scene in the viewer's face. I didn't come out as I expected, but the short animations actually came out pretty well for my first time animating. Overall this isn't the best project in my opinion, but the hard work I put into editing was a great learning experience for me. Anyway here is the video.

             https://youtu.be/4uCaSKl0q3Q           

Portfolio Project Post #20

         This is my final reflection on my project. The pre-production phase was pretty straightforward. I was able to develop the story quickly and once I completed the storyboard I had a good perception of what my opening was going to look like. 

         When it came to production I had my brother film the scenes that I couldn't do on my own. Due to his tight schedule, my unhealthy habit of procrastination, and starting new anti-depressants that threw me through constant mood swings and made me vomit twice the filming was a bit rushed. Overall I think I got pretty good shots with some dynamic camera movements, but my acting was definitely worse than usual since my mood made it hard to commit to the role. I had a lot of difficulties when it came to lighting. Trying to find the right lights to have on and off was a bit of a struggle.

         Lastly is post-production. The editing took a total of nine and a half hours because I wanted to make up for the bad acting with better editing. At first, my plan was simple. I was only going to have a little onomatopoeia pop up on the screen, I didn't really plan out the sound design, I had no clue how I was going to animate the character or keep the pictures in place, and I was going to work a lot more with colors. When it was time to edit I decided to add much more onomatopoeia paired with an abundant amount of sound effects to make a well paced video. I ended up not working on colors as much as I planned to which might have been a mistake, but my poor planning didn't give me enough time and after editing for nearly ten hours I just couldn't keep going. Animating the character was surprisingly simple. I watched a few videos on tracking in after effects which I used on all my png drawings. After a few attempts, I synced the mouth movements pretty well to the voice-over.

          All in all, I wanted to display light comedy, suspense, and mystery to the viewers and I think the video was pretty successful in doing that. I'm not extremely proud of the final product and I think if I worked over spring break it definitely would have come out better, but I used this as a very important learning experience. I finally somewhat understand after-effects and seeing what I came up with in the end tells me that if I work harder on my presentation and writing I could probably make pretty good YouTube videos which is something I've wanted to do for a while. This could really motivate me to work on that over the summer or in my free time.

Portfolio Project Post #19

Yesterday I finished filming and today I started editing. My brother also finished the drawings I'll use in the opening. Here are all the shots and 2 of the drawings I got. The last one wouldn't load.

Portfolio Project Post #18

Yesterday I finally completed my first day of filming. I decided to start by filming the kitchen scene because it was just easier to do at the time. I should be able to complete the filming today. Here is everything that I filmed so far.

Portfolio Project Post #17

Today I worked on finalizing my shot list/script so that I can start filming tomorrow. Here it is.

The directions in the left margin are editing notes, the quotations show dialogue, anything in parenthesis is a transition, and anything that has a star before it is a voice-over.

Portfolio Project Post #16

For this post, I believe I finally found the right song to use in my video. The song I was going to use before was a bit too goofy which helps for the comedy aspect, but kinda throws off the mood I wanted to create. So I used the site Chosic.com that was recommended in class to find something a bit more relaxing to keep pace with the character's emotions. Here is a link to the website and the song I chose. 

https://www.chosic.com/download-audio/?t=27285

I chose Fragile by Keys of Moon because I needed something more low-key and relaxing. The way the song builds up creates some anticipation and the tones give off a bit of a mysterious feel. I just think in total this will work better for the movie's general mood and will represent more of what it's about. This aspect of the opening is still up in the air, but this is the closest sound I've found so far to match my theme.

Portfolio Project Post #15

For this post, I made my Title Card. I haven't been able to film yet because my schedule can't really revolve around school work so I've only been able to do small things like these to help me complete the project.

My idea is to have the title fade in and I might end up putting Psycho's spiral logo in the middle spinning when I edit the video.

Portfolio Project Post #14

For my first step into production, I had my brother draw the final image for Psycho. Drawing on the iPad made the final copy look professional and it gave the image more texture.

The leaf-like pattern on Psycho's suit brings the costume to life and makes the character as a whole stand out more. The paper texture on his white fur brings out the fact that he is just a comic book drawing. He's only going to be appearing in a couple frames as a 2-D character so it should turn out good unlike if I tried to make the character CG. 

Portfolio Project Post #13

This post has my finished storyboard. I made some changes just to make the video a bit funnier and move more smoothly. I'm sure there will be more changes when it comes to filming, but for now, I'm happy with what I have.

Old Storyboard

New Storyboard

Any words in quotes are dialogue, all caps word means it's onomatopoeia, and anything in parenthesis is explaining the scene.

Portfolio Project Post #12

This post will be the first part of my final storyboard. I drew my final drawing of Psycho and tomorrow I will upload my brother's first digital render of the character along with the rest of the final storyboard. The storyboard also includes the entire final script. Post #12 and #13 should be my last pre-production posts for the project and I will be moving on to the production stage shortly.

Psycho Drawing

I fixed up my concept drawing of Psycho by using the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland as a reference. I improved some details by overlapping lines and coloring the character.

Storyboard (Old)

Storyboard (New)

Portfolio Project Post #11

This post will be used to go over any other important factors of the video that I haven't yet gone over. This includes color schemes, costuming, and casting. 

Color Schemes

As I've mentioned before there will be scenes with three different types of lighting and color. The scenes with Will alone have dim lighting with dark colors including grey, navy blue, and black. These colors will be used to highlight Will's depression and pessimism. Grey is being used with furniture, black with Will's wardrobe, and blue for props. Scenes, where Psycho's character is hinted at, will have normal lighting and color with background props/ set design that has dramatic and heavy colors like deep purple, bright red, and lime green. The scene at the end with Psycho will have colored lighting and the same dramatic purple, red, and green. The clashing colors are used because I don't want Psycho to necessarily have one core tone. I want him to feel random and like his nature opposes itself because he doesn't have a simple personality. His thoughts are supposed to be so ridiculous and incomprehensible that he doesn't have one personality. In other words, he practically suffers from a split personality disorder which makes him and his life so uncontrollable with powers that can affect the whole universe immeasurably.

Costuming

There will only be three characters in the opening. Swiggy the cat will not have any costume designs because that seems like a lot of extra unnecessary work. Psycho won't have any real clothes, but he will be drawn with clothes. His design is simple whereas his fur and wings will be white and the swirls on his body and in his eyes will use the purple, red, and green color scheme. The white fur and Will's black outfit will be used as a contrast so the screen isn't too blown up by the clashing color scheme. Lastly is Will's black outfit. He'll just be wearing a black hoodie with black sweatpants. 

Casting

First out of the three characters is Swiggy who will be played by my cat NightCrawler. I've made videos with him before and he is actually pretty easy to control and keep still for shots. For Will, I decided that I'd just play him because it is my project and I think it is best that if I wanted to get my idea of his character across to the audience then I should just do it myself. I already have the same outfit, cat, and house as him so it will be easiest this way. Lastly is Psycho's voice. I can't use myself because it will be easy to tell that it's the same person using two different voices. I think I'll have my dad voice him although I'll probably ask around to find the voice I'm looking for.

Portfolio Project Post #10

This post is all about equipment and props. I want to make sure I have a solid list of all the things I need to successfully film my video. 

First of all, I'll need my camera and other parts to go with it. I have a backpack full of all my camera equipment including lenses that I can switch out along with my SD card. As for components like dolly, stage lights, microphones, and tripods, I will be borrowing all of that from a friend who will be helping me to make sure I get the best shots possible since he is very experienced in video making. For color, he also has some LED's and I might buy colored plastic to cover the stage lights.

Next on my list is props. The first scene to include a prop is in the hallway. I need to buy a clock to put on the wall. I'm going to need multiple shirts and mugs for the continuity errors as well. Speaking of shirts, another component of filming is the wardrobe. I'm gonna keep it simple and have Will in mainly black and white clothes because I think it fits his personality best and it won't complicate coloring. Another important prop is my cat. He's never too busy with work so hopefully, our schedules align. Furniture like my bed and chair are also important, but they stay in the same place so no worries about that. Finally, I'd like to add some background props like comics, pencils, and other things to show off Will's personality and hobbies.

Lastly, for post-production I'm going to need to wipe my new computer I got of all its previous data. This way I'll be able to set it up to my liking and when it comes time for editing it will be smooth sailing. I'll also need the finished animation that I'll use my brother's IPad to create. Other than that I'll just need the music, footage, and graphics to put the opening together.

Portfolio Project Post #9

          For this post, I want to focus on what techniques I'm using and how I will use them. Important factors of the opening include music, color, lighting, animation. I want to find music that fits well with my idea so I'll search through a couple options and try to make a decision. I will also be constantly changing colors and lighting throughout each scene, so I need to look for a way to do that. As for animation, I want to animate Psycho as well as the words I use for onomatopoeia. 

Music

          There are many different moods showcased throughout the opening, so I have to be creative with the sounds. The feeling I want the music to radiate is a weird, suspicious, and slightly thriller tone. Although Will is in a depressed state, I don't want the audience to feel too much of that heavy-weight emotion while watching. That's why I decided that the colors and dialogue can be a tad darker while the music stays light and helps guide the comedic tone. Here are two free sounds I found that fit this description. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqk6fqAkGA &  https://www.youtube.com/watchv=oGv9HD_k6b4) As for the thriller sound, I was thinking of just adding a few horror sound effects in the song when Psycho is around. (https://www.youtube.com/watchv=L_bjXnWMgiY&list=PL634EA6C2844 05875&index=8 & https://www.youtube.com/watchv=7D2zNvRBfaU&list=PL634EA6C284405875&index=16) I'll keep searching after I film to make sure I get the best fit for my opening.

Color/Lighting

          Color and lighting are easy for me since I've been taking a television class for three years, I can use adobe premiere pro to fix up any visuals I don't like. I have plenty of other options to make the video look even better. I can use colored paper or plastic to change light colors. I can also borrow studio lights from a reliable friend to get the best lighting. Other than that I could also use specific objects with colors that fit the scene best.

Animation

          This is the hardest part of the project for me. I would like to animate Psycho into the video, but I have zero experience animating. I'll be researching many videos and keeping them for upcoming posts to review my progress. My brother has a great IPad that he uses for drawing, so I will likely use that to draw and animate Psycho. If not I'll just have to change up the character's physical appearance a bit and have a friend play him for me. Other than that I need to animate onomatopoeia into the opening the way Scott Pilgrim does. I can easily do this on premiere since I've done it before in previous videos I've made. The only thing I need to do is choose how I want to style it, but that decision is best to be decided while I'm editing since I'll have the options right in front of me and I'll have a better understanding of the tone.

Portfolio Project Post #8

          Today in class we had discussions in a group of five. We all pitched our ideas and aided each other with more ideas to incorporate into our individual productions. Personally, I didn't get too many new ideas but it helped me think of important aspects of my opening that I need to focus more on. Bianca's idea of a mad scientist helped me to capture a new perspective of Will's character. Especially his insanity. Sabrina reminded me to use color to my advantage. This will help to separate scenes of Will alone compared to him interacting with others. When talking about Camila's idea I realized the importance of other characters in my opening. Mainly I need a bit more focus on the cat.

Insanity

          The one feeling I need to focus more on is Will's insanity. At the beginning of the film, Will is in a depressing state of mind. He can't eat, sleep, or find any excitement in his life. He goes through his day pessimistically and doesn't believe in his own capabilities. This mindset works to almost drive Will mad but the crazy thing is that Psycho's madness is what saves Will at the end from his own insanity. It's almost like a circle of suppressed, crazy feelings shared between Will and Psycho. Will created Psycho based on his own crazy side but writing Psycho's fun adventures drains him of his own adventurous needs and he has to get the crazy stories to come back into his life through Psycho. This comes to fruition when Psycho appears. Psycho being a villain makes this seem like a horrible situation for Will, but it's all in Will's head. The adventures Will goes on with Psycho are really by himself. Riddled with anxiety, Will learns once again why he threw away his high-risk lifestyle and he gets to learn from this experience that gives him the inspiration to once again continue his comic. Obviously, I can't fit all of that in the two-minute opening although using color techniques and the cat character I can hint at details like this to give the scenes more depth that dives into the story as a whole.

Color

          I mentioned using color before, but I haven't truly incorporated it into individual scenes. I want contrast between the dark, gloomy color and lighting in lone scenes of Will and the bright, color-filled scenes with Psycho. I also want to include glimmers of happiness that he feels when interacting with things he likes (for example, his cat). I can do that with less vivid, but still noticeable color differences. To make my ideas more clear to those reading this I can explain them this way. There are four levels of color and lighting that a scene can have. The lone, depressing scenes of Will are the darkest, most grey scenes. Scenes, where Will interacts with something he likes, will have natural lighting and color to give a sense of normality and reality. Scenes that hint towards Psycho's existence without actually including Psycho will be vibrant to a degree. For example, the scene with the clock will have bright colors illuminating only from the clock. Finally, the most vibrant scenes are the ones with Psycho. These clips will have the most exaggerated color.

Cat

          Will's cat wasn't planned to be too important to the scene, but now I see its potential. I now know I can use the cat as a good example of something natural that gives Will happiness which is mainly important for the end of the film where he realizes that his normal life is a good life. Other than that there is an important aspect to the film I wanted to capture in the opening but wasn't sure how to. Since I've officially decided to go with the idea that Psycho's appearance in the real world is just in Will's head, I need a way to show that even if it's small. The only way to hint at this in such a short time is through the only other character in the opening, Will's cat. (I guess I should give it a name so I'll go with Swiggy just because.) The idea is to have Swiggy either walk past or walk through Psycho like he doesn't exist because he doesn't. This lack of interest would be strange for Swiggy because cats are known for their curiosity. It may help to put in some dialogue somewhere that talks about that curiosity. Anyway, it's a simple idea but it's important to establish Will's partial insanity as soon as I can and as much as I can in this little amount of time.

Portfolio Project Post #7

Rough sketch of Psycho Paranoia. I took inspiration from the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland to make a rabbit with crazy eyes and wings. I wanted to keep him as a small character because I'd like to animate him into my opening and the smaller he is the easier it will be to accomplish that. 

I also drew up a storyboard to help me visualize the scenes. It isn't perfectly detailed, but I just wanted to use it to have something I could easily find each scene in.

Portfolio Project Post #6

          This post is just an extension of my last post. I had some ideas overnight that I just wanted to add to the script before I do my first storyboard for the next post. I wanted to work a bit on dialogue before I make my final script. Most of the dialogue will be voiceovers of pessimistic comments made by Will in his inner thoughts that will be made comical by the visuals of the clip. 

         The first scene of Will waking up and yawning will obviously include his yawn as audio but for a voiceover, I'd have him make a remark about how boring the day will be because part of his character is that he is a pessimist and that mindset usually gets in the way of him enjoying his day which sets a tone for that side of Will. I'd use a freeze-frame of this scene and use a title card to introduce the character possibly with a narrator's voiceover. In the clip with Psycho's foggy silhouette, Will would make a comment on how he can never get any sleep because he always feels like someone's watching him. While Will walks out of his bedroom he could say "Maybe I should just read my own comics since all my critics say it puts them to sleep" because he's a failing writer and this dialogue can get that point across.

         When Will is in the hall and the clock moves counterclockwise he says "I used to be such a good writer. I wish I could just back in time to more adventurous days." Then he would proceed to walk down the squeaky steps.

          The downstairs scene that would take place in the kitchen scene could be a problem if it lasts too long so I was thinking of just doing fast-paced shots to quickly show what Will is doing. First, Will opens the refrigerator from the fridge's POV and he says how food isn't even enjoyable to him anymore and closes the door. Maybe before the clip starts there is nothing on the fridge, but after he closes it there will be a magnet of Pyscho or his logo on the fridge door. Next, Will turns to the Kuerig, turns it on, and looks up to the cabinet with coffee mugs. From the cabinet's POV, he looks for which mug he wants and the clip switches to show Will's options. He chooses a mug and places it in the Keurig and presses the button to brew his coffee. The camera then switches between a shot of Will's face and a shot of the brewing coffee as it zooms in and the audio gets louder. Will then says that he has to pee and the camera stays still while he runs to the bathroom and closes the door. While the camera waits it could shake a little bit like it's a cameraman holding it to somewhat break the fourth wall. Then the audience here's meow and the camera tilts down to show a cat standing there and Will comes to pick it up. This will not only add some randomness to the opening but comic relief because Will would have been in the bathroom for an ironically short amount of time. This will also work to make the opening feel more fast-paced to give it a similar feel to Scott Pilgrim. He then grabs the mug but it changed colors completely to keep up the continuity error gag. Will will then make another snarky remark before going back upstairs.

         The last scene starts with Psycho's POV on the roof as he watches Will walk through the hallway and the doorway back to his room. The camera will move forward to show Psycho is crawling then turn to show that his head twists around. Then Will sits in his chair and the chair makes that leather rubbing noise. Will then makes a dad joke and says "excuse me, coffee makes me gassy." He then complains about not knowing what to write while some strange particles in the air foreshadow Psycho's appearance. Psycho appears above Will on his desk. As a reference to IT since I got inspiration from it, Psycho says "Hiya Willy" the same way Pennywise says "Hiya Georgie." Then the scene ends on a side view shot of Psycho on one side and Will's surprised face on the other.

Portfolio Project Post #5

          For this post, I'll try to write a rough draft of the script. I won't include any dialogue yet, but I want to jot down the sequence of events that would happen in the opening. The video has to be two minutes max so I have to attempt to write enough content to fill that.

          The first thing to happen would be Will waking up in his bed and yawning. Automatically, Psycho would be foreshadowed by switching camera angles to see a foggy figure standing outside on the balcony. Next is a close-up of Will moving the blanket off him and another close-up showing his feet land on the carpet and walk off-screen. The last scene in the bedroom is him walking out of the room.

          Next, Will is seen walking in the hall. In the back, it could zoom in to a clock turning counterclockwise. Afterwards, Will would walk downstairs and each squeak of each step could be shown with onomatopoeia. 

          The scene with Will downstairs is mostly important for using continuity errors to my advantage. I want to show changing shirts, towels, and coffee mugs in the background to confuse Will and the viewers during the scene before he walks back upstairs. Each squeak of each step would be shown with onomatopoeia again to add repetition.

          The last scene starts with Psycho's POV on the roof as he watches Will walk through the hallway and the doorway back to his room. Then Will sits in his chair and complains about not knowing what to write while some strange particles in the air foreshadow Psycho's appearance. Then Psycho appears over Will and talks to him before cutting to black.

Portfolio Project Post #4

Last post I mentioned that I wanted to add random, abstract things in the background during the starting sequence. I want the movie to have a slight psychedelic feel to it. An exciting aspect of the movie is that it's mixing the comedy genre with a partially depressing, thrilling, and hallucinative tone to tell a story about suppressed imagination. It doesn't even have to be complicated since I'm only filming the opening so I don't have to go over my zero-dollar budget. The idea is to have Will walk around, getting ready for his day while strange occurrences happen behind him. This is dropping subtle hints to foreshadow Psycho Paranoia coming to life. My ideas for creative shots range from continuity errors, POV shots, lighting techniques, and reversed/time-lapsed clips.

Continuity Errors

For continuity errors, I could have something noticeable disappear from the background. I could also change the color of an object or maybe even Will's shirt in between shots. Maybe Will could also pick out a specific mug for his coffee and he notices it's different when he looks at it again.

POV Shots

I was thinking about taking inspiration from IT and make it seem like Psycho is stalking Will the way Pennywise stalked the kids. I could use POV shots from weird places like high up near the ceiling, so it looks like Psycho is crawling upside down. The camera can turn from upside down while he's crawling to right-side-up while he perches to stare at Will. I could use cracking noises to signal that Psycho twisted his neck like in a horror movie. The camera would also follow Will while adjusting the focus to make Psycho appear to be a mysterious creature.

Lighting Techniques

Similar to the last technique I'm taking inspiration from it. When Pennywise appears in dark shadows it gave me the idea of showing Psycho as a shadow in the background. An over-the-shoulder shot can be used to show Psycho as Will's shadow as he moves around and taunts will behind his back.

Reverse/Timelapse

I imagined one idea of a clock spinning counterclockwise. This idea is extremely easy because all I have to do is take a timelapse of a clock and reverse it to make it spin back.