Creative Critical Reflection

Click Here To View My Creative Critical Reflection

Final Project

Here is the video and link to my video of my film opening Red Room created by Asher Michelson

(Youtube Link: https://youtu.be/L2AVKuAZaYs)

Target Audience and Some Thanks

     I'm running out of ways to say hello... so I'll just start this blog posting with...

     To complement my film poster, I decided I'd explain to you my target audience I would try to reach with my film opening. Obviously, through reading previous posts, I have researched and created a horror/psychological thriller film opening; thus, this would make my film automatically target an older audience group due to the nature of the genre. I decided I would give my film a rating of R(Restricted 17+) because the way I see my film going I know that the subject matter is going to be very intense and won't be suitable to a younger viewing audience (with themes of rape, torture, stalking, etc.). It is not necessarily that I see my film being gory and gross in that aspect, but I think the topics in the movie are not appropriate for a 13+ audience.

     The fact that the current generations are all about the movement of technology would aid my film greatly, because my film opening is combining the two things people love the most: videos on the Internet and technology all tied up with a bow under the horror genre.

     I'd also like to use this post as a chance to thank all the people who have aided me with producing this project which has been quite the amazing feat for me.

Jordanne Cantrill: The actress staring in my film opening. Cantrill was so much fun to work with, for one second I'd be filming her screaming in fear and the next we'd be on the ground rolling in laughter. I am truly so blessed to have had the chance to work with her again (we've done other projects together in the past). She is such an incredible actress, and I can't wait for the chance to work with her again one day.

Mom and Dad: Thanks for letting me use the garage even though you didn't want me to... you pulled through.

Sebastian Rios: Sebastian I have also worked with in the past, and even though he had a minor roll in my film opening, he would've been the actual film's protagonist if I continued to film further. He's really nice and chill, and I'm glad I managed to get him in my production.

My Dog Riley: For all the emotion support you lend to me, all the carrots in the world could not repay you.

My Media Studies Teacher Mrs. Stoklosa: I owe literally everything to this woman. She has given me all the tools I needed to succeed and I have never felt so confident going into a major project because this amazing human being has blessed me with her knowledge of media awesomeness. Seriously though, she is probably one of the best teachers I've ever had and I because of her I am now not just a regular consumer, I am an active and alert one who can make boss films, and it's all because of her.

Well, I'll TTYL!

XOXO

-A



     

My Film's Poster

Today I decided I would create a beautiful poster for my film opening of Red Room because why not.

     But truthfully I saw many film posters up in my Media Studies classroom that students made from years prior and it inspired me to create my own.

     

     So I looked some movie posters that were up in my classroom that were made by professional film companies, these were Across The Universe (2007) and March of the Penguins (2005).

     Following these amazing movie poster covers for as examples, I managed to create my own original one. I followed conventions of putting credits at the bottom of the film cover to make it seem more professional and credible (Including the production company name I came up with, the director, actor's names, and age rating). I also, like Across The Universe added a little quote on the top of my banner that would complement the film's disturbing theme perfectly.

     To shoot this I went to a room in my friends house that has some battered concrete floor, lit some red mini candles (they smelled like berry cherry OMG I was loving it), turned off the lights (I did not like that part because the dark is scary), and took the photo with my film's title cleverly on a laptop computer screen. All of this fits complements my film and I feel I have customized a poster that represents my film opening.

     That hand you see on the keypad is actually mine, and the way I made the veins pop out of my hand was really simple too but a bit uncomfortable. All I did was use the candle light's natural shadow to aid me and then I pressed my knee into my armpit to constrict blood flow making my veins pop and making for a great shot. Unsafe? Probably... Worth it? Yes!

     Until next time,

XOXO

-A 

Oops!

Okay! Hi!

     So kind of an awkward situation... I found a little mistake I made in my film opening after viewing my opening a bunch of times. It was nothing major, actually it was something super minor that was on the screen for less than half a second, but it was definitely something that would look unprofessional if not fixed.

     It was a simple editing error I made where a cut from a previous shot somehow made it's way into the next scene and mixed up the chain of events for a split second, which would not work for me nor for someone who is actually trying to critique my film and has the eye to catch a simple misplaced mistake like that.

     It was actually quite a easy fix, I just merged one of my shots a little closer to the next using the iMovie software and 'Poof!' mistake gone. After further review, I realized I wanted to adjust the coloring of the film opening a bit too, so I color corrected it and made all the colors look more vibrant in a way with harder/darker shadows to complement. Overall, it made the film look so much more intense.

     I even edited the sound a bit more, making some folly sounds more intense in the background during my opening shots and other sounds totally muted during other scenes. Like I have a POV Shot from the girl restrained in the chair's point of view where I muted out all of the background noise to a point where the only thing you could hear was her breathing, which turned out really cool!

     So in my last post when I said I was done, I guess I was really wrong because after a lot of reflection I realized I totally was not done at all!

    I'll keep you all posted as to if I make any further changes because I realized through doing this project that the first copy is not always as perfect as I may have thought it was. So it was good that I stepped away for a few days and then revisited with a clear psyche because I was able to see things I was too immune to before. So I just need to slow things down and take more time with everything, for I was so stressed about getting everything done so fast to make my deadlines that maybe I rushed a process that really didn't need to be. All a learning experience in the end though so I will take this lesson with me moving forward.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

XOXO

-A

I'm Done

     Well, the title says it all! I finished editing last night and added in all my credits!

     I started my editing process feeling overwhelmed by the amount of content I had shot, but I was able to filter through all of it with ease and create this beautiful monster that is my film opening. I added in some sound effects, created my title for the opening, and played a lot with color. In order to make the scene feel more heated and intense, I not only added a more shadowed effect to the scene but I also added some warmth to the color range. The colors became a bit more vivid, but that complemented with some light shadows is the psychological thriller genre convention I was trying to achieve when it came to color/lighting. The main goal of my film opening was to make it seem amateur in a way because many Red Rooms on the web are made by people who don't have professional filming experience, just a computer camera and a video phone. So I needed to have that feel, however, I needed to combine strategic techniques in my filming and editing as to make it a quality piece.

     With this project I met all my goals and more, for I stayed true to my time schedule when it came to personally set due dates, I didn't procrastinate at all, and I managed to surprise myself with how amazingly I was able to apply the knowledge I accumulated from taking a media studies course this year so effortlessly.

     If I could look back on this journey and think if I could change anything, I probably wouldn't, because any mistakes or challenges I made on the way only helped me to become better and the final product that you all will very soon see reflects that. Stay tuned! My film opening for my film Red Room will be released sometime next week. So tell your mama, your best friend, your fifth cousin, your first grade teacher! This is going to be epic...

I'm out,

XOXO

-A

The Final Touches

     Aloha! Bonjuor! G'day!

     I have some good news for all of you guys today! I have finally finished editing my film opening for the most part! The only thing left I have to do now is add in opening credits such as the production company (I'm naming my production company Dark Lip Productions because it sounds dark, seductive, sexy, and lips are all the rage since Kylie Jenner turned 18), name who my actors are, and mention the directing credits. Genre conventions for psychological thriller movie openings vary when it comes to when they put in the beginning credits. Sometimes the opening credits are during the start of the film opening like I would like mine to be, but sometimes they are a little after the first opening scene a little latter in the beginning of the movie. So since there is not a strict genre convention for this part of the film opening, I just decided o include it in my film opening. The font I plan on using will be bold, and clean looking while being colored red (obviously sticking with the Red Room name theme), and I'll be keeping the film title incongruous with the font I'm already using for the opening credits. As seen in the opening scene from the psychological thriller/horror movie Would You Rather (2012), the movie title is seen looking very clean which I can also envision doing for my film title. Obviously my film title will be a red color sticking with the theme.

     I have decided to put my movie title after the initial scene that will feature my film opening like many horror/psychological thriller movies (Ex: The Saw moves)

(Saw V)

[Look of the movie title from the film opening from the movie Would You Rather (2012)]

      Honestly, I'd love to make a movie banner but with the time pressure situation I'm under to finish the project, since this is an educational project, I may not be able to do that; however, if I find I have the time to be able to create a banner I defiantly will I promise you!

     This sounds crazy to me, but by my next posting my project will be completely edited and complete. I feel like I've raised this film like it was my own child and I am honestly so proud of it. I never though I would be able to accomplish such a massive long-term project like this while trying to balance out my regular school and social life, but I managed superbly if I do say so myself. I cannot wait for all of you to see where all of my hard work and effort has gone into.

Until next time,

XOXO

-A

Finished Filming / The Editing Process

     Hey! How you doing? Well that's so nice of you to ask, I'm doing really swell, and you know why... I finished the last shots for my film opening today!!!!!

     I honestly needed just a couple more seconds of footage in order to complete my project and sum up my film opening, and I was successfully able to accomplish this during my media studies class period by asking a friend I thought was dressed appropriately (he was wearing black and red how awesome was my luck seriously) and I though he could play out the finishing scene perfectly.

     Here was my actor, Sebastian Rios, that would actually become my films main protagonist after the film opening would conclude for he would portray the film continuing from the point of view of the average viewer of the person who goes onto these Red Rooms and surfs the dark web with high hopes of discovering disturbing materials.

(Sebastian Rios)

     Now that I have been editing my film opening trying to create a cohesive piece, I am finding that I am running into a what many would consider a positive problem, that I overshot and have a lot of content to pick and chose from while cutting and pasting my piece together. It is just taking me a lot of effort to go through all the content I filmed over and over again trying to figure out what shot of a scene should go where or if it shouldn't altogether. This is a minor problem, however, I am happy to deal with it because I'd 100% rather have overshot a project and have a vast amount of info to search through instead of having too little footage that would force me to re-shoot my project again and would be a much greater obstacle to deal with.

     I am currently editing my movie over the iMovie program on my computer, and it seems to be working out just fine, for I can adjust sound effects, color, and pretty much anything you could think of with complete ease.

     One more thing that I am having a little trouble with is determining how I want my film title to be portrayed... more to come on that in my next posting defiantly.

     That is all I have for today!

See you mañana!

XOXO

-A

My Actress / Filming Day 1

Today Is A Good day! And you know why? Because I filmed a majority of my project today!!!! AHHHHHHHH! YAAAAASSSSS!

Before I tell you about how my filming went, here is a photo of the actress I asked to help me with the film.

(Jordanne Cantrill)

     I selected Jordanne because she is such an incredible actress. She is an active member in my schools theater and drama department and has even won many awards in the subject. She is diverse in her ability to play any character, and being a friend of mine, this was truly a lot of fun filming (during all the intense scenes we broke down laughing many times it was wonderful).

     I also decided to go with a woman for my film opening because women have that ability to bring a very vulnerable feel to a scene, and sticking with actual facts, most people that are portrayed in Red Rooms are helpless women. I really wanted Jordanne to embody the female protagonist from the movie The Strangers (2008) meets the female character from The Eye (2008) [both links and video links to these movies can be found in the blog post I created yesterday]. She needed to seem helpless, desperate, and alone, and I think I managed to do that excellently. 

     I played a lot with the lighting, did lots of jerky fast shots, etc. All of the research I did combined with the amazing acting skills of Jordanne really aided me in getting an ample amount of good content I will soon be editing. 

(Shot from today's shoot)

With utilizing my garage to my advantage, and by varying the lighting, I was able to create the atmosphere very similar to a scene from Halle Berry's 2013 movie The Call that really did an excellent job at creating that claustrophobic cramped evil space I was looking for.

Now that I will begin editing, I will be updating all of you as to how it goes, for I only have one more scene I need to film before all of my filming process is over, but today proved that all the hard work and effort I put into my research paid off. :)

Also, I ended up giving up on trying to get approval from different labels to get songs because none would answer me back. Like what is wrong with these people! So I am incorporating music in a very different way that will be very exciting (I'll be using non-copy written piano music), but I think I want to keep that a secret of how I am utilizing it for now. 

Till next time,

XOXO

-A

Location Location Location

Hello... It's me... I was wondering if after all this time you'd like to start... FILMING!

Yay! I get to start filming after this next post or two!

        Today I will discuss my findings with my location search! Now, like my previous research said, I need to find a location that will make my character seem utterly alone and isolated. And due to the fact most Red Rooms are shot in wear house or locked room like places, I went on a search to find the best place to film my opening.

     First I thought of my garage at my house because it can facilitate high and low key lighting, the closed space can bring a feel of claustrophobia with no windows, and the look of a mostly empty space with a few items makes it feel like any ordinary garage (which is just what I'm looking for because no Red Room set has ever actually been in a nice, well put together location).

    Photos I took:

     I want my film, like this scene I will link below from the psychological thriller movie The Eye (2008), to feel very intense with the main focus on the character while there is still commotion and stuff in the background that will entice the audience. 

     After some further location searching, I found my garage was the perfect place to shoot my film because it was obviously so convent for me, and it provided that tight, industrialized, light/dark space I was eagerly looking for. Also, I don't know any abandoned wear houses nearby and if I did I'd probably be too sketched out to actually go film there being the scaredy-cat that I am (Yes I know... the irony that I'm making a psychological thriller I get it...).

     Some props, sticking with the iconography, I want ti utilize for the scene are a vinyl record player. a candle, a chair, a laptop on a stool, and that's it. For lighting, I will be using the yellow natural lighting my garage has from its motion sensor lights that creates a low light feel, and the bright white artificial lighting I have that the garage also offers. With all this in play, all I need to do is find myself an actress! 

See you all very soon!

XOXO

-A

The Plot Thickens

My Plot: Red Room

Welcome my people! Sorry I haven’t posted recently I’ve been spending some vacation time in LA (much needed), but I’m back now and ready to continue sharing my journey with all of you lovelies J

Since I have gone through my creative process, researched a great amount about horror and psychological thriller genre conventions, and gone into depth about the surface, deep, and dark web, it is now time for me to delve into how I want my film opening to go.

I will be making a storyboard and writing about how I want the plot of my film opening to go. This posting will be strictly my writing down my intro story.

1.     The film opening will begin with a black screen where the only audible thing the consumer will be able to hear is the sounds of footsteps and things that would be said on a set like, “We’re live in 10!” or “Is hair and makeup done?” Something to that extent to make the viewer feel like they are on a movie set of sorts.

2.     The film opening will start with an extreme close up of a video camera or computer screen camera that will flash on green as to initiate that it is recording.

3.     Then the camera with cut to a mid/wide shot of a woman sitting strapped in a metal chair in what seems to be a garage or warehouse type of place, with only artificial light illuminating the room from above. (I’m still questioning overall the lighting at this point but I am leaning more towards high key probably for most of the scenes)

4.     Then there will be a POV shot from the woman’s perspective and she’ll look around the room in a bit of a frantic manor (kind of freaking out), and I want all POV shots to be almost jerky in a way to create an even more intense feeling of confusion and commotion for the viewer. I will focus and blur the picture as some points as well possibly.

5.     Then the viewer will see close ups of the only main things I’d like to emphasize in the room, which would be a speaker, a surveillance camera, a vinyl record player (this is still in question for I hope I can get approval for a song but at the moment I continue trying to contact labels with no response, so this prop would be nice to have in my scene but it won’t be detrimental without)

6.     There will be a shot of the woman from the perspective of someone watching her on a computer screen to reinforce the fact that she is being broadcasted live.

7.     Then, the speaker will briefly explain to her the situation she sees herself  (that she’s the new star of this Red Room) in and will invite the viewers to participate and engage with whoever is talking in the speaker over a live group chat and an area where the viewer can pay for services using digital money using Bitcoins. Throughout this little speech there will be multiple close ups of the woman’s face, focus pulls between the girl and the speaker from an OVS (over the shoulder shot) and the computer video camera, and I’ll include quick pans or tilts from high and low angels to create a sense of even more chaos and confusion (sticking with psychological thriller genre conventions).

8.     Then after the speaker stops, the girl will really begin to panic and struggle in her restraints as the camera slowly zooms out from her and seamlessly transitions to the camera pulling out from another computer screen where a random person is sitting watching the live-stream of the Red Room. Then a popup will appear on the person’s screen asking him/her what fate of the woman they request, and they’ll pick one of then and right before the person clicks submit the screen will go black to the movie’s title.

     I want this film opening to feel very intense yet very simple yet very intriguing to the viewer ya know!? Obviously it may be hard to picture how this is going to go over writing but trust me I have this extreme vision in my mind of mixing almost a SAW movie opening with an intense psychological thriller horror movie scene from The Strangers (2008) while adding a more digital aspect to it. 

(Scene from the movie The Strangers [2008] that really inspired me)

THIS IS GOING TO BE SO COOL! AHHHHH! I’m so excited!

Soon I get to start the really fun part which will be filming, and I’m very close to getting to that point. Now, my goal is to go location scouting to find the most appropriate venue for where to film my opening, and then I need to find an actress who will play the main protagonist of this scene of the movie. I already have an idea for both of these next tasks ahead so I will keep all of you guys updated!

Love you all!

X’s & O’s,

-A

What Is The Deep Web / Dark Web

Hola gentes!

     It's me, Asher again, ready to delve into more of the unknown as I figure out what I am going to do with this project.

      Okay, so to start off, we all understand the current world wide web with browsers like Google and Bing (lets be real no one uses Bing...), you search something and hopefully a desired result is contained within the results. However, would you believe me if I said that you are only barely scratching the surface of what is the WWW? Or the fact that what you see is filtered and monitored by the government or the browser company itself? Well, this is strangely true, for now I will open your eyes to what is known as the deep and dark web (bring a flashlight because you're going to need it).

The Deep Web

Here is an illustration normally used to explain the consciousness vs the subconsciousness but applied to the subject of the deep and dark webs.

     The deep web is the second step in this three-part Internet world, located right under the surface web. This area of the Internet is said to contain 90-95% of all the information that cannot be accessed using surface web browsers (by this I mean Google or Bing or a Wiki). Things that would normally be considered classified can be unlocked in this area of the web, and certain downloadable browsers are needed to enter this area. This area is honestly easily accessible with little to no effort, but honestly, for a normal teenager like me, I find no real reason to visit, for there is not much I could accomplish other than reading documents on this area on the web; however, many people are grateful for the deep web due to the fact that it does contain unrestricted access to all the data on the web. People who live in countries like China and Russia, where the government plays a major factor in monitoring their citizens surfing use certain deep web browsers to see what an American may see on a regular day on YouTube or Google without being monitored. To these oppressed people, access to the deep web is a blessing, even if it does come with the risks of being hacked or having information stolen.

     

     The Dark Web

     Now here comes the scary stuff... The Dark Web! (Dun! Dun! Dunnnnnn!)

• Disclaimer: I highly encourage any person reading this blog that is currently not involved with the dark web to stay clear away from it. This is an actual scary place where regular people can get involved and be hurt in the process. I will not include any links to the dark web in this section, for I do not want any person to visit the dark web to be associated with me. You have been warned.

     The dark web sounds sinister for a reason, because it's like a dark ally where only the brave, the advised, or the stupid would walk down it. The dark web is mostly encrypted and is known as the 'onion' web (most url's end with .onion or something similar), for people who dare to access this area must use a browser like Tor. With enough persistence, any person could manage to visit the dark web, but it takes a lot more knowledge and effort than just surfing the deep web. The dark web has a lot of drug buying and trading on it, where people can distribute illegally over the Internet with little chance of the government being able to track. The dark web (this is extremely gross and inhumane) contains a lot of pedophilia material in the form of child porn, there is nasty stuff like bestiality videos, and one of the more infamous types of content of the dark web known as 'hurt porn' that portrays children or adults being subject to rape/torture. There is also a large quantity of 'jailbait' porn that features younger teens. (I'd recommend reading about more of this at this link: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/the-new-underbelly-20120531-1zktt.html)

     The dark web also lets the user the ability to buy and sell weapons (especially guns), buy fake I.D.'s, passports, and even register diplomas.

     Now we get even darker... Red Rooms. A Red Room is available live streaming content on the dark web that features the rape, torture, or murder of people (men, woman, children, babies... there are no boundaries).  Many say it is impossible to prove a Red Room actually exists or that what is being shown in the video is real or fake, for there have been many hoaxes like one that was supposed to be streaming the torturing of captured ISIS vigilantes (read more about this one here); however, the big mystery about Red Rooms is that since they are impossible to prove if they are real, then they could be just hoaxes or they could be featuring the murdering of real people. Since these sites are so encrypted, people at the FBI struggle greatly to shut these sites down or even find them. The more famous sites on the dark web that may or may not be hoaxes are ones that sell human dolls (stuffed humans), one where people are experimented on (homeless people are abducted and taped being given diseases or having limbs replace), and other Red Rooms that give the consumer the ability to pay in the form of Bitcoins (a digital real currency used on the deep web and even sometimes surface) to have the person portrayed on the Red Room to be tortured to their liking as they enjoy with others in a group chat on the site.

(Image from the human experiment site)

     The people consuming these horrible videos and content can be the average person who you would never suspect, which is what has inspired the idea for my film opening. The fact that someone, whether the Red Room was real or not, would pay money to see someone tortured or killed astounds me. I find psychological thrillers more compelling when the story could actually happen in real life (like the movie The Purge). So currently, now that I have researched genre conventions and the subject I want my film to be about, I will begin story boarding and I will show all of you my plot and ideas for my film opening in one of my next postings.

See you all soon and stay fabulous!

-A

Exploring Genre Conventions Part 3: Camerawork (Shots/Editing)

Good Day My Lovely Fans! The world says hello!

    Today, like my past posts, I will be utilizing these two presentations to explore the genre conventions of horrors and psychological thrillers: these url's (http://www.slideshare.net/arronbettley/generic-conventions-of-horror) and (http://www.slideshare.net/marine18/horror-genre-conventions) 

     Due to the fact that, through more research, I'm beginning to stray more toward the psychological thriller aspect of my film opening than horror, I will be discussing editing and shots that will aid me in bringing about that genre better.

Types of shots and filming techniques typically used in psychological thrillers as to make a scene more intense and suspenseful:

POV Shots: Used to show character's perspective, especially when in a scary situation. I know this is not a movie, but the viral video game Slender Man became a massive hit due to its extremely scary/suspenseful nature, for the entire game was from a first-person perspective at night where the player was placed in an isolated, dark setting.

 

High and Low Angles: Used to insinuate that the character is being watched or is in a nightmare of sorts. Nightmare On Elm Street (2010) utilized low angles like the one scene from the bathtub as to infer fear and that the character could not be in current reality. Giving high and low angles at a fast editing rate can also create a triply feeling if fast pans are added to the mix.

 

Handheld Shots: Used to make the film seem more personal to the character and makes it so that the viewer cannot tell all the time what is going on due to the sometimes blurry movements and shaky image. Cloverfield (2008) was a suspenseful, action-adventure movie that was shot entirely from the perspective on a hand held phone. This made it so that the viewer did not fully comprehend what was going on at every point in the movie, adding to the suspenseful feeling that would resonate with the viewer where they would oftentimes probably be asking, "What just happened... What's going on." (Honestly though, this movie actually made me nauseous because it was filmed in this shaky first-person fashion the entire movie and I felt carsick during it. Unless you can handle intense visuals over a long period of time without feeling queasy, I would not recommend this one.)

     Slow editing: When everything becomes slow in a horror movie, the viewer already knows that something horrible is about to happen where the scenes are going to once again become fast paced. Like a jump scare is about to occur or something of that nature. The thriller/mystery movie Prom Night (2008) featured a scene where the main character hid under a bed and the camera would have many close ups on her face as she tried her best to keep her mouth shut as her stalker entered the room. Everything became very quite, and the shots would slowly shift from the character's face to a POV from the character under the bed's view of the stalkers shoes.

     Depth of field, focus pulls, and shadowing/blurring the screen are techniques also used often is psychological thrillers as to make the scene more intense, suspenseful, and interment. With psychological thrillers, the main goal is to make the viewer feel like they are in the same terrifying situation as the character portrayed, and through using these camerawork techniques, I should be able do accomplish that swimmingly. (Don't you love that word 'swimmingly...' cause I do)

     Until next time my lovelies! <3

XOXO 

-A