Good Things Coming

 Hi Blogger! I have some exciting updates to the portfolio project's progress, I am officially done with my print component. I wanted the print component to allow not just my target audience but those interested in magazines to allow them to be informed about this new and upcoming series. I included interview style questions such as "What inspired you to want to implement this documentary?" and "What makes this documentary different from others that you see within the media?" in order for readers to understand the intentions behind this powerful series. Therefore, I took these questions that an interviewer may ask and went in depth to give readers background information and context to what I will be producing to grab attention and provide engagement to my series. 

                                                             Examples of Bold Images 

                                            Including flyer to demonstrate marketing campaign

After doing research on past portfolio projects that took on this print component, I knew that I needed to include conventions and characteristics that a typically magazine would include. Therefore, I included engaging taglines such "New episodes weekly of different people with different experiences!", bold images to attract viewers visually, organized taglines with informative interview questions, the magazine company's name, a title for the article itself, and a variety of other features that a magazine would include that I researched about. I had a lot of making this component since I love Canva and creating this component taught me so much about what making a magazine would actually be like especially since I am super passionate about journalism. 

I focused a lot on the print component recently, however, I need to expand my marketing campaign to ensure that I am not only balancing all the elements within this hefty project but to make sure that my target audience is being reached that way I can attract viewers who would appreciate what I am producing. In order to make an accurate, consistent, and successful marketing campaign, I have came up with a variety of ideas to bring great publicity to my series but also go along with the overall theme of my series with discussing that young adults are not alone in experiencing insecurities and that there are positive ways to deal with your feelings about them. In order to match my intentions, throughout this next week, I plan on creating posts such as Pro Tips where I would offer positive advice to viewers that would help boost their self esteem, Q&A to interact as well as get to know my audience, short teaser trailers to give a glimpse into my episode, images from the excerpt itself, and a variety of other interactive posts to engage with my target audience. 

In order to balance all of my components, I am also going to begin throughout this week on editing the excerpt itself. Although my strong suit is not editing, I am not super nervous since I do not believe my excerpt is super heavy on editing. The main aspect within editing the project is to ensure that the layering I am putting with the B-Roll and interview shots matches up with what Sadie is discussing. I find that when the B-Roll matches up with what a subject is talking about. Therefore, I want to ensure that my project includes this. My other main focus is something that I have not thought too much about yet which is music. I am unsure of exactly what music I want to choose but I had a vision where at the start of the excerpt since it is towards the end can start with a more solemn tone of music since the structure of the episode has Sadie discussing how her insecurity has effected her negatively but then the music can shift to be more upbeat that way the audience can understand that Sadie is content and has come to terms with how her insecurity has affected her. In order to get the music I am envisioning, I plan on researching on different sound websites (that are copyright free) in order to get the music that fits within this excerpt in my series. 

I am near the end so I know that I cannot give up now. I need to work especially hard this next week to make sure that this strong idea with a lot of potential does not crumble. I know there is still lots to do but I know I can do it. Until next time!

Print, print, print

 Hi Blogger! Now that I am done filming and before I start editing, I want to focus on the print component. My biggest issue within my AICE Media AS portfolio project was that I did not balance all of the aspects within the project in an organized manner. Therefore, I want to ensure that I am giving an equal amount of time to each element within this project. I headed straight to Canva to continue to look for a layout that I like just as a started last week. Although I did not find one that I liked last week, this time I searched, I wanted to ensure that I found a design that I love. 

I wanted the style of the magazine to feel as an interview and that somebody was interested in getting to know more about my documentary and what it entails. Furthermore, I referred back to my past blog post where I researched about the print component and magazine conventions. 

-Title 

-Subtitles 

-Bold images

-An overview of the director

-Questions prepared about the project itself

-Magazine brand

-Page numbers

-Bold graphics

-Engaging overall image

After searching through camera and letting my extreme perfectionism get to me, I had finally found a magazine layout that satisfied me. I begun by making creating name of the magazine brand and the title of the article. 

After I came up with the overall idea of the magazine article, I begun to brainstorm an order for how I wanted to organize this aricle.

1. Brief introduction to intentions and what this magazine article will be about

 2. Overview of the series itself 

3. An intro to the director 

4. Interviewer asking the question "What inspired you to want to implement this documentary?"

5. Interviewer asking the question "What makes this documentary different from others that you see within the media?"

6. Interviewer asking the question "Who is this series targeted towards

7. Interviewer asking the question "Why should viewers watch this show?"

8. Brief promotion of the show itself and where you can access it 

After I came up with how I wanted to structure this article, I began to place subtitles within the Canva design. 

In order to get the full idea, I began to search through my camera roll for pictures that I have taken throughout this process to include within the images in order to match the conventions that a magazine entails.

Poster of the documentary for marketing purposes

A shot of the documentary to give a Behind-The-Scenes look

After looking through my photos, those two were the only ones that resembled what I would be discussing. Therefore, once I have the footage from filming day, I believe I will have a lot more to include within my magazine article. 

Now that I have the layout and the order of how I want to organize the article, I have a well-thought out idea of how I want my print component to look. Within this project, I have to say this component has definitely been my favorite so far since I have learned much more about how a magazine should look as well as getting to work with Canva which is something that I am extremely passionate about. Even though I cannot finish this component since my documentary is not fully developed yet, I am pleased with my progress so far. Until next time!

Filming Day

 Hi Blogger! It is the day we have all been waiting for, filming day!! Despite being scared that my storyboard would not match up well with what I will be implementing, I was super excited going into this day to put my vision into a reality. We went to the subject's home (Sadie) so that we could utilize her room to give the documentary a comfortable and relatable feel for the target audience. I had asked my friend Male to also come to Sadie's house to help me create certain shots and with other filming aspects since she has a great eye, incredible at film, and is incredibly creative.  

Although I had not previously mentioned this, I had planned to use a Nixon camera in order to create this documentary. However, once I saw the quality on Male's phone, I realized that I did not need fancy equipment and could just film it on her phone since the quality on my IPhone 12 is horrendous. Therefore, every shot that was taken on the day of filming was taken by Male's IPhone 15.

I was not prepared for it to rain on the day of filming which I thought could be a minor setback but in the end it worked it okay since there was enough light to add to Sadie's room. However, during filming, I do not think I took enough time to look over the footage that was shot. Therefore, I am unsure of exactly how loud the rain had effected the volume of the shot. I am not the best editor but if anything I can look at a YouTube tutorial on how to block out the noise of the rain. 

Overall though, filming went extremely well and surprisingly fast. At first, we had some difficulties filming Sadie's interview shots because she was not sure of exactly what to say at first and there was loud noises from her family in the background. However, once these setbacks drifted away, the interview shots only took up around 5-6 minutes for answering two questions. As for B-Roll, since I already had my ideas on paper, it was really easy to implement these ideas. With having Male, I was even able to create even more creative B-roll shots and angles since she had really great ideas that she suggested to me. 

For instance, this closet shot shown below is Male setting herself and the phone up behind the clothes and having Sadie looking through what she could potentially wear. Although this idea was not included in my B-Roll, I believe it elevates the excerpt and adds a more personal feel to the interview which something that I was aiming to have within the series itself. 

Considering everything, with worries and all, I feel really confident after filming. Although my storyboard did not end up being exactly like my excerpt, my storyboard as well as outlines of B-roll, interview questions, etc. was extremely helpful to how I chose to approach my excerpt. Even though I felt some nerves going into this, I am really satisfied with the results and cannot wait to begin editing. Editing was my struggle within my AICE Media AS portfolio project so this time around, I want my A Level project to be what I envisioned because I believe this idea has a lot of potential. I cannot believe I am approaching this last task of editing. Everything has come so fast within this project and although I am excited to see the outcome, I am slightly fearful for the end. Until next time!

Pre Shoot Planning

Hey Blogger! Exciting news, I finished my storyboard for my excerpt from an episode of the series I created, "The Roots of a Flower: Our Underlying Insecurities". Although I am super relieved to be finished and have a useful outline for what I will be implementing, I am slightly fearful for filming. Even though I think my storyboard will be helpful, since this is a documentary, I do not know the duration of the excerpt yet since the interviews have yet to take place. So while filming, I definitely need to mention that the two questions she will be answering need to be around 2 and a half minutes that way I can complete the requirements for the length of the portfolio project while also showing enough B-roll that I am creating. 

The storyboard is simply an outline for what I will be filming that way I feel more organized and prepared when filming day is actually here. I am not too nervous to film since I have a plan for interview shots and a variety of brainstorm that I have for B-roll. Since I have been in Sadie's room before and know the space well, I feel more comfortable with the set since I know what I can utilize. I definitely plan on overshooting B-roll but I know that even if I do not have enough the include within my excerpt, I can still match episodic documentary conventions but having Sadie send me past videos or pictures that match up with what she is discussing throughout the documentary.

However, I have made slight changes to the storyboard since I will not be changing interview locations anymore and will have to change around the B-roll shots depending on what Sadie is discussing that way it matches up with what she is saying and the overall flow of the excerpt itself. Despite having to take these aspects into consideration, my storyboard is still going to heavily play a factor in how my piece is going to be structured.

As for the questions, I am beginning the end of the excerpt with a question about what she does to make herself better about her insecurity and the last question of the documentary being if she is happy or not. I am unsure of exactly how I want to phrase these questions but I am sure that these are the two questions that I will be asking in that particular order.

After finally completing my storyboard, I feel much more happy and confident with how filming is going to go and I cannot wait to watch my project come to life since I really like the concept that I am producing since I believe we need more awareness towards insecurities in the media. I'll see you on filming day, Until next time!

Print Research

 Hi Blogger! Another component that I have not focused on as much is print where I will be creating a magazine article discussing my episodic documentary and the series as a whole. I am super excited to create this since I adore using Canva. In order to fully understand what should be done within this print aspect and what I should include on the magazine itself, I thought it was only best to research what I observed within these magazines in order to grasp how I want to structure my own. Therefore, I decided to look at some past AICE Media A Level samples to get an idea of how I can create my own print component.

Although I am aware of what a typical magazine should look like, I wanted to really delve into the specific characteristics that it includes so I know what I should implement within my own print component. Therefore, I created a list of characteristics that should implement when designing my own magazine. 

-Title 

-Subtitles 

-Bold images

-An overview of the director

-Questions prepared about the project itself

-Magazine brand

-Page numbers

-Bold graphics

-Engaging overall image

One thing that I am also definitely taking into consideration is that even though I am only producing an excerpt of my episodic documentary, there is still an entire series behind it which should definitely be mentioned within the magazine I am creating that way readers have a better understanding my intentions and what my product is. 

After analyzing what I need to put in my own print component, I headed over to Canva to look at layouts and graphics that I can have within my own project that is engaging, bold, and included characteristics. 

I got excited and started to explore Canva by looking at potential templates. However, I have not found exactly which one I would like use for my own print component. Despite this, I am still thrilled to be creating this magazine regarding my episodic documentary for my portfolio project and will be continuing to look at possible layouts on how I want my print component to look like. It was especially helpful to observe past portfolio projects that had a print component since they aided me in taking note of everything that I should include and consider within my creation. I am super excited to start up its creation throughout this upcoming week. Until next time!

Group Meeting #2

 Hi Blogger! I am especially excited for our group meeting since I am feeling a little stuck. I am not feeling lost on ideas within production but rather about the social media and print components. Therefore, I want to utilize this meeting to ask for advice on what I can do within these aspects of my portfolio project to ensure I am getting a second opinion that way I can gain creative inspiration for my future endeavors. However, I am excited to make changes to my project so that way I can change it for the better. 

Maria

-Already in production

-Filmed her interviews yesterday

-Documentary style

-Discussed what she would post on her blog during spring break

-Focusing on the football team

Daniella

-Follows one subject in his 60 days

-Working with Megan 

-Working within the Sci-Fi genre

-Short film

-Making it in chronological order

-Told through protagonists narration

-Has useful multi-media within blog posts

-Good pacing (provides interactive engagement)

-Thinks it may be a little longer than 5 minutes (7 minutes)

-Mainly working on how to fit everything into the duration of the short film

Nicole

-Working with Manuela and Juan

-Active social media page

-Struggled with creating an idea at first]

-Utilizing Canva

Zain

-Filming over spring break

-Her group member, Martina, is writing the script

-Guy in the workspace against normal rules (shaking hands)

-Drama/comedy

-Short film 

-Well done mood boards

-Wants protagonist, Tom, to wear mustard yellow to stand out amongst his peers

-Does not have a conflict yet

-Unsure of beginning, middle, and end

-Needs to include other unspoken rules

-Wants to be told from the protagonist's perspective

-Interested in including a short backstory for better context of the character

-Needs work with the script

-Experimenting with structure of the film

Advice

-Include not only voiceovers and use her actually talking in certain B-roll clips

-Make sure there is engagement through utilizing a limited amount of interview shots and using colors to appeal to the eye, especially for an audience consisting of young adults

-Include a bright color (Blue or purple) but make sure that it is not too flashy or distracting from the interview shot

Super Awesome Pic!

This group meeting was super useful especially since I am in the midst of storyboarding and having the advice I was given today utilized within my draft is going to help me out a lot with the overall layout and structure. I will definitely be considering these useful pieces of advice when finishing my storyboard draft since I believe these comments will advance the production and overal engagement. These upcoming week, I am prepping for production which is super exciting but I need to make sure that I am taking everything into consideration that is being said to me to ensure that this project is the best that it can be. Until next time!

Storyboarding (finally)

 Hi Blogger! Although I have been slightly holding this off, it is time to make a storyboard in order to outline and make a plan of how I want to approach the production itself of my portfolio project. Even though I had showed a draft on an outline of the structure of the excerpt, it was very brief and I need to make a shot by shot of my episodic documentary to be more secure/prepared for when I start to film. 

Now that I am planning on making my excerpt begin towards the end, I have a feeling that I will have a better understanding of how I want to structure the order of what I am implementing. I ultimately decided to come to this decision that way I can focus more on the resolution and positive affirmations within insecurities rather than being negative, having self doubt, and sulking about something that makes you upset. 

I always wanted to incorporate lights to show representation of the mood. For instance, I have a vision to use a colored light, either blue or purple, to show the innocence that people with these insecurities have with a playful mood to also adhere to the target audience. Another incorporation that I included within my storyboard is having the interview shots start at a medium shot and end in a close up in order to gain more engagement and become more comfortable as the excerpt progresses. 

Above is my storyboard draft and a good idea of what I will be producing within my portfolio project. I am pretty set on this idea and am super excited to make it come to life. Although I am slightly stuck shifting between interview shots, B-roll, and the getting "un-ready" portion, I am attempting to create a structure that will flow, not be too rushed, and that will keep my young target audience engaged within my project. Even though I still have a way to go, I am satisfied with my progression throughout this production. Until next time!