CCR Blog

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1acQutwJAidkBi-vmCK8x1EOesWfEOLzUEdWnQp7X4uc/edit?usp=sharing

Creative Critical Reflection

1. After a long filming period, my product is finally complete. There were numerous ways to create an entertaining product. For my product, I decided to use conventions instead of going against them to create an entertaining product. My product varied in camera angles and shots. I used the natural lighting of the sun, and the lighting provided in some of the rooms that I filmed in. There were not many props used in filming the project.This is one of the things that I believe I do best. I stuck to the fundamental conventions that I was taught and those that I observed and used them to my advantage to create the best product that I could. As far as representing social groups goes, my product represents those who are stuck in a bad relationship or friendship. The social issue being addressed in my product is toxic relationships and friendships. This is justified by the name of the song choice, “Bye Bye Bye” which represents my character saying goodbye to his significant other, and the actions that you’ll find in the product. There is a scene in the product where I am running from a friend of mine who is representing a toxic woman in a relationship with myself, who happens to be the victim in the relationship. There is also a scene in my product where I am speaking to the woman, trying to plead with her. This is my version of myself trying to escape the seemingly endless cycle that many people find themselves trapped in in society. Once my character is found out of his toxic relationship, he is seen dancing and singing at the end of the video.

2. One of the main goals of my product was to give the audience something to relate to. The issue being addressed is an issue that millions if not billions of people have experienced. The shots I used allow for the body language and facial expressions of my characters to be noticed. This is used to help the audience identify uncomfortable situations. This connects to the very serious real world issue of toxic and unhealthy relationships and friendships.I tried to include interesting scenes such as my chasing scene and my driving away scene.My project also includes some dancing scenes to lighten up the serious topic. If I decided to distribute this product as a real media text I would choose to distribute it on MTV. MTV is a popular place for streaming. Distributing my work on MTV will allow for it to be seen by as many viewers as possible. Another one of my main goals of the product is to spread awareness to those in a toxic situation and cannot seem to find a way out of it. With my work being mainstream on a platform like MTV, millions of people would get to see it, and awareness would be spread.

3. At the beginning of my production for this project, my skills and knowledge were very premature. Through all the planning and hard work they have undoubtedly improved. When I first began working on this project, my knowledge on how to create the best project possible was very minimal. I did not have a topic picked out yet, I did not know where it would be taking place, I did not know who was going to be a part of it. Plenty of missing variables in my project. I did some of my own research to get started. What effect does each of the camera angles create? How will the audience feel about my song choice? What will my topic be? After doing some slight research there was only one way for me to be sure about these unanswered questions. Through trial and error. Nearly all of my scenes took multiple attempts.There could have been minor inconveniences where I was not looking at the camera, or the action was not being done right. With each scene I thought about how it will contribute to creating a good intro, a good story in between, and a good and proper exit. Throughout this whole process I learned how to engage the audience into a serious topic and address the issue. Including more suspenseful scenes by including close shots, and camera movements. Throughout this production, my acting skills also developed. I learned how to display emotion and emphasize my actions as a character. It is safe to say that my skills to act, and to film efficiently all improved throughout this project.

4. Integrating technology was one of my personal favorite parts of this project. Not only because I found it the easiest, but I also find it as the most entertaining part of my project. To film my project, I used my very own iPhone 11 camera. I chose to use this camera because it is easily the most accessible camera for me. A professional camera was not easy for me to get a hold of, and if I wanted one, I would have to spend a couple hundred dollars out of my pocket. To edit my work I chose to use Capcut and my photos app. Capcut is an app that I can install easily on my phone. The photos app offers a variety of filters, but I used the app simply to trim my videos to the desired length. I also used it to cut out any extra undesired motions that slipped into any of my scenes. This app offers a variety of templates, transitions, filters and effects. I chose to use Capcut because it is an app that I have previously used. Due to my previous experience on the app, it was easier for me to navigate the app and find what I needed to use. I used Capcut to add several transitions to my project that I found appealing. To blog my progress, I chose to use Blogger. Blogger is a google blogging website. Blogger is linked directly to my google gmail which makes everything a lot easier. There is no traveling between platforms. All my work is linked to one gmail account.