My Film Opening

 And this, dear viewer, is where we part ways. I will leave my project for you here, and disappear into the wild cosmos of the internet. Farewell, and enjoy!

Click here for finished project!

Remnants of my Creative Critical Reflection

 As promised, here are the scripts for what was to be my CCR projects:

CCR 1: Parody of YouTuber Q&A Specials

“Hello, my darlings! Welcome back to channel, or if you’re new here, my name is BloodForThought! As promised, since we just reached one billion subscribers, I am finally making my Q&A video! Thank you so much everyone for submitting your questions, I sadly won’t be able to get through every single one as there is a billion of you, but I will do my best! Now, just sit back and relax my billion subscriber special Q&A!”

She leans in close to the camera. “Oh, and don’t question why I’m under my brother’s desk. My room is an absolute mess right now, and I’m sure y’all wouldn’t want to see that.”

The camera cuts. She seems to be reading from her phone. “Hey, Gail! I really enjoy your channel, and had some questions about your most recent video! I was curious as to how it used or challenged conventions, and how it represents social groups or issues. Thank you so much for the question, ILovePedroPascal28!

“This question is about my move recent video project, a film called ‘Two Years After’! It’s one of my best yet, and if you haven’t checked it out, I definitely implore you to do so. My goal with the film was to represent modern teenage issues in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. In my personal experience, going strictly online due to the virus completely destroyed my study habits. Academic integrity was hard to achieve, and when I tell you I was used to turning in things late…

“I’m not the only one who suffered from these issues. More kids failed classes in the 2021-2022 school year compared to ever before, and that’s because several students around the world found it difficult to adjust back to a regular in-person class after a year and a half of strictly online learning. My goal with this film was to highlight these issues found in modern teenagers, and rather than seemingly bash them for struggling to assimilate with school, as other film properties aim to do with their portrayal of teens, I wanted to empathise with them. Showed them that it’s okay to fail, and to use it as a learning experience.”

The camera cuts to a new shot. She reads from her phone again. “What’s popping, Gail. I was a pretty casual viewer of yours before the release of your latest video, and now I’m a super fan. I wanted to know: how does your film engage with audiences, and how else did you distribute it? Glad you’ve decided to jump into my rabbit hole, xXHarbringer_Of_DoomXx. Thanks for your question!

“This question is also about my most recent video! My main audience for this film was also the group I was aiming to accurately portray; teenagers! It’s been common knowledge for quite a while that the old white Hollywood producers simply do not know how to write teens, and often massively drop the ball when trying to do so. Teens across multiple generations have been aggravated by this, and so my goal with engaging with an audience that has been disappointed time and time again is to ensure them that this is the representation their looking for, and comes from actual experiences rather than generalised stereotypes.

“My main way to distribute it was, of course, here on YouTube! Nearly every teen in the world uses YouTube on a regular basis, so it’d obviously be the most optimal way to distribute my film. Something more local, however, is that I submitted ‘Two Years After’ to a local art cinema that I just adore. They were having independent film showings, so I submitted by film and they agreed to show it! It’s the Coral Gable Arts Cinema, go check it out if you can!

“I also submitted my film to some film festivals! The most notable of which is IndieFest, a film festival award competition that aims to promote filmmakers worldwide. Submissions for it hasn’t closed yet, so I can’t tell you if I’ve won anything or not, but lets hope I do!”

CCR 2: Parody of Popular SCP YouTuber "TheVolgun" (and SCP as a whole)

Item #: SCP-250705

Level 1: Unrestricted

Containment Class: Safe

Disruption Class: Vlam

Risk Class: Warning

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-250705 is kept in an air-tight glass box attached to a steel pillar within a concrete containment cell that is 3.6m x 4.2m x 2.4m in proportions. The glass box locked with a welded padlock, and the key has been melted down and thoroughly destroyed. 

The creator of SCP-250705, Abigail Shankles, has been recovered and classified as SCP-250705-1. She is kept in a comfortable holding free to the subject’s desired customisation, and schedules for weekly physicals to document possible growth of infection via contact with SCP-250705.

Description: SCP-250705 is an Apple MacBook Air bought in June of 2020. Stickers pertaining to popular properties and content creators (i.e. Demon Slayer, Resident Evil, GoodTimesWithScar, etc.) are decorated on the back of the laptop. The laptop was in consistent use for three years up until the first recorded incident of its anomalous activity. Whether the laptop harboured anomalous propertied beforehand is unknown. 

The first cited incident occurred on April 1, 2023, in which SCP-250705-1 was using SCP-250705 for the production of a student project. SCP-250705-1 claims to retain little to no memory of the incident beyond the “blazing heat of it all”. SCP-250705-1 promptly disappeared before being recovered by MTF Epsilon-6 a week after her disappearance. 

SCP-250705 was promptly contained, as was SCP-250705-1. Efforts are being made to understand what happened to cause SCP-250705’s initial anomalous outburst. See Addendum 1 for more information.

Addendum 1

The following interview was conducted three days after the containment of SCP-250705 and SCP-250705-1, aiming to learn more about SCP-250705’s first recorded burst in anomalous activity. Note that SCP-250705-1’s government name will be used to ensure the comfort of the subject. 

Interviewer: Dr. Elaine Roberts

Interviewee: SCP-250705-1

_____________________________________________________________

[BEGIN LOG]

Dr. Roberts: Good afternoon, Abigail. My name is Dr. Roberts, I’ll be the one taking care of you for the duration of your stay with us. Is there anything I can get you? Some water maybe?

SCP-250705-1: No thanks, I’m good. 

Dr. Roberts: Alright, let’s get started then. What was this project of yours for and about?

SCP-250705-1: It was a project for my AICE Media Studies class—AICE basically being another version of AP classes. It was about a girl named Joan struggling with her procrastination habits.

Dr. Roberts: Interesting…so this was purely for school?

SCP-250705-1: Yes, it was. I promise I didn’t mean to do anything worng—

Dr. Roberts: It’s alright, Abigail. You didn’t know what you were doing. Now, what technologies did you use? Software, hardware, online, the such. 

SCP-250705-1: Well…for hardware I bought a tripod. There’s also a lamp in my room designed like an old studio light used in movies. I used that to light most of my scenes. For software, I used Adobe Premiere to edit everything, and Google Docs to plan out everything. Uhm…oh! I used a service called WriterDuet to write my film’s script. For online services, I had to upkeep an online blog using Google’s Blogger. It could be frustrating at times, but honestly I enjoyed using it. 

Dr. Roberts: (writing everything down) How would you scale your skills with these services? Did you grow any, or did you get worse?

SCP-250705-1: (taken aback) That’s…an interesting question. Well, I’d say I definitely grew over the course of the project. I got a lot better at navigating and properly using Adobe, and I got more practise with writing scripts. By the time production for my project wrapped up, I felt much more equipped to handle projects in the same vein afterwards. 

[DATA EXPUNGED. POSSIBLE COGNITOHAZARD]

[END LOG]

Note by attending researcher, Dr. Roberts: It appears her memory has thoroughly been wiped due to the cognitohazard variable. Efforts to recover any memories will be conducted. 

Bonus of CCR 2! Here is a photo I took of a makeshift desk set-up. Varying pictures from my completed film opening would have appeared on the green screen, and a slow text crawl would've appeared on the right side of the screen.

Makeshift desk set-up for Dr. Roberts

Again, I cannot apologise enough for what happened to my CCRs. I will take from this experience and learn in hopes of never repeating such a fatal mistake again. 

And so as the ride comes to a stop...

 Finally, we have reached the end.  This project comes to a close, and now I shall take the time to reflect on this rather rocky experience.  I will say, I had some fun creating this project. Both of the initial concepts I created for the projects were doable and just about perfect, in my opinion. Of course, the later of which ("Two Years After") just happened to be on my good side a little bit more. I made the switch because I knew it'd be easier to pull off, and I don't regret it one bit.

However, some problems I had was that I stayed in the pre-production stage for far too long. With such a simple concept for a film, pre-production didn't need to be as long as it was. The truth is...I was procrastinating. I couldn't get over the mental block in my head keeping me from filming, but once I did it was a piece of cake.

Filming itself was rather fun. I actually ended up with an abundance of takes and different shots to choose from. Sadly, that means that some sacrifices had to be made. The written segment where Joan and Gráinne talk as Joan plays Resident Evil 2: Remake had to be majorly cut as there simply was not enough time for the entire clip to be played unedited. 

A recent screenshot of me editing the film opening

However, I ran into a major problem just as I was beginning to near the end; for some bizarre reason, both of my CCR projects were wiped from Premiere. I have absolutely no idea how this happened, and am quite literally in shock over it. I know this will impact my grade immensely, and I take full responsibility for it. I would simply start over, yet time has run out for me. I will deal with the consequences, whether that means failing this grade or even the entire class. Even though Adobe made the buffer, this was my fault and I apologise for disappointing. 

The only file appearing on me for Premiere, my film opening

The film opening, however, is saved! I will be uploading that shortly, and in response to the absence of my CCRs, I will be uploading the scripts I had written out for them as well. I am very proud of the concepts I came up with, even if they weren't truly able to come to fruition.

Thank you for sticking with me through this rollercoaster of a project.

And so it begins...

 Filming has commenced! Today I only focused on filming the small oasis outside my room, though I did run into a little trouble. I couldn't find a way out there, due to the fact that the surrounding foliage of the area was so intensely overgrown. I went outside via my backdoor, and circled around all of the shrubs and palm trees only to find no clear entrance inside. Besides, I'm positive that an iguana lives in the tree (I named it Skeletor), and I'd rather not disrupt it.

Eventually, however, I did find a way outside; I simply crawled out my window. It took a bit, due to the fact that there was a screen door covering half of the window. However, with the power of me just wanting to get this over with and listening to the Notorious B.I.G., I was able to bust down the small insect screen. Fret not, as it is perfectly reattachable, if not possessing a...small dent.

So with this small obstacle overcome, filming has finally started! In honour of this monumental moment, here is a sneak peak of what is to be expected in the final product.

A still shot of the oasis outside my room

Screenplay: Completed

Fantastic news! I have finally finished what is probably my favourite aspect of these projects; writing screenplays! It's not something I've done often, but when the opportunity arrises I can't help but enact. Writing has always been my strong-suit, starting when I was eight and realised that I can write my favourite Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu characters in situations I deem fit. I've honed the skill during the years since, and it has since become one of my favourite pastimes. 

When we were instructed to write a screenplay for our final project for the first semester of this school year, I was ecstatic. I had dabbled in screenplays before, but this would be my first time taking it seriously. I immediately called dibs on working on the screenplay, working hard on it--and you know what? We got a 100 on that aspect of the project! Needless to say, I am confident in my screenplay-writing abilities. 

I decided to write one for this project, as I always planned for some dialogue to show up and I am horrible at coming up with improv dialogue. I needed something to keep my thoughts straight, something I could read off of. So here it is, my screenplay!

Screenshots of my small screenplay, as I couldn't find a  way to insert the actual photos of the PDF file and love making life harder for myself

Details for the montage can be found on my "Storyboards", as I have planned shots drawn out there.

Fresh Character Alert

As previously mentioned my "Titles and Characters" blog post, here is the character my dear friend  has created for this project! I meant to post this absolute ages ago, however I had to wait for my friend to send me her character's design, something she was adamant about doing.

The character's name is Gráinne O'Niell, played by my dear friend Cáragh McGovern. I've known her for the better part of two years now, and when I first mentioned this project to her essentially a month ago, we both discussed the possibilities of her having a cameo. This is a verbal cameo, however, so she won't be visibly appearing. We both would've loved for her to make a physical appearance, alas she lives in England so that is rather impossible at the current time. 

However, Cáragh did sketch out a headshot of what Gráinne would look like. She also described her as a rather accident-prone individual who frequently daydreams. Joan has similar qualities, possessing a creative mind and an active imagination that causes her to daydream. It's no wonder that the two of them became friends. 

A sketch of Gráinne, courtesy of Caragh

A detailed description of Gráinne's involvement in the opening can be found in a post I'll be uploading rather soon!

Non-Frantic New Genre Studies

 I have made the executive decision to further research tropes within dramedies, as even though I am incredibly familiar with the genre, I thought it to be best to do some research to see if there are any tips I can come away with--and boy, did I ever!

Something I was already familiar with is that character is what ultimately drives a dramedy film, as compared to conflict. That much is true for my opening, focusing more on how the internal conflict Joan has to deal with affects her, rather than the conflict itself. I am showcasing this indirectly with the use of character design.

Character design is absolutely pivotal to understanding a character upon their first introduction. One of my favourite examples of this in a live action film is with the main character M. Gustave in "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (dir. Wes Anderson, 2014). Gustave is first introduced with a voice over describing  his nature within the hotel, and little facts about him, such as  how even after he leaves a room the smell of his perfume still lingers. However, it's his design that ultimately speaks more volumes about his character. 

Gustave wears a lavish purple velvet concierge uniform, his hair slicked back and moustache perfectly groomed. The design purely of his hair speaks volumes about how well-groomed he is; above all else, Gustave values a perfect image not only for decency's sake, but for the sake of the hotel's reputation. It even extends to his uniformed outfit; the colours are extravagant and in any other circumstance, it would make his stick out like a sore thumb. Alas, the purple velvet colour scheme is the chosen design for all of the other hotel staffs' uniforms. As well as it establishes his character, it also showcases how he is simply another cog in the system. Gustave is not an important man, and no matter how much love and care he pours into his career, nothing will change that. Unless, of course, someone writes a book on him.

M. Gustave on a train

As my previous blog post outlined, Joan's wardrobe is definitely more relaxed. She wears minimal make-up, if any at all, and doesn't bother to wear anything flashy. She instead settled for a brandless hoodie, and even though her shorts  hold at least some sort of brand in the form of the animated class "Akira" (dir. Katsuhiro Otomo, 1988), it's not exactly something people outside of those who either love anime or animated films in general would recognise. Overall, I aim for Joan's design to be incredibly personal. She cares not for the love or adoration of others, only for herself to feel happy and comfortable in her clothes.

Something else essential not only to dramedites, but good films as a whole, are scripts. Upon reading this StudioBinder article on the essentials to a dramedy film, I have decided to make a short script for my short. Of course, there isn't a lot of dialogue attached to my project, but I feel like creating a script will iron out not only character interactions, but shot details as well. 

To help with the production of this script, I have decided that I will be reading a dramedy script to prepare myself. I will either read the script for "The Banshees of Inisherin" (dir. Martin McDonagh, 2022) or, yet again, "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (dir. Wes Anderson, 2014). I promise I have seem more dramedy films outside of "The Grand Budapest Hotel".

Title page for the script for "The Banshees of Inisherin" (dir. Martin McDonagh, 2022)

I will, of course, upload my script here in PDF form as a point of reference for those reading my blogs.