24 Extract Essay

   The director’s vision seems to be that people should be careful when it comes to who and what they trust. Always expect the unexpected because there is no way for knowing what someone else is capable of doing or what information they know. It’s vital to always be on the lookout and it’s always better to be safe than sorry when trusting people because no one can control their actions except for them. People should be careful and not have so much trust and faith in others.

   In the first scene Jack enters a large empty room with nothing but a table and Nina sitting in a chair. The lack of props plays a role in the setting that they are in. It seems as if they are either at a police station or a detective office where Nina seems to be questioned. There is a lack of items since they want to make sure that any possible risk is minimized when dealing with criminals and suspects. This clue of the setting helps the director’s vison because criminals in the first place are there because they violated the law and can’t be trusted. The lighting is very dim, and it makes it hard to see and interpret the scene and the things happening. The lighting made certain things unclear, just like people’s trustworthiness in the director’s vision for the scene/extract. From the start there are close up shots on Nina as it shows her emotionless face which makes it difficult to analyze her expressions and understand what she is thinking. As Jack walks into the room an eye-line match is seen. He looks up to the corner of the room where we later see that there is a camera. This seems to be foreshadowing something that will eventually take place. As he steps into the room non-diegetic music starts playing and creates a suspenseful mood and creates the feeling of not knowing what is going to happen next.

   In the second scene starts off with a two shot and medium close up combined as two, what seems to be detectives, are watching a screen in a different area but seemingly the same locations. The main prop within the scene is the screen that the two detectives are studying in silence. On the screen the audience can see that they are watching Nina in the room that her and Jack are in. They are watching them and seeing their every move to make sure nothing goes out of hand in there. Since they aren’t in there themselves, they need to make sure that neither Jack or Nina does anything they shouldn’t since they can’t control them or know what they are thinking or will do next.

   In the third scene there are many over the shoulder shots of Jack and Nina as they are talking to one another and Jack questioning her and trying to get information out of her to help stop an explosion. As they speak, using dialogue, Jack says to Nina, “I’m not going to make a move until I believe you’re credible…You are a trader Nina…You would sell anyone and everything.” Jack is already aware that Nina can’t be trusted and that he has no idea what her intentions or plans are. He doesn’t trust her easily, after all she is the one being questioned in an ongoing crime.  He knows, from what seems like past experiences, that she is a liar and selfish. Jack proceeds to lose his temper and flip over the table that stands in front of Nina. This is a cut away; it went from showing them having a normal conversation to Jack getting angry and acting out. Jacks behavior escalated out of nowhere and no one was expecting it. No one can trust him on what he could potentially do next.

   The fourth scene shows the detectives that are outside watching the questioning become on edge and tense up after seeing what Jack did. After Jack flipped the table and it crosscut to the detectives again to show their reactions there was more non-diegetic music that started playing, but this time it was louder. As the situation is getting more intense the music does the same and keeps everyone on edge. As the detectives seem to become worries of Jacks behavior, they can’t tell what he will do next and they can’t trust him that it will be the right thing.

   As the fifth scene starts the music is louder and louder back in the room where Jack is slowly walking back to his chair and sits down as the situation seems to be de-escalating. Nina starts speaking and once again Jack loses his temper but instead this time, he pushes Nina, while she is sitting in her chair, to the back of the room and starts chocking her. We can identify diegetic sound as the chair is screeching across the floor and Jack screaming out of anger. The scene cuts into a split screen where on one side is Jack attacking and talking to Nina and on the other is the detectives running to the room. As the moments intensifies it was important to see how both groups reacted. Jack continues to speak, through dialogue, to Nina as he chokes her, and the incidental music is louder than ever. The detectives are followed with a tracking movement as they rush to the room.

   The sixth scene starts off with a sound bridge that links Jack talking to Nina into this new scene as the other detectives enter the room. There is now a close up of Nina, showing a reaction shot, to what is happening to her and it’s clear that it wasn’t expected. The other detectives make Jack leave the room to ensure that he doesn’t do anything else to Nina. As Jack leaves they use a wide shot and pan movement to show Jack leaving Nina and the room behind.

   The scenes clearly show that Jack himself and the other actors were very unpredictable and that there was no way to trust their actions. The director’s vision was shown through the unpredictable characters and their actions. There was no way any of the actors could trust one another when it came to what they would do next and what information they knew. This shows that people should always be careful when trusting others; just because a person might know what they would do or how they would react, that doesn’t mean that others will do the same thing.

"Go Away" Final Film Video CCR

   I filmed the CCR. I went through and answered the 3 questions provided. At first I didn't understand the questions. I read them multiple times. I searched certain words I didn't understand. I also thought back to past CCR's with the same question and how I answered them. We challenged conventions by giving people a new idea of what a teenager is really like. We wanted to show that not all teenagers are the same. Teens are just like other people and  we react and handle situations differently, We also wanted to make sure that teens had an outlet they could relate to.
   Our film engaged with the audience by forming a connection. We know the feeling of being seen a certain way because of our age. We wanted to prove to other generations that the stereotypes aren't always acurate in every situation. Not only teens but other people who have been stereotyped could relate. The film would be distributed on streaming services like Netflix or Hulu. My production skills improved a lot throughout the making of this film. I learned more in depth how angles and movements should be made and I see the difficulties of filming. We integrated technologies by using softwares and devices we already know how to use. It made everything a lot easier when we actually knew how to work out equipment before starting and jumping into things. This filming experience has taught me a lot.

"Go Away" Final Film

I really liked the way the movie ended up. The movements, angles, and timing were done very well.
However, we needed to work on the audio during editing.

Dunkin Commerical CCR

Creative Critical Reflection

1. How does your product use or challenge conventions AND how does it represent social groups or issues?

• My product/ commercial was on Dunkin Donuts. My group used and challenged conventions by including different people’s enjoyment and/or love for the brand and products it comes with. In most Dunkin Donuts commercials, the actors as well as the extras act very unnecessarily dramatic and over the top in the way they act as well as talk. However, in our Dunkin commercial, the actors were more realistic, down to earth, and more relatable than the brands existing commercials. The setting in most other Dunkin Donuts commercials is usually in a workplace. In these commercials the cast is usually adults or families. However, we made our commercial take place in school with actual teenagers. We wanted to make something different and unique to be able to see if it made any difference in sales or for people to want to go there. We wanted to stick out from the other Dunkin commercials as well as be able to connect with audience our own age. In the commercial we also didn’t insert the prices of the products. We wanted to see if this would attract more customers or if customer wouldn’t want to buy it since the price wasn’t show upfront. That part of the commercial was meant for research and used as an experiment. Next time Dunkin could attempt to advertise other products besides coffee to other types of audiences to attract new and more customers.

•   When we made the commercial, we wanted to make it for teenagers and others our age. Since we are all teens, we gathered our ideas and brainstormed on how to make the most appealing commercial and used things we would look for or find attracting on commercials ourselves. As teens we see how much coffee (and other products Dunkin Donuts offers) teens consume and we realized that most of Dunkin Donuts customers are most likely teens. It was time to make a commercial that stood out and called on teens to make them feel included. Making the commercial in a school setting with students made it stick out from Dunkin Donuts other commercials and reach a new audience that they don’t usually target or market for. It’s a way to spread and grow the brand as a whole. If this type of commercial is successful Dunkin could consider making even more commercials towards teenagers and other groups they haven’t targeted before. This could be a big step for Dunkin in their growth and evolution and perhaps make new products aimed at new social groups to expand popularity.

 2. How does your product engage with audiences AND how would it be distributed as a real media text?

• My groups brand (Dunkin Donuts) engages with their audience in different ways. The products presented in each commercial is directed and targeted towards different types of people with different lives. Before my group and I decided to make a Dunkin commercial towards teens we looked at Dunkin Donuts past commercials to see what had already been done. It was mostly the same thing made for the same social group/ audience. We wanted to step out if that line and make a new connection to a new group, teens and other kids our age. We made the commercial based on things we would want to see that would make us want to go and buy whatever they are offering. We are able to connect with this audience since we have the same mindset and work on the same level as them. We can make relations to things going on in a teens life that will make them feel connected to the brand and understood. They could feel like they fit in. By making different types of commercials and advertising different products from Dunkin Donuts we could reach different audiences all in one.
•  Dunkin Donut commercials could be distributed in many different places. For example, it can be shown at sport evets, on the television, before movies at the theater, on social media, the radio, etc. Since Dunkin is reaching out to different social groups and audiences, they have a large variety of outlets they can spread to. If Dunkin decides to make or distribute a commercial on the television, they are more likely to reach adults and families. However, if they were trying to reach anyone, they could put an ad on the radio. When in the car and an ad comes on the radio anyone has the potential to hear it. The driver or passengers who can be any age possible. If Dunkin decided to publish something on the internet or on social media audiences like teens or a bit older would be the primary target and audience, they would reach. Depending on what is in their commercial and was is being done in it should determine where they want it to be distributed and seen. However, they also have to consider what times they want the commercial to be on each platform for it to do well and to be as successful as possible. For example, if they want to air a commercial on the radio it would be the best to do so throughout early mornings. This is the time both adults and students are up and driving to their jobs and school. If they were to heat a Dunkin Donuts commercial about coffee or breakfast on their way they might get tempted and stop by.

3.  How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

• My production skills evolved and became much better due to this project. I got to see and learn the process and see what it took to do certain things. I learnt what would be difficult and what I found easy to do so that I know where to focus my time during the next upcoming projects and so that I can make a plan so that I give myself enough time on each step while keeping it within the time frame I was given. It was fairly easy to come up with the shots my group and I wanted to shoot. We spent extra time re-shooting the shots just in case we accidentally deleted one, ended up not liking it, or if it would end up not working with the time frame we had to stay within. We realized that the exporting process would take up a good amount of our time if we decided to use school computers, so we had to spend extra time figuring out what we were doing wrong and how to fix it. We ended up using our own laptop and will most likely do that for future projects to save time. The editing process was simple due to the fact that we used our own software that we already knew how to work and control. During this whole commercial project, I got to see and get the basic understanding of how the projects will be carried out and how they should be done. I realized that it wasn’t as easy as I had originally made it out to be in my head but it also wasn’t way too difficult.

 4. How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

• When we started this commercial, we decided to use our phones as cameras to record the shots because we knew how they worked and didn’t have to worry much about the footage being deleted or disappearing. We knew that if something was to happen, we would be at fault and have to deal with the time limit ourselves, but it was a chance we were willing to take. The recording process worked out very well but when we were going to dump the footage into the school laptops something went wrong and it wouldn’t let us, we still had all the footage on the phone we used so we decided to try editing on our own laptop as well. This ended up being a good decision because the footage/ our shots were already backed up on the computers iCloud so it was already dumped. We used iMovie which seemed to be a lot easier software to use than Pinnacle Studios. In the end it was a good decision to use our own equipment and technologies because the schools equipment was not working correctly and my group ended up finishing the commercial and turning it in early.

Dunkin Commercial

I really liked the movement of the first shot. It looked really smooth and professional. I also liked how you could clearly hear the dialouge.
We definitely could've done it better but it was good enough for our first project.

"I Lived" music video CCR

"I Lived" Music Video

In the music video I really liked the way we shot the scenes. It gave me the feeling of a teenage dream which was the intention. I also really liked that we were able to be in it even just in the background. It definitely added a personal touch to it.
The only thing I didn’t like was how some of the music and the shots didn’t line up.

Re-editing Blog: During Quarantine

   Reshooting and re-editing has been difficult. There is currently a pandemic around the world. Everyone is currently during quarintine. No one is supposed to leave the house unless it's an emergency. This has made it difficult to work as a team. Since we can meet up its difficult agreeing on things. As well as having proper comunication. We havn't been able to discuss much about our film or CCR since we can't see each other. However, we have figured it out and made it work. We were able to still communicate everything we needed to do.
   Our entire group created a groupchat. We could tect our ideas and questions easily. We were already done shooting so we didn't have to worry about that. We finsihed all filming early and were re-editing. Editing together was not a choice anymore. Since it was on Kelsey's laptop she finished the editing. She sent us pictures for us to use for the previous blog. Since the CCR is individual we are all able to do it independently without a problem. We still use the group chat for any questions before asking our teacher. As a team we work well together. I'm pround and happy that we were able to figure it out. Once everything was done Kelsey emailed us the finished movie.

Re-editing: Adding music

   Today we added music to the film. We originally added music before reshooting. We realized that there was no point since we needed to add footage. We decided to get rid of the music until now. Now we finished reshooting and can add music. We had already picked out a song that was not copyrighted. We decided to go with the song Medicince by Daughter. I had heard the song previously and liked listening to it, however it was new to the rest of the group. At first we couldn't figure out how to add the song into iMovie. A member from our group searched it up online and we succesfully added the music.
   Once the song was added it was time for peer review. We got feedback that it was difficult to hear the dialouge due to the volume of the music. We tried to cut out certain parts of the song in order to make the volume lower. This was the next difficult task. Just like previously, we didn't know how to do this. The group was together and every member tried to figure it out but we couldn't. We decided to reach out to our other friends for help in hopes that they knew how to do it. We fianlly found someone who was able to do it for us. We fixed the audio where it needed to be. It took a lot of teamwork but we eventually figured it out.

Re-editing: After added scenes

   After we decided to reshoot we had to re-edit. We added the new scenes into iMovie. We dragged them into the spot they were supposed to be in. We had to delete certain old scenes. We replaced some of the old scenes with new scenes. We changed some of the order of the clips. We wanted it to look as natural and normal as possible even after the changes. We put them in the new order that made the movie look the best. We then had to cut certain scene lengths. We needed to make sure it fit the required time limit.
   Once all the scenes we put in place we needed transitions. We had to change transitions due to the additional clips. We were able to keep some of the old transitions between the scenes that were still connected. I looked through the transitions to find a fit for the new scenes. I tried different transitions.  At first my teammates and I didn’t agree but we decided on majority rules. We added fade and jump-cuts. It made the scenes look the best. We used these transitions the most thought the film. They are the best ones that were available.