CR for Short Film

• How do your products represent social groups or issues?

There are multiple products that I have created including the short film, a website, and a postcard. The short film is about a girl that moves to a new town. She meets her new neighbor who gives her really creepy vibes and seems to always be around. She soon starts to receive creepy letters in the mail and doesn’t know who it is. The website includes information and the latest updates of the film. It also includes the social media platforms made for the short film. The postcard includes where and when the film will be shown and includes the social media usernames. All of these products represent social groups because they are for those interested in thrillers and suspenseful films. The products are also for all different age groups and ethnicities. Therefore, the film represents a wide range of social groups. Although it is for all different age groups, it is typically for teens and older. Due to the topics displayed in the film, it may not be for younger age groups. My short film does represent some issues including mental illness, stalking, obsession, and threat. The film shows real life events that happen in real life. It makes awareness about those that are stalked by someone. It also represents obsession because it shows that the person leaving the letters is probably obsessed with the girl. There are many people who experience stalkers or have someone obsessed with them at some point. These people are able to relate to the film and understand that this is a real issue that many people experience and go through. 

• How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’?

The elements of my production include the short film, the website, and the postcard. These all work together to create a sense of ‘branding’ because they all promote and work to brand the short film. The postcard shows the audience where the film will be showcased, which is at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. It also includes the dates and times that it will be shown, which is from February 18^th-25^th, and at 7, 8, and 9 PM. In addition to this, the postcard lists all the social medias so that the audience can follow us for more information on the short film. Lastly, it has a QR code that can be scanned for easy access to the website. The website has many elements which all work together to create the sense of ‘branding’ for the short film. On the website, you can find the latest updates, pictures, sneak peaks, and information that you may need. It makes the short film more interesting and appeals to the audiences. Most importantly, the website has live links that take viewers to the social media platforms. On these, you can find behind the scenes pictures from the short film, as well as more information about what is going on and the most recent updates. By posting pictures and adding captions on the social medias, as well as giving insight, the audience is intrigued and excited about the release of the short film. The postcard, website, and all social media platforms work really well together to promote the short film and create a sense of ‘branding’ that makes the short film more professional. 

• How do your products engage with the audience?

When creating a film, it is very important to make it interesting so that you can grab the audiences’ attention and engage with them. When coming up with ideas for the short film, and thinking of a plan, I knew that it was crucial to come up with an idea that viewers would want to watch and be interested in throughout.  I thought choosing a thriller as the genre would be a good idea because I have always found them to keep the audience on the edge of their seat and intrigued. It also engages with the audience because if they have experienced something similar to the film, they are able to relate and connect with it. The website and social media platforms for the short film engage with the audience in many ways, and also grab their attention. Both the website and social medias give the audience updates and information about the film, allowing the audience to be a part of the experience, journey, and creation of the short film. The social medias provide behind the scenes sneak peaks of footage from the film, without revealing too much. With the use of social media platforms, the audience can also engage by following the social medias. That way, they see when and what we post. They are also engaging with this product when they like or comment on the post, as well as sharing it. Another way the audience can engage with the products is by sending a DM (direct message) through the social medias.

• How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?

Before being able to start the planning process for the film, it was very important to do research about the type of film that I am trying to create. I did lots of research on thrillers and what typical films with this genre consist of. My short film uses conventions in many ways because it includes conventions that would normally be in a thriller and/or suspenseful film. In the short film, the audience will be on the edge of their seats throughout, wondering who is leaving the mysterious letters, and what is going to happen next. I also filmed common angles, shots, and movements that would typically be found in thrillers including tracking shots, pans, over the shoulder, point of view shots, and more. The music choice also uses conventions because of the eerie and on the edge sounds that are usually in thriller films. Another product, the promotional website, uses conventions because it includes conventions that would regularly be on a website that is trying to promote something. Our website includes information about the short film that the audience may want to know. It also includes a gallery where photos from our film or behind the scenes can be viewed. Typically, these things can also be found on a promotional website that is advertising something such as a film that is being released. The social medias are also found on the website which is very common. Most films have social media accounts for them with information about it and posts. These are all ways in which the film, website, and social medias challenge conventions.

Short Film Package

My Short Film Package

Uneasy 

Link to short film: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vaal_oD7OC0

 

 

Link to website: https://mediastudiesbkl.wixsite.com/website

The Post Card 

Social Media Updates

           Now that my group and I have filmed, we have footage and pictures from our short film. So, now we have media that we can add to our website and our socials. Before filming, we never had anything to post on them. We had put the profile pictures as a stack of letters. Now that we have our own pictures it was time to change them. I went though the footage from our short film. I took screen shots of parts that I thought would be good to post. I took a screen shot of a clip that showed a letter sticking out of the mailbox. I thought this would be a good picture to set as profile pictures. I continued to go through the footage and screenshot photos from various scenes. I made sure not to screenshot pictures that would reveal anything. My goal was just to pick some that would look interesting but not give away too much. 

          I headed over to the first social media platform, Instagram. Luckily since I am familiar with this platform, it was easy for me to do what I needed. I first changed the profile pick, and then made the first instagram post. I also managed the account and made it as a creator account and labeled it as a movie. Then, I headed over to Facebook where I had a little more trouble. I am familiar with Facebook but wasn’t able to figure it out as quickly as Instagram. Here, I changed the profile picture, as well as the cover photo. On Facebook, I like how there are two pictures that can be shown above the bio. I made the first post on Instagram, and then went over to our Youtube where I changed the profile picture as well. Lastly I updated the profile picture on the Twitter, and posted two tweets with captions and pictures. This is all I did for now, but soon I will continue to inform and update our audience by posting more!  

Editing!

           We have chosen the best clips to use for our short film and are now ready to move on. This means that we are now going into the editing process! I also enjoy editing because I get to see the film come together. I started off by gathering all the clips that I was going to use. For some scenes I had favorited two clips to see which one would look better in the film. The software that I used to edit was iMovie. My group and I have used this in the past and it has always been a very easy process. First I uploaded all the clips into iMovie. Once all the clips were there, I realized that it was a little over 6 and a half minutes. I knew that I would have to do a lot of cutting to get it to the 5 minutes it needed to be. 

            I then began putting the clips in the right order. Then, I added smooth transitions between each clip to make it flow together. I had originally used a fade transition for most of them, but then realized that the dissolve transition took away a few seconds from each clip. I decided to switch them to the dissolve transition since it was important to cut as much as possible. Once I had this done, I went through each clip and cut as much as I could. This was a very long process because I had to split a lot of the clips and cut out parts from the middle. After a lot of time and cutting, I was able to cut almost 2 whole minutes out, getting our film down to 5 minutes and a few seconds. Due to lots of background noise from outside, I muted all the scenes with no dialogue. I will soon go and add music during these parts, and then titles. I did as much as I could for now and will find time soon to finish up since I work all weekend. 

Going through the Footage

           I’m so glad that we finished filming, and now it’s time to put it all together! Before we can edit we need to go through all of the footage that was taken. We knew this was going to be a lot longer process than it has been in the past. This short film is the longest project yet that we have done. My group and I plan on meeting up soon to review our footage and go through it. However, I thought it would be a good idea to look through it and pick the clips that I thought were the best. This way, I can show my group mates the clips and see what they think. This will make it a faster process and more efficient. Since I filmed, I have all the footage on my phone which allows me to have access to all of it. I had to see which clips came out the best, but also put into consideration the audio in the background.

         I started off by looking at the first set of clips that I took for the first scene. Each clip from this scenes looked pretty good so I just favorited the one I thought was overall the best. I continued to do this for the rest of the scenes. I tried to pick the clips with the best shots and angles. While filming, I was moving a lot to create tracking shots. So, I also chose the clip that looked the smoothest and most professional. I had just gotten a new phone right before filming so it was perfect timing. The camera quality is very good and doesn’t show much movement which allowed the footage to look very smooth. I continued to go through the clips for each scene favoriting the best one. For some, I favorited multiple which I will show my group mates to come to a decision of which one we will use. Now that I have gone through the footage, I can meet up with my group mates and picking our clips will be a lot easier. 

Filming: part two

           Once they were both inside, Jeffery walked around snooping. Paige then opened up a box and pulled out the picture of her and her ex. Jeffery then proceeded to ask questions about the picture. Paiges brushes it off and then Jefferey leaves. This was our second scene of dialogue. Later, I realized that I didn’t get a close up shot of the picture, so I did that at the end. It was now time for an outfit change. This scene was of Paige on a run so she changed into athletic clothing. I filmed her running and when she was coming back, she noticed a letter in her mailbox. This is when she looks around and sees Jeffery, her neighbor looking at her and waving. 

          Paige grabs the letter and runs inside to open it. It was then time for another clothing change. Both Paige and Jeffery put on a different outfit for the next scene to show there has been a time change. Then I film the next scene where it cuts to Paige installing a camera using tools. Jeffery comes up to her while she’s doing this and they have another conversation. I filmed over the shoulder shots during the conversation and took multiple takes. It was now time to start filming another scene where Paige is in the car. I filmed her driving up to the house and then stopping when she sees another letter in the mailbox and took a POV shot walking towards the mailbox. Then I film the next scenes where she goes inside to call her friend and then confronts the neighbor. Once the neighbor denies that it is him, she goes inside and I film the last scene of the ex. We were finally finished filming our short film! 

Filming: part one

          Once I had felt that I filmed enough takes of the first clip, we moved on to the next. In this clip, Paige opened the car door, got out, and went to the trunk of the car. First I stood at the front of the car and took shots of her getting out of the car. I then realized that my reflection was shown in the car of me filming. I went to the back of the car and starting filming from this spot. Luckily, my reflection was no longer in the car so I then took a few takes from there. Next, Paige was supposed to open the trunk. I thought that a trunk shot would be a great idea for this clip. I went in the back seat of the car and opened up the little trunk access window. This way, I could hold the camera and get a good trunk shot. 

           Once I found a good position, Paige opened the trunk and grabbed out a box. Then our next clip was of Paige walking into the house to set the box down. I took a few takes of this as well. Now this is where Jeffery, the creepy neighbor comes into the film. I filmed Paige walking back to the car where Jeffery pops up. This is the first scene where there is dialogue. I had our script up on my phone which allowed me to read their lines to them and help them remember. I filmed this scene multiple times to make sure that we had at least one really good take of this scene. Jeffery offers to help Paige bring boxes inside, so I film them both grabbing boxes and walking inside. I filmed this a couple of times and this scene was now over.