CCR

The end:(

Here is my final project! Thank you so much for coming along this journey with me, i hope you enjoy it!

Finishing touches!!!

    Hi!! Im so excited to tell you guys that all my filming is completely finished! Today i worked all day to finish up my project. It was very exciting and I'm so happy with the way everything turned out.  Of course, as I was filming there was parts that I changed from my original plan because I thought it looked better and more realistic.

  So I started off the day by shooting the rest of my film. I used two of my friends Coral Chico and Esteban Ramirez to help me film and be my actors. Coral played the victim in the film or the young girl being taken by the kidnapper. Esteban played the kidnapper in my film. The both did such a good job and I'm so happy and thankful for their help. My film as explained many times before starts off as many shots of trees, grass, and flowers and in the background is the news report playing of a missing girl and a description of her. Today i shot the actually action part of the film. This scene is the kidnapper having he victim hostage in a dark basement. He is tying her up and putting duct tape on her mouth. As he is doing this, he hears police sirens and quickly un knots the rope around her hands and throws her off the chair as she screams for help and out of pain. She is trying hard to resist so the kidnapper quickly grabs the first thing he sees which happens to be a fire extinguisher and knocks her out with it. She then is bleeding a lot and is completely passed out. He then drags her out through the back a throws her in the back of his car. That is where my film ends. I feel ending it right here will give the audience a good amount of action but also enough to leave them wanting more because they know that there will be more action following this scene.

  After all of this was complete, I moved on the harder and time consuming part of my film. I worked on editing it and finishing up everything. After many hours of editing and changes, I finally finsihed my film and I'm so proud of it. I cannot wait to reveal my project and show you guys all my hard work!

More filming

    Hi! Today i don’t have much to talk about because i only worked on a little bit more of my filming...
     I finished up shots for the beginning of my film. The beginning shots are multiple ones of trees, plants, and flowers. I explained how i did some of them in a previous blog. However i finished those up and figured out that i will be running the credits throughout this part as well as having the news report play after this. I also worked on some shots for the second part of my film which will be the kidnapper and the victim. I did some shots of her mouth tied up and her attempting to scream for help.
    I didn’t work on much today but i plan i finishing EVERYTHING up tomorrow and then begin to start editing everything together. I look forward to everything coming together and letting you guys know it went!

Feedback

   So yesterday in class we had another group feedback session. They gave me a lot of great input on what i should be doing with my project and where i should be at as far as progress. I fell like I am on track with what they had said. I also feel like the feedback has led me to new ideas that I can use as well. Everyone in the group shared their project and let everyone know how far along they were.

   From this feedback session, I learned that I should already be finished up with my project. Most of my classmates have already finished up all of their filming and now are editing. However, some are very behind and not even started filming. In my personal opinion i feel like i am in track for myself because i think i will finish with a reasonably time and not be rushed.

   During the group feedback session though I was told that I need to make shorter cuts for the certain clips i showed them. Some of my cuts are too long and it doesn't look realistic. Therefore, i will use their advice and cut them shorter. They also said i should have been more far along for my filming as i stated earlier. Their feedback will help me keep on track and not get off track with how far along I am.  However, they did tell me that they liked my idea my credits as well as my overall idea. I plan on using all their negative and positive feedback into consideration to make my film as best as possible.

Im getting excited....

    Hi! Yesterday I explained to you guys that my second storyboard was incorrect again sadly…. therefore, I had to redo it for the third time! The good news is that I started to film parts of my project. Of course, all my filming will not get done in one day but I am off to a great start. This filming will also take many tries to get it the way I would like.

    The shots I have started are the first part of the first scene. I have not yet started filming the part of the actual kidnapper and girl that was taken.  I have taken one shot of the trees in the forest, one of the flowers near a house, one of the leaves on the ground in the forest. All of these shots seem spooky because it is in the woods and set the tone for the rest of the film. I also took a couple more shots of one shoe laying on the ground of the forest. I did this to create suspense for the audience and as well help set the tone. Another shot I took is of rope lying on the floor to also help create suspense and help set the tone. All of these shots also may help the audience get a better understanding of what the film will be about. After the film opening is watched, the audience should be able to know what the whole film will be about or at least have an idea of what it may be. This is what I am trying to do with all of these shots and I believe after I shot my next scene the audience with without a doubt, know what my film is going to be about.  As well as doing all these shots, I have also recorded the news report. This voice will be my brother, Danny Cooke. He has a deep voice and it is goof to use for this kind of situation. The news report explains that there has been teenager taken and it describes how the teenager looks as well as providing her age, name, and where she was last seen. This news report also will give the audience a GREAT idea of what is going on in the rest of the film. This way the audience understands what is happening

storyboard pt3 :(

    Unfortunately, my storyboard that I redid last week was wrong again....

    I had originally thought that every picture I did was supposed to be a scene but it actually has to be every single shot that I take. Therefore, I had to redo my storyboard once again. This time it has many more shots and pictures to give more detail and a better understanding of what will be going on in my film. I have been working on parts of the film opening this past week. It has worked out very well for me since I have gotten to Tallahassee. We rented a house in the woods and all the surroundings have helped out tremendously with what I was planning on doing.

   My first couple shots will be of the woods, trees, and outdoors to build suspense for the audience. Some of these shots should include a shoe or rope to give a little bit of hints of what might be coming up in the future film. In the beginning of theses shots, I will have the credits run for a little. Then while these shots are going on the news report will be going on in the background. This news report will talk about a missing child. The child will be described as brown hair, brown eyes, age 19, height 5.2,  last seen wearing blue jeans and a green sweater, and named Kayla Tuarez. I would like the next shots to be the scene of the kidnapper and the teen being kidnapped. For example, some may be a close up of the teens mouth tied up in the rope. Another can be one of her clothes and how bloody and messed up they are. Others are going to be of the kiddnapper and all his items for the kidnapping. While all of these shots are being taken, there will of course by some dialogue of the kidnapper to give more information on the film. The teen that was kidnnapped will maybe have a couple lines of dialogue but not much other than screaming and yelling for help.

   Tomorrow I will have my new storyboard finished up, as well as explaining some of the shots I have started for my film. Many of the shots I have taken today are in the woods and build great suspense and I will continue to shot some more in the morning.

Inspiration

       I have talked to you guys before about how i got into this aide media class. My brother was in this class and he enjoyed it very much. I would always see how much fun it was and all of the interesting projects that he would participate in. My brother was also very good at editing and creating the films. Although i enterted this class because of my brother, I chose this specific topic of crime drama because of something else.

     I have been inspired by the movie "Taken". Taken is a crime drama that involves a kidnapping in a foreign country. The teenager that got kidnapped dad travels to this county and attempts to find his child and the man who took her. I have watched every single one of the taken movies and that is what inspired me to do a crime drama and a kidnapping. And although, my film will be different than taken there are some aspects of it that i would like to incorporate into mine. I will not copy how it is done in the movie but it gives ideas and definitely has inspired me to do this film.

    Below are some images from the movie that i have gotten inspiration from and are some of my favorite parts of it.

More filming

     Hi! Im very excited to say that i have begun the little parts of my film and have started to gather materials needed to make this project great! As stated in a couple posts ago, i have used my brothers voice for my news report in the beginning of my film. He will be helping me on this film because he is a previous student and has good knowledge on what i can do to improve myself and this project.

     This week I will be traveling to go visit him in Tallahassee and I will be renting a house. In this house, I will find a spot where shooting the scene of the victim and the kidnappper will be perfect. I have gathered materials for this part that should help in conveying the message more and making everything seem more realistic. I have bought things such as duct tape, fake blood, and rope so far. The duct tape will be used to put over the victims mouth as they scream for help and out of fear. The fake blood will be used to put on the victim and other places to show that there was violence involved and the victim is hurt as well. The rope will be used to tie the victims hand and feet together so they cannot move or escape anywhere. I plan on needing more materials once i start filming and realizing other things need to be part of the film. If this is to happen, it will be no problem and i will just get the materials needed and then continue working.
   
    I am very excited to start on this part of my film in just a few days! I will be back soon to update on how it is going and if anything new will be apart of it.

research...

   Today I'm going to go in a little more depth about the type of crime i will be using in my film and how it will play out and what the crime really is. I have done research on kidnapping and i plan on using on this new knowledge to help me express the ideas i have more.

    In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful carrying away and confinement of a person against his or her will. This is a very serious crime. It can also be defined as false imprisonment by means of abduction. The abduction element is usually conducted by force or fear. Which means that the kidnapper may use a weapon to force the victim into a vehicle, but it is still kidnapping if the victim is lured into entering the vehicle out of their own will.  Kidnapping may be done to demand for ransom in exchange for releasing the victim, or for other illegal purposes. Kidnapping can also involve violent acts towards the kid ad them ending up being hurt. 

    My opening film will include the kidnapper and the the victim in a hidden area. There will be a lot of blood to show that there was violence involved and possibly weapons in the kidnapping. I also plan to have the victim be tied up and screaming showing that it was very unwilling and not something he/she wants to be apart of. In my film i would like the kidnapping to be for ransom. This will mean that the kidnapper will threaten loved one of the victim into killing the child until they give the kidnapper a certain amount of money. 

start to filming!!

     Hi and welcome back to my blog post! Im sorry for being away for so long but i have been extremely busy with the beginning of the filming. This past week my brother, Danny Cooke was down for his spring break. He is a former aide media student who did extremely well on this specific project. I had asked for him to help me on some of the filming. We only got started with the very beginning but i will be seeing him again in less than a week and i hope to get more done then!

     So lately i have been brainstorming about some friends of mines voices and if i feel they are appropriate for the news story in the very beginning of my film. This voice needs to sound like it goes on TV and cannot be just any voice. As my brother was down here, I noticed that he had a very deep voice, so i decided to try it out. We started to write out the script for what needs to be said during this news report and had him try it out. It did not sound bad and probably is best than anyone else that i know.  Therefore, i am going to be using his voice for my news report to explain the summary of what is going on throughout the film. We had worked on this voice recording for quite a while as well as planning gout what will be happening next. I plan on trying to film the actually scene where the child is in an unknown area with the kidnapper. I want to find the perfect spot for this scene to make it feel and look as realistic as possible.

   As next week approaches i plan on having all my filming planned out and starting to work on it all! I look forward to sharing all the upcoming news with you!

Storyboard pt 2

Today in my blog post I am going to be sharing with you my new and improved storyboard. Last week I had given a part of my storyboard of what I had originally planned on filming.  After a lot of great feedback from my classmates I had decided to change up a little bit of what I am going to do for my project. Below is what I have come up with.

            My first pictures is the almost the same as my last storyboard because I will not be changing much on it. I will keep a news story planning but this message will explain that there is a missing child. This will explain the main topic of the film opening and give the audience a summary. My next scene will go straight into the kidnapper and the kid in a very dark, scary, in the middle of no where place. I believe that after this scene I will shot the family of the missing child and them panicking about the situation. This will give the audience a understanding of what is going on with the child as well as giving them a understanding of how the family feels about the situation.

More ideas!

    Today on my blog I will be explaining a little more of details about my film opening. On my last post I had talked about my feedback from my class group. There were many great ideas I got from my classmates that really helped to contribute to the plan of my storyboard and film opening. I explained most of them previously. However, my classmates also suggested that i need a good location to shot a part of my film. This is the scene where I am going to show the kidnapper aggressively handling the victim. This shot should be videoed at a professional looking area so nothing looks fake. I had thought of my attic or possibly a friends attic. This way, the rusty and oldness of the background will look like they are at a far away, in the middle of no where, dungeon.

     Having all this new information and ideas, I will have to redo my storyboard. I am currently finishing up my new and improved storyboard and tying everything together. By next post, I will have all my ideas put together and my storyboard completed!

 

Feedback!

      Hi! Today I'm going to be taking a break from my last post. This is because I would like to talk about my feedback from my group during class time. This feedback time was extremely helpful towards what I should be working on and all the thing I need to do to get my film opening perfect.

     During my feedback time, I was told that I need to start thinking of a name for my film and I also needed a name for my blog. I am still working on the name for my film but i was able to decide on a name for my blog. My classmates not only told me i needed one but they were very helpful with helping me think and decide on names to use.

     My classmates during feedback time also helped me think of a plot to use. They suggested that my crime should either be a kidnapping or a robbery. I am going to go with a kidnapping because i am more interested in something like that and would work better on film. They then suggested that i should start of my film with a news report about a missing child and people frantically running around. I then should directly switch scenes to the kidnapper and the kid that he kidnapped. There would be lots of screaming, fear and possibly blood. I believe this scene will go on for a while with more details about the kidnapping and how it happened. My film opening i think will then be over with.

storyboard time!

Hi! This blog post will be about the start of my storyboard. I have figured out the beginning of what i will be doing for my film and the starting plot of it. Here are the first couple pictures of my storyboard and a preview of what you will be seeing in my film opening that will be revealed at the end of this all!

My first scene will consist of a news report on TV giving the audience the main dilemma in this crime drama as well as them knowing exactly what will be going on since they are only getting to see the film opening. I am sure that i want this to be the first scene because its a great technique to use and way to get the point across to the audience as soon as they start watching. The next scene as of right now will be the city people crowding around a large crime scene and the everyone very curious and suspicious as to what had just happened in their city.

more info!

   Hello! In my last blog as you have all read I did thorough research on my genre of crime drama. I hd explained what usually goes on in crime drama films and the characters the usually develop and play a role in these types of films. I also explained how i will be displaying my film opening. I elaborated on the techniques i will be using to convey all that needs to be known by the audience in a short period of time.

    I am currently working on my storyboard of my film opening. I have been brainstorming on ideas to make my film as best as possible and certain characters I can use to make it look realistic and make sure everything comes out good as well as me getting a good grade!  I have been having trouble figuring out what exactly I will be doing with it yet but on my next blog, I plan on having the storyboard finished or at least planned out much more in detail.

   Thank you and next time you hear from me, you will be looking at my storyboard.
   

Week 2

    Hello and welcome to week #2 of my blog posts. This week I will be giving everyone the background of my film opening, how it will be produced, and the techniques I will be using to convey the main idea and message. In my last post I had finally decided on doing my film opening with the genre of drama. This week I have come to my final decision of doing a crime drama. I have chosen this specific sub genre because I feel I will work best with it and I have ideas as to what I can do to best fit the category of crime. I also am using the help from my brother who was a former Aice Media student. My brother, Danny Cooke, did a great job on his final project and he will be teaching me the basics of how to make the film opening seem so professinal. Danny will also help me with the editing process and input any ideas he feels I can improve on as well as possibly being a actor in the film itself. In the future, he would like to be an actor and this gives him a chance to practice and show his talent while at the same time, being a useful character in my project.

   The crime drama genre is usually aimed at men because of the violence and thrill this genre incorporates. The target audience age usually starts around the age of 15 due to the mature content in the scenes. There is a lead protagonist in every film and they tend to be a  strong, dominant male.
The age can reach up to over 40 years old however, most films target the younger audiences, ages 15-24.

   In my film opening, I would like and plan on using the technique of having the opening scene play on the screen, while a news report is being read aloud in the background noise. This news report will include the details of a serious crime just committed in town. People close to the area will be frantic and worried about the safety of everyone. This technique will give the audience a great background story of what the dilemma is in the movie. It prepares the audience for what will be showed and talked about. This technique is also great to use in my case since the audience will not be watching the whole film and will only be able to see the film opening.


http://asmediacrimefilm.blogspot.com/2011/05/target-audience.html

Blog #3

  Hi and welcome back to my third blog post! In my last blog post I had narrowed my genre topics down to just thriller, horror, and drama. I have finally chosen what i will finally be doing for my film opening. I have chosen to do drama because I feel that with this genre i can create the best film based on prior knowledge and what I know and have researched about the topic.
 The purpose of a drama film is to move the audience emotionally. These films depend on the development of realistic characters dealing with emotional issues. In drama films, there is usually a conflict or dilemma that needs to be resolved. This is because dramas focus on character building and engaging the audience and give characters the chance to stretch into a role that other genres wouldn't allow them to do. Drama is a very broad genre so there is a lot I could do with this in the sense of a film opening. Since drama is such a broad genre the target audience is also very flexible. Choosing a specific type of drama film would then limit the target audience as well. However, i have not yet been able to chose my sub genre for drama. Some i have looked into are crime drama, comedy drama, and romantic drama. A crime drama will usually follow a character involved in criminal activity or law enforcement. A comedy drama will use an equal balance of humor and serious content. Lastly, a romantic drama focuses on the elements of romantic love. In my next blog,  I hope to have done more research entailing details about each of the specific sub dramas and hopefully be able to chose the one I will be doing for my final project.  Thank you and I look forward to my next blog!
 

blog #2

  Hello and welcome back to my blog. On my last blog talked about how i had not chosen a specific topic for my short film opening. I had explained that I was between the topics of drama, comedy, thriller, or horror. I am still unsure of the topic i will be using however, I have eliminated the topic of comedy. I believe if i were to make a comedic film it would not be the best i could do. Will the people that will help throughout my film and the materials i have to use throughout the film, it is not the best option for me.
   A thriller film will have a lot of action and a lot of shots and angles. This will catch the audiences attention and pull them into the opening. It will make them want to see the rest of this movie and know the outcome. A horror film will be very similar to a thriller in a way. It will have a lot of action and suspense. Only seeing the beginning of a horror film will most likely pull the audience in and leave them wanting more. Both of these topics will be work well in my case. A drama film is a very popular type of film. This usually has the target audience of younger adults. This would work extremely well with the materials and people i will have for this film and it is what i am leaning towards for my film opening. My next blog will entail more details and research of all these topics. Thank you again and i look forward for my nest blog!
 

Intro to Blog

    Hi my name is Courtney Cooke and this is my first blog for my upcoming final project, film opening. In the beginning of the school year when I was first informed of this project, I knew immediately that I wanted to do a film opening. I have decided to work alone because I feel that my results are better when i don't have to rely on other people and I can work at my own pace. Working by myself will allow me to use my own ideas and not have to agree with anyone else's opinions I do not want.  I have always been interested in the process of it and of course, the outcomes can end up being amazing. Ever since my brother took Aice Media and filmed his own opening, I have been wanting to try making one myself. This final project gives me a great opportunity to do so. However, I am not quite sure on the specific topic I will chose for this project but recently I have been researching and going over many topics and generes that are available for me while creating this film and that I am interested in using.  Some topics I may be interested in are horror, thriller, drama, or comedy. I have also been able to look at many examples my teacher has provided for me so I can come up with new ideas. Not only have I looked at old final projects but I have also  watched my brothers final film opening. My brother has inspired me to create such an amazing film just as well done as his. I will continue to do my research on each topic and figure out what is best for me and my film project. I am very excited and hopeful for this blog and cannot wait for what is to come out of it!