Update Over Competition Trip!

Hey! Currently, my television production program just completed our competition and I am so happy to announce we brought home 4 national awards! Although I didn’t place in my individual competition, I am so proud of everyone on the trip for trying their best! It was truly an amazing learning experience as it helped me practice techniques I have learned. STN was such an amazing experience and I cannot wait for next year!

Eugenia and I were rooming together on this trip so we had the opportunity of editing the film opening together when we had the chance. With long hours spent competing, it was difficult to find time to edit; however, we spent a few nights editing. Although we haven’t finished yet, we hope to be completely done editing by Wednesday so we still have time to complete our CCR. I know we are short on time, however, I believe my group can work together to get our opening done on time and well produced. Until next time...
                                                                                                                          ~rtmedias

Draft of CCR Question #1

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

The disorder, OCD, has become a term that is used regularly in conversation and has lost it’s true meaning. People use the term so loosely that people don’t realize the serious affect it can have on people with the disorder. OCD is typically misportrayed. My group thought it was a issue that needs to be portrayed properly and create awareness for the disorder. My group and I spent numerous days researching the disorder in hopes to properly portray it. With the extensive research, we tried our best to accurately portray how a person struggling with the disorder would feel if placed in that situation. By creating a story line around a character with this disorder, it grabs the audience’s attention in hopes to spread awareness if accurately portrayed. OCD typically isn’t a disorder that is discussed often. People are aware of some of the effects of the disorder, but not to a great extent.

Quick Update!

Hey there!

In two days, Eugenia and I will be traveling across the country to Seattle for a national competition for our television production program. We are relieved that we finished filming our opening, now we mainly have to focus on editing and working on our CCR.

Eugenia and I will be on this trip for one week, therefore, it does limit the amount of time we will have to edit, since we most likely won’t have time to work on the project until night. We really have to make time to edit during this trip though. When we come back from our trip, we have less than one week left until our final film opening and CCR is due, so we are on a time crunch. However, both of us are committed to staying up and helping each other edit the opening at night throughout the next week.

I’ll definitely keep you guys updated when we are competing! I’m so excited for this competition, as well as working towards completing our film opening! Be sure to leave in the comments below any recommendations you have for places in Seattle!
                                                                                                                            ~rtmedias

Filming Day 2

Hey there!

My group and I finished filming! Although we were on a really short time span of two days, we believe it worked out really well since we filmed everything we needed to.

Today we used Eugenia’s house to film. To try and portray an accurate film opening, we used Eugenia’s bedroom since her bedroom mainly consists of white colors and is pretty simple. It helps develop the character’s disorder as it's portrayed through his bedroom.

We also used Eugenia’s kitchen for the scene of Elliot Theo Gordon making coffee in the morning. We tried two make sure everything was symmetrical and simple to help fit our character. We also made sure to record plenty of foley sounds to help bring the film opening to life.

For these scenes, Gabe (aka Elliot) was dressed in a plain white t-shirt and gray sweatpants as his pajamas. These scenes would play after the film’s title and would conclude our film opening as it leaves an open imagination for our audience.

 

Overall, we worked really well within our two day time span for filming. As Eugenia and I leave in a few days for our competition trip, we will begin the editing process! Be sure to leave a comment down below telling me your favorite scene!
                                                                                                                           ~rtmedias

Filming Day 1

Hey there! I’m so glad to announce that we have begun to film our opening! 

Today was the first day of filming and it went really well. We hope to be done filming by tomorrow.

                                   

For our first day of filming, we used Elly’s garage to film the opening scene where Elliot Theo Gordon (our main character) is kidnapped and held captive. Since we were filming in her garage, we didn’t have to worry about natural lighting. We filmed from 4:30pm to 9pm within her garage. Although, we should have been slightly more prepared with lighting. We had a small light to use but it would have been nice if we had additional lights as well, but we managed to make it work to the best of our abilities.

When we were filming, we ran across an issue of who the kidnapper would be. Originally we thought Elly could do it, but it didn’t seem right. Gabe is taller than Elly so for the shot’s composition, it didn’t look proper. We ended up using Elly’s brother who was available to act as our kidnapper.

For the first day, Gabe, our main actor, dressed formally. We wanted “Elliot” to be dressed nicely in a plain white dress shirt and khaki pants. This makes the audience curious as to why he is dressed formally in hopes of watching the entire film to find out.

Overall, the first day of filming was really productive and I can’t wait to see how tomorrow goes as we finish filming our opening. Be sure to leave in the comments how excited you are to see our film opening idea come to life!
                                                                                                                            ~rtmedias

Found an Actor!

After a long time of searching for an actor on numerous social media accounts reaching different people, we weren’t able to find anyone who was capable of playing the role we need to fill. Although, we do have a solution!

GABE! Gabe is our director and will also be our main actor throughout our film opening. Although we were looking for someone in our school’s drama club, it didn’t work out since the only weekend we were available to film, our school’s drama club had a state competition. Since Gabe is already apart of our group, we know his schedule correlates with ours. It makes scheduling filming times a lot easier.

We also decided on a name for our main character! His full name is Elliot Theo Gordon! Although the character’s name isn’t mentioned in our film opening due to the lack of dialogue, it helps develop the character and his personality.

Now that we finally have an actor, I’m so excited to see the filming process occur! Be sure to leave in the comments what you think of our main character’s name!
                                                                                                                            ~rtmedias

Better Late Than Never!

Hey there! I know this is really late but I decided to share who I am working on this project with. Lets meet the crew!

Briefly I shared their names when I talked about each person’s responsibilities, but now you can match the person’s name to their face!

                                                 
This is Gabriel Quiros, but we call him Gabe. Gabe is our director (and possible actor) for our film opening!

                                                 
This is Eugenia Scheuren, also known as Eu. Eugenia is our main editor for our film opening. She will using Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2019.

                                                   
This is Elizabeth Jaimes, who also goes by Elly. She is our writer. She was the main person to come up with our story line.

                                                      
And lastly, this is me and my dog! I’m Rhea Thomas and I will be the Director of Cinematography for our film opening. For the most part, we will be using a Canon T7i to film.

Hope you guys enjoyed this late introduction of my group, but I’m glad I finally did it! Be sure to let me know in the comments below what position you would want if you worked on a film!
                                                                                                                          ~rtmedias

Group Meeting #2!

Hey there! Yesterday, we got the opportunity to do another group meeting where we sat down with other students and were able to provide feedback and opinions on how to make everyone’s film opening better.

When I shared my group’s film opening idea, everyone really liked how we chose to do it on a topic that typically is under-looked. People don’t realize how severe OCD can be and how it affects a person with the disorder. They liked how we are bringing awareness to this disorder many are affected by.

I mentioned how my group was struggling to find an actor for our film opening and they agreed that we should talk to our school’s drama club to see if anyone was interested. I also told them that we were short of filming days due to our school trips happening and one tip they gave us was to make sure we film more than we need to. Some mentioned setting up more than one camera to get different shots and angles so we have plenty of footage when editing, instead of not having enough.

I also shared my blog posts with the other students and they liked how I structure my blogs in an organized manner. That was a relief to hear!

Be sure to leave in the comments below if you have any ideas on how to improve our film opening!
                                                                                                                             ~rtmedias

Final Production Logo!

Hey there!

I just wanted to give you guys a small update on our production logo! Previously, I shared a rough draft of our idea sketched out, but we finally were able to create it!

                                                 

GEER, pronounced ‘gear’, is our production company we created. It consists of the first letter of each of our names: Gabe, Eugenia, Elly and Rhea.

We are really happy with the outcome and cannot wait to begin filming! Be sure to let me know what you think of our production logo in the comments below!
                                                                                                                                 ~rtmedias

Houston, We Have a Problem...

Hey guys! Just a quick little update on what’s been happening within my group. My group is done with our storyboard, like I previously shared, and we have been figuring out some issues we are having regarding our film opening.

The main issue we ran into is trying to find an actor/actress. Since our film has little to no dialogue, we need an actor/actress who is able to be expressive enough to demonstrate the story. Our story really needs a strong actor/actress who can be expressive since it deals with a character who has OCD, and needs to play the part in order for the audience to fully comprehend the storyline. We have an idea of going to our school’s drama club and seeing if anyone is interested in acting for us, but if we don’t find anyone, we will end up using Gabe. This way, he would act as Quentin Tarantino who would be the director and actor of their own film.

Another issue we have run into is that we have very limited time for filming. Along with our crazy school schedules and extracurriculars, Eugenia and I are apart of our school’s television production program and we will be competing in the Student Television Network convention for an entire week over spring break. During this time, we will be competing against multiple schools nation wide. Gabe will also be traveling with his health club (HOSA) for a competition during the same time. This cuts off a week of our filming time. Along with these competitions, Elly has a job so it can be difficult to find a time when we are all available. We were able figured out 4 days during spring break where we can film and begin to edit. This would be the first four days of spring break, right before Eugenia and I leave for our competition.

Although we know it’s going to be hectic, I’m excited to see how it turns out! Be sure to stay tuned to find out more details of our pre-production as we get closer to our filming date!
                                                                                                                             ~rtmedias

Exciting Update!

Hey there! Today, my group met at a coffee shop to finish the main aspects of our preproduction. We completed our storyboard, our production logo, and figured out some of the props we need to get before we begin filming. 

                                                 

I haven’t shared much about our storyboard but it is finally complete!

                                                

After numerous hours spent thinking of how we want to demonstrate our story, we are happy with the decisions we made. 

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

Just to walk you through our storyboard, it starts off with an event happening in the future of the film. A person is being thrown into a garage. This character suffers from OCD, therefore multiple small aspects within the garage tend to drive this person insane. The setting of the garage will be messy to help indicate the character’s personality through this disorder. As the main character goes to fix the objects that they are bothered by, they notice a line of screwdrivers on a table. The main character moves one screwdriver to make it symmetrical and as they move the screwdriver, the title will appear as a 90 degree angle is formed and will fade to black. After, it will go to the actual beginning of the film and would show the main character’s daily routine to demonstrate the character’s disorder affecting their daily life. The setting of the bedroom will be clean and everything will be symmetrical in order to develop the character. Throughout this opening, the credits will be shown as well, following a similar font to the title.

                    

My group and I wanted to create a production logo, but we weren’t really sure what we wanted. I jokingly started randomizing the order of the first letter of each of our names, as shown above, and we ended up really liking one of them. 

                                              

GEER is the production company we came up with. We pronounce it as “gear”, just made out of the first letter of each of our names. Since we decided to pronounce it that way, we thought of literally incorporating a gear! Clever, am I right? We plan on creating this within Adobe Photoshop and incorporating it within our film opening.

Overall, we worked really well together and were really productive today. I can’t wait to see our final product as we get closer! If you have any suggestions on how to improve our story, be sure to leave them in the comments below!
                                                                                                                               ~rtmedias

Equipment!

Hey there! As my group gets closer to completing our storyboard (which I'll share with you within the next few blogs), I thought of sharing some of the equipment we will be using throughout the making of our film opening!

In order to film our open, we definitely need a camera. For the main aspects of filming, my group and I will be using a Canon T7i.

                                                   

Throughout high school, I have been involved in my school’s television production program. This course offered me the ability to learn and develop new skills the world of broadcast. I’ve learned how to use the Canon T7i properly in order to produce the best quality videos. For the Canon T7i, we have two lens options. We have a 55mm lens, as well as a 55-135mm lens. Most likely, we will end up using both of these lenses to provide a variety of shots when we edit.

                                                

In regards of editing, we will be using Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2018. This is a software I learned how to use fluently through my television production course. We may also use Adobe After Effects in order to create the title and any other graphics we desire. We feel the most comfortable using this software in order to produce a quality film opening. Be sure to let me know what your favorite camera/editing software is in the comments below!
                                                                                                                          ~rtmedias

Picture Sources:


Canon U.S.A., Inc. 9 Mar. 2019    

          <https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/products/details/cameras/eos-dslr-and
          -mirrorless-cameras/dslr/eos-rebel-t7i-ef-s-18-55mm-is-stm>.

Schools, Sean. "Premiere Pro CC 2018 Preview: 5 Must-Know New Features." Premiere Bro. 13 Sept. 
          2017. Premiere Bro. 9 Mar. 2019 <https://www.premierebro.com/blog/premiere-pro-cc-2018-
          preview-5-must-know-new-features>.

Working on a Title!

Hey! As my group and I continue to work on our pre-production stage for our film opening, a major aspect that we have to think about is a title. 

Film titles are one of the most important aspects of the movie. A title is the first thing that the audience looks at before watching a movie, therefore, it should catch their attention. A title can also affect the overall film as it should have some relation to the storyline.

My group and I had a difficult time thinking of some film titles that stood out to us. We knew we wanted to link the title to OCD somehow since that is a major aspect of our film.

                                                      

Some ideas we had included:
          -Perfect Disaster
          -Obsessed
          -Stuck on Repeat
          -The Drive
          -The Driver
          -Disruption

All of these possible titles were ones we thought linked to OCD in one way or another. We really wanted the title to reflect the character, location or situation. For example, "Perfect Disaster" was an idea thought of since the effect of OCD can be the need for symmetry, yet we wanted to show how the main character ends up getting kidnapped, leading the overall story into a disaster for the character. Another example would be "The Driver". This is due to the fact that his OCD would drive him insane due to the constant repetition of things going through his head.

Our number one choice right now is “Ninety” with a degree symbol. This helps reflect the character’s OCD as everything needs to be symmetrical. Within math, students learn about right angles and how they are always straight. As we bounced ideas off each other, this was the one that really stuck out to us as it still represents the character. This is an example of how we would like it to look:

                                               

The font is a major aspect of the title as well. The font has to work along side of the storyline. Therefore, we chose to use a really straight edged font since it represents the character’s OCD of wanting symmetry. We got the idea from the "First Man” movie title as it also follows a straight, thin font style.

                                                

We are about 98% sure we have decided on our film title, but as always, I’ll keep you guys updated! Be sure to let me know what you think of our possible film title in the comments below!
                                                                                                                           ~rtmedias

Picture Sources:

Cahlamer, Ben. "First Man is An Emotionally Charged Story To Get To The Moon." Electric
           Bento. 13 Oct. 2018. 08 Mar. 2019 <https://www.electricbento.com/movies/first-man-
           is-an-emotionally-charged-story-to-get-to-the-moon>.

Foroux, Darius. "15 Life Changing Ideas." Medium.com. 08 Mar. 2018. Medium. 08 Mar. 2019 

          <https://medium.com/@dariusforoux/15-life-changing-ideas-ceeece7f4ca0>.

Credits?

Hey there! Hope you are having an amazing week so far! The next few weeks are going to be really hectic, yet exciting! I can’t wait to start filming our film opening within the next week or so! Also, I’ve been preparing for two major competitions coming up for my television production program! My next few weeks are going to be packed, but I’ll be here to document each step of the way! :)

Anyway, this week my group has been productive. We are trying to finish most of the pre-planning aspects before Monday so we can begin filming! We started working on a storyboard, but I’ll share more about that in an upcoming post!

We have established roles within my group this week. I’ve never formally introduced my group, but if it is something you guys want to read more about, feel free to let me know in the comments below!

                                               

Every film crew consists of a director, director of cinematography, editor and writer. For larger productions, there can sometimes be over a hundred members apart of the crew, but for our purposes, we decided to limit them since there are only four members within my group.

Director: Gabriel Quiros (Gabe)
          As the director, he will oversee the entire production of the film and give direction to what we, as the crew, should do for our vision of the film.

Writer: Elizabeth Jaimes (Elly)
          As the writer, she will be in charge of the overall script as she is the main person within our group who created the overall storyline. She will work alongside the director and help him portray the story clearly.

Director of Cinematography: Rhea Thomas (me!)
          As the director of cinematography, I will be in charge of the overall camerawork of the film.

Editor: Eugenia Scheuren (Eu)
          As the main editor, she will be in charge of creating our design for our title and editing the overall opening itself.

Main Actor/Actress: TBA! 

          We are still on the hunt for a good actor/actress to play our main character as ther expressions play a crucial role in the character's development.

Of course, since we are working on this project together, we will definitely be helping each other out. I can not wait to see how our final product comes out! Be sure to stay turned for more updates in the near future!
                                                                                                                           ~rtmedias

Sources:

Hundt, Cori. "How to Get a Film Crew Job." Backstage.com. 27 Nov. 2017. 07 Mar. 2019 

          <https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/get-film-crew-job-2753/>.

What is OCD?

Hey there! As my group continues working on our film opening, a major aspect of our project revolves around OCD. In order to accurately represent this disorder, I decided to research what OCD is and its affects on people.

What is OCD?
According to the International OCD Foundation, "Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health disorder that affects people of all ages and walks of life, and occurs when a person gets caught in a cycle of obsessive and compulsions”. These obsessions are thoughts or images that occur numerous times and feel as if they are out of the person’s control; this can leave many feeling fearful, doubtful and disgusted.

There are various types of OCD including:
          -checking: obsessive fear to prevent damage, such as checking if doors are locked, water tap is fully shut, stove knobs are off
          -contamination: fear of being dirty, such as using public restrooms, shaking hands, touching door handles, and being in crowds
          -hoarding: an obsession that can be considered as OCD involves not being able to discard possessions.
          -symmetry and orderliness: the need for everything to line up perfectly, such as picture frames, clothes, utensils, books, etc.
          -and many more

The video above is a compilation of OCD traits shown within the film, Matchstick Men. In order to get a better understanding, this video helps demonstrate some of the characteristics people with OCD may have. The repetition of the character wanting to clean his house after seeing a paper on his floor is an example of compulsion.

Overall, this research will definitely come in handy when we get closer to filming our opening as we would like to represent this disorder as accurately as possible. Before doing research on OCD, I never realized how severely it can affect a person’s state of mind and the various types that exist. Be sure to let me know in the comments down below what you learned about OCD.

                                                                                                                         ~rtmedias

Sources:

"Standard vs. Intensive Treatment for OCD." New York Behavioral Health. 03 Mar. 2019    

          <http://newyorkbehavioralhealth.com/standard-vs.-intensive-treatment-for-ocd>.


"Types of OCD." Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) | OCD-UK. 03 Mar. 2019 

          <https://www.ocduk.org/ocd/types/>.

Got Some Feedback!

Hey there! Yesterday, I got the opportunity to share my group’s idea for our film opening to other students and we got some feedback! It’s really important to listen to feedback since it’s gives you the opportunity to see other perspectives of your idea as they provide ways to alter your idea to make it better!

When I shared my group’s idea for our film opening, everyone really liked our idea! They thought it was unique and could be made into a really cool film opening if executed properly. They enjoyed how we took a step away from a typical drama film and how we are looking into making a physiological thriller.

Although they did like our concept and genre, they did provide a few tips for my group and I to discuss to hopefully improve our film opening. One idea they had was to use a voiceover when explaining the main character and their OCD traits. They mentioned how some people might be unaware of what OCD does to a person and that it would be beneficial to add a voiceover to explain it. If the audience doesn’t fully understand that the main character suffers from OCD, the film wouldn’t make as much sense.

Another idea they had was to make sure that the set design matched the character’s OCD traits, meaning the set design would consist of everything being straight and clean. Then when we show the character being forced out of their regular environment. The new environment would be the opposite, meaning it would be messy, in order to show how the new environment affects the character living with OCD.

They also mentioned how we really need to find a good actor or actress who can play the role of a person who lives with OCD. This would be a critical part of our film so my group needs to start searching for an actor or actress as soon as possible!

My group plans on meeting soon to discuss the different advice we all received in order to improve our film opening! Overall, I enjoyed listening to other’s feedback and hope to make an excellent project! Be sure to leave a comment down below with any feedback you have to provide in order to improve our film opening! Until next time...
                                                                                                                      ~rtmedias

Exciting News!

Hey! This week has been pretty productive week for my group. We have finally decided what we want our film opening to be!

                                                     

Before I tell you our idea, let me share the process behind finding the story we are excited to produce!

From the beginning, my group was set on doing a film opening within the drama genre. We realized how broad the genre itself was and began thinking of sub-genres. Some sub-genres we thought of were mystery and psychological. We really want our film to be unique, so we tried to think of less typically used genres.


                                                         


Our first idea was to produce a drama-mystery film opening. We thought of a story which consisted of a detective, in the 1920s or the 1950s, trying to solve a puzzle involving a couple. We didn’t think very far into it since we quickly started bouncing other ideas off each other and this one didn’t stick out any of us. However, we knew this would also involve a great amount of preplanning for props and to make sure the set design was accurate for the time period needed.

As we kept thinking, we all really liked the idea of following a psychological drama film opening. Although we knew acting would be super important, we thought it would be really a interesting idea. We wanted to incorporate an “alternate universe” somehow within the character. This could be done in a few different ways, but we thought of making something that visually looked normal, however it would be unique in its own way. An example used to help of think of this was “Children of Men”.

                                                             

As we constantly kept bouncing ideas off one another, we thought of making a specific individual unique. For example, in “Forest Gump”, Forest was a unique individual which helped develop the story. Another example we thought of was “Split”, as the main character in the film carried 23 different personalities.

                                                

All of these ideas helped us come to our final decision of a film opening. We decided to create a psychological-thriller which incorporated aspects of a drama film. We want our film to follow a story about a main character who lives with OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) and likes to be very familiar with their surroundings, therefore, they follow a strict routine everyday. However, the character is kidnapped, leaving them to be forced out of their regular environment and into a new one, which becomes difficult for the main character to live in.

For the film opening specifically, we want it to showcase a scene that would typically be shown towards the end of the film in order to draw attention and keep the audience engaged and curious. Then would show credits and the title, and show a scene that would occur in the beginning of the film to make it clear that the event that previously occurred were about events they will learn more about as they continue to watch the film. After the title, the audience will get to learn more about the main character and the build up to the climax. Make sure to stay tuned to find out our movie title!

Be sure to let me know what you think about our idea for our film opening in the comments below!

                                                                                                                  ~rtmedias


Sources:


“Friends Phoebe GIF - Friends Phoebe Rachel - Discover & Share GIFs.” Tenor,  

          tenor.com/view/friends-phoebe-rachel-excited-gif-6217699.

“Related Pictures Detective With Magnifying Glass Clipart Image.” pixy.org/4368563/.