Yep! My final assigments links

 Ok. This is THE END...😄 was a long way, but I must confess that it was more fun than I initially thought.

Here are my CCR and Film Opening links!

CCR1

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Qlt1cRXvKqxRlbg-CyXAjhUYxX1uP1Dr/view?usp=sharing

CCR2

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nudccn7cG8jE3LNJy7ky83LkNCgcSzTR/view?usp=sharing

OPENING 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15Rk1JjneCBgLVK3DZLIn2NhGkJGd2eRf/view?usp=sharing

I hope that you like them! 

Special Thanks to:

ELVIA HERRERA and NATHALIE HERRERA (camera) (CCR)

NATHALIE HERRERA (  Final Cut Tips) 

DANIEL VELAZQUEZ  (CCR)

The End

This is it!! The End...

After almost 2 months of working, I completed my Cambridge Portfolio Project and Film Opening. This project took up so much of my time, and I can't believe it's over. We were planning our scripts and coming up with our stories yesterday, and now it's all done. 

Every shot. Every clip. Every blog. After 8 weeks of posting, it's all over. This project was not easy. Especially doing it by yourself. When I began filming my movie, it took me 2 days to have 2 good clips. But as time passed, I started to get the hang of it, and with help from my aunt, cousin, and mom, I managed to finish a project I initially thought would nearly be impossible.

One of the things that helped me the most was the blog schedules. Doing these 4 blogs every week helped me stay on schedule with the project and be able to finish everything without a time crunch. It also helped me develop ideas and gave me easy access to all my work if I needed to re-check something. 

Another tool that helped me complete this project was the tripod my aunt let me borrow. This allowed me to film by myself and quickly get ahead in the filming process. Without it, I doubt the film would have turned out the way it did. 

The most stressful part was the editing, as I had to sit next to my aunt for 2 hours as she revised every clip repeatedly to make them blend smoothly. Then, I started to do the corrections by myself and added the sounds, music, and effects.  The Foley part is always fun; including it in my post-production was great!

However, the thing I liked the most about this project was the freedom we had with it. Everyone has a different work rate, so some will be done with some stuff faster. The fact that Mrs.Stoklosa decided not to be on top of us with the blogs and the production made the project much less stressful and allowed students to develop ideas and work at their own pace. Knowing that just because I was taking longer to begin production didn't mean I was behind really took off some of the pressure while working on this project.

This will likely be my last post for the assignment. I hope you enjoyed my blog as I documented my progress on the Cambridge Portfolio Project.

Keep in touch, and thanks for reading!

CCR POST-PRODUCTION

 Hello there! 

It's time to write about post-production for my CCR. Since these are two media products, each has its own style and length. 

CCR1

The first one, which aimed to answer the first two questions, was done in an interview format, and for the editing, I used a show's presentation (which I created in Canva). 

The editing was cut by cut, and I used effects like Ken Burns to generate movement in each clip, such as camera moves or close-ups. I also used a title bar to identify the host and guest. 

Ken Burns Effect

Timeline

Caption's Bar

FONTS

Since Final Cut Pro has many options, I chose Helvetica Neue, regular, size 183, with a Lower Third Basic Logo option. This allowed me to add the show's logo, which I designed in Canva. I also inserted overlapping graphics and clips with information such as comments, research data, and part of my Opening Film. 

SOUND

I again used the copyright-free library that our instructor suggested for the music. The result was an almost 5-minute video that was quite good and summarized my opinion on the questions raised for this part of the project.  

Pixabay.com

Although this edition is longer than the opening film, it was more fluid because almost all the clips came from one scene with only four shots. I really had fun with this part! 

CCR 2

The post-production of my CCR2 was more demanding than the previous one. Although I only had two clips, the first with Victor Host's questions and the second with Victor's answers as director/actor, establishing the sequence and effects to fit within the film's screen was challenging.

It took me about two hours to finish this part. My aunt Nathalie gave me some tips that I had already used in editing the Opening, but in this case, the timeline had plenty of material to "insert into the screen."

I used the base clip, scenes from the film, photos from the production, and some sources I cited from the Internet.

FONTS

I used a different font from the Final Cut font library. I chose Din Condensed Bold in yellow with a font size of 228.

For the effects, I inserted the clips into the screen (a still shot captured with a tripod) and used transitions with a glitch effect to continue the mood of my Opening.

I reused my film to open and close the video, which turned out well.

The audio was an issue because I tried to create two different intonations for each character. Even so, I had to speed up some clips and add gain. I achieved this with the audio editing bar that Final Cut includes by default, which can automatically enhance the audio.

The music in the almost imperceptible background is the same one I chose for CCR1 from Bensound Gallery.

Post-production is my favorite part of the project. Good software can make a huge difference in editing, video, and audio effects.

In my next two posts, I'll reflect on this entire project (the longest I've ever had) and finally post the links to see the final result.

So, keep in touch. There are only two more days left.

CCR PRODUCTION

Okay, it's the final week. It's time to produce the CCR. This part of the project presents two videos answering our teacher's suggested questions. I'd been working on a couple of ideas the previous few days.

CCR 1 (answers to questions 1 and 2) 

I did an interview format. It's an invitation to the director and actor of my opening (that's me!) to a YouTube show. My cousin Daniel Velazquez played the host and did a great job. We filmed on the same set where I filmed part of the opening, but we used my TV screen as the background. In it, I played a show ID I made in Canva and scenes from the Opening.

As a prop, I printed the show ID so Daniel could have it in his hand, as TV hosts generally do.

I included audience chat participation and generated the comment screens using Canva. I also designed some graphics to enhance the post-production.

These are some of the technical specifications:

• Cameras: 2 iPhones. One moving and the other fixed on a tripod.

• Microphones: Ambient

• Lighting: Warm spotlight.

Although I wrote a script, we improvised a lot. I remember mentioning some sources from my research, and then we cut to re-film. It felt like an interview, and my cousin gave it a lot of credibility.

CCR Part 2 (questions three and four)

 For the second video of my CCR, I decided to do something a little different. Interview me? 

I separated two characters—the host and Victor—behind and on the screen of my film. The answers related to the last two questions our instructor asked for this part of the assignment.  So, with the help of a tripod and my mom, I recorded myself in two different positions but wearing the same costume in my opening.

Long Shot Victor Inside Screen 

Medium Shot Victor outside screen

 

I did need a script, and the help of Cap Cut, an app that includes a teleprompter option, was very valuable. 

SCRIPT

Now,  post-production is the big challenge. I'll edit with Final Cut here. I'll tell you more in the next post.

Keep in touch!

CCR 4: How did I integrate technologies—software, hardware, and online tools—into this project?

Hi again! Happy Friday. Yep, I almost finished... Today, I posted about question number 4:

How did I integrate technologies—software, hardware, and online tools—into this project?

To create Glitch, I first edited using iMovie and Final Cut Pro, allowing me to tune the pacing and add effects like slow motion. I also used video effects like black-and-white and coloring and a sound library to increase the tension.

Black and White filters 

Some sound effects that I used

I stored all the videos on my iPhone's camera roll and would sync it with my laptop and desktop to export the clips to FinalCut. This worked without issues, which I didn't expect since I would run out of storage from all the clips.

I filmed using my iPhone 13 camera and my mom's iPhone 16 Pro Max, ensuring that shots were stable while experimenting with different lighting techniques. Using a tripod was helpful because it gave me precise stability, and I filmed myself during some clips.

I also researched horror filmmaking techniques through YouTube tutorials and film analysis blogs, learning how lighting, sound, coloring, and framing can create fear.

The YouTube video How To Shoot a Horror Film (2020) states, "Low key lighting is a lighting technique for films that focuses on accentuating shadows by using hard source lighting in a scene."

With the use of LED light, I added some coloring effects that contrast with the black & white style of my opening. However, I could have used red lights instead of blue because this color is one of the filmmakers' favorites to increase the horror genre's mystery.

Don't be afraid of coloring

The editing process 'cut to cut' was important, and Final Cut Pro is friendly because it has the same platform as other easy-to-use software I know, such as iMovie. According to Krock, a Media Review and Collaborations Platform, editing horror is about the pace. Amina (2023) wrote: "It sets the movie's pace, telling the director when to build up the tension and give the audience a short break. By changing the speed and number of cuts, editors can make scary moments last longer or bring them on faster." I tried to follow this advice.

Additionally, I incorporated royalty-free sound effects from some websites ( suggested by my teacher) to enhance the mood and use eerie ambient noises. (In past posts, I told you about this.)

The Foley is always fun to have, so I did a couple of them using karaoke microphones, which gave my production some distortion noises to immerse the audience in the protagonist's growing paranoia.

Through this process, I've better understood the horror genre, audience engagement, and digital filmmaking techniques. Glitch is a modern approach to psychological horror, blending classic suspense techniques with today's digital editing.

In my next CCR post, I'll break down my idea to present the CCR part of my project.

Keep in touch!

Group Meeting #2

Hi there!

Today in class, we met with different people to discuss our projects. I got paired with Vicky, Sofia, Ayden, and Isa. We discussed the themes and ideas of our projects and what we would do for the CCR.

To see all our projects, we used tstok.net, which Mrs.Stoklosa provided to see everyone's blogs by AICE number.  I was the last one to present the project and received great feedback from my team. In fact, they helped me fix a problem with my lighting, which made many of my shots have way better quality, especially shots with little light in them. 

We also discussed what editing software was the best for our projects. The 2 softwares we decided were the best were CapCut, and Final Cut Pro. If you are doing everything on your phone, CapCut is more uncomplicated and straightforward, but if the editing is done on a laptop, the best choice would be Final Cut Pro.

After discussing each other's projects and what genre they chose, we began brainstorming what we would each do for our CCR. Thanks to this discussion, I decided on an interview format.   My cousin will be the host, and we will simulate a YouTube live-streaming show.  The setting will be my room because almost all of my Film Opening Project takes place there.

This group meeting was beneficial. It gave me insight into my project and what others were doing, and I received advice on what I should keep and change for my film opening.

Thanks everyone!

Keep in touch.

CCR3. How did my production skills develop throughout this project?

Hi! I continued with the CCR.  This post is about question number 3 

How did my production skills develop throughout this project?

This project helped me improve my filmmaking, editing, and acting skills. I did the whole project alone, but I received collaboration from my cousin, Daniel, aunt, Natalie, and mom. They helped with camera movements and editing in Final Cut Pro ( I learned about using this software in the basic mode). Also, I improved on using camera angles with a tripod (some clips were filmed while I was acting) Lighting is also a skill that I need to improve on. One of the biggest challenges was maintaining the darkness of a horror film. The LED blue light in my bedrooms helped me achieve the eerie aesthetic. I changed the clips to black and white using Final Cut's coloring tools. The result was different but challenging because my initial lighting was blue and dark, and the shadows were projected differently.

However, I kept some clips in "color" to give the opening a different touch. Another use I made of color was with the titles that appear in red, which, according to what we learned in class in the color scheme unit, signifies danger, at least in the horror genre.

The final scene in the bathroom was one of the most thoughtful because I had to use a makeup product to make it look like blood on the floor. But I had to leave that clip in color to be noticeable. So, I divided it and was able to generate the effect. This may be one of the criticisms that those who have seen the film have made of me: Why that scene in particular? It looks "divided," but I wanted the blood to be noticeable in its real color.

One of the parts that gave me the most work (besides acting, which I had never done before) was post-production... I had a lot of material, and compressing it into 2 minutes while trying to preserve the original script was difficult, but not in vain; many experts describe this part of the process as magic. I was reading some blogs, and, for example, Kim Sarnoff published her point of view on this phase of cinematography in 7 Wonders cinema (2022), saying "that it's about synthesizing all the elements that have been gathered, created or designed during the whole filmmaking process". In addition, she mentioned that all the team members were involved in sound editing, special effects, color correction, grading, and editing.

So, the editing part was the biggest challenge, and I learned, among other things, that you need a lot of order and structure in what you are doing from day one to succeed in your final delivery. I enjoyed the sound design part. I used Foley to hint at the presence of something unseen and added effects from Final Cut's sound library, which is great. I also used music that I downloaded from no-copyright websites such as Pixabay and BenSound.

I am thankful to my cousin, Daniel Velazquez, and my aunt, Nathalie, who helped me throughout the process. Compared to my previous projects, Glitch required a more intentional approach to pacing and atmosphere, which helped me grow.

CCR2. How does my film engage with audiences, and how would it be distributed as an actual media text?

Hi there!  

It's time to answer the second question, but even when my Opening Film was almost ready, I worked to add some extra effects in post-production.  

I am still editing some parts because I have to be within 2 minutes' length, and I have filmed so much, so I must choose. I have the issue of having to "cut" some parts of my original script. However, my opening will be good. ( I hope so!) You will see it in a few days!  

This is part of my edition process...

And now, Question Number 2

How does my film engage with audiences, and how would it be distributed as an actual media text?

The target audience for Glitch is teens and young adults who enjoy psychological horror and supernatural elements. The film builds engagement by starting with a familiar scenario, gaming at home alone, before slowly introducing eerie and unsettling moments. (I wrote about the target and audience in a previous post.) "A Deloitte study showed that horror is a very close third among genre preferences for Gen Z. ( Comedy, Action, and Horror ).  On the other hand, Movio's study also found that the market for horror films is younger than most".  So, I think that Glitch engages with the young target ( 16-25 Years Old )

Instead of relying on jump scares, the suspense grows through mysterious messages, strange noises, and an unseen presence, keeping the audience on edge.

If this was an actual film, I would first post it on YouTube or TikTok, as short horror films often go viral on these platforms. From there, it could expand to streaming services like Netflix, allowing a bigger audience. RMIT University has one study about how social media is growing as a way for filmmakers to present their horror productions. Dr. Jessica Balanzategui ( 2024) said, "These two platforms have cultivated an environment for emerging filmmakers to develop distinct creative voices and build the profile of their work in collaboration with an engaged community of platform users: a creative dynamic I call 'participatory experimentation."

CCR 1: How does my film use or challenge conventions, and how does it represent social groups or issues?

As part of my AICE Media Studies Film Opening assignment, I must complete a Creative Critical Reflection (CCR) to analyze my work and filmmaking decisions. This reflection explores how my project follows or challenges industry conventions, engages with audiences, develops my production skills, and integrates technology.

The CCR must be presented creatively with two videos, podcasts, or other visual components. In each one, I have to answer two questions. It is an individual reflection so that I will share my insights from the process.

Some requirements are:

• Research
• Do not do things like "talking heads" in front of the computer
• Writing the scripts for each part of the CCR

In this post, I answered the first question. Also, I wrote some ideas for my script with this.

How does my film use or challenge conventions, and how does it represent social groups or issues?

Glitch follows many traditional horror genre conventions, such as an isolated protagonist, eerie sound design, and a slow buildup of suspense. However, instead of a haunted house or a supernatural entity, the horror comes from technology, my Video game console ( My Xbox), and an unsettling warning that suggests something beyond the screen is watching.

My project also challenges the girl stereotype in horror by featuring a male protagonist, showing that fear and vulnerability are not limited by gender. Andie Korenge, Editor in Chief of Eagle Eyes News (2024), said, "Horror films enforce stereotypical representations of women"; thus, most horror films have the first victim, a girl. So, I changed it, and my distressed character is a boy.

At the same time, Glitch reflects teen digital dependency, turning the obsession with gaming and social media into something dangerous.

My film represents part of the routine of teenagers playing video games and using social media. According to Paw Research, about 40% of U.S. teens play video games daily, including 23% who do so several times a day. Another 22% say they play several times a week, while 21% play them about once a week or less. Teen boys are far more likely than girls to say they play video games daily (61% vs. 22%).

I'm thinking in the format that I would use, and a "YouTube" show hosted for my cousin Daniel Velazquez ( he has a band and he loves to communicate ) sounds excellent. I have to work on this idea, but at least I am clear about what I want to say about the 1st question...

This is only a reference script.

Presentation, Fonts, and Foley

After finishing all my filming, I transferred all my clips to Final Cut Pro. Here, I continue the post-production process.

Today, the main parts I focused on were the titles, intro, and foley.

First, I used a template form Final Cut, which was perfect for presenting the production company. Then, I created an intro for the movie with Canva

 I added the name of my production company in a different font than the rest of the project. 

FONTS

Afterward, I just added the credit sequence to my first few scenes. Final Cut is perfect for finding more fonts and effects.  IMovie has a limited library, so I had fun choosing some options. 

This is my final choice:  I used the Koratati font, size 97. I also used the glow effect to give it more light and used red for the credit sequence because red's meaning in film is danger and evil.  Besides, this color contrasts perfectly with my film's black and white style.  Korataki is a tech font. 

I found its look at myfonts.com

So, I have it on FinalCut. This is how I am working on it!  Of course, I want you to see the final product, but you must wait a little because I don't want to spoil it. 

Foley

Foley's technique is challenging, but I've already worked on it in another project for this class. We watched videos showing how this technique can improve a film's sound direction. I talked about it in a previous post (read here).

For my opening, I worked with a couple of foley. One is about a distorted noise that my character hears through his headphones. To achieve this, I took two karaoke microphones, connected them to my speaker, and completed the distortion I sought.

The other foley is related to some sounds that Daniel, my character, hears and doesn't know where they come from, something like Scratch, Scratch, Scratch, etc. These are the same microphones I managed to generate when I rubbed them on a carpet. Here, you can see it.

Well, I'm getting closer to presenting my project. Work is still to be done, but I can show it through my blog in less than 10 days.

Coloring? B&W?

It's time to start making magic in post-production. 

In previous posts, I told you about using two different software programs, iMovie and Final Cut Pro. I decided to organize the clips in iMovie, but the editing and effects I want to add, I'll do them in Final Cut

My aunt is still part of my team, and my mom will help me too. Final Cut is more complicated than iMovie, but they also have some similarities since both are from the software developers. 

Since I already have all my clips, the next step is to edit them so that my story is fluid and generates tension in the audience.

After watching some movie trailers like Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List, I decided to decolorize my clips in black and white and leave some details in color. It will be a challenge, but it's worth trying because it would make my project stand out.

    Spielberg's technique is very well-known in the film industry. The Guardian (2019) states why Spielberg used the black & white style in this movie: “The Holocaust was life without light. For me, the symbol of life is color. That’s why a film about the Holocaust has to be in black and white.”  

Here is a sample of what I did.

 I also began working on the sound. I've already downloaded three tracks from BenSound, the copyright-free music library that my teacher recommended. Since my opening doesn't contain much dialogue, the music and additional elements like some foley (breathing and steps) can give more tension to the scenes.  In my next post, I will write about it.

Keep in touch!

Behind the Scenes

 I have been filming my short film opening project for over a week and have made progress. I'm finished with most scenes and will start the last one. However, it hasn't been easy the entire time. Yesterday, while finishing the previous shots, I ran into a problem. 

I would need a shadow or someone to stand there for the shot where Daniel looks outside to see the entity. I would use a sticker from iMovie, but I couldn't find anything realistic enough. Then, I considered using my dad, but we could only film it in the backyard because of the lighting. After reviewing the clips and concluding that it wouldn't work out, I went to ask him if he could record again, but he was already asleep. So, I set up the tripod and did it myself.

However, I managed to capture part of what I wanted. It's not that simple when you must be the director and the actor simultaneously.

But other clips turned out well, like the silhouettes from the bathroom. I achieved this using the indoor light and taking advantage of the darkness outside to cast a perfect shadow. Here is a photo of the clip, and you can see the image of what I wanted to achieve.  I asked my aunt to be this part's "shadow" figure behind the window.

I might have to shoot again some clips, but this week, I should already be entering the final production phase: post-production. This is the phase where the magic of cinema is achieved.

I already have several things in mind, and I have been watching clips from films by directors like Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick. There are many interesting techniques that I could apply.