Last Post :(

Hey guys! Here is my very last post! Hope you enjoy my CCR! 

AICE Media Studies A Level CCR: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12i3T_vfE_o9klk5LoumXiFIykI-thPs6/view?usp=sharing

Thank you guys for following me on this journey over the past two years! This will definitely be a project I will always remember. For the last time…

                                                                                                                            ~rtmedias :(

Final Products!

Hey guys! I can’t believe we are finally done! Here is our final portfolio project!

Short film: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GopL8JM4zxgJbHKuVsOPvcVbRzkFjYgm/view

Website: www.boxedofficialfilm.wixsite.com/boxed

Postcard: 

FRONT

BACK

Thank you so much for sticking around! I hope you enjoyed! Stay tuned for my CCR. Until next time...

                                                                                  ~rtmedias

Reflecting Back...

Hey guys! As I’m coming to the very end of this project, I thought it might be good to reflect on the past.

If I had to describe this portfolio project in one word, it would be WOW! At the start of the year, no one ever expected to hit these roadblocks forcing us to stay at home and physically distance ourselves from one another. Life was going pretty smooth up until March and everything began rolling downhill rapidly, both in my personal life and in terms of this project. Nick and I had an idea that we both liked. We spent a few hours inside of Jersey Mike’s brainstorming and finally agreed on one. We came up with an entire schedule to follow for our project in terms of when we would film and edit. Unfortunately, the moment we left for STN, our tv competition, things began to fall apart as the Coronavirus began to spread rapidly all over the world. Our competition ended up getting cancelled after arriving to Washington DC and once we got back home, school was closed and we were moved to online classes to social distance. Due to social distancing regulations, we wouldn’t be able to find actors, film together, or use the various locations we had planned. The Coronavirus pretty much forced us to start on a fresh slate after spending a few weeks planning our previous film idea. However, Nick and I didn’t give up. Of course we were both bummed out that our final senior moments no longer existed, but we still knew we had to get this done and we wanted to do a good job on it. Nick and I didn’t really have any ideas at first for our short film but then I began talking to some of our tv friends and they were able to lead us into a good direction. Since Nick has his whole family quarantined with him, we decided it would be better if he filmed and edited the short film since we would have a few actors, as opposed to only using my dad since my mom still has work if I were the one to film. Since I had a better understand and vision for the storyline, I wrote most of the script. I would ask Nick to look over it occasionally and he would edit it to enhance the story. One he filmed, he sent me the pictures using Google Drive and I began working on the website and postcard. Nick and I previously discussed some layout ideas for the website so it was pretty simple to put together since the idea was already envisioned. Everything is coming together really well and I think in the end, it may have been good that we changed our idea. This idea was more simplistic yet I think we pulled it off well. 

Overall, the main things I really learned from this experience was perseverance and making do with what we have. Sometimes we tend to overlook small things that we typically take for granted. So in way, the Coronavirus forced us to really look around and see what we were able to create from the confines of our homes. Nick and I have worked together in the past but I truly think that we are unstoppable now. We overcame so many obstacles that came are way and we helped each other the entire time. This may have even brought us closer as friends even though we did have moments of frustration, but we always found a way to make things work out. I’m glad that we were able to work together to create one of our last pieces during our high school experience. Stay tuned for my next post to see the final products! Until next time…

                                                                                                                   ~rtmedias

Sources:

https://media.giphy.com/media/xUOxfh6ZM75efM3Bqo/source.mp4

Grind Time!

Hey guys! As you may know, our project is due on Sunday! This post is going to be complied of a few different topics Nick and I discussed throughout the week.

First off, I just wanna say I’m so proud of how Nick and I have been working together this week! Earlier in the week, while Nick was filming, I decided to look at the list of font choices Nick took a look at while I was writing the script. He used the site 1001fonts.com which had a wide variety.

He was telling me how he liked the idea of sticking to a handwritten style of a font to fit the vibe of handwritten labels on boxes and I liked his idea. In the end, we decided to use the font named Berthusen.

Nick was able to finish filming the entirety of the short film on Monday. On Sunday and Monday, he was able to get some pictures to use as key art for the postcard and website and sent them over in my direction! Nick is well versed in Photoshop compared to me so he helped me adjust some elements such as photoshopping the curtain to fit the entirety of the wall. Once he was able to do that, he sent me the Photoshop file and I continued to adjust the saturation and blue tint until we were both pleased with how it looked. 

Here is a before and after:

BEFORE

AFTER

Here are some drafts of the postcard I created as well:

I was really happy when Nick told me he liked the postcard! I’m not the best at Photoshop so it took me a while to figure out what to adjust but thanks to Google, I was able to do it to our liking! Nick and I have finalized our postcard, but you guys will have to come back to see our final choice! :)

As for the website, I am pretty much completely done with that as well. Nick and I wanted to keep the website as simplistic as possible so it is easy to navigate through. Here are a few pictures of the layout as well as some designs I created in Photoshop for the website:

Nick is currently editing the short film and he said he will be completely done with it tomorrow! He’ll send it over to me and if we need to make any changes, we still have the time to do so. Nick and I are at the home stretch and I can’t wait to see it all together! Be sure to stick around to see the final products! Until next time…

                                                                                                 ~rtmedias

All the Essentials!

Hey guys! Throughout the week, Nick and I were able to come up with a title for our film opening! It took some time but eventually we both agreed on one. Earlier in the week, Nick wrote down some potential ideas for film titles on the Collaborative iCloud Note we have. Here were some of the ideas he had:

-Home

-Visit

-Nostalgia

-Nostos

I thought that “Home” and “Visit” felt too simple. The one that stuck out to Nick was “Nostalgia” but as we were discussing it over FaceTime, I told him that I think it gives away the plot involving Olivia’s blanket. I felt like the viewer would be able to easily determine what the story would be about within the first few scenes and he agreed. I liked Nick’s idea of “Nostos” since it’s the Latin word for returning home, but I felt like it was out of place. We portrayed the characters to act as a typical white family so having a Latin title seemed off to me. We ended up getting side tracked and started discussing the layout of the website. As we were discussing that, Nick mentioned how he liked the idea of having a pop up page which would be a box, representing the box in the film with her blanket and noise making toy. He ended up creating a rough draft of the pop up page for the website and then I had to go eat dinner so we ended the call. Later that night, it hit me. Why not name the film “Boxed”? So I sent Nick a text and asked him for his opinion on it and he said he liked it. 

Therefore, the official title of our short film is… “Boxed”.

I also began thinking of credits for the short film. I’m waiting on Nick to get back to me about these so that it’s official but here’s what I came up with:

Directed by: Nick Ramos 

Produced By: Rhea Thomas

Written by: Rhea Thomas

Cinematography by: Nick Ramos

Edited by: Nick Ramos

I can’t remember if I stated this previously but Nick filmed and will be editing the entirety of the short film due to quarantine procedures in place. I will be working on the website and postcard once I receive the pictures from Nick.

Thank you guys for sticking around! Nick and I are approaching our very last week to work on this project before the short film, website, and postcard are all due! Make sure to check back to see the final products! until next time…

                                                                                                                                     ~rtmedias

Sources:

https://media.giphy.com/media/l4FGnDqTrkewTIuRy/source.mp4

https://media.giphy.com/media/J1jmN9HW07HoRTe9X5/source.gif

Finalized Script and Actors!

Hey guys! As promised, here is the finalized script! I ended up writing most of the script and then I had Nick read it over and make adjustments.

Nick will begin filming on Friday with his family! Nick's sister, Sabrina Ramos, will be playing Olivia, the daughter. Nick's mom, Peggy Ramos, will be playing Olivia's mom and lastly, Nick's dad, Alex Ramos, will be playing Olivia's dad. Thank you so much to the Ramos family for helping us out!! Be sure to stick around for more updates! Until next time...

                                                                                                                   ~rtmedias

Final Schedule!

Hey guys! This is going to be a short post but I wanted to let you know what our schedule is for the rest of this project. As you may have heard, we had to start fresh due to the circumstances we had to work around from the Coronavirus, so we were unable to stick to our original schedule. 😕

As you may notice on the calendar, our advisor has pushed back the due date of the CCR! I’m so happy we get more time to work on that and make sure we provide quality content for it. Nick and I know how short on time we are so we are making sure we actually stick to this schedule! Be sure to check back soon for more updates! Until next time…

                                                                                                                  ~rtmedias

Scriptwriting Commences!

Hey guys! I have finally started writing the script. Here is a sneak peak and a look at my progress so far! 

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

I'm hoping to get the script done as soon as possible so Nick can begin filming with his family. Until next time...

                                                                                                                                     ~rtmedias

Update & CCR Question #4 Draft!

Hey guys! I've had more free time on my hands lately due to us being stuck in quarantine, so I decided to create a draft of one of the Creative Critical Reflection (CCR) questions which you will see once we complete our project. But first, I just had a quick update on the current status of school. 

Earlier today, our county's school superintendent announced that schools will not be reopening till at least May 1st. 😭 If you've read my previous blogs, originally they told us April 15th would be the earliest but that got pushed back since this virus has only kept spreading. The chances of me getting to go back to school for the end of my senior year are looking slim unfortunately. But anyway, let's get onto the draft of the CCR question.

 How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

  Throughout the process of my portfolio project, Nick and I used various electronic resources. From the very beginning of our project, we have been using Blogger.com to document every step of the process. Within my blog, users are able to see all the struggles and challenges we overcame, as well as an insight to our thought process when creating our short film and additional components. This is the same site I used last year to create my film opening, "Ninety Degrees", for AICE Media Studies AS. 

  Another tool Nick and I have found super helpful was the Collaborative Notes option through iCloud. I’ve never used this tool before Nick mentioned it and since we both have Apple products, we were able to share information through this Note. As we were brainstorming story ideas, character names, and solidifying our story line, we used this as a central location where both of us were able to access any critical information we needed right through our phones. Even if we were out and about, Nick and I were able to easily access it and jot down any ideas that came to our mind. Sticking to Apple applications, Nick and I relied on FaceTime to complete this project. This was an easy way for both of us to verbally express our ideas and concerns since we weren’t able to complete the project together physically due to the Coronavirus quarantine. 

For the production of the short film, Nick used a Canon Mark IV. Both of us are highly involved in our school’s television production program and have a good understanding on the functions of this DSLR. This allowed us to get the key art shots needed for the website and postcard, as well as the crisp shots for our short film. For post production of the short film, we used Adobe Premiere Pro CC to edit its entirety. This is the same program we use in our tv program and both of us are certified in this software. 

For the website component of our project, we decided to use Wix.com. Wix is a free site which allows anyone to create a website on their own, allowing us to fully customize the website to our liking. For the postcard, we relied on Adobe Photoshop. Our tv program has allowed us to become familiar with these programs and has greatly benefited us in completing this portfolio. 

Nick and I are currently working on the script in Celtx and I'll be sure to share that with you guys when we are done. Until next time...

                                                                                                                                    ~rtmedias

Sources:

https://media.giphy.com/media/Ln2YqWzi4xPD3HS43G/source.mp4

Finalizing the Story!

Hey guys! With classes being done online, Nick and I now have more flexibility of when we can discuss this project.

Surprisingly, the workload is a lot less than I expected from the transition to remote learning. Earlier today, Nick and I FaceTimed and came up with a more thorough concept to our short film. Here is what I wrote down on our collaborative Note as a basic concept for our script:

As soon as Nick and I ended the call, I began writing the script in Celtx. Be sure to check back for more updates! Until next time...

                                                                                                                                    ~rtmedias

Drama Alert!

Hey guys! Nick and I have finally figured out an idea for our short film which we think we can pull off within this quarantine situation. However, I really wanted to do some genre research before I jump in and start writing the script. 

From the very beginning of this project, Nick and I always liked the idea of sticking to the drama genre. According to The Script Lab, "drama film is a genre that relies on the emotional and relational development of realistic characters.” 

Some conventions of drama include: 

- exhibits real life situations with realistic characters, setting, and stories

- portrays journey of character development

- intense social interactions

If you haven’t read about Nick and I’s most recent idea for our short film, be sure to check out my last post. Our storyline follows a subdivision of the drama genre known as suspense/thriller drama. 

Some conventions for thriller/suspense drama include:

- slow/eerie tempo music

- heightened diabetic sounds

- tilt shots/disorientating angles to create discomfort within the viewer

- close ups of the protagonist

- films typically begin with an equilibrium which is disrupted throughout the film

- dark color palette

- low key lighting 

I definitely think that Nick and I will be able to incorporate some of these conventions throughout our piece to help demonstrate this genre clearly. Be sure to check back for updates! Until next time…

                                                                                                                                                            ~rtmedias

Sources: 

https://media.giphy.com/media/5WXqTFTgO9a7e/source.gif

https://www.slideshare.net/esmeroberts/codes-and-conventions-of-the-drama-genre

https://www.mindmeister.com/685037204/conventions-of-the-thriller-genre

New Idea!

Hey guys! So yesterday, Nick had work but suggested that I talked to some people who graduated from our tv program about some ideas for our short film. Both of us were truly stuck and didn’t know what to do so I decided to FaceTime our good friend, Carolina Rapp :)

I shared the ideas Nick and I previously mentioned and she suggested we go for the last story idea about the girl trying to overcome a break up. She suggested that we try and find a bigger picture to the story. What is the purpose? What could make this story unique from the average film about a breakup? She also suggested that we try to develop the story of the break up to help us reach that five minute goal. These were all valid points and I decided to bring them up to Nick the next day. When Nick and I got on FaceTime once again today, he didn’t sound very confident about this idea. He mentioned how it was cliché and I agree but we couldn’t think of anything else. Since we were way behind our original intended schedule due to the Coronavirus, he just wanted to move on and be able to complete something. I completely understood where he was coming from. Both of us are worried about finishing on time, however I want to make sure we are both on the same page before we continue. We ended up leaving it on that idea and ended our FaceTime call because Nick had to go to work. I knew he wasn’t fully for this idea so I decided to keep searching and in that process, I decided to FaceTime my partner from last year: Eugenia Scheuren. 

Eugenia and I worked on the film opening together last year for AICE Media Studies AS and is currently studying Broadcast Journalism in college. Eugenia and I are still really close friends to this day and I casually began telling her about our situation with this short film and she started suggesting some story ideas that Nick and I could potentially use. The first idea she started telling me about was about this family who moves into a new house and is told to never open a specific door. One of the characters becomes curious and opens that door. When she first mentioned it, I was a little hesitant but then we just started going back and forth on how Nick and I would be able to add to that storyline and ended up with this: 

• A character moves into a new apartment and is told to always make sure one specific door/closet is locked (creating suspense/mystery). At night, the character hears a strange noise coming from that door/closet. The character is curious since it keeps them up at night and attempts to open it. Once they open the closet, they find a single box. Suspense is built to only learn that it was an old toy making that sound. (adds a bit of comedy) 

I honestly liked this idea a lot better than the previous one Nick and I “agreed on”. I knew Nick was at work but I decided to text him that idea and he would reply whenever he sees it. Nick also agreed that he liked this idea much more. I asked him what we could add and here was what he thought of:

I really liked his idea of adding the scene where the power company mentions they are testing their signals once the family moves in. It doesn’t give away the ending of the film but adds a slight hint.

Nick and I both prefer this idea and I’m glad we both like it. I’m going to start writing out the script and Nick is beginning to think of a film title and character names! Hopefully we can get pre-production done quickly since we are running a little short on time. Until next time…

                                                                                                                                    ~rtmedias

The Struggle is Real!

Hey guys! As I previously mentioned, Nick and I are now thinking of new story ideas. We liked our previous idea, however due to the situation around us, we wouldn’t be able to produce it how we would have liked to so we both decided we should head back to the drawing board. 

On the collaborate iCloud note we have, we started to throw out some potential ideas throughout the day as shown below. 

At the end of the night, Nick and I decided to FaceTime so we could throughly communicate our ideas and explain/tweak any potential ideas we thought of. While we were talking on FaceTime, I decided to share a short film I found earlier that day. I was researching some other short films as inspiration for any ideas for our short film and I came across Dig. 

I sent this link to Nick and told him to check it out. Honestly when I first watched it, I was shocked by the simplicity of it. The full 10 minutes is quite literally about digging a hole, however the deeper meaning shows that it’s from the perspective of a child looking into the adult world and creating that bond between the daughter and father. This prompted Nick and I to try and think of simplistic ideas similar to this film. 

None of the ideas we wrote down really stuck out to either of us. We decided to sleep on it and share any more ideas we thought of the next day. Nick and I set a deadline for ourselves so that we would have a finalized idea by this Saturday being the absolute latest. The spread of the Coronavirus really messed up our plans but we are trying to work around it as best as possible. If you have any ideas, feel free to leave them in the comments below! Until next time…

                                                                                                                                     ~rtmedias

Making The Most Out Of The Situation

Hey guys! If you’ve read my previous blogs, you would have seen that Nick and I are in a predicament due to the Coronavirus. However, earlier today we were able to meet with our fellow classmates and teacher to get some advice and updates on our project. My teacher was able to set up a conference call with all of us using BigBlueButton.

During this conference call, our teacher updated us on everything she knew was going on and was reassuring us about our projects. Similarly to Nick and I, many of our classmates have the similar issue of not being able to film. Unfortunately, there really isn’t much we can do other than try to work around the situation. 

Nick and I were thinking that we may have to change our storyline of our short film. Although this may be more work to completely scratch everything we have planned thus far, it seems like it may be the only way for us to be able to complete the portfolio project. Since Nick and I aren’t allowed to leave our houses, we were thinking that Nick may have to film using his sister and parents within his house. I wouldn’t be able to film since neither of my siblings are living with me and my mom still has work everyday. The only way we see a work-around for this scenario is if Nick would film and edit the short film and I would create the postcard and website. Although this is not what we wanted, this seems like it may be the only way for it to work. Nick and I both have the Adobe Suite so we would be able to email the Premiere Pro/Photoshop files back and forth if we wanted too but that may cause some confusion. However, if he does ever need me to fix something, that will always be a possible method for us to use. Nick and I will still be working hand-in-hand on planning the entirety of the film, website, and postcard, however in order to see them through, this seems like it may be the best method due to the unfortunate circumstances. So as of now, Nick and I are back to the drawing board for more simplistic ideas which he would be able to film entirely within his house using his sister and parents. If you have any suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments below! Until next time…

                                                                                                                                     ~rtmedias

Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!

Hey guys! So we are in a slight predicament… Our county has just announced that schools will not be reopening until April 15th! FOUR DAYS BEFORE OUR PROJECT IS DUE!!! 

It’s not guaranteed yet but they have announced the earliest date we will be returning to school is April 15th; however, we may be out for even longer. This just threw a wrench in the class of 2020’s senior year. 😢 After 12 years of waiting for the end of senior year, we may not even have one at all. I don’t think anyone truly understood how serious this virus was until it spread across the world like a wildfire. Many seniors are upset since their last sport seasons have been cancelled, last competitions have been cancelled, prom may be cancelled, and senior bbq, senior shaving cream fight, and graduation are all questionable. I don’t think anyone ever imagined saying this but we truly wish we were back in school to experience our last few months of high school. 

With all this being said, Nick and I have hit a wall. Since this virus has been spreading rapidly, Nick’s parents and my parents don’t want us leaving our houses. We really aren’t sure what to do. How are we suppose to film if neither of us can leave our homes? Another thing is that the potential actors were thinking of for our film aren’t allowed to leave their houses either so we are stuck. We aren’t really sure what to do right now but we are hoping we can figure something out within the upcoming days.

In other news, my brother’s school in Nashville ended up closing due to the virus, so instead of us going up there, he’ll just be moving back home sooner than he was suppose to. He should be moving down sometime next week or the following week once he’s done packing up his stuff. 

If you guys have any suggestions for Nick and I’s filming dilemma, feel free to leave them in the comments below! Until next time…

                                                                                                                                  ~rtmedias

Sources:

https://media.giphy.com/media/HUkOv6BNWc1HO/giphy.gif

Update

Hey guys! I just have a quick update! 

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, our county has decided to close schools for this week. So we have this week off, as well as next week since that is suppose to be our spring break. Over our spring break, my parents were planning on visiting my brother in Nashville, Tennessee. However, due to the outbreak, my parents decided it was best if we stay home. Since I won’t be going to Nashville, Nick and I have more time together to finish planning and begin the filming process. 

Since our county has closed school a week early before spring break, our project deadline has been extended to April 19th! Although it’s only a week extension, Nick and I are so grateful! Be sure to stick around for more updates! Until next time…

                                                                                                                                   ~rtmedias

Sources:

https://media.giphy.com/media/FP47IFqWyXfdKYU6VG/source.mp4

Character Names!

Hey guys! One of the elements needed for our short film which we haven't decided on yet are character names. 

Nick and I decided to create a collaborative iCloud Note where we could share interesting names we found which we could potentially use. We have decided that we both want the character names to be meaningful. The character names should reflect that character and the scenario they are in. So for our short film, we wanted one name to reflect C1 which is the character who is comfortable in their loop and doesn't want to change their cycle. C2 would be the character who wants to stop the loop and begin a new lifestyle. 

Here are some possible names Nick and I found: 

As you can see above, I listed the name, the specific gender the name was meant for, the meaning, and the country of origin. Nick and I particularly liked the names Mora as C2, Conni as C1, and Pave as C1. All of these names reflect the characters and their preferred lifestyle. 

You may be wondering how we found these names. In all honestly, I have no idea how Nick found the first few names. However, when I was researching names, I literally went on baby naming sites and looking at the meanings of each name. It may sound silly but it was honestly really helpful. One site I used was momjunction.com, as shown below.

Websites like this one provided the meanings of names, along with their intended gender for the name, so it was helpful when it came to filtering them out in order to best fit the characters Nick and I need. 

Out of the list Nick and I created, we have two female names which we really like, Mora and Conni, and one male name, Pave. For our film, we only need two main characters; however, when it comes down to which gender is needed, it honestly doesn't matter. The gender of our characters doesn't affect the storyline of our film. Since we are cutting it close to our deadline, Nick and I are hoping to relate our film's characters to whoever is able to act within our film. So whether that be two females we find, we have both names set. If we end up finding two males, Nick and I will need to find one more male name, and if we end up using one female and one male, we'll use Pave as C1 and Mora as C2. Now we just have to work on finalizing the script and finding actors. Until next time...

                                                                                                                                          ~rtmedias

Sources:

https://www.name-generator.org.uk/character/

Forced to Reschedule!

Hey guys, I’m back home after having to cut our competition trip short and it all feels like a dream. I still can’t believe that STN was cancelled and I’m now back in Florida. 

Earlier today, our superintendent held a press conference explaining what will be happening within the public school system due to the coronavirus outbreak. 

In all honestly, I truly did not expect this virus to create an outburst like this. Stores are sold out of hand sanitizers, wipes, water and even toilet paper! I don’t really understand the need to stock up on toilet paper but I digress. The superintendent has said that all public schools in my county will be closed for the next week in order to limit the spread of this virus and keep students and faculty safe. Soon after this was announced, the entire state of Florida’s public schools said they would be closed as well. As for my school, we have this week off due to this and the following week is our spring break, so essentially we have 2 weeks off from school. 

Many are taking this as a long vacation, however for Nick and I, we have no idea what to think! With our project’s due date rapidly approaching, our schedule must change. Nick and I planned to finish preplanning in class but now that we don’t have school for two weeks, we must figure out another way to work on this project. We hope to finish the script by this Sunday and then from that point on, we’ll start finding actors and begin filming. 

As for my Nashville trip, my parents are unsure of whether we will still be going or not due to this virus being spread. However, they would like to go due to the recent tornado that went through the city. Luckily my brother is safe and wasn’t affected by this disaster, but they would still like to go visit him. If I don’t end up going on this trip, Nick and I would have more time to work together but regardless, I’m always on my phone and can help him out whenever needed. Hopefully this virus soon starts to die down and operations can resume normally. For now, make sure to watch your hands and avoid large crowds! Until next time...

                                                                                                                                                            ~rtmedias

Sources:

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2020/health/coronavirus-maps-and-cases/