DIGITAL VOICEOVER VIDEO- Creative Critical Reflection of "Through Her Eyes"

 

FINAL FILM- Through Her Eyes

 

Mercedes has an obsessive friend (Christine), and only wants a healthy relationship with her, but does not know her friend wants her all to herself. This event takes place inside Piper Highschool’s campus, during school hours (7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.). Each opportunity Christine gets the chance to be in Mercedes' life, she takes advantage of that, because of her deep-rooted infatuation with her. One day after Mercedes and Christine crossed paths it all went downhill from there.

Enjoy!

Postproduction: First Draft Feedback- "Through Her Eyes"

 Introduction

Welcome dream team! Today in class, our production team presented our first draft to our instructor to gain new insights and words of advice from her to improve the quality and production of our film. Numerous advantageous tips were given to us, which gave us a clearer vision of what we originally had in mind, and better ways to express the message that we originally wanted to portray to our audience which was to: be mindful of surroundings consistently, mental health neglection could bring harmful consequences to everyone, and as Maya Angelou says, "when someone shows you who they are, believe them!" To add, our instructor gave additional perspectives that we intend to later apply to our film during our editing process, regarding the filters, sound, dialogue clarity, and music of our film, as well as a different title (which would suit our movie better) and a title cover that would match the atmosphere of our film as opposed to a black screen with text of our movie title. Considering her words, we jot down notes of the key changes that she recommended, which we would then begin improving our film after coming back from our spring break away from our school, as we would be refreshed, energized, and prepared to embark on our journey to the final stage of our filmmaking process (post-production). Below displays images of the main points that were covered during our discussion with our instructor. 

Postproduction: First Draft- Through Her Eyes (Previously called "Trust Fall")

 Introduction

Welcome dream team! This is our production team's first draft of our film "Through Her Eyes, which was originally titled, "Trust Fall." The reason our movie originally had that title was because the notes we annotated from our instructor's film tips (from the previous blog: idea change- the beginning of "trust fall"), she recommended that our film's hook be something captivating and mysterious such as having our film's antagonist, Christine, as her younger self in a park, picking flowers, and chanting the words "she loves me, she loves me not," and then on her final petal she would utter "she better love me!" This was meant to keep our audience at the edge of their seats. Then, following that scene, our group was meant to film young Mercedes running up behind her and asking if she would like to play the game "Trust Fall" with her, in which Christine would eagerly accept her offer while repeatedly reassuring that Mercedes should trust her (which was meant to introduce the manipulative nature of Christine's character before her bizarre actions occurring later in the film. Towards the end, our group decided to discard our original idea of showing a plot twist of Mercedes being the villain, and then manipulating her friend Lizzy to trust in her plan to torment Christine after knocking her out unconscious. Ultimately, the goal of our original idea for this draft was to depict a perfect loop shifting between different ways one can manipulate others through control, violence, threats, and emotions. Below shows our final decision when creating this film, as our groups only had limited time to complete this task due to certain technical difficulties and our personal schoolwork schedules (we finished recording our footage two days before this assignment's deadline). The lesson we gained from this task was to take heed to tips and criticisms from others, time management, and being open to new avenues and approaches that may not be what was originally intended/planned. Enjoy!

Postproduction: Sound Editing Decisions

 Introduction

Welcome Cambridge dream team! Our group has learned the crucial impact that sound could make on film, and with that knowledge that we have previously gained, we realized that our decisions for music, dialogue, and sound effects are essential in enhancing the quality ad coherence of our film. therefore, this post documents a few of the practices of sound use that we incorporated in our filmmaking process, which mainly consisted of using sound editing software, Garage band, to make the ambient/ incidental music in the videos below, in addition to Cap Cut's free, non-copyrighted music and sound effects. In terms of the dialogue in our film, we exclusively used conversations from raw footage, as we did not plan to use voiceovers. Overall, our group managed to effectively navigate and manipulate the features and functions available to us, to our advantage, and this task was relatively short to complete. 

Garageband:

(First Decision)

The second loop was used in the scene with Mercedes and Lizzy having a discussion.

(Second Decision)

These were extra options I created and mixed from my group, just in case the options from the first decision was not enough, or does not suit/ complement the scenes as much.

Editing effects:

Scene from film:

CapCut offers a range of sound features, and one of their options allows s=editors to use a wide selection of free, non-copyrighted music that creators can use, in which we used that option to our advantage.

Editing effects:

Scene from film:

"She"- by Tyler the Creator, featuring Frank Ocean

Editing effects:

Scene from film (both the draft and final product):

"Tonight, You Belong to Me"- by Patience and Prudence

Reflection

All in all, when our group added the music and sound effects displayed in the videos and images above, our film's first draft improve significantly, and while our group doubted that our film would be satisfactory (as our product without sound or much editing, the quality was not at its best), however, when the music and minor sound effects were added to our film, it make all the different and our team, instructor, and peers enjoyed its final product. The video to our team's first draft is casted in the next blog!

Postproduction: Visual Editing Decisions

 Introduction

Welcome Cambridge dream team! In this post, our production team began our editing process after filming all the shots necessary to piece together the scenes that we have captured so far, and below shows a range of the visual decisions that were made in preparation for later sound, transitions, and special effects that will be added on. Our film used numerous of the features and functions available on CapCut's editing software such as text-overs, editing in the logo (inserting images into the film), glitches, and fades/ black screen. Below are photos and images that demonstrate our group's usage of the CapCut features accessible to editors. 

Our group used our camera editing application to apply shadows to this image, and with brighter lighting to emphasize small details and different colors in the drawing, and background, for a bright, vibrant tone- which contrasts with the horrifying reality of the film.

In this image, Peyton P used her editing skills to her advantage, and due to prior years of experience working with CapCut’s software, she was simply able to apply a yellowish, dark tone to create a subtle unfamiliar, saturated, and unsettling world of film. This scene includes Mercedes being stalked by Christine on her way to the bathroom. 

DAY TWO- Filming Behind the Scenes

 Introduction

Welcome Cambridge dream team! Following the previous blog post, our group resumed filming shots for our film, in which this blog post includes the journey behind creating shots for scenes one and two from our planned shot list. The first shots of Christine in her room were recorded over the weekend (before our first draft's deadline) at my house, in which I printed countless photos, and improvised countless love diaries and poems about Mercedes, in which some of the diary entries plastered on the wall reveal hints about background information we could not include into our final film (because the shots were too long and would exceed the two minute limit). Therefore, I decided it would be best to write about things such as Christine taking great pride in stealing Mercedes's plushie and bracelet, as well as a love poem adoring Mercedes, however, in bright red marker reads "I must end her" as in the poem Christine shared her hatred and jealously towards Lizzy consistently being around Mercedes. These subtle, yet powerful hints reveal characteristics about the antagonist before she is introduced. Next, once our team was reunited in our media studies class, our instructor allowed extra time to craft and film any remaining scenes necessary for our first draft. At this point, our group's only remaining duty was to complete recordings for the bathroom scene, in which Christine lustfully watches Mercedes pass by her to go to the bathroom, which caused Mercedes to grow anxious. Then, upon exiting the bathroom, Christine is shown following after her in a hoodie, while trying to maintain a mysterious, low-key identity to avoid being caught by any potential witnesses of her stalking. It is noteworthy to mention, due to the excessive background noise in the following clips, our group intended to quickly record the bathroom shots to avoid filming possible students who are not comfortable with being recorded, or are making noises that may take away from our focus or the shots we were capturing.

Christine mysteriously emerges from one of the bathroom stalls, while a hoodie covering her face, in which she eventually lifts her hoodie to ensure their are no potential witnesses nearby. Our group improvised a tilting up camera movement to dramatize and emphasize the mystique and stealth that we wanted to build which would then be further built on in the succeeding scenes.

DAY ONE- Bloopers

 Introduction

Welcome Cambridge dream team, this post will cover our production team's behind the scenes content, including our failed attempts, all in preparation for our future film!

In an extreme close-up shot, the camera dolly pushes out to reveal the main character of our film, Mercedes, drinking from a water bottle, which is meant to transition smoothly to its following sequence of her working on assignments, while simultaneously discussing her concerns about Christine.

In this sequence, The same event of the prior to this one occurs, and Lexi M broke out into laughter, and the position of the camera was awkwardly close to her face.

Clips:

In the takes above, our group filmed the banging scene, however due to persistent loud chatter, and the banging sounds not corresponding with the camera shaking, we consistently reshot this scene until we eventually ended up with a product we were satisfied with.

I pretended to draw an image of Mercedes, however, my acting and facial expressions were overly dramatic, and a bit embarrassing, so I insisted our group to reshoot this shot until it resulted in a scene that would suit and match with other scenes without being as overwhelming as this shot.

Marley B (Lizzy), was pretending to be shaken in fear, with her hands tied (they were not actually tied) in a dark closet, and unfortunately, I could hold my laughter in this shot, due to my unprepared appearance, and because of Marley's facial expressions/ acting.

In this shot, I was unprepared for the close proximity that the camera would be from my face, and I initially thought the camera would be at a farther distance from my face.

Due to the appearance of Lexi M walking in the classroom, and without anyone signaling a cue for me to pretend to bicker with Marley, I stood still as a statue in the the doorway of the closet (waiting for a cue), and it caused my group to burst out in laughter.

Reflection

All in all, our group gained improved acting skills, improvising better shot skills on set, to have better cues for action, not breaking character regardless of the proximity of the camera to our faces, and a close-bonded team effort. Overall, our experience was outstanding, and our filming process flowed smoothly, and our group managed to finish filming our final shots that we needed for the day, so that the following class periods can be available for us to resume recording our remaining shots.

DAY ONE- Filming Behind the Scenes

Our group planning our shots int he cafeteria, while Marley B directs us on where to go to film our first shot!

Marley decided it would be best to begin with our shot lust plan, which was to record scenes of Mercedes (drinking from a sport's water bottle), venting her frustrations to Lizzy (Marley B, who was responsible for capturing this photo). In this image, I held my phone in a tripod to shoot the scene of Mercedes drinking from the water bottom, beginning up-close (extreme close-up) to then dollying out away from her bottle.

As the second scene of our shot list follows, we adhered to our initial plan which included Lexi M (as Mercedes) to drink from a water bottle before venting to her friend Lizzy (played by Marley B) about her concerns about Christine's intentions, and her speculation that she was responsible for her stolen bracelet.

This box of crayons not only highlighted Christine's hobbies related to art, but the bright colors was meant to contrast with the dark, ominous atmosphere of the room's lighting, and the tone of the shot.

In this shot, we referenced our instructors helpful suggestion to begin (with the box of crayons in the previous video above this one) to build suspense and create/ establish an eerie tone in our film before capturing Christine in this scene, which could help our audience to distinguish the character type and role in which Christine plays in our film. Ultimately, this clip adds depth the the extreme obsession Christine (played by me) has for her all-time crush Mercedes (played by Lexi M).

This scene highlights the anger issues that Christin has and our group began by doing a cowboy shot of Christine and Lizzy to establish the setting and dark tone of the scene, before having each character act and have a dialogue.

In previous classes, and blogs, leading up to our team's filming process, we remembered a tip that our instructor offered for the horror genre, which was that Dutch angles are intimidating to the eye and establishes dominance. Therefore, our group improvised to use this tactic to make Christine's character appear more domineering and dangerous.

In this final scene for the day, our team followed our shot list's plan to include Mercedes discovering the horrifying acts Christine was committing against her friend Lizzy. Our group improvised to use a tracking shot to build suspense leading up to that point.

REFLECTION

Overall, filming these scenes -that will later be added to out final product- was a pleasure, and our group was able to connect and blend our ideas, and improvisation of camera angels, and ideas for the acting in each scene, which improved our ability to collaborate and communicate constructively with each other by clearly expressing our visions for our film. To add, while the scenes above are not the the first scenes in our film, but are indeed the third and fourth scene, ensuring that these scene corresponded seamlessly was not an issue, due to the fact that we planned and envisioned our product in advance, knew what we had in mind and wanted to present in our film ahead of time. This resulted in a timely filming process, while helping us to have an idea on how to structure our future shots to capture for the first and second scenes we planned in our shot list.

Cast and Crew

 Introduction

Welcome Cambridge dream team! Here at Milagros Studios, each of our members play a significant, crucial role in this filmmaking process, and without one, all things would fall. To explain, each member of our group uses their personal skills and strength to complete their portion of the work, which in turn, all of our collective efforts are brought together to create our ultimate product. For example, editing skills have always been Peyton P's forte, and we decided that it would be best for her to be dubbed as the chief editor as well as the cinematographer, because for most preliminary exercises that included working the camera, she has been responsible for recording and crafting each shot the then later piece them together. To add, considering Lexi M's strengths, our team decided it was best for her to achieve the role of the production designer, as she prefers to improvise certain actions on set that would enhance the overall scene, and to give her the role of wardrobe/ makeup artist, as she is the lead actress in out film; she concurred with each role, and she agreed as those were some of her many personal strengths. Marley B has always been a powerhouse in ensuring all scenes be captured in a timely, structure manner, while also instructing Peyton P how to operate and move the camera, so that each shot corresponds and flows with its following scenes. Finally, I volunteered to be the screen and film writer, as my personal elements and hobby is writing and I enjoy organizing and structuring information, which is crucial for planning to film shots, to look back and refer to written information, which helps to avoid possible confusion, wasted time, or impromptu scenes that may not flow together. Then, once our roles were established and each of us were satisfied with out positions, we immediately begun planning our next step. 

Production Manager	Director		Film writer		Cinematographer:	Production Designer
-Marley B    Responsible for budgeting, production process and time management, purchasing materials, navigates technical aspects of filming (if technology is involved), and communication amongst members.	-Khloe R    Responsible for developing the script, managing the time increments of when each shot is captured, decisions in location, improv on set, and collaboration with actors		-Khloe R    Responsible for adapts the story or developed by the production team into a plot, to then be translated into a script by the screenwriter(s) in the future, determining the storyline or backstories, traits, and characteristics of the characters, the order of the plot in the film, and planning of each shot.		-Peyton P    Responsible for creative production of the film’s visuals, atmosphere, Mise-en-Scene described in the storyboards created, the artistic elements in recording each shot, the imagery, focus, and emphasis of certain elements in each shot, positioning of the camera to display different angles, shot sizes, framing, lighting, and capturing each shot to complement the story	-Lexi M    Responsible for all creative aspects of design that goes into the entire film such as the aesthetics of the visuals, the color palette and how it creates mood/ tone, an develops genre in film, using props and objects of significance to highlight key moments of importance, location aesthetics, graphic design (the shapes, structure, and dynamics of each shot), the pacing of each shot, and corresponding the structural elements of film with the characters and their hair/ makeup.
Casting Director	Wardrobe and Makeup artist.		Camera Operator		Editor	Screenwriter
-Marley B     Responsible for overseeing director and film writer to ensure proper representation, professional search and casting or actors and actresses, and studying the script to use as reference for casting each actor/actress in their character roles.	-Lexi M    Responsible for aesthetics of actors/actresses, costume design, or purchasing costumes, makeup application on set, hairstyles included for each character, and color schemes.		-Marley B    Responsible for operating the technical positioning of the camera, planning/scene rehearsals, following the storyboard/ planning sheet as reference for each shot, ensuring each shot is taken and captured as planned, assembling equipment, adjusting the camera, and framing for shots, and camera manipulation.		-Peyton P    Responsible for transitions, editing styles (graphic, spatial, temporal, etc.), visual editing (if necessary), using raw footage to create a sequence of cohesive shots, crafting each scene into a full product, editing artificial sound, music, sound effects, and/or internal monologue (Automated Dialogue Replacement), special effects or texts on-screen, and incorporating all of the cast/ crew members.	-Lexi M  -Peyton P  -Marley B  -Khloe R    Responsible for film discussion, theme of film, film planning, constructing characters and their dialogue/ actions, documenting how each scene will be captured, when each will take place, and what the scene will incorporate, producing a full script, noting details of each scene and their stage directions, develop plot as each scene proceeds, pitch the film idea and execution to an instructor or peers.
The cast of the film and the character they play:     -Lexi M as Mercedes (main character)  -Marley B as Mercedes’ friend (Lizzy)  -Khloe R as Christine (obsessive friend)  -Marley B as Mercedes’ mother  -Khloe R as Christine’s mother  -Lexi M as younger Mercedes  -Khloe R as younger Christine

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