Evaluation

Film Opening Project

CCR Reflection on Final Product

Conventions & Representation

How does your product use or challenge film conventions, and how does it represent social groups or issues?

 Hello, my name is Ryan Jurdi, and this is my answer to CCR #1 and to be creative with my CCR I will be doing this reflection as a news reporter. First, let's start off with how my film opening used conventions. One of the ways I used a convention that sports films follow is the entire story of the opening film. The story is supposed to be an emotional rollercoaster where it starts as sad since it's showing the main character get injured but then switches to happy for a little bit of time when the flashback occurs to then quickly switch back to being sad again since the opening shows the aftermath of the main character getting injured. To make it worse, the opening ends on a cliffhanger before the audience learns if the injury the main character sustained was bad or not. Another way the film opening uses conventions instead of challenging it is the camerawork. A common convention in sports films is to use a tracking shot to follow the movement of a character in a game or practice. This is exactly what I did. A lot of the camerawork that was in my video was tracking shots. For example, the camerawork I used for the scene that caused my “injury” was a tracking shot. The main character started at the half of the soccer field and moved down the field to the top of the big box all while the camera tracked the movements. Another convention I used regarding the camera was medium shots since medium shots in sports films help establish tension. For example, I used a medium shot for the last scene so I can create tension while ending the film off on a cliffhanger. Another convention I used was editing. In sports films they use a lot of cuts, especially when there is a training montage. For example, my film used a lot of quick cuts to achieve a training montage during the flashback to lead up to the injury.  A convention that I challenged was sound. There usually is upbeat non-diegetic music in sports films but for my film opening while it was non-diegetic, I decided since the character is getting injured the tone of the song should be on the slightly sadder side which is why I chose the song, “I walk this Earth all by myself.” 

The way my film opening represents social issues is by showing someone being injured. I wanted to represent this because injuries, especially when it comes to sports, can be saddening while also making the person feel isolated since in certain cases, they are cut off from doing their usual activities. 

Audience & Distribution

How does your product engage audiences, and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

Hello, my name is Ryan Jurdi, and this is my answer to CCR #2. First, let's start off with how my film opening can engage audiences. The first way my opening engages audiences is through the sport I chose. Millions of people love soccer around the world, so any fan of the sport may want to tune into the film. In addition, the first few seconds of the movie should surely grab the attention of audiences since right out the gate the viewers are met with a character ending up on the ground looking like he just got injured. This process now slowly intrigues the audience. Speaking of intriguing the audience after the roles were shown and the character walks to the bench, a new scene starts where it appears the film rewinds slightly. This engages the audience since, to the audience, the music that was just playing also seemed to have rewind/restarted. This is where the training montage comes in. Everyone loves a good training montage, and this sports film is no different. This keeps the audience engaged because now they are wondering how or when I got injured and if it will appear. Then suddenly the tragedy happens, and the audience gets to witness what the opening was building up to the entire time. To keep the audience even more hooked, the ending does not reveal if the character will be ok or not to build even more anticipation if it was a real movie. 

Regarding how my film opening would be distributed as a real media text, I think the opening will slot into a film that deals with an athlete trying to cope with injury while trying to recover from it. The ending would be about the main character finally finding a way to deal with the injury physically and mentally since an injury can drain both of those aspects.

Production Skills

How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

Hello, my name is Ryan Jurdi, and this is my answer to CCR #3. To be unique with this CCR and try to make it stand out from the rest, I will be sitting while explaining how my production skills improved throughout this CCR. So, what is my answer to the question, how did my production skills develop throughout this project? I believe my production skills gradually improved throughout the creation of my film opening. The first major improvement I had was my directing skills. Before this project, I never had to direct some else on how or where to film before but with the addition of my mom filming all of the scenes I had to take up the mantle. At first, I was a little quiet and did not know the best way to explain the exact scenes I needed but as time passed and as I got more experienced directing, I slowly improved and became an expert on directing the scenes for the film opening. The second major improvement I had for my production skills was the location. In past projects I used only my house as the filming location but for this project I decided to go to the park and also use it as a place in my film. This came with some challenges since I never filmed outside before and was certainly a new experience, and to add to the challenge, the park is public, so that aspect comes with its own set of issues. First off, the new experience, at the beginning of filming outside I was slightly nervous since I have never tried to film or act outside of my house, but I quickly got over it as filming progressed. Another challenge was the limited number of resources available since I was used to filming at home where everything is a walking distance. For example, if I needed to stabilize the camera I could come up with something using the resources available to me at home, but that changes when I am outside since I do not have any of that. Though, as time went on, I adapted to the challenge by coming up with alternative methods if I needed something. Another challenge to filming outside was the many people passing by or just standing in the background. This came as a challenge since I did not want to film anyone without their permission. The best way around this obstacle was to wait until they passed, which luckily was not long. 

CCR #4: 

Technology

How did you integrate technologies (software, hardware, and online tools) in this project?

Hello, my name is Ryan Jurdi, and this is my answer to CCR #4. To be unique with this CCR and differentiate it from the rest of the CCRs, I will be laying down on the floor while presenting this CCR. So, how did I integrate technology, whether it's software or hardware? Well, the first piece of technology that I integrated was my iPhone 11. I used my iPhone for everything that I did in this project. I used it for filming every scene, editing the entire film opening, and also for recording these CCRs. My phone was the main centerpiece of technology that I used. In addition, I also used it to help with the preliminary exercises that were required. This is where my mom was while filming me, took many different behind-the-scenes photos of the filming process. For example, my mom took a picture of me testing a shot while we were filming at the park. Another example was when she took a test picture of the angle and shot that I wanted for the last scene. Another piece of technology that I used was the editing software called Cap Cut, where I used and edited the bulk of my film opening with this software. For example, I cut a lot of scenes and put it together in order to make the film. Another use was the addition of the text on the screen. Cap Cut has a wide variety of effects and fonts to really spice up the text which was helpful and added to the creativity of the film opening. Another use was the addition of the music since I was able to splice the music together exactly as I wanted to add to the creativity of the film. Another use was the editing of the CCRs. I edited every CCR in Cap Cut. For example, I cut out mistakes like when I mess up my words or when I press the record and stop recording. Another piece of technology I used was YouTube. I uploaded the final film opening and all of the CCRs to it. Furthermore, I edited some of the film openings on YouTube such as the thumbnail and also trimmed a portion too. 

                                

Commercial Project

CCR Reflection on Final Product

Reflection:

How well does the product meet the brief?

• The final product meets the brief since it completed what it set out to do, which is to showcase how Xbox Series X is better than PlayStation 5.

How is the audience engaged?

• Music in the background and music switching midway keeps young audiences engaged. 
• Fast pace of the commercial keeps young audiences engaged. 
• Dialogue/storyline of the commercial keeps all gamers of all ages engaged.

Integration of Conventions & Technologies:

• Used genre conventions like the close-up shot, rhythmic editing, eye-level camera angles, and a tracking shot.
• Used technologies like an iPhone 11 to film, a PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X to contrast each other, edited on Capcut,  music from Capcut's collection of songs.

Strengths & Areas for Improvement:

• Strengths: mixing of the story of the commercial with the music, concise commerical 
• Improvements: some of the film work, cuts could have been cleaner, 

CCR #1:

How does your product use or challenge conventions, and how does it represent social groups or issues?

CCR #2:

How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

CCR #3:

How did your production skills develop?

CCR #4:

How did you integrate technologies in the project?

Music Video Project

CCR #1:

How does your product use or challenge conventions, and how does it represent social groups or issues?

CCR #2 

How does your product engage with audiences, and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

CCR #3

How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

CCR #4

How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware, and online platforms – in this project?