CCR

Here is my Creative Critical Reflection!

Final Product

     Here we are... the final product!
     First, I just want to say that doing this opening film was fantastic and I truly enjoyed it, even if it was a bit of a pain at times. I've come to realize that I really enjoy directing and editing. So much so that I am considering very seriously doing Film Production in college. It's not something I've decided on yet, but I've definitely been thinking about it a whole lot because of this project.

     Anyway, what you're really here for, here is the final product!

Feedback

     A couple of days ago in class, we had a little group feedback session in groups about our projects. Everyone showed theirs and the rest of the people gave their critiques. I was a little bit nervous because I was the only one in my group doing a film opening. However, I ended up being pleasantly surprised.
     Everyone in the group seemed to like it. The only critique I really got was that the audio was not too good in one particular clip, which just so happens to be one of the ones where I lost the 'good' audio for some strange reason. I can't really fix that and it really does bother me, but c'est la vie, I have to move forward.
     Another comment everyone made, this time positive, was that they really liked how my film opening ended because it was a bit of a cliff hanger. Of course, I know I'm not really being graded on my story but more so on my techniques and planning, etc., but it was still a nice thing to know. What's the use of having a well-produced film if it's boring?

Insecurities

     I filmed the clip that I wanted with Andrea today and I edited it into my film opening already. That part definitely looks a lot better than before.
     H O W E V E R, I've come to realize that I am low-key self-sabotaging myself. I keep watching the entirety of my film opening at least once a day and being completely anxious about it the more I look at it. I'm picking out small, insignificant flaws that I swear were not there a few days ago. I hate that I do that and I am trying to stop, but I'm being a giant perfectionist with this project.
     I think I'm done. I think. I hope. I'll let you know if I do end up changing anything else (which lets be real I've changed tiny things every single day since I started editing), but for the mean time, I'll leave this as is.

Spoilers!

     There is something I realized I had in my head very set, yet I never spoke about it here. Sometimes its a little bit hard to translate all my thoughts into words and to remember to write down every single thing I'm thinking about regarding this film in here. This was the case when it comes to what the whole story is really about. We are left with suspense at the end of my film opening, but if the film continued, we would see exactly what went on. So, spoiler alert, you were warned.

     My film foreshadows what is going to happen after the two lovers separate. One of the dead giveaways is the fact that Luna and Natalia stop corresponding at one point. Another one is the blue hue used in Natalia's adult clips, this is to symbolize the sadness within her now that she is without the love of her life. The clips of grown up Natalia are meant to look like she's speaking to a therapist about the death of her lover. She feels guilty for not being there and saddened by the lost time. 

    Another foreshadowing clue is how the clips of Luna laughing and running have a white vignette around them, because it appears dreamy, like Natalia would think of her deceased lover. She would think of her in a nostalgic and dreamy ("what if?") manner. 

Done Editing.... ish!

      I'm pretty much done editing my film opening! There are a couple of minor things that I would like to tweak here and there but the bulk of my work is done and I could not be more relieved. It took me about five or six hours, which is a lot less than I honestly thought it would take me. But hey, I'm not complaining.
     I'm happy with it. Not 100% yet, because like I said I need to change a few things, but it's pretty much there. I particularly know of a small clip that I want to film, but it would not take much for me to do so. When Natalia talks about how Luna had an amazing family and an amazing life, I want a clip of Natalia laughing. I realized in my edits that I didn't have anything good to insert there, so I want to add that. That won't be hard, I can do it at school with no problem.
     Sorry these posts keep getting shorter, as I approach the end of my little journey with this project, I am running out of things to say. But I'm not gonna lie, I'm a bit sad it's almost over, I really enjoyed filming/editing this opening, and even writing these blogs.

Youtube Audio Library Saves the Day

     When I first started this project, my biggest question was how on Earth I was going to find good, royalty free music. The answer? The Youtube Audio Library! They have a wide range of songs that are completely royalty free. Even better, they divide it by genre so I did not have to search for hours.

     I immediately went to the 'cinematic' genre and I listened to a lot of songs. I probably spent a total of around two hours listening to music. Finally, I decided upon the song Emotional Love Theme by Biz Baz Studio for the credits. It has a sad mood (it's in the 'cinematic sad' category) but it's not overly sad. I am quite happy with that choice.

     For the rest of my opening scene, the song A Quiet Thought by Wayne Jones will be playing on and off. It's in the category of 'cinematic calm' but I think it does have a lot of sad tone to eat, maybe even more so than Emotional Love Theme. I'm not a professional, but I think it fits the mood and pace of Dear Lover.

     I'm really glad I knew of this tool before I even started filming, it was truly a life saver. I've struggled with finding good, royalty free music for other projects in the past. I was scared that it would be the same story for the project, but thankfully my teacher mentioned this wonderful tool before I even started struggling.