AICE Media Studies

I have completely finished my AICE Media portfolio project! It has all gone by very fast and I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. At the beginning of this project, I felt like I wasn't going to be able to produce a quality project because it seemed so complicated. When I first heard about the project, I immediately knew that I wanted to do a zombie film.

I was heavily inspired by my favorite pieces of zombie media and did research on the credits scenes and openings of each. The research step of this whole process was the most helpful. These blogs helped me plan, in detail, each step I was going to take to be able to pull off my idea. I was assigned to create a schedule which I included in a blog post, I found that this helped me simplify my timeline. I also created a shot list which was a huge help because it helped me make sure I wasn't forgetting any shots and made the filming process simpler.

Of course, with every task there are always setbacks. I am lucky to say that I didn't have any major setbacks, but I did have a few challenges I had to overcome. I had an original plan to have the beginning of the project be somewhat action-packed and taking place at night with a time jump to the woods. I was worried that this would be too ambitious and it would also seem like a short film more than a film opening so, I decided to just have the whole opening take place in the woods.

My original Storyboard

I had a few very minor bumps during the filming process but I was able to work around them. Since I was filming in a public park, there were people in the background, both visually and audibly. This was fixed with some simple crops and lowering the volume along with adding sound effects. Finally, the last shot was quite difficult to film because I wanted to have a "zombie" walk in the background. I played as the zombie and tried multiple times to make it look believable but I failed, so i just had the same shot without anything in the background and it still looked pretty cool.

Overall, I am quite pleased with myself and how I produced a film opening by myself. This project will allow me to have more faith in myself in the future when things may seem impossible. Even though I was overwhelmed in the beginning, I was able to work hard and get it done.

Wednesday, March 19, 2025

CCR Post-Production

I have just begun the editing process of my Creative Critical Reflection and should finish tomorrow. For my slideshow, I want to edit some photos on the slideshow since it would be easier than using an animation within Canva, and I also need to edit my voice recording on top of the screen recording I have.

For my director commentary, I have done all the cuts I need to and arranged the clips properly. I would like to include music, so I will need to find a royalty free song to put in the background and I also want photos and videos in it which I should get done by today.

Monday, March 17, 2025

CCR Production

For my CCR I am doing a director commentary and a slideshow. I am doing a slideshow for questions 1-2, and director commentary for 3-4. I created my slideshow in Canva and I've recorded my VoiceOver.

I just need to screen record the slideshow and edit the video. For my director commentary, I've recorded everything I need, I just need to edit the video as well.

I am nearly done and have made pretty good progress so far!

Thursday, March 13, 2025

CCR Question #4

The final question for the Creative Critical Reflection is, "How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?"

Technologies

I used primarily my cell phone for this project. I used my computer briefly to research sound effects and create my blogs but my filming and editing was done only on my phone.

Hardware

As I stated previously, I used my phone to film and edit my project. I did use a tripod for the stable shots to ensure they weren't shaky or uneven. I didn't use a microphone since my opening was primarily sound effects based.

Software

I used iMovie to edit my entire project and did my coloring by experimenting with the settings in the camera app. I used 1001freefonts.com for a few on my fonts and pixabay for my sound effects. I also used YouTube for the music in my film and to also research film openings for a previous blog post. Of course, I used blogger.com to produce my blogs that document my progress.

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Group Meeting #2

Today in class we had a second group meeting. We discussed our current progress in the project so far, most of us were in the process of editing, we also talked about our ideas for the CCR. I showed the group some of my editing process and they said it looks good so far, I also was told that I should keep "Dead of Night" as my title which was reassuring but I am still not feeling it. If I don't come up with something soon, I'll have to keep that title. overall, I enjoyed collaborating with my peers today and getting feedback as well as giving feedback.

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

CCR Question #3

The third question in the Creative Critical Reflection is, "How did your production skills develop throughout this project?"

How process evolved

I started out unsure of how I was actually going to complete this project and finish it on time. As I completed each phase of the planning aspect, I had to make several changes so I would be able to finish it. I had an original idea for the opening which was to have it take place across two different times, but I thought that it was going to be risky so I ended up changing it.

Research and Planning

I did a lot of research on the conventions and target audience of the genre I chose. I spend a while planning what I was actually going to include in my opening and how I was going to execute it. I created a schedule so I was able to stay on top of time and finish by March 25 which helped. Creating a storyboard and shot list was a huge help in allowing me to actually produce the film the way I had imagined it.

Production and Adapting

I decided I wanted my project to take place in the woods so I immediately ha a location in mind. I filmed it at a local park which has a woodsy area and a lake. I had two of my friends help me with this project, one acted as the protagonist and the other assisted me with the recording process. A challenge I did face in production was trying to not get other people in my shots as it was a Saturday and quite busy. The park also has a shooting range in proximity to the woods so you can hear gunshots in the background which was fitting, but also annoying since you could hear it in the clips. The filming process took about an hour and a half.

Reflection

At the beginning of this project, I was overwhelmed. It almost seemed like I wasn't going to be able to complete, especially alone. I learned how important the planning process is because my schedule, storyboards, and shot list helped me feel like I could actually execute it. I also learned a lot about the production process of films and how much work goes into it. Most importantly, I learned that I was more than capable of doing this project on my own, even though it may seem impossible.

Monday, March 10, 2025

CCR Question #2

The second question for the Creative Critical Reflection is, "How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?"

How I arrived at my target audience

I observed the type of people that typically enjoy certain post-apocalyptic media. A variety of groups and ages consume apocalyptic media. The Walking Dead's fanbase ranges from teenagers to adults, both male and female. A Quiet Place also has a fanbase of all ages and genders. I wanted my target audience to be targeted for teenagers but anyone of all ages can watch.

How choices engage target audience

I chose specifically, a teenage girl to star in my opening because I wanted to attract that teenage target audience. As I have mentioned, having a teenage girl as the main character is unconventional for the apocalyptic genre so it may interest a new group of people.

Distribution plan

I would distribute my film on YouTube, but market it through film festivals and social media.

There are a few film festivals in South Florida but I would participate in the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival and Miami Short Film Festival. I would create a TikTok account to advertise my short film as well.

Thursday, March 6, 2025

CCR Question #1

I am starting to plan for my Creative Critical Reflection, the first question is, "How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?"

Genre Conventions:

-Post-apocalyptic world

-Caused by natural causes

-May be centered around society after disaster

-Survival

-Non-human creatures

My conventions:

-Post-apocalyptic

-Zombies

-Female protagonist

-Teen protagonist

Protagonist representation:

-Female

-Young

-Resourceful

Based on this research I created a script:

"Productions within the apocalyptic genre typically follow a protagonist who is trying to survive during, or after a disastrous event. Apocalypses are caused by pandemics, natural catastrophes, nuclear war, or alien invasions. Post-apocalyptic films are extremely common in this genre, post-apocalyptic films focus mainly on the collapse of society after the event has happened. Humans are typically antagonists in these films even though the apocalypse may be caused by non-humans. I notice in most apocalypse media, the protagonist is often a middle-aged man. In my opening, I wanted to strive away from that convention and have a teenage female as my main character. A convention that I used in my project is the idea of a post-apocalyptic society, my film takes place after a zombie apocalypse. I wanted my protagonist to break the traditional stereotype of a teenage girl which is typically viewed as incapable or dramatic. The main character in my film breaks these stereotypes because she has been able to survive alone for weeks and is resourceful. I had her use a switchblade in the last scene because I wanted to show just how capable of survival she is."

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Post-production: Fonts and Music

The current title I have in mind for my film is "Dead of Night" (I might change it) so I'm testing out fonts that fit that vibe. I'm thinking of a font that has thicker, more square letters. I found a font called "The Outbox St." on 1001freefonts.com and have tested it:

This is the best option I could find for the title but I want the credits to be in a different font so I am using two fonts for the credits, "Arno" and "Prata". I combined them together:

For the music, I need to find a royalty-free song to use and I want it to be an acoustic song that matches the vibe. After looking at various websites I found a decent song on YouTube. I like the mood of the song because it sounds positive, but you can also sense a bit of melancholy in it which is what the character is feeling. I have edited it into my video and experimented with it as well as other sound effects:

Tuesday, March 4, 2025

Post-Production: Editing Progress

I have begun editing my portfolio project and have finished splitting the clips and arranging them. I now have a foundation to add other editing features such as sound, music, filters, etc. My project stands at 1:47 which is 13 seconds behind the time requirement so I will most likely fill the rest of the time with my production logo and scenic shots I took with he credits over it. I am not the most comfortable with Adobe After Effects and it also doesn't work on my computer so I decided to use iMovie on my phone since I have more experience and am more comfortable with it.

I have also begun experimenting with filters and coloring. I want a colder hue for my project with an emphasis on the greens and blues. I've tried different applications to achieve a color grade I like, but I found that actually, my camera roll had the most customization that I could get for free. I have come up with one option for coloring which I've included in a comparison below.

Monday, March 3, 2025

Production: Makeup

The makeup for my project was very simple but I still wanted to mention it. Since the protagonist was supposed to be weeks into a zombie apocalypse, I didn't want her to have a full face of makeup on. I told the actress to wear light makeup so it isn't noticeable. I brought a makeup palette with me on set and used it to create a dirty effect on her face. I am not a professional makeup artist so I didn't have a certain technique or anything but I just put brown eyeshadow on her face and arms to act as dirt.

Sunday, March 2, 2025

Production: Use of Props

I used three main props for my film, a journal, a Walkman, and a switchblade. I will be going over each prop in detail and how I used them.

Walkman:

My friend lent me her Walkman and cassette tapes to use for my project. I wanted to show how the protagonist still tries to find joy in life through music, I plan on having music play in the background when she puts the headphones on and stops when she takes them off.

Journal

Journaling is something I love to do in my free time so I wanted the protagonist to have a journal in the film. The journal also acts as a measure of time so the audience can see how long she has been alone and trying to survive, I included a page of tally marks for each day. She adds another tally to the list and begins an entry starting with "Day 19" and starts writing. The journal also shows what is going on in her head, I got shots of the protagonist writing about what she's feeling having survived weeks alone.

Switchblade

I took inspiration from Ellie's knife in The Last of Us and decided to include a knife in my project. I thought this would show how she has had to adapt and navigate this post-apocalyptic world. I had the scene end with her ejecting the blade and then the credits rolling.

Saturday, March 1, 2025

Production: Scene Breakdown

I am going to be breaking down the final scene in my opening since it was the most challenging to film. It didn't turn out exactly as I'd like but it still looked cool. The scene begins with the protagonist walking, sees something in the woods, and hides behind a tree. First I did a medium shot of her walking, realizing, and then running off camera. It was difficult to make the running look natural and real but I tried to get the best take I could.

The scene of her getting behind the tree also took multiple takes since it was hard to make it not look awkward. My friend had never acted before so it was difficult for her to act scared when the shot is focused on her facial expressions.

Finally, the pan down to her hand was also very difficult because we had to make the zombie look real. I just wanted the knees and below to be pictured but it proved harder than expected. We had to just include almost the full body with the zombie closer to the camera which wasn't what I intended but was the only thing that worked. I also recorded the same thing but without the zombie in the background just in case I didn't like how the original idea looked.

Friday, February 28, 2025

Production: Filming

Today I got my filming done and I am now ready to edit. Me and two of my friends met at Markham part at 9:30am and began filming. I started by taking some shots of the scenery in case I need some more clips to kill time or for the credits.

We searched the woods for a tree that would fit the vision and found a patch of thicker trees and used one of them for the beginning. I used my friend's Walkman and an old journal for the beginning scene of her sitting under a tree.

Then, I took some shots of her walking through the woods and one of my friends had an idea that she should take water from the lake and "drink" it. Of course, the lake is probably filled with brain-eating amoebas and stuff so she didn't actually drink it. I angled the camera in positions so it looked like she drank the water.

Finally, we recorded the final scene with the switchblade which looked cool on camera. I am going to create a post breaking down this scene later so I won't go too much into detail but it was the most challenging part.

Tuesday, February 25, 2025

Planning: Shots

I have done a lot of thinking and have decided that I will have the project take place only after the outbreak so I will not be doing the first half at night and showing the outbreak. I made this decision because it would feel like more of an opening than my original plan because it will have less action and will feel less rushed. To fill in the two minutes I will have the protagonist go about her day to show how life is after the apocalypse. I have compiled a breakdown of the shots that I will be using with example images from the internet as a guide for me

-Establishing Shots: Woods setting

-Long Shot: Girl under tree

-Medium Shot: Girl pulls Walkman out of backpack

-Close up: Puts headphones on

-Extreme Close up: Puts tape in, press play

-Medium: Pulls out journal from backpack

-Close up: Writing

-Extreme Close up: Writing

-Medium: Close journal, put in backpack

-Over the shoulder: Zips bag

-Medium: Stands up, starts walking

-Long shot from back: Walking

-Close up: Walking, girl stops, takes off headphones

-Medium: Worried, looks into woods

-Close up: Hides behind tree

-Medium: Girl behind tree

-Close up: Scared, behind tree

-Pan down: Stop at hand

-Close up: Knife in hand, zombie walks in back, knife blade retracts

-Credits

Friday, February 21, 2025

Audio

Audio is a significant element in my project since it will be comprised of sound effects. I have compiled some sound effects that I will use in my project including the music for the credits. I plan to try to use as much natural audio from filming as I can, but I will most likely need to insert audio as well.

-I am going to use the amber alert sound effect as the emergency alert:

-I have started creating a playlist of sound effects on pixabay.org to use in my project

Other sounds I need to find or create:

-Walking on concrete

-Gunshots

-Zombie noise variations

-Helicopter noise

-Scream variations

-Running on concrete

-Explosion sound

-Walking on grass

-Knife click

-Suspenseful music

Thursday, February 20, 2025

Mise-en-scene: Color and Lighting

My project will have two major colors shown throughout. Since the first scene will take place at night, black will be the main color with white as a secondary color from the streetlights. The color black represents fear and evil which is fitting for the situation. The dark lighting will convey a feeling of uncertainty and unease at the situation that's about to unfold, and the streetlight will create a spotlight effect focusing on the zombie as a metaphor to show how the infected individuals are the main focus of the post-apocalyptic world.

Green is also going to be a major color in my project, specifically the post-apocalyptic half. I will also use natural lighting throughout this part of the opening to create a more natural effect. Green is used to convey nature and rebirth which is also fitting since it takes place in the woods and after the outbreak where we see the protagonist change and become more confident.

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Mise-en-scene: Set

The setting for my project will be fully outside so I will not be able to manipulate the set design, however, I think it would be more natural and realistic that way. The first half of my opening will take place in a neighborhood street at night. I would like to use the lamp posts as lighting especially to act as a "spotlight" for the zombie when it is first pictured.

For the second half of my opening, I want it to take place in the woods during the daytime. I will most likely use Markham Park to film this scene since it has a nice woodsy area with a lake.

Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Developing the Protagonist

For my project, I knew I wanted to have one female protagonist. I thought it would be interesting to make the main character a teenage girl since a lot of zombie media have men as the main characters, it would be cool to see the perspective of a zombie apocalypse through a teenager's eyes.

I don't want my protagonist's name to be revealed in the beginning so she will be nameless. This is because there will not be any other character for her to talk to that may reveal her name, I want to keep that a secret until later in the film when she meets other survivors and finally reveals her name. I think this would be cool since it creates a sense of mystery surrounding her.

During the opening, she will be depicted as resourceful and capable of survival. This will be shown through her dirty clothes in the second half of the opening, as well as her drawing her switchblade. The switchblade indicates that she had to kill to survive and is willing to kill again. I am thinking of including her listening to music on a Walkman in the second half which will also establish that she still finds pleasure in life and hasn't completely lost her innocence, but I am not 100% sure I will include this.