Creative Critical Reflection #4

I incorperated technology a lot into my project. First, I used a Samsung S8 phone camera with the resolution set at Ultra HD 3,840 x 2,160 pixels. This was the best possible phone camera resolution and it seriously changed the look of the film. During the first editing session, I did a lot of research on the best video editing softwares that the google play store provides, the app film maker constantly came up so I went with it. What I didn't realize however until the finished product was completed was that they advertise on your film. When I revised my movie I changed the software to Filmorago which turned out to be a much better software that film maker. Manly for the reason that the video quality is much better and there was a lot more music to choose from. The only downside to it was that it also advertised but instead of having there logo displayed right on the screen, it's presented at the end of the film which was much better.

Creative Critical Reflection #3

At the beginning of this project, I have never made a movie on my own. I didn't want to make a magazine because it seemed easy and boring while I felt that the film project had a lot of potential and I could have a lot of fun with it. I was however going solo on this project and my teacher reminded me multiple times that it 's a lot harder doing it solo than doing it with a partner and i told him, "How hard could it be." Little did I know. As challenging as this project was it taught me a lot, especially on how to be more productive. I first have never used a camera for a project, I learned how to covert my phone camera from low quality to highly defined. Another aspect of the project that I had no experience with was editing. It took me hours to find the right service to use and to actually edit the film. Scheduling the shooting was also something I under estimated, normally I would reach out to people only days before something. This was not the case here, I did this the first 2 times I tried to shoot and there was always 1 person who wasn't able to make it and they could not be replaced. This taught me fast that I could not procrastinate and I went from scheduling a few days prior to scheduling 2-3 weeks prior, this made a huge difference in the progressing of the film. When it did come down to filming, I had to direct them when most of the cast where young kids who wouldn't listen. I had to learn to talk to the kids in a way that would make them serious about actually following directions. This is important because I can now get whatever I want from kids! From the course of this project, the most valuable thing I'm taking away is less procrastination. Prior to this I struggled and had a hard time overcoming this. I learned that if I procrastinated I was going to get absolutely nothing accomplished.

Creative Critical Reflection #2

As I researched for films to study their methods of Audience Engagement, the movies that stood out to me the most where Zombieland Double Tap, Step Brothers, and Deadpool. Not only did these films have the same genre of film that I was developing but they also where very successful, Zombieland and deadpool where even mentioned as the most successful marketing campaigns in movie history. All 3 are comedy-action movies; the producers wanted to give a sence of "badassery" while also representing the comedy aspect. I admired a lot of their methods but none as much as Deadpool's social media campaign. They where able to connect to their younger audience by creating social media platforms where Ryan Reynolds acted like Deadpool and sold it. This made the movie spread like wildfire and the hype sky rocketed. There where on average 10,000 to 20,000 tweets a day and then that jumped to 90,000 after the first screening. Another very successful method that all three movies used was the use of billboards. Billboards are effective if placed properly. Some of the most successful ones where Zombieland because of their bright and bold color and font, they where also placed very strategically where motorized and walking pedestrians commonly travel. Another factor I researched a lot about is the common distribution methods and I found that it's the relationship between the manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer, and the end user. Movies need the help of a sales agent and a good one will represent the the film at film festivals, introduce your film to distributors, and try to sell your film to distributors; and try to sell to networks, hotel companies, and airlines. However, my film is a smaller one and i found that many films such as myself"s will publish their product of streaming services such as spec which, when the service notices that the product is being viewed and reaching out to many people, it'll send it to large services such as Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime.

Creative Critical Reflection #1

In the introduction of my film, you a presented with a full shot that doubles as a pan to the left. I've seen this technique in multiple films, mostly horror movies, to makes the viewer think that the person is being watched. In my film I've used it for that exact reason. I made it seem as if my actor is walking into the forest completely unaware of what is watching him through the bushes. However, this film isn't a horror movie.. I wanted to make it seem as if it's supposed to be a horror movie because of the setting, conflict, and use of camera angles; but in reality it's more of a comedy. This was seen in the movies Zombieland, Zombieland DoubleTap, an Scouts Guide to a Zombie Apocalypse. I loved this because it brought humor to a situation that isn't supposed to be funny. In a Scouts Guide, I loved how they introduced the film with a man dancing to a girly hip-hop song. I tried to do this by as my actor is being watched, I played Dubstep music as if he's listening to it through his headphones. I continued this through the introduction of the film as you can clearly see the zombie approaching while the actor is still completely unaware. I used this to not only create dramatic irony but to make the scene a little funny. Another scene that was heavely influenced by another was the extreme close up and shot reverse shot between Frank and the zombie. I've seen this in many horror movies in scenes where the character is hidding from something such as, in a closet where the door is barely creeked open but just enough to see in and out. This use of editing techniques and camera shot in films. As for my social groups, I presented my audience with teenage group of friends, I created this movie for anyone who likes action and comedy movies but it draws younger, more teenage groups of people. This works because they're able to but themselves into that type of situation with their group of close friends. I put small children as the zombies to just make everybody laugh, seeing the little kids running around adds a level of humor that i see only kids bring out. Clothing and enviromental setting was another huge factor into making my film. Obviously it's a zombie apocolypse movie so i wanted to make the characters "geared up." When you think of zombies you think of dead, rugged creaters with bits of flesh hanging off and their clothes ragged and dirty. To make this ripped the clothes of the zombies and made them roll around into mud, this made the clothes look old a ragged as if they where decaying. I them smeared fake blood on the to make that open flesh look. As for the main characters I had them wear camo and other old rugged clothes that they wouldn't mind getting dirty. This made them look post apocolyptic. The location was also very important. I wanted a neighborhood to make it seem like it's been over run by these zombies. The woods by the house was just a bonus because in movies, the forest is depicted as creepy and mysterious. Which was perfect to seem as within the woods layed the flesh eating zombies.

3rd Quarter Submission

https://youtu.be/Mdq8-oxprlk

Revisions

My Midterm Submission needed a lot of work to be a high quality film. My biggest concern was the fact that the original was 3:45 long. This exceeded the limit by 1 minute and 15 seconds. I went through and discarded unneeded scenes and clips that, without them being there, you would never tell because the story still makes sense. By the end I dropped my time to 2 minutes and 50 seconds, still 20 seconds over but it's workable. Another major revision I made to the film was the overall flow, there where pieces missing and some scenes where too long, I took the time to add smooth and needed transitions as well. The audio has also improved and the use of background music is music more present.

Distribution Plan

The method of distribution i plan on implementing into my movie is the use of online streaming services and merchandise. I plan on using the app speck so that my movie can slowly start gaining popularity; at the same time I'll pass out shirts, hoodies, and socks that represent the movie and the characters within. This will hopefully drive attention to the film and the hoodies and shirts will even include a link to the movie on the back. This way the people who acquire these merchendises can easily look up the video but also pasing people who may be intrested. If the movie grows in popularity signifigantly on the speck site, I'll branch out to larger services including Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu.