Memorial/interview updates

February 14th update      

Hey so it's been a minute but to be honest, I've been crazy busy with life recently. I feel like lots has been going on the last week though I need to update you about it. 

Let's start with the interview... 

So as I said I interviewed with Rylan Knox on the 12th. Within this interview, I really wanted to focus on the beginning parts of my structure in her experience that day and the feeling of loss. One of the main reasons I decided to focus on the beginning structure with her was because I really felt like she wanted to share her story. That's in contrast to one of my other interview subjects Mitch Dworet who I'll reference later. So back to Rylan, within this interview, she detailed her experience that day and how loss felt to her. She also went into a bit of grief and how she overcame these emotions through yoga. I was really upset because about 20 minutes through her interview we were interrupted as a class was about to take place in the room we conducted the interview in however so I didn't get to be as thorough as I would've loved to be with her. Nonetheless, I felt as though this was a really incredible interview and that overall Rylan is an incredible girl. It really honestly put life into perspective for me that just 7 years ago she was the same age as me, with the same personality and life, and in a click like that her life changed indefinitely. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel some pretty strong emotions during this interview but honestly I feel like that made the two of us connect on a deeper level. 

Since I finished her interview now and still need to get at least two more I decided that in order to manage my time wisely I would start the process of structuring where I'd like to put certain things she said. Someone who is helping me in the documentary process Oriana Rangel gave me the idea to actually transcribe the interview and put it into a document to structure it rather than watch the video over and over again and honestly, it's working really well for me. The first step of that was to of course transcribe and read it and now I'm beginning the process of highlighting keywords and parts of her interview I think would be essential to the purpose I'm trying to get across. 

So thats an update on the interview that was conducted now let's discuss all the work I did this weekend in context to filming Broll... 

As I've established the MSD shooting happened on February 14th so every year Eagles Haven, a grief and recovery center I've been in close contact with, hosts a memorial service where family and friends can come to speak on behalf of the 17 lives lost and honor those individuals. This memorial showcased a dove flight which you can see to the left, speeches from each of the family members, a candle lighting ceremony, and activities that the lives lost loved. The main purpose of me going to this event was to learn more about this topic whilst filming footage that showcases both grief and perserverance. I was grateful to have the opportunity to go and film the event as well as speak with other individuals who may have a connection within this community. Within these conversations, I was able to talk to Mitch Dworet father of Alexander Dworet (freshman at the time) and Nicholas Dworet (senior at the time). Mitch and I had a long conversation about the concept of grief as both of his sons were affected by the MSD shooting. Unfortunately, Mitch's older son Nicholas was taken that day and Alex was injured so he has had a difficult time these last 7 years recovering from this tragedy. That being said, when I initially began discussing a documentary with him he was extremely reluctant. He had a conversation with me entirely summed to - he didn't want to talk about the day. However, through our conversation, we realized that we had a common mission to help others who suffer from grief find methods of perseverance. Because of this Mitch agreed to give me his number so we could schedule an interview at a later time. 

I also connected with Eagles Haven to schedule an interview with Lindsay Carpenter who is the project coordinator in charge of all major events like the memorial and grief resources for those who have suffered from loss. I wanted to slow down with these other two interviews as I want to take my time with this project so I gave both of these individuals my schedule so we can find a comfortable time for all parties. Now a documentary is a lot of work to do on your own so I would love to give credit to my wonderful boyfriend Lucas who helped me at the memorial as well as my friend Oriana who plans on helping with the interviews, structure, and editing process. Honestly as cheesy as this may sound I really feel like this was my fate to share this story so I'm very happy that I have been given the opportunity to do so. 

Last thing I want to update you on is the amount of research this documentary is taking. Tomorrow I'm going to write a blog more about that but just for some context... I currently have 32 different news articles open on my computer to read more about literally everything in relation to grief specifically the grief of those who lost a life to gun violence. But yeah this topic is definitely very heavy. I really hope this becomes a resource for individuals who suffer from this sitution and I'm glad I can share this. 

But well, 

Until next time

- Emma <3

Outline & Structure

     So I met with Mrs. Stoklosa today (my aice media teacher) and we fully talked for about 30 minutes about everything to do with this documentary. The school shooting at Stoneman Douglas happened... 2 days from now 7 years ago and it's been a crazy week of emotions and research. I honestly changed my concept within this overarching topic a lot. Whilst I really resonate with the concept of the survival guilt expecially in regards to Sydney Aiello, I realize that this is a really difficult topic for many to discuss in their interviews. Because of all of this I pretty much landed on the concept to not focus on what happened the day of the shooting but rather how individuals cope with grief and what they do with those emotions. 

So the structure would go as follows

1. Stoneman douglas shooting backstory 

2. Loss and who was lost that day

3. Grief 

4. What we do with grief/moving on

Since the portfolio project is only a 5 minute excerpt from the piece I decided that in creating this documentary I really want to focus on the last 5 minutes. I actually got to speak to one of the parents who lost his child (Nicholas Dworet). Nicholas was actually a 17-year-old Olympic swimmer who tragically lost his life on that horrific day. Speaking with his father he loved the concept of speaking of grief and how he resonates with that emotion. He shared with me his personal story of grief and I am now working on setting up an interview with him. 

Also I realize that filming this documentary can be really hard so I have done a lot of prior research into the individuals before their interviews to understand their situation a little more deeply and see what to avoid asking. 

On another note I actually got to film one of my interviews and it went really well. I am really happy with it (even though we got cut off a bit towards the end I think it went well). I'm getting ready to film Broll at the memorial and so I've begun writing a broll list of things I'd like to include. 

Some of these things include 

- Dove launching 

- Candle Lighting ceremony 

- Booths in memorial 

- Family members 

- Speeches/stories 

- EMOTIONSSSSSS 

I'm really honored to be able to work on this project and really want this to be perfect (or as close as I can get)

But well I plan on updating you after the ceremony on how things go and share some footage I get. 

Until Next Time 

- Emma ♡

Project schedule

Desired Accomplishments...

Of course, this project is definitely something I'm passionate about but let's be honest, second-semester senior year... We need a schedule to stay on track. 

If you are not already aware of this Stoneman Douglas was a school shooting that happened on February 14th, 2018. Which is in... 3 days. So to get broll of memorials and how individuals are honored I need to pick up the pace in filming and getting things ready. So literally within the first day of choosing this topic, I already contacted a girl to set up an interview. (I wasn't kidding when I said I was excited) her interview is scheduled for tomorrow the 12th. The girl I am interviewing' name is Rylan Knox. She was best friends with both Sydney Aiello and Meadow Pollack so she has really struggled with her mental health ever since. Both she and Sydney worked to get over their PTSD through yoga and unfortunately one of them got through it and one of them did not. Due to Sydeny and Rylan being such close friends I feel as though she will have very good insight on Sydenys emotions and how the shooting really affected both of them. 

I digress, let's plan the schedule for the next few weeks...

This gets me to the end of feburary.. So what you can see here is my schedule for the next three weeks. I know it looks very.... colorful but I'll explain why. As I said in my last blog, I want to focus on the feeling of survivals guilt specifically in the first documentary episode regarding to stoneman douglas. That being said I wanted to do a social media series where I feature all 17 individuals and honor them and their families by describing who they were as individuals and what their families are doing with their grief. Unfortuantely many who lose their families suffer from PTSD and as I said survivals guilt so I felt that by featuring each individual on a specific day and describing the incredible individuals they are fit within the genre and feeling of this documentary.  

After Feburary ends I'd have a total of 6 weeks left... So heres my checklist for what I need to get done in those final six weeks

1. I need to finish the posts for the 17 individuals and begin to segway the social media to focus on the Texas elementary school shooting - the next episode of my documentary

2. I need to begin the post production process and start editing my documentary

3. I need to finalize the social media & magazine article 

4. I need to write my critical reflection 

I feel like if I stay on track because a lot of the filming is happening this week (so excited I got this (ish)) I can definetly finish on time. With filming the majority of the broll this friday and even having an interview done before the week is over it's definetly plausible.

Thats all for me now 

Until next time 

- Emma <3

Its been a minute..

Next big thing... 

Now that we are officially done with all the preliminary projects we have for Aice Media A level we are moving on to something bigger. Since we last wrote in this blog we have been very busy in our class. The last project we did was create a distribution and marketing plan for an upcoming movie written by our schools creative writing class. Part of this project included creating a movie trailer, a teaser, and a print document to publicize the film.

Here is a brief summary of the film: Juan Antonio Casas, nicknamed Juanto, finds himself in a whirlwind 48 hours after his roommate Felipe Barboza mysteriously disappears. After discovering a ransom note demanding $315,000 for Felipe's safe return, Juanto embarks on a frantic investigation through New York City. He navigates through police stations, and Felipe's school, and eventually uncovers Felipe's deep debt to a loan shark. Juanto works with a detective to set a trap, ultimately exposing Felipe's staged disappearance. Felipe and the loan shark are arrested, leaving Juanto searching for a new roommate.

I'm honestly really happy with how this film turned out. Here is a link to my trailer, teaser, and print document if you'd like to check them out! :)
 

But now that our project is over we're finally starting our portfolio project.

I seriously don't think I have ever been so excited to start a project in this class because I finally feel excited to create and genuinely I don't think I've felt so passionate about a project in a long time. This brings forth the first decision, which project should I choose to complete. Throughout my four years of high school, I have always been interested in journalism and telling others stories so I instantly landed in completing the documentary package. 

    Within the past few months, I have been really considering what content I want my documentary to share. At first, my interest was in foster care and discussing the different impacts of the foster care system on others and the detrimental impact being separated from a parent can bring. I liked this concept because, in terms of an episodic documentary series, I felt the issue of children losing their parents could include things such as the passing away at a young age, foster care, and more topics. I've always been really passionate about foster care but due to the inability to get a concrete b roll in foster children, I decided to move on from that concept to something tremendously different. 

    I compete in a television competition called STN where we practice every Saturday to make a news magazine in 8 hours. So through that, I make a news package every Saturday in which I meet a lot of people who really help me to make connections in my community. When at the Challenge Air event helping disabled children learn how to fly planes, however, one person really stuck out to me more than any have before. There was a table for one of the children who passed away in Stoman Douglas: Gina Rose Montalto although I wasn't able to interview him for the package I was currently working on that man really stuck with me. He shared how his daughter loved working with Challenge Air and was only 14 years old which got me thinking, we talk about the person who has passed away but never the people still alive afterward. 

    I did a lot of research and that's when I found her. Sydney Aiello. A survivor of the tragic massacre who was so guilty of surviving she took her own life just a year afterward. I have already started doing a lot of research (if I'm being honest the second I started this project I really couldn't stop). So I honestly stalked a lottt of Instagram accounts and websites and photos and news articles and I found SO. MUCH. INFORMATION. Firstly I found out how Sydney was best friends with a girl named Meadow Pollack who was shot in Stoneman Douglas. Ever since then, she suffered from survival guilt and PTSD from what had happened. She tried to recover from this grief but it was just too much for her and she lost the fight the same way her best friend did. 

    This is a really heavy topic but I'm honestly so passionate and excited to see how this documentary comes out. 

    

    Until next time 

- Emma <3

Critical Reflection

Critical Reflection for "The Evolution of Cypress Bay"

• How did research inform your product and the way it uses or challenges conventions?
• How does your product engage with audiences?
• How does your product represent social groups/issues?

The documentary "The Evolution of Cypress Bay" focuses on a school that has changed heavily over the last 20 years. This includes themes of how technology has affected the classroom and how teachers must adapt to changes made in the educational system. 

When this documentary began, research played a vital role in the way this documentary was created and structured. By doing initial research with class documentaries, it was much easier to find meaning and create meaning in documentaries created by implementing lessons learned. In understanding key concepts of a documentary and seeing how for example American Promise (a documentary you can see more about here) created strong meaning in a school setting, this documentary was initiated with lots of inspiration henceforth making it more defined from the start. By watching many documentaries there were invaluable insights gained into the power of storytelling. This was shown in the importance of crafting a narrative, selecting visually pleasing shots, and conducting interesting and engaging interviews.

Initially creating this documentary began with research on particular conventions such as the ways in which this story was going to be told as well as the lens viewers should look through. One large debate that took place was whether or not younger teachers or students should've been involved in interviews. As you can see in the Pre-Production Blog Here this documentary featured only two interviews from two teachers who have been at Cypress Bay since its opening. While many arguments were raised of how having more interviews with possibly younger and more modern students/teachers could've elevated the piece ultimately the conclusion was that due to the want to showcase an evolution, using older teachers throughout the piece showed how they feel it has changed. By highlighting their experiences, we aimed to capture the essence of the school's transformation over time. This approach allowed us to delve into the challenges and triumphs that have shaped Cypress Bay. If I were to do this piece again however I could see how using younger individuals could've been a nice addition, especially in the technological segment of the documentary. 

 Research was integral in understanding how to conduct a documentary-style interview so that the interview style matched the way this documentary was being shown to the audience. For example, in understanding genre conventions, the decision was made to use indirect interviews rather than direct ones so the audience could hear the interviewee's perspective rather than the interviewer's questions. The choice of indirect interviews, rather than direct ones, allowed the documentary to have a more intimate and engaging viewing experience. By minimizing the presence of the interviewer, we shifted the focus to the voices of the teachers and their personal stories.

In addition to having well throughout and established research having a defined audience was also very important. This documentary's target audience is students or teachers who have either personally been affected by the change in the school system or have seen this change firsthand. Due to this target audience, b-roll was very important to facilitate the audience to feel a certain way throughout the piece. In having lots of footage within classrooms, the audience can see it firsthand and even relate to the way students do their work nowadays. The selection of B-roll footage showcased the school's physical transformation and student life, which in return added depth and context to the narrative. One thing I didn't include which I think could've related and made the target audience more engaged was music. I think adding music under certain segments of the doc could've pushed the content along in a smoother way. 

I also feel that indirect interviews can help the audience stay engaged for longer when the interviewee speaks in bite-sized chunks, and the content has the potential to flow nicely. Within the structure of the piece by utilizing indirect interviews the viewer can understand 

Technically speaking I feel as though this piece did not turn out exactly as I wanted, it felt like a lot of different concepts trying to be merged into one which at times does not translate correctly. However I think that the point does come across I just wish that this piece could've either been more focused on the change of Cypress Bay or how technology affects classrooms (this one would've definitely been stronger). 

The main social issue that is explored throughout this documentary are issues within our school system, such as technological advancements, and the changing demands of a high school teacher. By highlighting the experiences of teachers who have been at this school for over 20 years it also shows the dedication of teachers and the ways in which they have to evolve with changes made to our school system like the recent ban of technology (non-educational). 

Furthermore, the film touches upon the challenges and opportunities presented by technological advancements in education. It explores how technology has transformed teaching methods, student learning, and communication within the school. This was shown through visual and auditory elements that bring the piece together.

Group documentary production part 2...

 It continues... 

*Just an apology, unfortunately, earlier this day my dog passed away and I'm dealing with serious pain as I write this blog. I do not want this by any means to affect this post as I write to you however I feel a sense of pessimism as I write this. I'm sorry if that comes across in the way I am writing however I feel like it is best I address this sorrow and move on from it*

Back to happy Emma... Or at least I'll try! 

As production of my project came to an end the post-production started.. I was the main editor for this documentary so I knew I wanted to get right down to business and begin by sorting through all of the footage taken.

Footage Sorting 

So when I started to look at all my footage I saw that a lot of the interviews had to do with technology however we didn't take as much b roll of teenagers on technology so we had to adapt. I texted my partner to possibly develop some staged shots as well as see if there were any we could film at school to put into the piece. Also, whilst looking at the footage I was able to come up with where I wanted to put certain interview clips and bring our general structure to life. Sorting through footage didn't thankfully take too long so then I got to get into the real editing process..

Editing & Some Frustration...

So to be completely honest with you within the editing process came a lot of frustration. I am taking a lot of very hard classes this year and struggled to balance this documentary and my other classes causing me to feel really stressed and anxious about this project. Within the editing process, I started to create a general line edit of what interview clips went where and to figure out the general topic this doc was turning into. I think that with the burnout (if you will) I was feeling I really struggled to be happy with a product and honestly just ended with what I thought was best. I then went back into my sorted broll and began covering jump cuts with footage we had filmed. I tried my best to match said footage with what was being said at that time as well as include that teacher when they were speaking. 

Throughout this process, I also began slight color grading to fix shots that were not as cinematically sound as I would've liked them to be. This was also the time when I took into consideration what shots were more necessary than others and certain technical issues that could take away from the piece like shaky shots. 

I wanted to see about adding lower thirds and music, and I did add lower thirds however I didn't really like how they turned out. In context to the music, I felt very overwhelmed with the decision and ultimately decided that the product would be ok without it. I think that music could've added something to the piece however I struggled to find the correct music that fit with the piece overall. 

So.. If you'd like to see my final copy I'm going to link it here 

Final Documentary

I hope you enjoyed what I came up with. 

Until next time 

- Emma

Group Documentary Production Part 1..

 And so production began.. 

Of course, after research comes implementation. So when it came to this documentary the first thing we wanted to do was film some establishing shots of Cypress Bay as well as film our first interview...

Coach Ulman 

Our first interview was with Coach Ulman. Coach Ulman was the former football coach for CBHS and has been the robotics teacher here for almost 20 years. We knew that he had been here since the opening and experienced a lot of the changes in our school, especially being an elective teacher. We initially spoke to him about being interviewed, provided some of the questions we wanted to ask, and created a stronger relationship so that the interview went smoothly. So we knew that because of the topic and what we were really basing this documentary off of we wanted to interview him in his room. We set up a time and met up with him to film during one of his study hall periods and ask him numerous questions regarding Cypress Bay's Evolution. I was the person interviewing him and my partner Mahattee was behind the camera making sure all of our shots looked good. Honestly, he did a really good job answering these questions and kinda geared our piece to a more technological route (how cell phones/AI have affected the classroom). I do wish he would've talked a little bit more about how Cypress Bay has changed however I feel like that was more in the questions I asked than the way he answered the questions. After filming his interview we went around and filmed some b-roll of him teaching in class and the students. Then we were done with that first interview and got to go back and see what we had filmed :))

Yearbooks 

So we thought that a great way to implement old Cypress Bay would be to find the yearbooks and film b roll of them. Ironically however this was... very difficult to do. So we literally went on a wild goose chase around school looking for them. But uh- yeah let's see we went through the yearbook teacher, the front office, our Aice Media teachers collection, teachers who were students at the time, and luckily we found some in our library however we never came across the first copy. :(( I'm convinced it's lost forever, we did however create a heated discussion in the front office regarding the fact they don't have a copy! I digress we did find a few very old versions of the yearbook and so we took them back to class where we were able to film b roll and flip through pages to find important individuals like our two interviewees. We also managed to find our Aice Media teacher from 20 years ago which was also a fun little surprise! :) So once we were done filming the yearbooks and excess b roll we got back into the mindset of filming interviews and went to our next location.

Mrs. Hainsworth

The next person we were off to see was Mrs. Hainsworth who is an English teacher as well as a holocaust education teacher. She has been here from the beginning as well but interestingly enough she actually started in what was known as the Freshman Annex where freshmen were placed for the first few years at Cypress Bay. This was an interesting new perspective that unfortunately didn't make the final cut but all the importance of her development in this school was really interesting for us so we decided to schedule the interview. Unfortunately, Mahattee was unable to come film this interview with me so I was all alone which made it a little bit difficult but nonetheless I filmed with her and found that her interview was very well-spoken and progressive. After that Mahattee and I went back another day to film b roll of her teaching her Aice Global Perspectives class and get an inside look at her technological implementation in her classroom nowadays, a topic she discussed heavily in her interview. This was really great footage and at that point, we were done with most of the filming elements and were now ready to begin editing and final cuts of our documentary. (btw couldn't find a picture of her but you'll see her soon enough :))

Exiting, exiting work 

I have nothing else to say for now so.. 

Until Next time 

- Emma <3

Group Documentary Research

 Yeah... Even More Research 

So over the last few weeks, we worked on our group documentary. Our documentary project was to create  This process meant starting to research what topic we wanted to do, creating an outline, and then of course researching to find any information we needed in the production process. When researching for topics my partner Mahattee and I looked into a lot of different things. At first, we were interested in discussing pet shelters, we even looked into pet shelters in the area and how we could produce this documentary in 14 days. The thing is with only having two weeks to do this documentary and both of us having very busy schedules we didn't really feel as though we had the time to drive about 40 minutes to film. So, after having a conversation with my teacher and partner we decided to look into doing something related to how my high school has evolved over time. And what I mean by this is how not only the school has grown but how the students have changed. 

Research 

Knowing the topic made my partner and I happy but we knew we had a lot more research to do than just that. For example, we had a long conversation with our teacher (who's been at our school since it opened) about teachers who have been here that long, the way our school used to be run, and overall content we could discuss within this documentary. One thing we did juggle with the idea of is whether to interview students or younger teachers aside from teachers who have been here since the beginning. Eventually, we decided that the idea of just interviewing teachers who have been here since the beginning would be more evolutionary. I think that after finalizing the documentary, however, it might've added something nice once the future and current explanation of our school began. Another factor of research was going to discuss with said teachers their experience, ask for permission to interview them, and schedule the interviews. The two interviews that we set up were with Coach Ulman and Mrs. Hainsworth, and we were really excited to begin this project. 

Outline/Questions

The next step to having a successful documentary was creating a thorough outline and really planning out what it was we were doing. Essentially in creating this doc, we knew we needed to have good questions planned out, a list of b-roll to film, and more content that could help form the piece better. When composing the questions we wanted to ask things that were very open-ended. As you can see this is what the finalized outline looked and questions/b-roll looked like:

Researching other information

Lastly, before beginning in the production we needed to research the evolution of our school in order to effectively understand and inquire on this topic. We started by investigating how to find old yearbooks and see how our school used to be. Next, we listed out all the teachers who have been here since the beginning and had conversations with a few of them about changes in our school. Lastly, we researched in finding construction videos/pictures from the beginning till now so we can really see a change in the school system. Research was really important to us in these stages and we were very thorough in pre-production for this documentary.

So in the next post I'll be discussing all the production techniques and ideas but that's about all I have to say for today 

Until next time - 

Emma <3

Documentary Research Part 1

 And so it begins... 

So as I briefly mentioned in my last blog post we have begun documentaries in Aice Media. And creating documentaries or beginning to understand how to produce one comes with a lot of excess research. Mrs. Stocklosa, my aice media teacher exposed my class to many different impactful documentaries to show us not only different narratives and techniques but the proper way a documentary can be planned, shot, and edited. 

The first documentary I watched in class was one called American Promise by Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson. This story showcases two black students who get put into a prestigious Dalton school where they not only face academic struggles but also get stereotyped for the color of their skin. It is truly such an incredible documentary and taught me a lot of different techniques that can be used when filming something such as this. For example, when Saun and Idris were little kids (as this was shot from their Kindergarten year until their Senior year) the interviews were direct interviews as the boys may not have known how to thoroughly answer the questions. This was something I never really thought of doing and thought it was very clever to utilize this type of interviewing when the maturity of the interviewee needs to match the type of questions being asked. Also, the candid b-roll used was well done and showed me how even with shaky shots they can be thought of as purposeful so long as they allow the meaning to develop throughout the piece. 

The next documentary I watched was called Exit Through The Gift Shop by Banksy. This documentary focused on the rise and exploitation of the street art genre. Without giving too much away from this piece it was truly shown how much time they put into this piece. For example, in one of the shots you can see the almost 10,000 hours of raw footage that they had to go through in the creation of this documentary. I especially in this piece liked how real the b-roll shot going up close and personal with the artists and getting to see their stories portrayed individually throughout the piece. One thing that was interesting to me was the use of first-hand interviews - meaning that Banksy the director was one of the major interviews throughout the piece. 

Aside from the two major documentaries that we watched, we also were exposed to many Op Docs from the New York Times Website. This showed us shorter more concise documentaries that were submitted by anyone who wished to submit them. For example, some were student-made documentaries and some were more professionally made meaning by adults. 

All of this research in watching documentaries also allowed us to submit assignments where we answered questions discussing techniques and ways in which each documentary developed meaning. For me, I felt like this helped me to keep in mind ways in which to create in own documentary. 

Also, after all our viewings of these documentaries, we got a chance to discuss with our fellow classmates which was a really nice way to enrich my thoughts on these documentaries. For example, after watching "Exit Through the Gift Shop" by Banksy we had an entire conversation about the way in which they recorded broll as well as the shift in documentary style. This allowed me to understand ways to make my own creative vision as well and I'm really glad that I developed my education in documentaries so much over the past month. 

But yeah that's all for part one of my research for documentaries...

Until Next time 

- Emma <3

Guess who's back

 I'm back!!!

I'm now officially in Aice Media A level and am so excited to continue this blog. A lot has happened over the last few months and I hope that helps to enrich my blog even further. So I just wanted to do a little update about my life before we get back to all the media blogs and even talk about the documentary project I was assigned. 

    My time after AS level & Summer...

So essentially after my film opening was submitted for AS level I was feeling a little bit sad about the process being over. + To be completely honest I kinda missed the blog posting. But nonetheless I kept myself so busy this summer that I wish I could've updated you so I'll do a little speed run. So I'm a senior this year which means college applications so I spent a lot of time this summer researching and visiting possible colleges. I got the chance to see what programs colleges have to offer for critical media and communications and even share some of the curricula I learned from Aice Media AS level. Also, getting to share my film opening with others was such a cool and eye-opening experience to get others' perspectives and opinions on the work I had created. Aside from that, I got to learn a lot from my peers in doing small projects over the summer to just really keep my craft going and maintain my creativity. 

Senior Year So Far...

Now that school has started though, and I'm almost halfway through the year, I have experienced a fun yet stressful time. All of my college applications are officially submitted and I have done a lot of fun projects in Aice Media A level as well as television production. It is officially practice season for a TV Production competition held at the end of February so life is getting a bit busy again but I'm honestly really excited for it all. 

What I'm Doing Currently...

Currently, in Aice Media, we have been heavily focused on documentary and understanding techniques etc. Being someone who loves journalism and telling others stories this has really been an enriching and eye-opening experience and I'm so excited to continue this learning for the rest of this school year. 

That is basically it for me for right now so...

Until Next Time 

- Emma <3

Critical Creative Reflection

 CCR

Here is the link to my digital manual presentation for the first part of my CCR and this is the second link to my podcast which is the second part of my CCR.

Hope you enjoy :)))))

Film Opening  

SO. SO. SO. GOOD 

Here is the link to my film opening "Passing Bye"

Reflection on my film opening

Soo... What went right and what went wrong?

It is the end of this journey with my film opening and I just want to keep this as short and simple as possible but there's so much to say about this project. Over this journey, I learned so much about how to produce a film and how to deal with the struggles of an experience in media. It was definitely a bit of an emotional roller coaster.

 
At the start of my project, I already had an idea of what I wanted to do. I wanted to make this project something very specific I don't really know why but I just really wanted to have this storyline. The girl who loses her mother at a young age and just being that support system for people going through it. I really wanted to take a risk in also doing a drama scene which can typically be hard to do and I'll be really honest with you, I honestly thought my film opening was going to be terrible. At the end of the day, it was my film, my creation, and it needed to be something that I liked, and I enjoyed making but also felt proud of.

After my planning, filming, and editing, I would like to say I'm proud of what I made and think everything went pretty smoothly. I'm getting ready to post my film opening and CCR which showcase a little bit more of what went right and wrong.

You'll see the CCR and opening so soon :))

- Emma

Editing/FINISHED????

 EDITING IS DONE...

    So, it's Saturday my film is due on Tuesday and I literally worked all day editing. I realize now I probably should've filmed a little sooner it was just hard due to my cast only being here this week. But besides that today was a day of editing as well as critiques from other individuals. I'm going to include some text messages that were sent to me that were giving me notes to fix in my work and honestly, I think the film is pretty much done. Editing today consisted of using Premiere Pro for editing the line and using Photoshop for all graphics/titles. The main critiques I got were easy fixes so it was great that I had that line of correction when submitting this it was my best potential. 

    I was struggling at first to figure out a title color/font but once I figured it out it kind of fit perfectly in place. I really loved the use of coloring in my filming process and got a lot of compliments on it in post-production when I was doing a little bit of color correction. I think the coloring really added to the underlying purpose of portraying the emotional change/development in Gabby once her mom passes. 

    Another issue I slightly had was the music. I wanted to include the song "Coats" by Independence and I did but I had to lower the audio when Gabby spoke on the phone with her dad so you could hear her clearly. 

    But on the happier side of things... THE EDITING IS DONE??? Sooooo next post get ready for the big reveal. I'm truly so proud of how far I've come in this opening and I can't wait to show you what I created 

Big reveal in t-2 days :))

- Emma

Filming is done

 AND THAT'S A WRAP!!!! 

OH, MY, GOD. We're done. Today was genuinely one of the most enjoyable and memorable experiences of my life. 

Oh, and I got this funny photo out of filming... 

Ok, but all jokes aside I think that was one of the most incredible filming experiences ever. My aunt, cousin, and uncle worked so hard to learn their lines and even had a script reading seen here. 

Everyone helping in this truly made it so much more memorable and allowed everything to get filmed

within two hours in the doctor's office. It was a pretty crazy time crunch to attempt but due to the major efficiency, we got it all done. All in all, I got around 60 shots in the doctor's office for around 30-45 second scene so I think that I definetly have an array of footage to go through when editing tomorrow. My cousin Colin who wasn't in the film was also a huge help in lighting and genuinely I dont think I could've done this without his extreme help with framing shots and lighting them correctly. It was really a whole family effort to get this done but I'm really happy it is done. Also, the office was super accommodating to us and even gave my aunt her own like "injection"? or so it appeared on camera. It was kinda funny because the normal patients had no clue what was happening so there were definetly some interesting reactions to us filming but I think all in all most people working in the office are just excited to see how it turns out. So I know the next couple of days are going to be veryyy busy in editing the entire film opening as well as filming my CCR's but I know it's all going to turn out great in the end. I will update you as soon as I begin editing and start the process of creating title graphics. 

Until next time 

- Emma 

Filming tomorrow..

 Tomorrow is the day...

    So we're filming tomorrow and I'm trying to get myself organized in what I need to do/what I've done already for this opening. Today I've been working on redesigning my room a little bit, creating props like the whiteboard for the hospital and, lastly annotating my script as a director's copy to understand the shots and sequences I need to get. My cast just got here from Denver so they're a little bit tired buttt I know that won't stop tomorrow from being a great day. 

    We set up a time with the doctor's office to go film at 2-4 tomorrow so I'm really excited about that but that also means everything needs to be ready to go. For lighting in the hospital, I'm really focusing on blues, whites, and things close to heaven to be symbolic of her passing. I already am aware I'm going to have to work with my main actress Campbell a lot to make sure she really digs deep into her emotions to play Gabby but I know that she's going to do a great job with it. Below I'm going to attach some pictures of the costumes as well as the props that will be used for production tomorrow. I'm also going to show a little sneak peek of Gabby's room. Overall I'm just really excited and just a bit sad for this process to be coming to an end. It's really been an emotional rollercoaster but I know it's all going to be great. 

Annotated Script//Prop created: 

As you can see here this is my annotated version of the script. This includes things I want to get out of the actors as well as some cinematography notes like how tight a shot should be and different angles for each line. I think this is going to help in organization when I'm filming.

 

The three images here are props/set designs I used in Gabby's bedroom/in the hospital. The whiteboard is for establishing Nicole's situation and the two other images are indicative of things I will need in my first scene. 

So yeah! Tomorrow is the day and I can't wait to update you on how everything comes out 

Talk to you soon 

- Emma 

Location & Props

UGH, why so close to the filming day...     

Sooo there's been a tad bit of a problem when it comes to one of my filming locations... The original plan for the second filming location was to use my grandpa's (who is a doctor) hospital wing to record in an outpatient room. The problem is I didn't realize that my dates of filming overlapped with his trip to Ireland. So clearly we can't exactly film in his hospital if he's like 4000 miles away... It was time to problem-solve...

My parents and I sat down and talked through different possibilities for what we could do to make this scene work without a hospital and here's what we came up with. Obviously, we can't go into the hospital without him but his medical office is a different story. We called him to speak about using an examination room as our filming scene. We then arranged a meeting with him and the office manager and all came to the consensus they would save a room for us to use on Thursday to film in. 

Because we aren't filming in a hospital bed but an examination bed we didn't really have a lot of the props I was expecting to have access to so I had to get a little bit creative. I got onto Amazon and looked into finding a hospital blanket similar to the ones seen in movies - you know the blue slightly scratchy ones. So I found this "Linteum Textile Hospital Thermal Blanket" and think that it not only matches my color palate but looks realistic to what I would find in a hospital room. I also wanted to create a patient whiteboard to hang next to bed so I jumped onto Pinterest and the internet to create something similar. I found that most patient whiteboards look something like what you can see here. So as you can see these whiteboards contain 

information such as name, care team, activity goals, and others where we could discuss pain level, discharge information, etc. I think this is a good way to add a personal touch to Nicole and I really like the idea of having something more unique to her character. Other than these two props I know I need to have some costuming choices so Kathy the woman playing Nicole is going to wear a robe she owns but I also may look into getting a hospital gown and some tape for her arms to indicate her having received injections or given blood... I've been looking for some advice from friends and family who may find some other important details missing from this scene but for now, I'm going to work on the details I think are important. I'll update you soon and I'm so excited to be less than 5 days away from filming. 

- Emma

CCR 

So I'm beginning to finalize my three ideas for my CCR. I wanted to do something creative and fun so that it's not like every other video. In one of my previous blogs, I had discussed doing a type of manual with voice-over and embedded images. The second CCR I want to do is a sort of wired-inspired video. Wired does numerous videos where famous celebrities such as Olivia Rodrigo, Jenna Ortega, and even Josh Hutcherson answer the web's most asked questions about them. I thought this would be a cool and creative way to answer three of the questions. The last type of CCR I plan on using is going to be a Director Commentary where I answer my questions utilizing videos and images over top. I don't want this video to be too stand still and boring so I've contemplated using a phone gimble (which keeps the shot from being shaky) and doing a walking shot where I still use motion whilst talking. The day is coming quickly when I need to submit and finalize all the steps of my project so I've begun thinking about some of the topics in my ccr. I'm going to include my brainstorming of some topics/ideas I have to answer some of these questions.

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

• I think one of the things I'd discuss within my film challenging conventions is the misunderstanding of grief when losing a family member. This is something that is sometimes talked about, losing a parent at a young age can be something that many people don't know how to cope with. With the creation of "Passing Bye" I hope that viewers can get a stronger understanding of the true loss this is as well as the life-altering situation this brings across. This represents the issue of mental health in teenagers as well because Gabby now deals with Depression and Anxiety after the loss of her mom. 

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

• My target audience for this film was young adults who have either gone through a similar situation or want to support others who are. Due to not being a larger film yet and being something student-created, this will be distributed on Instagram as well as YouTube. I believe as I am targeting a younger audience I think this distribution method is appropriate for reaching these individuals in a cheaper more efficient way. 

Filming!!

    Wait I'm like filming in a week...

 The time has finally come and it's officially less than a week till we film "Passing Bye". I'm excited for this entire experience and I am ready to work with my actors on such an incredible piece. I've been working on finalizing some details for my project. So originally I had thought about filming in my brother's room to have a clean slate but then thinking more into it I decided that my room would be easier to convert into Gabby's bedroom as I already have a lot of the props and scenery needed. 

So I started composing a list of all the things I need to do leading up to the production and I think I'm finally getting a lot done. In my room I have a photo wall with pictures of my friends and me but I realized that due to Gabby being played by someone other than me I needed to cover up the pictures. I really love creating flyers and posters on Canva so the thought is the second picture you see to the right is my inspiration leading up to the days of filming I'm going to work on designing and printing out the posters to look similar enough and to cover what is currently on my wall. I'm really excited to report that I found a record player in my house I plan on using for the opening scene and most of the props are set in place. Props for Gabby such as her dress and makeup are all set up and I even bought a makeup organizer to put on the makeshift vanity I created from my current desk. I plan on using my GVM lights to create a more yellow and green tone in the room which will hopefully blend with my grey walls. The plan for today is I'm going to test out different camera angles and shots with a friend to see how things will look when I film so that all of my planning is done before I get into filming. 

Due to my actors not living in Florida but in Denver, I really only have a few days to shoot this film. It's a little bit scary to think about but that's why the plan is filming is going to primarily take place next Thursday this way I have about a week to look through all the footage and make sure that everything looks good before they travel home. I'm starting to think a lot more about the details currently about particular shots I want to get and the acting techniques I want to stress to my actors to make this opening more realistic. 

I really am truly so happy with how everything is turning out and I'll update you soon :))

- Emma 

My birthday + STN

 Heyyyyy!!! So today I'm 17 years old. Kinda crazy... I've been at STN since the 13th and it's genuinely been such an incredible experience. This morning we found out that my team and I won FIRST PLACE at STN for a human interest feature story. Genuinely I think this was just such an incredible trip and I learned so so much. 

My portfolio project is going good its been a bit hard since I've been away but I think I'm doing a good job at trying to still remain organized so I can film when I get back. I don't have much to update on other than I get back home tomorrow and then I can start shopping and setting up all equipment to film the next week. 

Talk to you soon 

- Emma

Casting....

The cast and set design..

Soo as you saw I made a post a week ago discussing my casting decisions. After talking to my teacher however I realized that Campbell the girl who's playing Gabby might be a little young to be playing a high-schooler. So I decided to change her age in it to being an 8th grader getting ready for her end of school dance. 

Costuming Changes 

Due to changing Gabbys age I knew I needed to make a little bit of modifications to my costuming choices. So I'm going to suggest campbell to wear more natural clothes to her wardrobe to match her age and Gabbys maturity level. 

I spoke to Kathy and Neil, Gabbys parents in the piece and they're bringing wardrobe with them when they travel from Denver here for spring break. I'm really excited to see the costuming and I know the next step is to decorate Gabbys room.

Set Design 

So for set design I started looking at Amazon and Five Below for small things to make Gabbys room look more personalized to her. I found some vines and a record vinyl to buy for her. Also I'm going to use Canva to make some fake movie posters and pictures that will be hung up on her wall. 

Anyways! I'm going to keep researching on set Design and how to make her room look more like the one of a 13 year old girl. 

I'll update you soon 

- Emma

Creative Critical Reflection 

 So today in class we learned about CCR, the reflection at the end of the project. As I'm working on my project and thinking about all the different shots, angles, and compositions I need for each scene I now know how important behind the scenes is. I plan on having someone take pictures for me so that I can document every stage of my three different CCRs. 

But like let's backtrack for a second and talk about what I found out today...

Ok so I have to create three CCRs after completing my blog discussing things like audience, how I created my film, what I learned from it etc. We also learned that they need to be creative and different from other CCRs. We discussed creating these mainly through talk shows, podcasts, videos with evidence, or another creative technique. I'm a really engaged member in my school's DECA program where we create things called manuals. They are highly decorated papers that I use to compete in a business community service category but I had talked to my advisor about possibly utilizing a manual with voice-over for one of my CCRs. So as you can see next to this text that's an example of a manual I've created in the past.. I'm excited to see how something similar to this could turn out for a CCR possibly the one focused on the audience as I could create interesting graphics to explain and indicate what I am speaking on. 

Also just a brief update.. I leave for STN (Television Production Competition) on Wednesday and I'm really excited to see all the different workshop opportunities and learn some more things that I can bring into my film opening. I'm beginning to film in two weeks at this point which is really scary and exciting to see all my hard work come together finally. I'm gonna update you after the first few days about the things I've learned and how it's going to help in my development of "Passing Bye"

Talk to you soon 

- Emma

Cast :))

 ANDDD the cast is final!!!

Soo ok new update! I have been struggling so much to find a cast that not only fits my aesthetic but is available to film when I need to. My family is coming into town the week of our spring break (3/4-3/20) and I realized that my aunt, cousin, and uncle fit the perfect casting description as well as all have a history in acting/theatre. I had a call with them today discussing costumes they're going to bring as well as things I have for them to wear and figuring out a filming date (3/28-3/30). On the 28th we're going to film all the major scenes like the hospital scene and the getting ready prom scene and hopefully, we get everything done. The plan is to use the 29th and 30th as buffer time to get all my footage on the premiere and check to make sure I not only over filmed but all the footage looks good. 

Also, I'm looking into finding a crew that can help with audio and lighting so I'm going to contact some of my friends in TV to help. I gave them access to the blog as well for them to understand my thoughts on the film a little bit further. 

Oh and another thing I'm starting to redesign my brother's room for Gabby's bedroom tomorrow so I'll update you with some pictures through the process. I think Five Below might have some good options for finding fairy lights and vines. I talked with Campbell about her costuming and makeup since Gabby must have the very particular image that I want for the character. I'm really excited to see her acting skills and her to take over the character that is Gabby. 

I'll update you soon and I can't wait to film with my actors :))

Until next time 

Emma 

Set design

 Setting the Set 

Hey, I know I've touched on it a bit in the beginning but I'm beginning to choose sets as well as purchasing props for how to film. I have different scenes I need in two different locations Gabby's Bedroom as well as Nicole's hospital room. I have started coming up with aesthetics for each of these as well as certain props that are essential to utilizing mise en scene in my piece. My thought for actual sets is utilizing my brother's old bedroom to make it over into Gabby's Bedroom in possibly a comforter, pieces that attach to the scene, and more. Below you will be able to set a mood board with more aesthetics as well as my thoughts on how I will use shots in that room. I'm really excited to say I'm planning to film in a real hospital room for Nicole's death scene so that will be something that the set is primarily already the way I would like it however I do have a few plans of how to make it more personal to "Passing Bye".

Gabby's Bedroom

This is what Gabby's Bedroom aesthetic looks like. :)) I'm really loving the use of fairy lights and vines in her room and am thinking a white comforter with hints of yellow and green within the pillowcases. I think a lot of the set pieces for this room I can take from other places in my house or borrow from friends except the one main piece which is the record player. Although it isn't absolutely essential to my piece I think it does add to the piece so my plan is to attempt and thrift one/ask around for those who may have one. As I said above my brother moved out of the house a few years ago so I have an open bedroom which I plan to set up for filming. I'm excited to see how it'll look but I think that the layout of the bed being next to a window and there being a desk that can be perfectly set up for a vanity is going to work great for the aesthetic I'm going for. 
Nicole's Hospital Room 

This is what Nicole's Hospital Room aesthetic looks like. So as you can see I'm really touching into not only the realistic feel but a very cold and inhuman environment. I plan on creating a patient file with Nicole's name on it and her diagnosis to make the audience understand more context and also to bring more realness to the room but I do want it to feel cold. The main colors are going to be neutrals, whites, and blues and I plan on using very white lightning because the way the hospital is portrayed is through harsh lighting. As I said this is going to be filmed at my grandpa's medical practice where he has access to a hospital room I can film in gaining me access to a monitor and hospital bed. The props and set will not be as strenuous here as many of the things needed will already be set up. The main things I need to create for this scene are the patient file as well as maybe look into a personal blanket and photo frame of Nicole and Gabby to add that final touch. 

I'm starting to finalize these small details so I can film in the upcoming weeks, my next post will finalize the cast which is starting to come together and it's really great getting to see all the details that create this piece.

Until Next Time

- Emma

Schedule problems...

Competition season and my busy busy schedule 

Hey, so little update on my life... So since Thursday, I have been at a DECA competition where we compete in numerous business categories. On the 13th I leave for Long Beach California for a television production competition. It's going to be a busy couple weeks meaning filming is going to be difficult. On the bus ride back I plan to reach out to my actors and see if they can possibly film this next week but I feel like all this scheduling might get pushed back due to the fact I'm physically not going to be in Florida in T-minus 11 days.... Besides that though I feel like pre-planning is coming toward the end... I still want to do a little bit more research about set design and make all the storyboards necessary but other than that my script is done, my brainstorming is done, my costuming choices are done, and I just need to go out or speak with my actors about clothing they may own. I think the set design might be a little time-consuming but other than that I think that filming will go by smoothly once I can actually film... Besides the point, I wanted to look a little bit into the color theory of my genre today. I know that I wanted to use yellows and greens to showcase my protagonist's personality and aesthetic but I also want to utilize colors that fit into my genre to make my point go across further. 

Color theory for the drama genre 

Film Makers Academy states in their article: "COLORS IN FILMMAKING – WHAT DO YOURS REPRESENT?" that the color red signifies drama. Although I think that red could possibly make the scenes more intense however I think that in the case of my film opening, this wouldn't work for the message and the vibe being put across. The color blue symbolizes sadness and peace which is a color that I really want to utilize in the scenes where Nicole and Gabby are in the hospital together. This is something I want to use so that I can get my point across that Gabby and Nicole had a special connection that was taken away from them. 

Colors already chosen for the film

So there were some colors that I already knew I liked and wanted in the film such as green and yellow but I wanted to look into their theories to make sure it made sense before I use them. Film Makers Academy once again states " We use “green” to describe a novice and always for all-systems-go. It is a relatively friendly and positive color, the color of balance and harmony that gives us peace." This is something that I actually really like and would love to utilize because I want Gabby to feel like a peaceful, warm person for the audience to grow that personal connection to her as well as understand the "peace before the storm" so to say. Also, the harmony of the colors yellow blue, and green which are the three colors I plan on having all work together to create a mix of emotions and thoughts to create an overall "serenity" in the piece. Yellow is associated with happiness and joy which is something that I again want to contrast between the beginning and the end of the film. In the beginning using colors such as green and yellow and then switching to colors such as black, white, and blue will make a contrast so the audience can understand the grief and intensity of what has happened. 

So... that's the end of this blog I'll be honest to say that when I get back from my trip I'm going to have to go crazy to get this all done but I feel like with the correct motivation and push (which is what I have right now) I can get it done in time. 

For now, 

- Emma 

Font design

TITLE FONT IDEAS...

 So I feel like so far I'm really coming to like the name "Passing Bye" for the title of my film. I started looking for a font and I'm utilizing the website font space to find something. But I didn't want to go into it without some research. I had an idea of the way I wanted to include my credits and title but I wanted to find a font that could be used for both so I created a uniform brand. I looked into some different font inspirations before I looked for the font for my film though to find something that matched what I was looking for while still being creative and a choice that aids my opening's overall meaning and purpose.

 Inspo

I found inspiration for what I'm looking for on the creative market but because I have to pay for the font instead of using it I'm going to search for something in a similar style. So as you can see here this is the font that I was inspired by and the main things that I liked about this font were the bolding on the lettering as well as the base of the letter. I didn't want something that was rounded because at the end of the day, I wanted that abrupt and straight-to-the-point feeling with the font. I also liked the idea of possibly not using capitals and putting "passing bye." I think that the intensity of having the period and having a bolder way of showing this could be cool to utilize but at the end of the day, I think that decision will be made based off of my progress and how the film really comes out at the end. 

This is possibly another inspiration for my title card. It's from a UK film called Becoming Elizabeth.  I really liked this site because although I only included this image they had a lot of different examples of their journey through titles and credits. I do want to include a bolder font like the first font but I mostly wanted to include this because I'm debating putting something on the lower third such as a flatline and putting the text above it. I'm not sure if I'll like the look of it but it is definitely something I'm interested in looking into. I also like possibly using a slight color to make the image pop more but I'm not against the idea of using color only if it adds to the story though.

Finding the font  

Ok so obviously the next step would be to look for a font to use that I think fits these two inspirational pictures. This took a lot of different steps. I was utilizing Canva to see how my font may look and ironically I found that the font I thought I was going to like shown here I just didn't like. It didn't give off the vibe I wanted to emulate and I decided that I should possibly look for something a little bit simpler than what I tried to do. Although I started this blog saying I wanted a bold font I think that maybe something thinner. So I looked into the font type "Merriweather" You'll see it below I think I like this a lot better. I also think I'm deciding to use a black background and white font even though I think the color could possibly look cool I just don't think it works for the vibe I'm trying to emulate with my title. For my credits, however, I think that I will use colors like either yellow or green to make the credits a bit more cinematic at the beginning of the piece. 

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Possible vibe?

This is the thought for right now but it's definetlyyy subject to change as I learn and adapt to changes made in the project. But to be so honest with you I really can't wait to see where this project goes. I'll update you soon about the progress with scheduling and I believe we also are doing some group meetings to get critiques and comments about our work

I'll update you soon 

- Emma