My CCR

"It's ALIVE!!" Well, not really... but it sounds better than "It's a finalized video file!". I can't believe this is my last post, I have truly enjoyed this journey, I have learned so much by doing this project;  I also can't believe how many things went wrong while making this, Murphy's law I suppose! It's been quite the journey, there's been fun days and stressed days, but regardless, they've been great days.

GOOGLE DRIVE LINK: https://drive.google.com/file/d/17tBmWbYdUp620JRgRT_E1jKP4wSgKHVl/view?usp=sharing
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Message for the reader:

If you've read through my journey on this project, thank you! If I can leave you with any message it's a simple one: YOU are a storyteller and the stories you tell matter; stories change people, people change people, YOU harness the power to write history.

-Luis

My Film Opening

HERE IT IS! Finally, after weeks of work, I present my film opening to the world! Thinking back on the project, I would have loved to organize myself better so that these last few weeks we'rent so incredibly labour intensive. Regardless, I'm very proud of myself, proud of the technique I exhibited, and overall I'm proud of what I'm putting forward! ENJOY "Y7Y: 2017"!!

GOOGLE DRIVE LINK: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hDQQu-3MmMe-ovyxCGDDIRTs8UtGIPwy/view?usp=sharing

Editing My CCR

Hey there! Hi there! Ho there! It's 11:50pm! I am nowhere near editing and there's a good reason why. There is no time for me to make a post about how shooting my CCR went, instead, before I get into editing, here's a bullet-pointed summary:

• I set up my room
• I couldn't find the mic
• I found the mic
• The camera died after recording 2 videos
• I charged the camera
• I freaked out because it wasn't charging fast enough
• I took the battery before it was done charging
• My parents failed to tell me they had arranged a Latino gathering at my house
• LOUD music
• I DIY soundproofed my room
• I recorded it all
• I sat down to edit
• ALL the videos where blurry
• I had a small mental breakdown
• I re-recorded the scenes where I'm seen on my camera
• The mic quality from the old videos didn't match the new videos
• I re-recorded the off-screen dialogue to match the same quality
• The microphone broke before I finished 
• I found another mic but the quality didn't match
• Oh well!
• I sat down to edit

Well, there it is, this all happened... SO FUN!! This delayed the entire post-production of the CCR, but I struggled through it and now I'm editing! Here's the breakdown:

Segments

Like I mentioned in my scripting post, I'm separating the 4 set of questions into 5 segments: Overview/Genre, Representation, Distribution/Audience Engagement, Production, and Tech. I'm only "done" with Overview/Genre and I'm almost "done" with Representation ("Done" in quotation marks because I know they'll have to be revised). I'm giving every segment its own unique stylistic personality by changing music, passing, and the type of visuals in each one. Sure, there's some overlap, but they are differentiable! Part of that is because of the transition between each one!

Transitions

I love the transitions, they allow me to infuse my CCR with creativity by moving into each segment in a fun way! Whether it be a catchphrase or the use of a green screen ( I think I know how to do that), each transition is both fun for me to edit and entraining for the audience. I'll also to include some "Fun Fact" at the bottom of the phrase after most transitions as a way to point out easter eggs in my CCR. 

I'm in this one for the long run! I'm committed to making a high-quality CCR that is engaging and something I'm proud to have my name on.

Writing the script for my CCR

I've got this! Exactly as planned I'm currently halfway through writing the script to my CCR! I decided to make a post halfway through instead of when I'm done because I want the analysis  I present in this post (about what I've written so far) to help guide the rest of my reflection process.

My Vlogs VS My CCR

First of all, I'm so glad I decided to start vlogging my project a while ago! I've gotten used to explain some of my process in front of a camera and it's a great communication & storytelling medium! The biggest difference between my vlogs and my CCRT is the fact that my CCR is scripted, whereas I improvised my vlogs. 

Scripting My CCR

Scripting my CCR is the best possible decision because I'll be able to communicate my reflection effectively! I have determined I want it to last about 7:30 max because this will help me filter my thoughts, leaving only the necessary information; therefore, scripting also helps my CCR be more ---  It also saves A LOT of time!! When I recorded my vlogs it took upwards of 15 times to get ONE single scene right, having a script to follow will make my CCR a lot faster to records and to edit because I won't have to go through countless bloopers.

I want to make my CCR as entertaining and engaging as possible, scripting it allows me to work on developing that engagement/entertainment by trying different things on the script and seeing their flow on the overall picture. Scripting also allows me to develop my answers to the critical reflection questions, I can constantly revise my answers and find missing links between ideas or find new, more effective, ways to deliver them!

What I have so far...
Like I mentioned, I'm half-way through writing my script; I've answered 2 sets of the questions so far (How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues? AND How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?). I'm formatting my CCR is similar to my blog posts, in order to make it easier to digest the information (especially since both the audio & the visuals will be providing information) I'm splitting into 4 segments, one for each question. Having segments also opens up a world of fun transition possibilities that help the CCR be more engaging and entertaining! I'm feeling really good about the timing too, I would love to talk for 15-20 minutes about all the decisions and their reasoning, but I've made it my priority to only answer the questions, summarize the process, and reflect how it's helped me improve my skills. I estimate it'll probably be around 6:30!

That's A Wrap!

After making version #3 I emailed 5 people of the focus group with the new and -what I personally consider- the best version. The response was so good that I sent it to some of the other members of the focus group that I hadn't originally emailed and they agreed, this version was just right! At the request of one of the members, I sent it to her husband who works supervising the editing for TV production; he was very impressed! I am really proud of version 3 and very confident in it does its job right!

 All I did to finish it was add the opening credits! For the Actors, I simply put their names (including mine because I did the voice over which is voice acting); after looking at some movie opening credits non of them put the actor's name along with the character they play, just their name. For every other role, I specified the role in its credit; for example, "Cinematography: Luis Andres Lageyre". Since my dad and I share the same name, I included our middle name to help differentiate us in the credits. I manually made sure every credit was the same font size and was roughly in the same position so the transition from name to name would be seamless.

Screen capture of the credit writing process.

FUN FACT: In an interesting coincidence, all the names shown have either a "Luis" or an "Enrique" in them.

I like the way the 2011 film "The Help" introduced its title, I'm doing something similar since I already had included that last shot! Instead of simply superimposing a picture on top of my video, my title is much more subtle; it doesn't break the flow of the opening, it's embedded in it.

 Title from the award-winning movie 2011 "The Help"

An on-set photo of the title for my opening film.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but THAT'S A WRAP ON MY FILM OPENING!!! Now it's time for my CCR! Can't wait to have an update on that later tonight!