Kicking It Aice Media Portfolio Project

 This is Kicking it hope you enjoy it! 

by Gabriel Rivera, Julia Winton, and Isaac Fleischer

https://youtu.be/OB91A0l41hw

Creative Critical Reflection

 Here is my Creative Critical Reflection I hope you enjoy it!

https://youtu.be/wwzEqiX7IRM

Post Production

 The post-production was very minimal on my part because Julia Winton handled mostly all of the editings for the video. But one thing that I was requested to do was be a part of the after-effect sounds. Since many of the shots were done outside, the group thought that an extra emphasis on certain sounds would make the sound more crisp.

Due to that reason, we realized that we needed better sounds for the ball getting kicked so I sent my own sounds through voice memos in order to help with that portion that needed help. Another sound that I did foley on was the scene in which Isaac was reaching into his backpack to get his phone. 

Another area that needed help post-production was the footsteps so I recorded myself grabbing my dress shoes which make the most noise and clamped them on the ground mincing someone walking around.

All these post-production sounds helped the intro sound more crisp.

Ideas About the CCR

 When my teacher was talking about the CCR I started to brainstorm ideas of what I should do after I saw numerous examples of what the previous years did. I really liked the idea of having a YouTube-themed CCR as this is not hard to make but at the same time, it isn't the easiest thing in the world to make.

Another Idea I have is I could make the CCR news themed. What I mean by this is that I could present the information of the questions posed in a way that is presented by a news castor or a weatherman. I think that it would be a very creative way to do the CCR but it would be very tedious and hard to do.

I have also started writing the script but I still do have a long way to be done as I need to write a lot more in order to reach the 8 minutes where my teacher said it was the sweet spot of a CCR.

Reflection of Key Moments

 Throughout this project, there were many times that we had as a group that helped shaped the project into the finished one we have right now. One of the pivotal moments that we had is when we first met up and started filming. This was a pivotal moment because it showed that filming the sense would not be that hard and that this entire project would not go as bumpy as we previously thought that it would.

One of the changes that we did do to the project was that we switched who would play Gabriel and who would play David. I was supposed to play the character Gabriel hence why the character was named Gabriel but the group felt that it would be easier to film with Isaacs's parents if the parents were speaking to Isaac and not me. 

Another thing that we changed in the portfolio project is that instead of Gabriel the main character having a dad we did not want to include him having a father figure as Isaac thought that it would add more to Gabriel's character.

I finished the Foley Sounds

After Isaac told me about what I needed to do for the sounds I knew I had to get it done fast as the deadline for the project is approaching fast. So I looked at the blog that Isaac posted that listed all the foley sounds that needed to be done and started working. I noticed that he needed sounds for the first filming day as there were a lot of sounds not being heard due to the strong wind that was there that day.

I first made the sounds of footsteps with my fancy dressing shoes as they make a lot of noise when I walk with them on. I then made the sounds of a person looking through a backpack and used my school bag to help me make the sounds. The last sound that Isaac needed was of a person kicking a soccer ball so what I did was I went into the garage and found a deflated basketball and recorded me kicking as hard as possible to really make a strong and crisp sound.

We Have Decided When we are going to do the Foley Sounds

 After talking with the group we decided that it is best to do the foley sounds in school. We decided this because the times that we decided upon did not fit our schedules and since we are going to see each other in about 3 days we should just wait then and do it while we are in school. If that fails then I will take on the responsibility of doing it at home by myself as Isaac filmed most of the second part at his house.

The thing that Isaac needed for me to do on the foley side of things was the person speaking on the phone. He could not emulate a voice on the phone and he requested for me to do it. I agreed because I wanted to do my part in the project. This should be easy for me to do because I would just use the phone of my moms and talk through there and emulate someone speaking on the phone.

Deciding on the Font

 An essential part of the intro of the film is the title screen and the font that says the title says volumes about the type of movie that the audience is about to see. For example, a font that is more bubbly or colorful will most likely tell a light-hearted story and a font with blood dripping down the letters will most likely tell the audience that they're in for a thriller.

After Isaac and I discussed what type of font we want our movie to have we decided that we wanted a font that would best fit in with the type of movie that we are making such as one that looks like a soccer Jersey.

Isaac showed me this picture as an example of what the font might look like and I told him that it would be a great idea for him to choose that as a font.

Isaac Filmed!

 On Thursday Isaac finally filmed his part of the portfolio project. After speaking to Isaac he let me know that the filming process did not go as easy as he thought it would. He said that the main problems would be remembering the way he would hold the phone or a certain object so that the continuity would be ok. 

For the second part of the film, we decided that we should only include the mom of Gabriel and not the dad. We choose this decision because if we filmed with the dad we thought that it would cause a lot of confusion. Isaac also mentioned that it would add a sense of suspense to the audience as they would wonder what happened to the dad.

Using Foley in our Project

 Since the last time that we filmed, it was hard to film with the loud wind in the background so Isaac came up with the idea to use foley. I agreed with him and I thought of ways we could implement using foley techniques in our project.

The first way that I would implement the foley system into the project is by adding footsteps into the scenes where the find is in the way. I would also add grunting sounds and breathing sounds for the POV shots of the characters playing soccers right now.

The Next Time We Are Filming

 The last time that our group was filmed it was a very successful day at regional and we got a lot done in a short amount of time. Although it was a windy day we had very good audio and the filming was very good. The next part of our project does not require all of the actors to be present as it is about the main character Gabriel talking to his parents about his future in soccer.

Due to this reason, Isaac has decided that he can do this entire scene alone in his house due to his family agreeing to play the parents of Gabriel in our project. Isaac also suggested that his sibling who is also in high school help him with the project and we all agreed that it would be useful to help us film the project and we could get all the help we can get.

We Finally Recorded

 For the first time, we finally started to record. My group met up at the regional fields and started recording the first part of our script. We met up around 4 o'clock due to that being the time that Julia could meet up. The wind was very heavy that day so in the audio, you could hear the loud wind in the background.

In the photo above Isaac is the one on the left and I am the one on the right Julia took a photo of us discussing the script and what to do improv on. The whole filming process took about an hour to do after many takes of us laughing In the middle of the shot. The whole entire filming day was very fast and easy and I look forward to doing it again.

Preparing for Film Day Tomorrow

 Today in class we decided that we wanted to film earlier. We decided that we wanted to film on Saturday instead of Sunday to some scheduling problems. The reason was that I was busy on Sunday to it being a relative's birthday on Sunday and I would have to spend all day with her on Sunday. I talked with the group and they said that it was ok for them to film a day earlier. We decided on the time 2pm because that was the time when we were all free.

We are going to shoot at regional since that is where the first scene takes place. One of the props that we are going to use is a Soccer ball because Gabriel is going to be practicing his shots on the goal. We would have a goal that Gabriel will be shooting at, and Goalie gloves for someone to shoot at.

Costume Design of our Characters

 For the costume design of our characters, we want them to reflect the type of person that the character is. So for our character Gabriel we want him to wear clothes that are reflective to what his passions are in his life. So we would have him in clothes that one has when playing soccer. So that could be a soccer jersey with athletic shorts and shoes that are meant for soccer like cleats.

For the outfit of the mom we want to use an outfit of a mom that lives in a suburb that is middelclass. So that would include jeans with a blouse and a vest to go on top. With a haircut that is also called a Karen haricut.

For the dad we want a stereotypical white dad that just wants the best for his son. This outfit would include Khakis shorts, white socks that go up to the shins, a polo shirt or a shirt that is a graphic tee and shoes that are new balance.

We are Discussed the our Background Music

 Today Julia and I discussed what type of music we are going to use for the background of our short film. Julia was saying that we have to use non-copyrighted music and I argued that we could use copyrighted music if we just cite the song. So I asked My teacher and she said we needed to get permission from the owner of the song in order to use their song in our portfolio project.

After I heard that my teacher said that we need permission in order to use copyrighted songs I started researching for songs that would fit our short film. I looked up on youtube copyright-free songs and all the songs were mediocre at best, therefore, I have to keep researching for a good copyright-free song that matches the theme of our short film.

We Decided When to Film!

My group Isaac, Julia, and I all came to an agreement that we need to start filming our project soon. We all discussed when we would be busy and when we were  available. We all agreed that we should do it over the weekends because most of us are busy with jobs, sports, and hw over the school week.

We ended up decided that next Sunday would be the best day time start our film. We want to start filming at regional since that is were our intro starts at. Isaac is looking into buying the mic so that it comes before we start filming. 

We also decided that it is best that Isaac should play Gabriel due to the reason that we are going to use Isaac's parents and we felt that he would have better chemistry with his parents than I would. So I am now going to play Daniel instead.

Possible Future Audio Problems

 During the last class, we were discussing when and where we wanted to film and it had me thinking about the difficulty of filming outside in an open environment. I know this because I have filmed outside for previous film classes and the mic on the phone always picks up the wind and it makes it hard to hear people talking. 

For this reason, I proposed to Isaac that we should get a clip-on mic to put on the actors so that the audio would be much better to hear and more clear. After telling Isaac that he was very understanding of the problem and immediately looked up clip-on microphones on Amazon. He wanted to buy one because he also does videos on the side and could use the mic for the film project and for his side hobbies.

When I told Julia she also agreed that filing outside would be very hard to do with just the iPhone and not extra accessories to help the film. She suggested that we all pitch in to buy a clip-on mic from Amazon and we decided to do that.

Changing Storyboard

 Today during class we looked at the storyboard and noticed that it was outdated to what we wanted to do in the Portfolio Project. The storyboard showed what we were first thinking for what our story wanted to be. It showed Gabriel our main character in an actual soccer match shooting against real opponents.

We then started erasing those scenes and start adding scenes where instead of Gabriel playing in a real match he is instead practicing with his best friend Daniel. We decided to do this because we realized that it would be too hard to get a bunch of soccer players to act like there is a match and it would be ten times easier if there were two players shooting instead of a whole match.

What Device were Going to Shoot on

Since my group does not have a professional camera were going to have to use what we have. The iPhones that we have are powerful enough for us to just use the cameras on those. I currently have the iPhone twelve and my phone has the capability to shoot in 4k.

This will definitely take more skill to make it seem like it is shot on a real camera since it does not have all the features that a real camera has. For example, if we want to change the focus of the camera we would have to manually click on the screen where we want the camera to focus.

Another thing we would want to use in the iPhones is the lighting feature as all we would have to do is drag our finger down the screen and the lighting changes from light to dark. Isaac has the most experience with this as he uses it regularly to film his basketball games.

The Evolution of our Story

 At first, we wanted for there to be a soccer game happening in the opening scene but we late realized that it would be hard to have two entire soccer teams in our film. What we decided to change it to instead is the main character Gabriel and his best friend start off practicing in the fields. We decided this would be way easier to film because of the significantly less amount of people that we need to film him and his best friend practicing on a soccer field.

After Gabriel is done with his practice we want him to have a talk with his parents. We are still deciding if we want him to talk through a phone with his parents or if we want him to speak to his parents in person. But the idea that we want the parents to speak to Gabriel about is that they think that Gabriel is not going down the right route educationally. They think that he is not doing enough in school and that he needs to focus more on his academics.

Another thing that Isaac suggested is that we want a college coach to call Gabriel's parents and he said that he wants the mom to decline any requests that the coach is making for him to play soccer in college.