My Short Film Package

 Doors

https://youtu.be/BhqkXz8ISG4

Post Card

(Front of the Post Card)

(Back of the Post Card)

Website Link

https://andrewstern4.wixsite.com/website

Website Homepage

Critical Reflection

 How do your products represent social groups or issues?

My film touches upon two main topics, breaking and entering, and murder. People who have their homes broken into would understand this issue best. It is traumatizing to have your home broken into and the victims can be left feeling vulnerable. In the film, the main character Myles forgets to lock his door, (which is such a common occurrence in households) because he was too excited over a package that came in the mail. My home was personally broken into and I as well as my family felt as though we were trapped behind closed doors and had no clue what was going on. We wanted to stop what was going on and defend our home, but we were too scared to do anything. This can happen to any social group, no one is above this possibility. This movie was originally filmed with the mentality that locking doors is very important. There are 4 different doors used, multiple ones are locked and used in almost every scene. I wanted to stress how locking doors can save you from an unfortunate situation. Many people experience something like an attempted break-in or possibly a murder attempt. I also wanted to touch on how people feel if there is a death related to a break-in. The main character cries out “what did you do to my sister” in the film, after seeing a picture of her with a pole through her face. This is to represent the stress, and confusion one goes through in a situation like this, where they are not sure of what is going on.

How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’?

There were multiple types of branding I did for my film. This included a website, postcard/poster, and social media accounts, as well as a YouTube channel. I used these elements to spread the message of my film by directing it to the younger generation who frequents social media with specific teasers and wording. I also used Facebook to target some of the older population by using more professional language and teasers to get adults interested. The website I created includes a small description of my short film and pictures of the main character. I also included mentions of the date and release location. This information is on all the different platforms which can be used by anyone, including those who come across it and are out of the targeted range. People can use social media with filters, for example, if people have their Instagram filtered to show horror or thriller movies, my movie will most likely come across their screen more than once. For those who are not interested in horror or thriller, they will not be affected by the targeting of my film. I kept the viewers of my film engaged with the film before it was finished by updating behind the scenes of props and progress updates on social media. Each of my media websites has a picture of the film's main character with his hood up as well as the killer with his weapon. I did this to entice the viewer into looking at the entire film.

How do your products engage with the audience?

My products include social media accounts which are enforced to engage with the audience. My film specifically is based around the age gap between teens and young adults who are the primary candidates to use social media websites such as Twitter and Instagram, now for Facebook that one targets the audience based around older age as it was created long ago. My Instagram contains certain audience attractions, now these are specifically targeted to engage with the audience by asking within the comments of the post why or what may happen, it’s a bit of a puzzle as my post contains certain aspects of my horror genre while also pertaining to have the audience interact with said post. Twitter has the same effect with certain young teens being able to connect with the movie progress by commenting and giving their preferences. My other products consist of my postcard now with this card comes information that everyone can gather, however, the cover art is more appealing to the younger thrill-seeking teens who may have first looks and interests in watching my film. The more color-based it is with horror aspects the more connection it will bring with the younger audience. My final product contains the website, this website included a brief description of my short film to engage the audience on the suspense of what can be expected, as well as certain little details like the main picture designed behind the horror genre and certain rating and reviews from big companies and titles which are known by many people between ages.

How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?

The genre in which my film was produced was horror. The research put into my products were contained from old classic horror titles and projects. The portrayal of a burglar within my film was taken from the idea behind multiple horror films about home invasion. I researched certain weapons that were shown in multiple horror films including knives, pipes, or bats. Types of weapons like guns and crossbows are unlikely to be seen in horror, which is why the research put into the weapon was consistent through many horror movies through past time. It is much more common for household items such as bats or pipes to be used in attacks as they are more likely to be had. My title is also connected to the research behind creative titles of movies based on home invasion, recent examples were “Alone”, and “Locked’, while my title was “doors”. Doors was a pitch idea behind the breaking and entering of multiple spaces which included several doors throughout the movie, the target behind the title was an obstacle faced within the movie to cause suspense and overall bring effect into the horror aspect of a man being kidnapped and taken into multiple rooms as he travels through the house alone and eventually killed. I also researched the horror film “Psycho” were the entire film brought a feeling of suspense and thrill just like any other horror film, but it was entirely silent. I used this in my film to keep my dialogue to a minimum and try to build suspense with the visuals of my movie.

 

Final Editing blog

 Today I was finishing up everything I needed to be able to turn in my short film package alongside my CR for tomorrow. I went over my movie 1 final time and adjusted a couple of things. I started by altering how long my titles were at the beginning of my movie. I made sure that all the spelling of my titles were correct.  I have a total of 11 titles, and I wanted them all to last 5 seconds with a one-second fade in and a one-second fade out. I also wanted there to be a one-second gap between each title. This came to 66 seconds or one minute and 6 seconds of my film having titles. I triple checked to make sure all my clips matched up with each other how I wanted and that the transitions or to my liking. I will upload my movie to YouTube tomorrow and then attach it to my short film package blog. I checked over my social media websites, I checked that they were all cleaned up and had at least two posts each. I looked over my Wix website and made sure that it was pretty and easy to navigate. I clicked on each social media link on my Wix page to make sure it redirected me to the correct site. I showed my completed movie to my family for the first time, and they loved it. They were happy I included them in my project. I had a lot of fun filming with my family. I also really enjoyed the editing process, where I got to take a bunch of clips and put them together into a short film. It is a cool feeling seeing an idea in your head be on a screen in front of you. I then sent my movie to one of my other friends in the class and asked him to look it over. He gave me positive feedback and said that I did a really good job. I returned the favor and watched his short film. I am sad that I did not get to work with him due to Covid-19. But I am happy that I got the chance to work with my family. 

Postcard Blog

Because I was so close to finishing my film I decided to work on other components in my package. I had to leave town because of a family emergency relating to Covid-19 and was not able to access a computer while I was gone. I had a notebook hand-sketched how I wanted my postcard to look. I began creating my postcard for my package. It contained information pulled from a bunch of different sources for my film. The front of the postcard is a picture of my house where the filming takes place. The caption is the title of the film (Doors). And the subtitles are “a short student film by stern productions”.  I chose the name stern productions because that is my last name, and it sounds quite professional. On the backside of my postcard, it reads “you're just going to keep getting in my way, aren't you?” I wanted to include one of my favorite quotes from my film. There aren't many to choose from, as I decided to remove a lot of dialogue and voice-overs in my film. I removed most of the audio because of the movie “Psycho” that I rewatched before leaving. I have a couple of lines of dialogue between the main character and his sister. I also include the dialogue between the main character and the murderer. Alongside the quote on the back of my postcard are my social media handles. This includes my Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube handle. I also include my Wix website link which when opened will have the links to my social media. There is also an icon of a door as a symbol of the entire movie.

Voice editing blog

 Today I recorded the voiceover for my film. I had scenes in my film where the main character Myles had internal dialogue. The first step was to decide what I wanted each character to say. I did this by reviewing the clips before and after where the dialogue would be. I also referenced my storyboard. I then recorded each section of dialogue and uploaded them to my computer. I played them back and listened to them while watching the scene they were supposed to be with. I realized I had a monotone voice and did not capture the proper emotion Myles would have while thinking to himself in the stressful situations he was in. I rerecorded everything for the second time and had a lot better of a result. I then Began combining the internal dialogue audio with the scenes it corresponded with on my computer. This was very challenging considering I was trying to embed audio on a video file. I had to phone a friend who had an internal dialogue in his film and ask him what he did to combine them. He showed me how with a website specifically designed for this, and it worked. I then took the new clips with the internal dialogue attached to the video and put it in “iMovie”. After cutting the edges of the clips adding clean-cut transitions and the proper filter, I got to watch my almost completed film for the first time. I still need to reshoot my ending scenes with the original plan. I am a lot happier being able to use the outdoor balcony instead of the indoor one. It fits the plot much better and keeps the suspense of bringing the story to the outdoors. My next step is to add the sound from the keyboard for any sound effects I wanted to add.

 

Re-Shooting blog

Today the construction on my balcony was finished. This was sooner than expected and means I can record my original ending for my film. The construction was finished at 2:00 PM today which left a little bit of the afternoon and all the evening for the day. I got off work at 3:30 PM and rushed home to begin the process. I started by getting the same clothes that we have been wearing out of the wash. Getting everybody just and giving my dad his “weapon”. I watched back on the clips that involved the balcony. First off, I reused the old clip of entering the correct bedroom during the day. So that we truly do enter my bedroom. I also deleted the clips involving the indoor balcony and the hallway scene. I restarted recording from the opening of my bedroom door out into the hallway and go into the right instead of the left. I got to include the scene I wanted of Myles tripping over the doorframe leading out to the balcony. Everything was perfect it looked like it was going to rain so I wanted to finish recording before that. I was able to record the dialogue scenes and even the killing on the balcony. I hated using my pillow as a body double for when Myles gets thrown over the balcony. Especially because my pillow landed in the pool and was wet. After doing the bare minimum editing of stitching all the clips together with clean-cut transitions and the proper nighttime filter to match the clips before my film Lux almost exactly how I pictured it in my head. There is still some editing that needs to be done to enhance the sound of my film as well as lighting and reshooting any scenes I am not 100% happy with. I am very happy that the balcony was finished on Saturday, so I was able to have my dad film because he works during the week. Tomorrow I will further edit my film and start working with my friends’ keyboard for sound.

Editing Night blog

Today I did not want to reshoot the scenes I was not happy with because it is a holiday and I want to spend it with my family. I decided to edit the remaining scenes I had already filmed. This consisted of the late-night scenes that began to involve the killer up to the new end of my film. I began by stitching each clip together on iMovie. I did this by removing the bit of film at the beginning and end of each clip and adding a simple transition. For a lot of these scenes, I filmed the lighting was not what I wanted. I found an option on iMovie that allows a light filter over clips which I liked. It added the slightly gloomy and mysterious feeling I wanted in my film. I was not sure if I can have filters over my clips, so I asked my teacher hoping they will get back to me after the break. I am keeping the original clips just in case I cannot use the filter.  I only found one scene I was not happy with, in the nighttime. So, on the day that I decide to re-film the daytime clips, I will also wait till nighttime and re-film what is necessary. I spoke to one of my friends and asked if I could use his keyboard for my film. I told him that he would get credit both on my social media pages as well as in the credits of my movie. His keyboard has custom sounds that he made up himself. I am very pleased with how my film is turning out so far. Aside from the few re-shoots, I need to do, and the construction obstacles everything has come out smoothly. I hope that my outdoor balcony will be finished soon so I can we filmed the last couple of scenes where I originally planned them. But if not, I am still happy with how Plan B turned out. This process has given me an insight into how setbacks affect filming, and how difficult they can be to get over.