Alyssa's Blogosphere

  My CCR

  Matted Final Film:  https://youtu.be/RhrVCvzdWGM

  Unrelated to my CCR, I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about the filmmaking process and, as a result, my film in and of itself. While my favorite part of the process was definitely editing it digitally, there were still moments where I was only motivated by the need to be done. I do think the quality of my film potentially suffered as a result of this- decisions, though thought out, maybe could have been handled with more tact and care, had I felt as passionate as I did about it in the beginning.  Honestly, it really helps me respect filmmakers on a new level. The amount that they have to manage, and the effort that some put in is something I admire especially as an artist- because filmmaking is an art, just one new to me, and one that I think, if given the chance, I could give a better shot at in the future. I take this entire experience as one of learning: I definitely have room to grow in plenty of areas, and making this film was very eye-opening in that regard. ...

  To make my film feel like a more authentic movie opening, I had to add additional text in my film- while this sounds simple and easy, there was still thought that had to be put into where the text sat, what it looked like, and how it was going to look onscreen. This is because I wanted the text to match my title screen at the end of the film in color, font, and the manner in which it appeared. The visibility problems came up when the text had to match the title while still being readable and noticeable onscreen among other greens and similar hues- I wanted the consistency without making it difficult to read, or straining to the eyes, so I had to move the text around to different spaces onscreen- which, in the end, I feel helped with the more authentic feel anyways.

  As I work on my CCR, I'm realizing the largest benefit of blogging: letting me know exactly what to say. I've already been reflecting in these blog posts, so while I work, I know where my thought process is already going based off of what I've written in the past. The CCR is, thankfully, coming along well because of this, and it should be done very soon- I've chosen to do make it in a powerpoint format. Blogging itself was a challenge of its own to get done- It took me longer than I intended. But it did help having a place to gather my thoughts and the motivation it took to complete my project as well as providing help in finishing the writing for my CCR. Blogging has been a helpful experience, I think. I've learned a lot about myself and my work ethic, as well as the fact that having a consistent time to get things done is important to have to be able to get my work completed for me personally. Having a plan for wha tot write is extremely helpful.

  I've finally finished editing my film! My second large round of editing went to sound layering and working out how the title scene was going to play out/sound. It also was spent figuring out what sounds to keep from the natural recording and what sounds to use via a foley or public use. When I layered the sound, I wanted to keep in mind a somewhat natural difference between volumes that would be easy on the ears- as someone who watches a lot of movies, a heavy difference in sound can be jarring or physically discomforting for me, and while I wanted the vibe as a result of the sounds to be tense, I didn't want the sound balance to take away from the film instead of pulling the audience in: I hate having to constantly raise and lower my volume when watching a movie to get it just right every other scene. For the title, I decided to keep it simple, and let the sound do the work: a grating, eerie violin plays as the sounds of the forest fade away to a black screen. I had to chang...

  Originally, there were a few aspects of my film I mentioned that I was set on having in my film. Though initially I did not think they would be subject to change, in the end, I decided to change them. Here are some of those things: Flashlight: Originally, I intended on have a shake activated flashlight, because I personally really enjoy the concept of having to use one in a horror-based setting. Then, I realized my survivalist father would have a flashlight I wouldn't have to pay for on hand, which was immediately more convenient. Then, when we arrived to the cabin, we actually found a massive flashlight with a flashing option that worked really well for the aesthetics of my film. Monster: Originally, the monster in my film wasn't even going to be shown- just heavily hinted at. I don't own anything furry or reflective to use, however, and editing eyes would have beene extremely difficult considering a limited program. While I planned on working past this, one of my helper...

  One of the reasons I chose to stay in this course early in the year was because of my love for film analysis. Really, I do love it- a nerdy thing to say, but the wholehearted truth. In my free time I watch videos on how to critically look at film and different ways to interpret themes and specific symbols within it. Because of this, I actually write a lot of my personal work in extended metaphor, and of course, really enjoy the film analysis and symbolism aspect of media studies.  Despite this, my film actually almost completely lacks any real meaningful symbolism other than color language. This is partly because I didn't consider my film to belong enough to really hold potential for meaningful symbolism, but also because I focused more on making my film feel like the classic horror movie opening trope than revolutionizing it. Instead of embedding my film with deeply thought out symbolism as I usually would, I instead focused on classic camera and editing tropes, as well as ...

  One of my more notorious inspirations for the feel of my project was the film The Blair Witch Project. While I've mentioned this film countless times before on this blog, I've never fully elaborated on why it was such an inspiration for me and how that manifested into my project's final appearance.  To start, Blair Witch revolutionized putting the concept of "found footage" into a fictional film- for months after its release, many fully believed that Blair Witch was a true story about 3 friends who went missing, sparking insane amounts of speculation over the "real" events that occurred in the mysterious footage. So much so, that the directors and actors had to come out and admit it was fake, and that everyone involved was perfectly okay. The entire situation to me is iconic, and really important to think about for low-budget film makers: they were a group of college students, also working on a low budget. Another main reason for inspiration was the se...

My initial storyboard to follow for my project was, while meant to be a heavy suggestion for the direction and shots in my film, was taken more as a loose idea for where my film was headed. While there were major shots that I kept mostly the same, such as closeups and the infamous dolly zoom, as well as the ending shots and plans for the title sequence, I also took a lot of creative liberty out on the field while I was shooting that resulted in my final film looking pretty different from the initial storyboard, while still maintaining the main idea of what was supposed to be captured. I want to attribute this difference to not originally knowing my filming landscape when I first mapped out my storyboard for my film. When I finally got to film, and was able to walk around and become more familiar with my filming location, some shots naturally changed to adapt to the general landscape of where I was filming- these changes weren't the most intentional, but they were accepted for me an...

Going into this final project, I really thought that I would get all of this done easy-peasy and really thoroughly enjoy the entirety of the process. It was early in the school year, and I was really excited about the idea to participate in a project about something I have a care for: film. I LOVE film, if you couldn't already tell by the way I speak about it every single time it gets brought up. Despite my love for film, though, the moment I had to really genuinely start work on this project, things started to take a downward turn. I was busy with other school-related projects and responsibilities, my plans refused to work out, and I was quickly losing motivation for basically everything I can think of. Despite everything, I got it done. Obviously, getting this done was a lot harder than I thought, whether it was from extraneous circumstances or just me making this harder on myself. My blog I think really captures that struggle and evolution: a one-man show is much harder to run t...

  The editing program I chose to use for my project was iMovie, the apple-based editing software that comes for free with most apple products. This is ironic, actually- I live in a Samsung household, but I own an iPad to be able to use programs like procreate or, in this case, iMovie. I had never used iMovie before, so there was a slight learning curve, but overall, I found it a very easy program to use, despite the functions it provides being relatively basic and not the most advanced. I was only a little frustrated with certain elements, but I'm unsure whether it was due to the fact I'm unfamiliar with the program or because it genuinely lacked the ability to do certain things I wanted, such as smoothing out the transitions between certain scenes or layering audio more complex than a simple fade or one option for volume throughout. Despite running into these problems, I did what I could to combat them, and my final product ended up pretty put together for the struggles I face...

  While I don't think much would change aesthetically if I had had a professional budget for my film, I do think there would be a few things subject to change. Aesthetically, though, I really enjoy the "found footage" vibe- the main change I would make would be having the access to professional lighting and editing softwares that can clean and clear up my footage. I could also use that professional budget to stay in a filming location longer, and more thought out- still in a forested area, but maybe securing that area off from the public for a while to shoot. I would keep it in a mountainous area: I loved working somewhere a little farther from home and unique to setting- and it also works amazingly with the story and aesthetics of my film, just would be more professionally set up and manufactured. I wouldn't, however, utilize a professional budget to bring in any big-name actors: while the experience they provide is something filmmakers love to work with, I think hor...

  In my film, I chose to utilize different kinds of camera shots and angles: here are some I chose, and why! Extreme Close Up: Probably the most thought out of my camera shots: I KNEW I wanted to have an extreme closeup on my character's eyes in the project. Partly because the shot is a horror film classic, but also because it is one of the most perfect ways to increase tension: The audience can't tell what's going on, and can only gauge their reaction based off of the character's jittery, shifty eye movements. It's a staple in horror for a reason, and it was easy to film as well, making it a convenient attention grabber, as well. POV: I have a few POV shots in my film, some from the main character, and one from the monster hunting them down. I like POV shots because they really help with making the audience connect with a character beyond watching them: because in that moment, they ARE that character. POV shots are another horror movie staple- you can hear the brea...

For the sake of time and of convenience, I shot my entire film in one night over the span of an entire hour. I chose to do this for several reasons: One: I did not know if we would get the free time again considering we were part of a large vacation group that wanted to do an abundance of things. Two: I wanted to respect my helpers' time: It had to be shot at night, and they would either want to start winding down, hanging out with people they were closer with, or even just return inside because it gets cold in the mountains at night. Three: I was antsy to get the project filmed and prepared for the final stretch. And Four: My film has a lot of repetitive shots/easy to film sequences that I figured would be much easier to do in a continuous film day rather than splitting it up and getting different lighting or ambiance. There are downsides to this, of course: I do not get any chance to add onto any of my material because all the material I have to work with is literally... all I wi...

One of the things my film lacks is thought-out representation. It wasn't something I prioritized heavily as a student filmmaker with a one-actor short film opening. Since I wasn't going to have multiple characters in my film opening, I figured the best film choice was to actually lean into a specific horror/thriller movie trope: the opening kill. All my main options for actors were teenage girls, including myself, which actually perfectly aligns with that trope: a LOT of first kills in these movies are teenage girls. While I would love to improve the representation in my film, there are also problems with being super representative in horror: the trope of "burying" your representation by killing them off is much worse than the "first kill" trope- and since someone dies at the end of my film opening, I would hate to contribute to a harmful stereotype that is widely looked down upon by audiences of so many different backgrounds.