Critical Reflection

 • How does your movie represent social groups or issues?

My movie represents two brothers. Being that they are twin brothers, that is what brings them together, what makes them a social group category. The problem arises when the twin brother kills the other and takes his life as a college student. The whole movie is about how these two brothers are separated and how it’s great for the one who left, but not so much for the one still there. There could have been more of the brothers' story, but I couldn’t find the time. An issue that my movie represents is murder! There are so many things that can happen. The body wasn’t hidden, it was just left in the seat in front of the creamery. It’s safe to say the brother isn’t too smart. There can be an entire group of people that realise he is dead and have to deal with that trauma. There could be someone who finds him, or realised and brings other people into it. Those groups that find the body would be a social group, and the issue would be the trauma caused by it. 

There’s also many things that the main character does that can be put into a social group. Since a social group is a group of people with things in common, there is always something that someone is experiencing that can place them in a social group. For example, trying a drink and thinking it tastes funny. Everyone has done that at least once. There has always been that time when you’re trying a drink for the first time or under a different recipe and it isn’t good. Another example is the fact that he’s a new college student. Everyone wants to experience the ‘moving to a new town and starting your life’ at some point in their life. There are people that have done that and who can talk about it. That’s a social group on it’s own. The people with the experience. 

• How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’?

There were many elements of the movie. Including music and visuals. Getting the music to correspond with the movie is a very important aspect. The mood needs to be set correctly. The music can’t be in the beginning of the movie when nothing has happened. It also has to be the right kind of music. I can’t have my happy music at the end where the main character dies, I also can’t have the suspenseful music in the middle when he’s just getting tea and living his life. That could be insanely early foreshadowing. If anything, the music would go in the very last time he got his tea, but even then it wouldn’t be good. 

What was on the screen was a very important part of the movie as well, obviously, it was the movie. There were certain times when the scenes had to be right for the emotion to be displayed correctly. The camera couldn’t be in the wrong angle or it wouldn’t capture what I was trying to convey. There is a moment at the end where the evil twin brother is walking up to the main character. I made him walk toward the camera instead of making him walk with the camera because the message went better. I was trying to put the camera in the spot of the main character, since the movie is still in his eyes. He doesn’t know he’s been poisoned until it was too late. Whereas if it was the other way, the brother knows he’s killed him. He knows that he’s going to get the life he’s always wanted. Placing the music where it was and the camera where it went was all a part of getting the audience to feel what I wanted them too. Getting them to feel what I want is what makes my movie, and my position as a director/creator the fame it needs, a.k.a, my brand.

• How does your movie engage with the audience?

The movie keeps the audience engaged with the audio and visual aspects of it. The audio aspect is the music. I watched many movies to get an idea of what I wanted for the movie. Then I asked my friend to make music after completely forgetting what movies I watched. Just like how it created a brand, it also works to engage my audience. Using music to change the mood of the movie, can also change the way the audience is feeling about the movie. Since music has been scientifically proven to change the mood of people, it makes sense that it’s used as help to change the mood of the movie. There is a scene in the beginning of the movie where the main character is walking into the dorm house for the first time. It cuts mid way into him opening up the door so we can see him walk inside. That was obviously intended to get the expression of him and see his mood change. When seeing the mood of someone else people tend to mimic that since we are very sociable creatures. We’re not going to see someone happy and immediately be mad at them with no reasoning. He was excited to be in his dorm. This also works with those people who have experienced that or want to experience that. They can live, or relive this through his eyes. Also, since it’s a short film, it could be harder to keep everyone engaged. That’s not an issue when music is to play. Music can change anyone's mood and I took advantage of that. 

• How did your research inform your movie and the way they use or challenge conventions?

My research made my movie so much better. You wouldn’t think it, but most of my research consisted of watching movies with similar genres. I took note of what they did in a general sense. They had music, obviously, but what kind of music? Every movie has music, whether that’s a laugh track or instrumental. If it’s not dialogue, it’s probably music. Even documentaries have music! The music that I found the most in the movies I watched was suspenseful music. Granted, I did watch full length movies where they had over an hour to really develop the plot, and the music made sense. It just brought out the emotions that we were already feeling. Whereas, in my short film, and in the few others that I did see, the music was used as a guide so the audience knew that something was coming. I probably should have watched more short films, but the ones I found weren’t in my genre. I did notice, in the short films, that everything was very fast paced or was cut to feel like a large amount of time has passed. This makes sense because it’s such a short amount of time that is allowed in the film. I took advantage of this trick and did them both. Although, it was because I was trying to fit all the scenes into a time frame, and not a random time that would have worked. Using everything that I learned helped with the movie, while some used and others challenged the conventions, they both worked to my advantage in the end. I either took that idea and used it myself or saw how they did it and asked myself how I could change that to make it work for me.

My Short Film Package

 Double Order

https://youtu.be/VhdBr5zs4DM

Website: https://lockedskyproductio.wixsite.com/doubleorder

Postcard:

This is getting old

 Honestly, five minutes of editing gets very tiring after the first few days. At first I was excited for the challenge and ready to get my movie in order. But after I spent two hours deciding which scenes I wanted to add instead of adding them all, I got very tired. Granted, this was yesterday and the day before. I could have done the smart thing and done this over break, but why would I possibly save myself the stress? 

As for my music, my friend made something. I hated it. He made it similar to the spooky music I used for my movie last year. It was more spooky than suspenseful. I would have just said whatever and went with it, but since my movie is lacking, I want the music to at least be good. He told me to send him a rough draft so he knew what to play off of so I did. I sent him the clips that I wanted the music in. He, instead of understanding that I was struggling, decided to laugh about it. I know it's very cringe worthy, fight me about me. 

He finally got to work and started making music. He asked for clips from other movies that he could relate it to. At first I was thinking that I haven't seen any movies lately so I couldn't tell him, but then I remembered I did see a movie, in December. It was some type of suspense. I asked my friend, who I watched it with, to send him the title cause I couldn't remember what it was. He said he got it, and got to work. 

I realised I still have to update my social media. I'll add many pictures and videos that I got my friend to take while we were shooting. 

Yes, I'm still editing

 

I got back on Friday, but of course I didn't edit. Why would I spend my time being productive? I'd rather sleep until I have to go to work then come back and sleep some more. Obviously I wasn't done with the winter break state of living. It wasn't until today that I opened up my laptop for editing. Since my English teacher was absent, I took advantage of that and slept. I decided I would wake up and edit before I forced myself asleep again. When I woke up around 3, I got on my computer and looked at what I had. It was over 7 minutes of footage from one folder. That wasn't going to work. I got rid of my second folder of work to work on my first folder. Now that I didn't have major distractions like last week, I thought it would be easy.

Good thing my brain finds the simplest things to get distracted by! I thought I was going to have to force myself to start staring at the back of my phone for two hours and completely forget what I was doing! If you cannot tell, that was obviously not my intention, but it ALWAYS happens. I finally pulled myself together and edited the entire folder. Not only did I get less than half the footage down to under five minute, I also got it in the right place, generally.

I still have two folders to fit into this small amount of space. I also still have to edit cuts and words and everything. In fact, I still have to check up on the progress my friend is making with the song they said they would make for me! 

Good thing I saved it all until the very last few days before the due date! I've always thought I work best under pressure. For someone who is used to being in school and having constant reminders, it was true! Now that my bed is a few inches away and I can join class on my phone, it's not as true. 

At least I have one scene done and put together. Unfortunately, it's not supposed to be a very big scene. It takes up close to two minutes of the 5 minute movie. That's a fourth of the entire movie! That only gives me about 2-ish minutes to fit in the middle of it since the beginning and end is about a minute combined. Well, I hope it's a minute, since my beginning is in another folder. 

Happy New Years Eve!

 When I woke up, I didn't have time to check my phone. I promised my aunt I would help her clean and I woke up so late I could only have breakfast then go help her. After I helped her for a few hours, I was told I was going to go visit family. 

Unfortunately, the family I was visiting didn't have wifi and the area that they lived in, there was pretty much no service. I figured I would be able to edit when I got back and write my blog then. When I got back, I had to help prep for the new year party. I completely forgot about editing and school. 

After we prepped for the party, we started it. There wasn't anyone really here. I started with games at my cousin's house then went to my aunt's house next door. They had a first next door and I was going to cry if I didn't get to roast a few marshmallows. 

After that I went back to my cousin's house and I watched them play pool. School never crossed my mind. 

I counted down the seconds and it was the new year! I wasn't until I went inside to finish my plate of food that I remembered I had school. 

Below you will see a facebook approved photo that my aunt took of me and my brother at the bonfire. 

Yes, they are burnt marshmallows. It's the only way to eat them. 

Card games and sleep

 Today I didn't edit. I know, I know. I woke up with an insane headache and didn't want to look at my screen. Even with my glasses it hurt to look at my computer screen. I'm starting to think that I might have the flu, but I can't tell cause I can't go to the Drs. When I woke up I spent hours just lying on the couch listening to a podcast. Since I couldn't open my eyes without them hurting, I had to listen to a podcast. I need to have one of my senses occupied at all times. I needed to catch up on Rotten Mango anyway. Stephanie had three episodes I forgot to listen to cause I've been busy. 

After I could get up, around 1, I got off of the couch and found that mum had my laptop for school work! I started doing stuff so I wouldn't be so bored, since I couldn't look at my phone. It took me until 4 for actually be able to look at my phone, but by that time I was so tired I ended up taking a nap. When I woke up, dinner was being made. I went to go find my cousin and mum. They were outside about to play cards. I love playing cards, so I joined them. Then my brother ended up joining after we were done, so we played another game. After that we ate dinner.

After dinner I considered editing. I walked over to the computer and the prunes hit me! Earlier, while I was napping, my mum and cousin went to the store. I woke up for a minute and called and asked them to get prunes because my stomach has been messing up. So instead of editing like I wanted to, I was forced into the bathroom until it was too late to edit and write a blog in the same night. 

In the pictures below you will see me wearing a mask while I played cards. This was me taking extra precautions to keep them safe. This was also to make my cousin mad since she was very anti-mask. Yes, I am aware I have a rats nest on top of my head. I am washing my hair tomorrow. 

Wave of Sickness

 

This was me about 5 hours after I woke up. When I first woke up my mum was using my computer for her homework. That took about 2 hours. After she was done, everyone wanted to play cards, I wasn't going to pass up the chance to play cards. That took about two hours. I was feeling fine during all of this. Minus getting hungry and just keep playing. I ended up eating chips and dip. I figured I would due editing later in the day.  I mean, I had all day, right? Wrong. After cards, it was about 3 p.m. 

My aunt asked me to help her clean up the kids' rooms today. I went over there to make sure they were up from their naps and they were! I was thinking about the scenes that I had, making sure I had them all and everything just needed to be put together.

As far as I was aware, I had everything. I just needed to put it together. 

I cleaned up the boys bedroom just fine. It was when I got to the girls bedroom that I started losing energy. At first I thought it was just because I was thirsty. As I kept cleaning I kept losing more and more energy. My body was filled with waves of anxiety and stress. I thought I ate something bad and I just needed to use the bathroom. I went back to my cousin's house across the street to use the bathroom and it was on my way over there that I got extremely light headed and felt really sick. 

I was in a lot of pain, inside and needed to lay down. But this time it was 3:30, and I passed out on the couch and didn't wake up until after everyone ate dinner. It was about 7:30 when I woke up with a pounding headache. I took some aleve and tried to eat and drink something. I was also very warm. I thought I was sick. Maybe I still am, but after that nap and water and aleve, I'm starting to keep better. Unfortunately it's hard enough trying to write this blog, there's no way I'll be able to edit tonight. 

Waffles and broken pipes

 

I know I'm wearing the same shirt! Don't come for me. It was washed and it's comfortable! I started the day with a glance at my computer. I didn't get up until 10 a.m, which meant the whole house was already awake. I turned on my computer and instead of editing right away, I had to open everything and make sure it was all working so it wouldn't just turn off with nothing being saved. As I stared at my scenes at open shot, my dad called! Saved by the bell, as they say. I picked up and let my screen go to sleep. After the call, I was going to try to edit but I wasn't motivated at all. I ended up making waffles and biscuits for everyone. (11)

After waffles, I was going to eat at my computer but my mum said she wanted to use it for her homework. Instead of being nagged about it for hours, I decided to get off and let her have it. The thing is, she didn't even get on it! She started cleaning instead! My cousin ended up putting on a movie that I've been wanting to see so we watched that while my laptop sat, empty. After that movie we ended up watching another one. This time I ended up falling asleep. I justified watching these movies by analyzing the directors work throughout. 

When I woke up, I realised my mum left! There was no way she was going to do her work now. I decided to get online and start editing. I got as far as looking through what I already had before we found out the sink pipe broke! I had to help with that, likely it didn't take long.

After that, I had to go to the store to get stuff for dinner. After we got back I went through the entire first folder that was down and got the second folder of clips onto Oneshot, while my cousin made dinner. After that I called it a day. My nap didn't give me enough energy for more than a few hours.

We're finally editing!

 

It took a hot minute, but we're finally here. I saw 'we' like it's not just me working on this project. I recently travelled to see family for the holidays and brought my computer because I knew I was going to be here for my entire winter break. I couldn't edit on the 23rd because that's the day we left and I was too tired and it was too late to edit after we got here. I couldn't edit on the 24th because I was helping set up everything for Christmas like cooking, cleaning, wrapping, and last minute trips to stores. That took up my entire day. I didn't edit on Christmas, yesterday, because I was eating and spending time with family and didn't get around to it. I could have edited at night but after cleaning up, and eating all that food, I was too full and too tired to even think about opening my laptop. 

The next morning, at around 10 a.m I finally woke up. I pulled my laptop out and wanted to get to work. I got as far as putting in the SD card before I remembered I said I would make my scones for brunch. I had to stop what I was doing and make those. Luckily it only took about an hour and a half. I figured I would eat one as I edited. It took me a minute to figure out how to use the editing software again since I haven't used it in about a year. I first tried to download the clips into the software but it would only let me do it one at a time. I didn't have the time for that since I knew I was going to be needed for something else. I split the screen in half and dragged and dropped. It worked!

As soon as I finished that part, my cousin let us know that we were going to the store for after Christmas shopping to see if anything good was on the 'after-Christmas sale'. We found some good gifts for family that we didn't see yesterday. Why do they need to know when their presents were bought? 

After we got back from that, I wrapped up the gifts we got and by that time it was already 3 in the afternoon. We ate a late lunch and I went to see what my aunt was doing across the street. We talked for a little bit before I went to go hang out with my other aunt next door. They all live right next to each other so it makes it easier to visit for the holidays. By the time I was doing checking up on everyone, it was like 5 p.m and that's when I officially started editing. 

I only got through one folder of clips, so I'll have to work on the other two tomorrow. I basically just cut down the times on the really long ones and got rid of the repeated ones. There isn't too much work to do for edits when we first start. Just making sure everything is in order. That's why I like editing. 

Last Couple of days before I left

 So I didn't edit last weekend. I wanted to but I was so tired from midterm week that I slept almost the entire weekend. The time that I was awake I didn't worry about editing because other things were on my mind. I was stressed about the holidays coming up and having to visit family because I didn't have a choice. I was stressed about school starting again. I was stressed about getting chores done in the time that I had before I went to my friend's again the following week. Since I needed to finish filming, and we were leaving now Wednesday, I wanted to make sure my room wasn't a mess before I left for two weeks. This didn't count reshoots, unfortunately since I didn't do any editing. 

When Sunday night came, I made sure to pack up everything so it would just be a grab and go in the morning. Then I made sure to figure out who would be able to watch my brother while both of his parents were at work. I sorted it out that night and relaxed a bit. I also made sure to deposit my check after work so I would have money in my account when we went out to film and get lunch after.

The next morning I asked my mum if she was going to take me or if I was going to take a Lyft. She said she would take me. I packed my stuff into the car and before I got it, she got into the passenger seat. She was going to let me drive! After I got there, I realised I forgot my camera charger! I texted my mum and asked if she could bring it for me but she said she was already late and that she couldn’t do that. 

I used the few hours of charge that the battery still had and shot my scenes. I ended up having to film when the sun was setting because Ben’s bus was delayed and his bike broke. He didn’t get to Pixie’s until 3 and we didn’t film until 4 because we were slacking off. The ending scene was very rushed and only shot a couple of times because the sun was setting and I didn’t want to risk messing the lighting up too much. 

It wasn’t until Wednesday that I realised I forgot scenes! I’ll have to get those rushed when I get back because I won’t be getting back until late. Monday night I was able to get a ride back to my house to get my charger, so that wasn’t a problem for Tuesday.

I know we don't have any masks on, don't come for me, we all got our fast results that we were all cleared from COVID the night before and made sure not to see anyone before we filmed. When I go back for reshoots, we will have our masks on, unless it's not needed for the scene. 

First day blues

 Before my friend arrived for the first day of filming, I made sure to ask the owner of Wilton creamery if it would be okay if we filmed inside of the store. Obviously the outside of the store was for the public and it wouldn't matter, but I wanted to make sure that I could film then, the main actor, ordering his tea, as well as being poisoned. I gave him the days and times that we would be in the store and he gave the okay. This let some relief off of my shoulder as I was worried that he would say no. if you are is later when my friend arrive we went back inside the store to confirm that it was still okay to film, and the owner asked me if I changed the times because he thought it was only Monday and Tuesday, and not a few hours after I asked. I made sure to ask with those added few hours so he must have misheard me. He still gave them okay, and we were good to film. I realized as we started to film, that we would need someone inside of the creamery, to hand him his drink. I politely asked the worker if he wouldn't mind being in the movie and saying a couple lines so it sounded good on screen. He was extremely helpful and agreed to everything as well as worked insanely well on camera. Obviously this meant that we had to give him a tip at the end of his Oscar award-winning acting. 

Here's where everything started going wrong. 

It started when we wanted to start filming outside. After we got the camera set up and then into his character's clothes, we wanted to start with the first tea scene. We got him walking into the creamery and ordering his tea, with no problem. It was when we went to sit down at the table and record the first time he was there, that it got really awkward. Since there were customers going in and out of the store, there was a couple that sat just a table away from us. This meant that I had to angle the camera so they weren't in the shot, as well as all three of us apologizing the entire time they were sitting there. I felt extremely awkward, but what was like going to do? They didn't seem to mind, as they just spoke quieter, and let us know that it was fun. They seemed extremely nice and we're very understanding, I guess they did a lot of school projects around awkward adults when they were younger. Didn't so much as go wrong, as it was awkward. We worked through it and kept the film rolling.

The next thing that halted our production, was the delivery man delivering drinks to the creamery. Obviously we didn't mind this since this was normal things to happen and adult world, and we were just living in it. It did however, stop us from filming for about 30 minutes. Since there was still daylight, we didn't mind too much. It was the slight inconveniences that added up over time.

We eventually got every shot that we needed, or that I can remember. Thinking back on it now, we could have gotten more shots that we needed, but it was getting dark and I needed to go to work. Luckily there are days for reshoots as well as regular shoots, as well as editing. 

Peoples, Times, Dates The Whole Package

 Obviously this month is going by fast, and with the holidays coming up, I wanted to make sure I got everything that I needed before I had to go away for a week and a half. This meant I had to talk with my friend who is my actor for my movie and figure out when we would be able to film. I thought I had more time, so I didn't make it a big deal. At the beginning of the week I was checking the date and realized that I only had about a week so I wanted to make sure I got my footage in before then. Since I live so far from my friend we decided to both meet in the middle and film.  I wouldn't be able to have a ride in the middle of the day because everyone would be at work. I decided to make plans with another friend to sleep over at her house so I would be able to make it to my destination and have the day to film with my friend. 

This meant I would be staying over at my friend's house who wasn't in the movie, while I waited for a friend who was in the movie. After we situated which days would work I went to my mom and asked her if she would be able to drop me off those days. She said she wouldn't be able to and that we had to figure out a new date. This put me under a lot of stress since the end of the month was coming up closer and closer. 

I had to go back and forth between my friends availability dates and my mother's work schedule. I also ended up having to go through my own work schedule since I recently started working. after a very stressful couple of hours I decided to take charge of everything and tell everybody exactly the dates and times that I would need to go to my friend's house and I would need to have everybody at the first destination for filming. Everyone seemed to like the fact that I took charge (of my own project) and agree to everything that I set.

I eventually got to my friend's house and realized I forgot the SD card for filming. I then had to call my mom who was already mad that she had to drive so late at night because it took us a while to figure out the dates, and ask her to bring me my SD card. I finally got the SD card, and made sure to put it into my camera case, so I wouldn't forget when I went out with it. After it was in my camera case, I put the camera to charge and went to sleep.

The next morning, I made sure to check the times with my friend who was going to be acting and headed out with my friend who I had a sleep over with. We got to the creamery early, so I texted my friend to let him know and asked him when he would be arriving. He said he was running late and that he wasn't even in my city yet so to just find something else to do while we waited. I asked my friend if she wanted to go get breakfast while we waited she thought that was a great idea so we went out and got frozen yogurt. Well we ate I realized that I would have to be taking pictures and recording what happened as I was filming. I had the amazing idea to ask my friend if she wanted to do that for me. Being the super nice friend that she was she agreed to help me.

After froyo, we went back to the creamery and waited for my friend. He said he was still running late as there was a problem with the bus, so to just hang tight. I couldn't do anything since he was my only actor and there was nothing to film without him in it I was worried that it would be too late and he wouldn't make it and we would have to cancel. Luckily he ended up writing his bike the rest of the way and showing up an hour later. as there was still Semite we decided to take advantage of the time that we had and film the entire middle of my movie. 

#socialdistancing...halfway

Thanksgiving week

 This week was hard for me to do anything regarding school. My mum wanted to go see family (yes, during a pandemic) this holiday, so she took the week off and forced me and my brother to go with her. In the chaos of the morning, I forgot to pack my computer to take with me. That being said, I didn't get any homework done, unless I borrowed a family members computer for the five minutes I had to myself. 

This also means that I didn't get to film, since I was away. I would have been able to get most of my shots, if not all of them, this past week, if I had the chance to stay. That being said, I have to plan around it. 

I also have to plan around the fact that my family that we visited is a bunch of rat lickers. (This meaning that they refused to wear a mask and/or social distance. This term was used during the plague when rats were the start of it all. Rat licker being coined as the people who carelessly spread diseases.) 

Now, while I did take my own precautions, wearing a face mask everywhere, even to sleep, and staying as far away from everyone as possible, I did still struggle when it came to meal time. I figured since it was outside and I still had the option to sit farther away from others, it wasn't too bad. 

This pictures of me without a face mask and very close to some family is because my aunt insisted on getting a picture with me in it. She threw a fit about me wearing a face mask the entire time, unless I was eating. She also got mad that I was sitting so far away from everyone, making it hard to get me in pictures. I figured one picture wouldn't hurt.

I am taking further steps into insuring my coworkers safety's by getting testing for the next two weeks as well as self isolating. This won't be hard as I am a hermit anyway and pretty much live in my room, on the other side of the house, away from everyone. 

                                                        

Music Friends Are The Best

 I decided to do the same thing I did last year in terms of music. I was going to ask my friend if he could make my music. He did it last year and he had everything I needed in it. I know to ask him because he, not only puts beats together that work, but he's the best musician I know. I wouldn't trust anyone else with my music I need for my movie. Or any time I needed music, for that matter. 

I listened to a bunch of songs that I thought would work but none of them worked with what I had in mind. I still have to send them to my friend so he can get a feel for what I want. When I first asked him to make music for me, I gave him a very vague meaning for what I was looking for. I said something like I had last year but eerier. He kind of understood what I meant, so I tried to follow up with random words that I thought would describe it better but it did not. We ended up laughing about the words I chose for ten minutes before we both realised I had no idea what I was asking for. 

I'll eventually get around to sending him the music that I want him to work from. I also figured that if the music was made for me, I wouldn't have to spend time looking for music from an artists and it would also save me a few very awkward conversations. Since I hate meeting new people alone, meeting a new person and asking them to use their music would make me feel very uncomfortable. I get to save myself that trouble by asking a friend. He owes me a favour anyway since I helped him with a few lyrics from his other WIPs (Work in progress).

The internet side

 This week we created all of our socials and our website that we would be using for the movie. One thing that my teacher pointed out is that we should just create an email specifically for the movie. I decided I wanted to make up my own production company as well. It took me two seconds to make up a name as I just threw two words together. I later found out that that email was already taken. I also found out that is was a real production company. Since I'm lazy, I decided to slightly change the name and use it. Since it worked, I ran with it. 

It was hard trying to get everything in order. I started with the website but soon realised I needed to have my social media accounts up first. So I went to do that instead. Then, I had to ask my friend about sending a picture of him and a few of my other friends who we're helping me, music and art wise. I needed to have pictures of them on my website and descriptions so people who went onto the website would be able to meet the cast and crew. 

I ended up making a Twitter, instagram, and youtube account to put into my wix site. After I was checking the requirements for the assignment, I realised I also needed a Facebook account. I was so tired after everything that I wanted to just turn in those three accounts. It soon clicked that this is the only class that I liked, and if I got a zero for not uploading a fourth social, it wouldn't be worth it. 

Planning; The Storyboard

 I ended up changing the script around to not only fit the change of characters, but also for the new ideas I had. I realised that I wouldn't fill the time with a simple scene of chasing, because, let's be honest, that scene wasn't going to late two minutes. I decided to change the scene from Ben being chased, to him walking into a bunch of cafe's as the days pass. As well as him doing online school. I wanted have the person who eventually kills him at the end to be in majority of these shots as it will add to suspense I want to build. I also want to change the genre from adventure to thriller, because it will set the mood I'm trying to convey. 

I decided that there might not be a friend, and instead, there will be a twin brother, played by the same actor. This will add to the thriller because it will change the ending, and instead of being a shut and done case, it could leave the viewers wondering what will happen next. 

I decided to make these changes for two reasons. The first one being that as I was filling out a storyboard template for my movie, I saw that there wouldn't be enough scenes to get to the time that I need. The other reason is that when I started the class, I genuinely had no idea what I was going to do for the movie. I threw together the first idea that I had and ran with it for the time being. Over time, after letting it marinade in my mind juices, I realised that there was a better way to come about with this. 

Planning; the basics

 

The picture of the outfit is the main characters first outfit. Ben and I decided it would be best for the main character through trying out the best shirts that we both felt represented the main character. Due to safety reasons, I had to lose my original actor and had to get hold of another person willing to be the main character. Which meant the original costume had to change and the script.

While writing out the planning sheet for the basics of the movie, I ended up editing the information that I already had down from previous work. After I finished writing down the information, I had to take a picture and send it to Ben for him to look over. I wanted to make sure that my main character understood what I was trying to write and understood the character they were playing. I made sure to write down as much as I could to keep everyone as safe possible from the current outbreak of the coronavirus. 

I am aware that the locations may have to change if we are not able to get certain scenes, that's why I wrote in pencil. Easy to erase, easy to edit. The schedule will have to work around what Ben and the creamery owner can do since my brother and I are good for any day. 

Dealing with one schedule was easy enough. I wanted to make sure we had days to negotiate so I had to add days to the calendar. Then I had to clear some of those days, or similar ones with the creamery owner, to make sure we could film at certain times on certain days.

I wanted the costumes to actually mean something in this movie, instead of my previous works where the clothes barely mattered. I wanted to give the costumes a chance to speak for themselves, let the viewers know what the person meant to the movie, from their costume. 

Short Film vs. Feature Length Film

     The short film had mystery, which the feature length didn't have, everything was explained. We were left wondering why there were no humans, why some robot was chasing this doll, how the others died, and what the significance of the green glowing device had. 

    The feature film answered all the questions the short film left me wondering about. There were back stories to the dolls, and a scientist who literally poured his soul into these nine dolls that the short film didn't include. 9 seemed more reckless and clueless in the longer one. In the short film, 9 seemed more heroic, if not honourable, fighting for his friends, and letting them free at the end. Although 9 bossed up and took responsibility for what they did. 

    I enjoyed watching the feature film more than the short film because I like wasting my time, which is my genuine answer. I seem to gravitate toward things that make me feel unproductive. Sitting and watching a two hour movie on Netflix is the definition of ✨ unproductive ✨. 

    I enjoyed watching the short film more than the feature film because, like the rest of GenZ, we hate spending too long on anything, we can't focus. I'm surprised we don't all have some form of ADHD, honestly. Being able to speed up the seven minute movie even faster was also a plus. Also, since I watched the feature movie before the short, I already knew what it was about, regardless of no dialogue and the feeling like the short film was basically just an ending of a movie that I missed. 

    Considering both movies, I have to choose the feature film over the short film because it answers my questions and if there's one thing I like more than fast videos, is my questions answered. I hate not knowing things, and the feature film is very thorough.

Research 9: Feature Film

     This movie started with a man building the future main character of the movie. There is a voice over that gives a brief explanation of the plot. When 9 comes to life, they find themselves in a post-apocalyptic world where humans died out. The only signs of life are rag dolls like 9 and the machines that hunt them. 9 convinces the others that the only way to survive against the machines is to stop hiding, and fight the machine. As 9 and the group learn, civilization is relying on their success or failure. 

    1 seems to be the leader, who is very defensive and willing to sacrifice  the few for the many. 2 is the first one 9 meets while they are in the middle of rubbish, and both end up fighting off one of these robots. We don't get to learn much about two because they were taken by the robot early and killed shortly after the others go to rescue them. 3 and 4, we learn, are twins. They don't speak much, they like to catalogue everything and are able to recall what they saw through projection. They are mostly cheerful the entire time. 5 and 6 both seemed to be friends, they were both willing to fight for their friends and do whatever it took to rescue and protect each other. 7 was a fighter, they were more rogue than the others. the dolls in 1's group were all about staying in hiding while 7 was traveling and fighting the robots when they crossed paths. They seemed to be protecting the twins. 8 seemed to be the bodyguard of 1. They had no problem doing what 1 said, and eventually got taken by a robot while on lookout for 1 and the others. 9 was the youngest, but worked their way to being the leader of the group. The were very ambitious and all about fighting for their friends. 

    The film consisted of many camera angles and edits that contributed. There was a lot of suspenseful and action packed music in the background as the numbers were hiding or fighting for their lives. There were many tracking shots as we watched many chasing scenes. There were also shot reverse shots when someone was in trouble and someone else was trying to figure out what to do. 

Research: 9 The Short

     The short film starts off with an establishing shot of the character I can assume to be 9 that is hammering a short of pole to a light. The light then shifts and the scene cuts to a monster, which I can only assume is looking for nine. Then 9 is found cleaning a device and a flash back happens. The flashback has another person in it, and they are showed fixing a light bulb into a portable torch for them. The monster approaches and the other doll has glowing green eyes. The take a device, which could be the same device 9 was cleaning before the flashback, out. They seem to know that the monster is near by, so the one eye'd other doll, hands the device to 9 and gestures them to hide while they fight off the monster. The monster captures one eye and takes out another green glowing device, similar to the one 9 has. This device kills one eye and 9 is left alone. The monster starts looking for 9 but gets distracted by another sound away from 9 and 9 is able to escape. The flashback ends with 9 running away and present 9 sitting in the same spot they ran away from with the device that is glowing green again. They run into hiding, and the monster follows. They end up in a chasing scene with tracking shots, pan angles, and wide angles. The scene ends with the monster being killed and cuts to 9 looking at a cloth with the number 5 written on it. 9 puts the glowing pieces together and out comes eight souls hat all walk to their respective graves. The doll labeled 5 turns around and nods at 9 before disappearing, leaving 9 alone. 

    There doesn't seem to be much character development except for the inference that I made which is that 9 was and the others were all about fighting and surviving, but as they all slowly died off, they became more humbled and played more defense. There were no people in the movie, and lots of rubble, so I'm assuming it's a post apocalyptic world where all the humans died. There is no dialogue. There is only music during the chasing scene and sounds from moving objects that contribute to the noises.