Creative Critical Reflection

https://clyp.it/l3nw3e1w

Final Project

  After weeks of hard work, I am proud to say my two minute opening is finally here! Please enjoy, "The Queen of Boogie" by Kiara Pomeroy

stay cool, kmp

General Update

  There is still so much that needs to be done. Although I've already started the editing process, there are still some things that I would like to experiment with, such as color grading and messing around with sound effects. Not to mention the fact that I still have to figure out how I want to present my opening credits and whether or not I will have time to squeeze in a Foxy Brown kind of opening sequence before/after my scene.
  Some of my other peers also feel stressed out about the appending due date and we've all planned to meet up after school tomorrow at our local Starbucks so that can focus and hopefully get some helpful critics and suggestions from each other!!

stay cool, kmp

Editing Software

 For this project, it took my a while to weigh out my editing software options. I personally do not have own a Mac and all my friends who have iMovie are either using it or cannot loan me their laptops. Seeing that Apple doesn't provide a free trial for iMovie and that I am extremely cheap, I have decided to download the free trail  for Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2015. I've had previous experience with Premiere Pro in my short-lived time in TV Production freshman year, but obviously the software has changed since then. A couple of tutorials and some jogs down memory lane, and I was ready to edit!

EDITING!

There's been only one major problem with Adobe on my computer and it's that it ALWAYS LAGS.  Like, always. I've browsed on a handful of forums and asked my instructor what the answer to this problem could be and they all said that I  had to clean out the storage on my laptop to make more room for the software. Let me tell ya, this was a lengthy process. After about an hour of sorting through years of files, I deleted a substantial amount of things to make my editing process much smoother. 

           

Bye bye thousands of files!

stay cool, kmp

Smoky Voiceovers

   Since the beginning of this project, I had always pictured a smooth, sultry male voice introducing the characters and even narrating the main conflicts on screen. Obviously I was inspired by Blaxploitation (come on, how could I not be it's so cool), but more specifically the trailer for Superfly is really what triggered this. I fell in love with this idea, especially because the cheesiness of the voice over would just strengthen the over-dramatic style I am striving for.  

Superfly movie poster 

   I was originally planning on the voice over being Thelonoius' narration as he is strutting throughout the party in search for the Queen herself. As mentioned previously, I had to change the gender of Thelonoius to female at the last minute due to a scheduling problem, thus my vision of the "jazzy male voice" belonging to this character would no longer work.  But, I still had planned on using her voice and recording the narration through her character's perspective as the audience learns more about the plot from the action onscreen along with antagonist's insight. However, with this project winding down and with Cassie being busy with her own project to work on, I felt it would be easier to instead record the voice over myself and change the perceptive to a third person narrative, making the film feel more like an epic story that is being unfolded right before the audience. I feel that by making it third person and using my voice, although it is definitely not as cool, would make the kind of style I am going for extremely clear and also make the production process WAY easier.


stay cool, kmp

A Foxy Title Sequence

A still from Hill's Foxy Brown

   After looking over my footage, I realized that my opening would still be under the two minute minimum. Although I know that the opening doesn't have to be two minutes exactly, I don't believe that my current footage alone would do my project justice. I have already contacted my main actress, Mina, to ask if she could film any other day so that I can get additional shots and even redo some previous shots that I wasn't 100% pleased with, but unfortunately she told me that due to transportation issues and the fact that she's insanely sick, she wouldn't be able to get together again. I don't think that I will be able to film any extra footage featuring her so if I was gonna get more shots they would probably only feature the antagonist, but she is also currently working on her own project so we'll have to see about that. 
   In order to solve this problem I was thinking about lengthening my time by adding a credit sequence. In my research, I discussed the film Foxy Brown(1974) and how it's been one of my main inspirations when tackling this genre. 
    It's opening specifically came to mind when I was thinking about ways I could extend the opening while still showing my skill set. I found an article online that analyses the opening and how it successfully establishes the brand of the main character, Foxy Brown, by solely showing images that represent her and pairing it with a unique and powerful "theme song."  

  I will do some research to figure out exactly how I can achieve these effects in Adobe Premiere Pro and how I can achieve a similar feeling to the one in Foxy Brown.

stay cool, kmp

Filming & Cha cha changes

 Yesterday was my official day for filming and with filming came MAJOR changes. I had planned to film in my neighborhood clubhouse after school, from 3:30 to about 6, however, things did not play out in my favor.

  After I checked that all my actors were on their way and that all my equipment was in order, I headed on over to the office with my 18 year old amigo to get the keys to the location, expecting an easy-breezy filming process.  Unfortunately, the new manager in my neighborhood wasn't aware of my filming plans and the lady at the front office who I did speak to, numerous times, stated that it was out of her hands; she apologized and told me that the manager wouldn't allow me to film unless I had an adult adult who leased a complex to accompany me. Ugh. 
  With all the adults busy at work and some of my actors beginning to file in, I decided that I had to make a quick decision to change the location to my friends' house nearby who said that she wouldn't mind if I used it as my 70s disco location (hallelujah.) I informed all actors about the change in location and things were beginning to turn up!!  After about an hour of set decoration and getting costume/makeup together, filming began.
  The other big change that was made during filming was the role of Thelonious. The day before filming the original actor I had planned to play the main antagonist informed me that they would have to leave early during filming. In order to solve this problem I decided that recasting the role was the only way to go so I asked my dear friend Cassie if she could step in to play it instead.  Although I had originally envisioned Thelonious as a male character, kind of the cliché  "pimp/suave gangster" that is seen is Blaxploitation, I decided that by changing the antagonist to be an opposing, "bad ass" female, it could create an interesting character dynamic, thus making my plot more interesting.
  Also, due to time restraints and everything falling apart at the last minute, had to change one of my favorite things about the opening! Because I hadn't tested the dolly shot before hand things kind of fell a part on the day of the shoot. I had the skateboard and the tripod ready, however I didn't realize how dangerous it would be for Mina if she had to balance on the skateboard and share the room on the board with a camera/tripod. Because of this I had to make a quick decision to instead to do something similar by having my trusty assistants pull Mina away from me on the skateboard while I zoomed into her face with the camera. Although it wasn't what I had planned, I think the shot still feels incredibly dramatic and that it coincides with my major themes. 

Still from editing featuring new
actress Cassie as Theo!

Now that I am looking over the footage, I do think that the changes set me back, but I am still extremely excited with some of the shots I got and I cannot wait to start editing!!

stay cool, kmp