Critical Reflection

My idea for What You Watch came to me from the idea that “You are what you watch”. This film explores that idea and how such a mentality affects more than just an individual.

While I had the idea for the film for several months prior to officially beginning this project, I never thought about the specifics when it came it’s genre or how I would promote a story like this. In watching other short films like The Black Hole and Da Capo al Fine, I felt the psychological thriller genre would best fit the story, and with some experimental elements toward the end. I’d stick with some conventions such as harsh lighting and having a story unfold through the eyes of a single character. For the story’s ending, I wanted to include specific elements and techniques that would allow a viewer to interpret the ending rather than simply telling the viewer what the film means; it's a commentary on those that consume media after all.

When it came to how to promote the film, I look a similar and fairly recent film, Joker. I looked at how the film’s Instagram promoted with official stills, character posts, posters, and its grid layout. Unlike that account I posted more behind the scene pictures because I wanted to share the process. I just made sure to color grade those pictures to make the posts consistent with the colors associated with the brand.

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Joker Movie (@jokermovie) • Instagram photos and videos

I landed on using Instagram for its active viewer base of 16-24 year olds, the target demographic for the film. The age range came from the fact that Eric and Trent Marley were younger characters in the story. Trent specifically was made the “youngest talk show host in America” first out of practical limitations, but then because it’d allow Eric to relate more to him more easily; the same idea can be attributed to those in the age demographic that watch the film. If given more time to flesh out a grander story, I would’ve liked to have more representation for women in the story, besides just the character at the train station, to appeal to w wider audience. Though in its current state, it’s not far from what is seen in the male dominated Talk Show host scene.

To keep up with Instagram’s stimulus driven user base, I’d make use of the vibrant blue hues associated with the brand and plan out my posts in advance to maintain a symmetrical and aesthetically pleasing grid layout. I would’ve liked to post more earlier on in the process to potentially reach a wider audience, but I found it hard to post during pre-production because I felt I didn’t have material that would work with the brand I had in mind.

For the film I wanted to not only make what was being watched as engaging as I could, but also make the process of Eric watching the TV as intriguing as I could. Many of the scenes in Eric’s house took place at night, but rather than use a lack of light I made use of blue colored lighting to allow details to stand out in the frame. Another trick I used to make the shots of the TV and Eric more engaging included, using a projector to dramatize the light “emitting” from the TV and adding in zooms in post to have a sense of movement beyond what is played on the TV. I do wish I was more prepared when it came to filming the 2 exterior scenes, since those do feel less stylized and flat visually, and I simply feel that those scenes aren’t as engaging as the ones in Eric’s house.

The low key lighting and blues of Eric’s TV room became the basis for the rest of the brand. Granted, several of my first few posts had to do with the TV room, so I was able to cement that as a foundation. Keeping in mind my grid layout helped a lot with making the profile for the film seem cohesive. The positive reception towards the Eric and Trent character posts also influenced me when it came to making the print component; I reused images from those posts and combined them with the font I was using for the title graphics for the film, so naturally I felt it fit with the brand.

When it came to developing the character of Eric and Trent, much of their actions and details were based on how I wanted them to represent their given concept. For Eric, I based much of his character around Erik Erikson’s 5th stage of development, Identity vs. Confusion; as someone with no personality of their own they must rely on the media they consume to have an understanding of how the world works and how he should represent himself. Today because of social media and fairly open access to media, it’s more easy than ever for people to model how they live their lives off of other people; Eric’s character is an example of when this is taken to an extreme. In the film, I wanted to start with a scene where this behavior was reinforced, but later have Eric be punished for that sort of behavior. I wanted the later scene to show that while it can work sometimes, that way of living is not viable.

For Trent’s character, he was heavily based on the loud and proud personalities of Bob Barker and Stephen Colbert. I had him push more liberal leaning viewers because of his appeal to younger audiences and to mirror the status of iconic hosts like Jimmy Fallon, Conan O’Brien, and the aforementioned Stephen Colbert. Trent is meant to embody the ideas the media creators want to push forward. He’s a “messenger” who is trapped in the limelight because of the people in power and the people who watch. In this story Eric’s behavior doesn’t just affect himself, but it also creates an endless cycle that provides funds for media creators to continue to push their own agendas.

When I first began the project I did so with the idea that I’d have my own uninterrupted vision at play which for the most part is there, but it was very much a lot to do as just 1 person. I feel if with other people or in a larger time frame, I may have been able to focus more on both smaller things like technical aspects and larger components like the social media page. With that said, I still loved the process and I’m excited for the next big project.

Project Components

 Hello everyone, below are the 3 main components of my AICE Media A Portfolio. Enjoy!!!

Short Film

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eUuAnPqI1e0hx85Oyvq0hz2GdAWoimze/view?usp=sharing

Social Media Page

https://www.instagram.com/whatyouwatchfilm/

Postcard Promo FRONT

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mLJBX8o0dl3_aMUYifRDCwu-fF_0vXCb/view?usp=sharing

Postcard Promo BACK

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Uy5boyUU6TpzT5JdyfWXZK7flIgsCwoa/view?usp=sharing

If there are any complications or issues with the links above the link below is to a folder with all the components included:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17MzcdU_5mk4F89467HxHLXbKqhf-ir1m?usp=share_link

The End Times

 We've reached the final week, not just of this project, but likely of this blog at least for a while. I have two more posts besides this planned for the week, the Portfolio Components and my Critical Reflection, so this is my last usual post. I always knew I had to make a final posting, but what I wasn't expecting was to hear from other people, some of which I don't even know personally, that they loved reading my blog. I'm usually the kind of person who likes to keep my projects on the low, out of fear that if I hype up a project that it won't meet expectations, but this blog has really thrown that out the window for the most part. I'd go to tell friends of mine that I either secured an actor or a location, and then they'd just tell me that they already knew because they read my blog. It was slightly annoying, but also really cool to know that these ramblings of mine were engaging for certain people.

My social media also did a surprisingly good job to inform people and hype up the short film. Every couple days these past couple weeks, I'd usually get someone asking when the movie was coming out or where they could see it. And there were some posts I was really proud of that I'd usually go back to just to rewatch what I did. 

I've also screen tested the film with a few people who've overall had positive things to say, along with some helpful criticisms. If you sent any they were greatly appreciated.

Similar to last year this was definitely a project. As I've mentioned in the past, the concept for the film originated back in June of last year, but once school began progress fell off. It was only in January that I was my spark for the project rekindled after finishing the Development Unit in my AP Psychology class. I was particular interested by Erik Erikson and his stages of development, especially the 5th stage, Identity vs. Confusion. While reading about the subject I realized how the character of the story could be viewed from a psychological perspective. As someone who has no personal identity he's unaware of how the world works or how he fits into it. The idea of including positive reinforcement and positive punishment also stemmed from I had learned in that class.

While I've made several films at this point, I this was going to be my first try at a more "thinky" piece for lack of a better word. Not to say that my other films don't have deeper meaning, but none of them really compared to what I wanted to do with What You Watch. I wanted to make a statement, so I spent a long time thinking about of all the moving parts. And thankfully in the end, aside from a handful of short comings and goofs on my end, I can safely say that a large majority of the film was strategically made. I'm also happy that the film doesn't explicitly tell the viewer what the meaning is. I've always wanted to make stories that engage with viewers, either with an emotional response or by having them think about the decisions made in the film. Like one of the nicest things I've heard someone say about me in the last year was that they were "terrified" to talk with me after they watch Me + Michael because "that idea had to come from someone". As silly as it sounds the idea that I made them feel something is all I can ever ask for.

The now friend who was initially terrified of me

For this project I also tried something I never done before, and that's cast someone that isn't just a friend I knew previously. By this point it's pretty well known that I got the very talented, Connor Lirio to take part in this film. I've always seen him as a showman whether it be as a lead actor in a musical or the lead singer of a rock band, so I was very excited to work with him on the project. Whenever I'd film with Connor we'd always have long conversations about his character and small details we wanted to incorporate, and it was fun to talk with someone about my vision and for them to deliver. I personally LOVE how Trent Marley cam out and I salute Connor on giving his all, I know memorizing those monologues were no easy feat. Connor if you're reading this, this film would not have been possible without you and I appreciate all you've done to help out.

On a similar note I do want to thank all those who helped out in any way they could, either through suggestions, helping on set, providing talent, or just giving feedback. This has been the first project in a while that I've lead solo and I loved both the process and final products. I feel so privileged to be in a class that offers projects that can later find a home in the portfolio of students; it's projects like these that made me want to take the class to begin with. I can say confidently that if it weren't for this class I would never have been able to think up let alone make a film with the depth and scale of this. I'm looking forward to the future, and I hope these next couple posts aren't the last. 

For any future A Level students, go crazy because this is the place you can do it. Just be sure to backup your files and get some sleep. Thank you to all that have read, expect some cool things tomorrow and the day after.

I've been editing

After wrapping all the filming I needed to do, I can finally sit down and put this thing together. Kind of at least. What I mean by that is that I've already edited most of scene 1 and scene 3 before I official sat down to edit. Those scenes required elements that would play on the TV, so I already had all the TV elements I needed when I official began.

I began setting up the footage and project files on Friday, so that I’d be ready for Saturday. I thought I’d start with the end since I thought that scene had the most moving parts and potentially complex part of the whole timeline. It involved TV scenes yes, but also involved a live action portion and needed to hit. One of the biggest challenges I knew going in was that the sequence with Trent in the house was filmed before the parts of me reacting to the TV. Not to mention the live action scene with Trent was filmed in a more or less rushed manner since Connor’s parents really wanted him home. As a lighting guy, I really didn’t like how the lighting changes between the two half's, but I had to figure out a way to ease it in.

The shot of me reacting to the empty scene was filmed twice during the two filming sessions, but the version I filmed along side with Connor had a leg up on the other more visually interesting shot; his hand actually pulled on my shoulder. I first tried to see if I can make a projection mask over the shot with Connor, but that went nowhere. In a gamble I began to mask Connor’s hand out of it’s shot to put over the other shot. After some time I got enough frames, overlayed it, and IT WORKED. Sure I had to trim the clip to end before the hand actually pulled on the shoulder, but the effect was there.

It was also around this time that I realized I made an oopsie, I forget to record Connor saying the line “I’m not telling you” that was meant to ease in the viewer into his big monologue. With no way of refilming, I tweaked the script and timeline a bit to have Eric berate Trent with the same question, and have him snap. He’d also begin with the “Because you’re no one” and then pause for a reaction for eric before diving deep into the monologue and rest of the scene.

I edited the rest of the scene and then slapped an adjustment layer that changed the hue of the more purple raw footage to be more blue. And then I realized I needed sound… I got on freesound.org and began looking for all kinds of sounds, clicking, channel changing, and a whole bunch of sounds for when Trent presses the remote. I ended up downloading so much I made a folder to to house all of them. I also added some brown noise for ambience and got a song off of Epidemic sounds that worked surprisingly well with the already edited scene.

I then moved on to the 2nd scene at the train station. I first synced up all the audio with the videos and began to make a line edit. I then made sure the match cut from the first scene would work with the one in the second (it did). I then went on freesound.org got some more sound effects and continued to the next scene.

It was around this time that I finally got the jingle and VO for the commercial, so I began to finalize the third scene. I first added a J-cut to the start of the scene to serve as a sound bridge from the 2nd scene to the 3rd. I then went to freesound.org to get sounds for the thunder and powering off.

4TH SCENE LET’S GO! It was a pretty similar workflow to the 2nd scene with syncing audio and video and then making a line edit before going to my new favorite website freesound.org. What was different though, was that I began to look through the preset LUTs in premiere to see if I liked any of the visual looks. I wanted something with blues (for the brand) but also vibrate since the scene did take place during gold hour. I found one and then copied it to the 2nd scene only to remember that the scene didn’t take place during gold hour so it looked weird. Luckily I had known of another LUT from the first search that worked well.

With all the individual scenes being finalized I started another timeline, promptly title THE TIMELINE with everything to get an idea of the total runtime. Right now I’m at 8:03 not including end credits, so I’m likely going to email my advisor about it to see if that’s still fine. My main goal at this time is to get as much feedback as I can before the big due date, so we’ll see how that goes.

P.S.

I like to call myself the trend setter

 So earlier in the week I spoke with my advisor about my social media, and she basically told me I have to post more stuff and do so consistently. At the time I had plans for the first 9 posts, but I needed more. A huge priority for me when it comes to promoting a brand on social media, especially Instagram is a user's first impression of the account. Now on Instagram there's an emphasis on making an appealing grid layout, since that's what users see when they view your account.

I knew I really wanted to create a 3 post spread of the title of the film as a way to make the account seem cohesive, but first had to make posts 5 and 6 since 4 was already up. To keep symmetry I used a still from the Remote Commercial scene to show off an aesthetically pleasing portion of the film. I then posted another still that was a cool blue similar to that of the 4th post. And then of course I was finally able to make my 3 post spread.

After that I decided I start to share some Behind The Scenes pictures and some "Meet the Crew" type posts. Posts 10 and 12 would be BTS while 11 would be a "Meet the Director" post. I made the design on Canva because they offer many templates to choose from. I wanted to keep it simple since people that go on social media tend to scroll while on auto-pilot. I wrote briefly about my background and listed some of my favorite directors. I also went ahead and messaged Connor to have him write his own mini-bio for a Meet the Actor post I'll begin working on soon.

For future posts, I do want to post some more BTS photos as well as post early reviews of the film once I have a draft of it ready, similar to how films tend to boast about rave reviews; I think that could be fun.

You Got Mail!

 That's right you got mail! And in this case its a post card, or should I saw the postcard (probably). While I'm in the middle of editing the film I thought I'd take a break to draft up some designs for the post card.

While I initially wanted to include the photo below in the post card, but it felt too square-like. Sure it gave me some space on the side, but if my text were to be written horizontally, it wouldn't have worked. Instead I listened to the people for this one. My most popular post of the @whatyouwatchfilm Instagram is the one I wrote about in this blog. I had also gotten several people come up to me in real life asking me how that shot was achieve and with that sort of response I've come to believe that the shot is at the very least engaging/intriguing, so why not include it on the post card?

For the backside I took inspiration from lower third graphics commonly seen on TV to display information. I wanted to include my website, but silly little me decided it'd be a good idea to have a super long URL (www.alexduqueportfolio.com), so it didn't fit and I rather not sacrifice continuity in font sizes than include an eye sore of a URL. 

And if you were wondering about the screening, its a screening at NFFTY (National Film Festival for Talented Youth).  As much I want to think highly of myself and my skills, I am a young independent filmmaker who can't compete with proper crews that have budgets, so I thought I'd embrace my student status by having the film play during the largest student film festival in the world. Another cool thing about NFFTY is that they make they specifically curate their screenings to have similar films play in the same screening. The screening I have on the post card is for one of their "Experimental Visions" screenings, since I felt the type of the story this is and the way it unfolds is somewhat untraditional.

Now before I officially call it for the postcard, I do want to show it to a few people before I officially say it's done, but for now I'll just say this is what I got

Looper

 As promised in my last posting, this isn't a filming post. Instead I'm focusing on the most recent post I made to the Instagram account for the film. Last week I made this post introducing the world to Trent Marley with a portion of the show during the 3rd scene. When I made that post I already had it in mind that I wanted to make another post introducing the world to Eric. 

Likely for me during the 2nd night of filming on my own at night I got a few good shots that didn't quite fit with the flow of the edit, (at least in terms of imagining the edit by looking at my story boards). I filmed those shots wider than I would've liked so that I can zoom in, in post to create movement in the frame to a subject that isn't moving. I also had it in mind that I'd have the music from the show playing and right before the drop I'd cut to the logo, but there was a slight issue... The logo I had for the film was a still image.

I first thought of just adding a static video beneath the already made logo and changing blend modes to make parts of the image transparent as to show the video underneath, but that half worked and still looked weird. I also noticed how the text itself felt lifeless. It was around this point that I got reminded of the VHS Flicker effect that I used for the Trent Marley Show logo, so I added the effect to the text and then have it sit atop of a cool static background in Premiere Pro. I had also added another flicker effect that gave a bit more color to the final video.

With the idea in mind of including the music from the film, I knew I wanted to make the video have a seamless loop of some kind (below I linked to a post the loops seamlessly and as a result maintains viewer retention).The sound opens loud and proud, followed by a brief calmer bit, and then it kick starts the verse with a drum fill, so I decided to use the drum fill as something to transition back to the very beginning and it worked. 

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A post shared by Tesla (@teslamotors)

This newest post of mine really helped to solving the problem of my logo being (for lack of a better word) static, so this style for the logo may likely be the kind I end up using on the postcard for the film and in the process I made a cool post. This post if currently the best received post of the account with 22 likes and 9 comments; it was also cool enough to make people repost the Reel on their stories to reach a wider audience. I even got a private message of someone asked how the heck I got the shot which I thought was really nice. The post is below if you want to see, and if you haven't already follow @WhatYouWatchFilm

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A post shared by What You Watch (@whatyouwatchfilm)

Reshoots and Delays

 Hey so this blog isn't actually as bad as it sounds in my opinion, since by this point most of these situations have been resolved, I just felt I should give an update regarding some of the hurdles during production. 

First off I want to give an update in regards to Getting Kicked Out!. What was initially scheduled as a filming day on Thursday, the 23rd of March, had to get pushed back to Sunday, the 26th, as Angelo was going to be unavailable Friday and Saturday. We also planned to film the scene in a different parking lot that I've used in the past with no issue. We began at 6 and were able to wrap all that we needed by 7:30 which was nice. And one shot in particular was pretty funny because he basically get knocked off my feet.

In general a good filming day.

Secondly, I had planned to film with Conner on Saturday, the 25 of March, but since he was feeling very bad, he asked that we reschedule, so we did for Thursday, the 30th. I had set everything up earlier in the afternoon, so when Connor got to my house at 8, we were able to begin. The backdrop I made with curtains of my house hung on a backdrop holder that I had borrowed from Sam's dad, a.k.a. the freelance photographer I had interviewed for my documentary Instilled. For audio, I mic'ed him up with a lavalier mic that clipped to his tie like most talk show hosts, and had the wire run behind him. The only annoying part of the setup was the male end of the XLR cable that was slightly dented and hard to connect to the audio recorder, but we made it work.

We began with the monologues, I believed they'd be easier to film than the multiple shots and angles from the finale, but I may have underestimated the needs for the opening monologue. The opening is about a minute long uncut take, that switches between different topics that each have different tones and expressions, and much of the dialogue had to be word for word since, Eric's character would be repeating the words of Trent Marley. Long story short it took a while to get the take right, but not gonna lie, when the take was good, it was Good. 

We then moved on to the ending monologues before Trent would appear in Eric's TV room, but we didn't get too far in before Connor got a not so happy phone call from his parents. It was around 11:30 when they called and I had to drive him home; on the way there, we then discussed what day would work to wrapped his parts. He said Sunday, April 2nd, would probably be best after 6 P.M.

When I got home I looked at the footage and began to make a rough cut of the opening that included the music and announcer's V.O. (voiced by the energetic Tristan Dingcong, who's V.O. opened for the 1st place winner for STN's Convention Promo competition).

I'm going to look again through the different takes, but the video above is just a demo. I still need to clean up some of the audio and add the audience, but you get the idea.

Anyhow those are some of the hurdles I've had to deal with this past week, and I thought I'd just share them. Apologies for yet another post about filming, it's just been something that's been a focus on mine as of recently. I'll talk about something different in the next post.