FIQAH'S MEDIA WEB
Creative Critical Reflection
For my creative critical reflection, I have used different kinds of media to answer the four creative critical reflection questions.
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1. How does my product use of challenge conventions and how does it represent any social groups or issues?
For the first question, I have used a slideshow with a voice-over to answer the questions.
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Challenge Conventions
First off, my film genre is family. Family genre films usually include a child actor or actress as the main star of the film. However, my actor is a teenager. The reason the main star of my film is a teenager and not a child actor/actress is because it can help attract tweens and teens to watch the film and the age of a teenager is in between children and adult so the adult can probably relate to the teen when they were around their age while children probably cannot relate to the teenager yet, however, can learn a lesson from it.
Most family movies have a similar lesson which is that good can triumph over evil such as How to Train Your Dragon and Matilda. In my case, the lesson they will learn is to follow your dream. Of course, just from my opening film, we do not know what happens in the end whether Sa'ud ends up going to his dream school; the University of Culinary Arts or did he end up going to the Medic school that his parents wanted or did something else happen. But just from the film opening, we know that Sa'ud is passionate about cooking as he cooks his dinner showing that he is trying his best to achieve his dream.
Most family movies usually involve fantasy, magic, superheroes, animals, musicals numbers and sometimes are animated for a wider appeal with a general audience in mind. However, my film does not include any of that. I do believe without any of that concept, I can still pull off a great family film as I feel like the plot of the film can be relatable to some audience and can even learn a lesson from the film which is to follow your dream. If I were to do a full film of ‘Young Chef’, I would include some comedy, more drama, and adventure to make the storyline more interesting and make it more appealing to the audience.
Represent any Social Groups or Issues
Nowadays, gamers are usually seen as 'dumb' or 'lazy' and have no future, and are blamed for their educational failures due to gaming. Recently, in Brunei’s newspaper Borneo Bulletin, someone stated their opinion on how gaming is ‘to poison the young generation’ and even suggested to ‘ban all online games, save the future. I have challenged the stereotypes that even though someone is into gaming, it does not mean they are lazy nor dumb. In one of the scenes from my opening film, we see Sa’ud playing a game on his console which shows he is a gamer. Despite being a gamer, Sa’ud is quite smart otherwise he would not have been able to even register at the medic school or even got called for an interview at the medic school.
I have also challenged the stereotype that only girls can cook. In most of the scenes of my opening film, we see Sa’ud cooking. Even though nowadays, there has been an increase in the number of male chefs, yet some people still see that women should stay in the kitchen and cook.
2. How does your product engage with the audience and how would it be distributed as a real media text?
For this question, I have used slideshow with voice over.
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How does my product engage with the audience?
I have implemented elements that can help my product to engage with the audience. As my plot is about following and achieving your dream, it can motivate tweens and teens to do the same too especially since, during their age, it is quite common for tweens and teens to be asked about their ambitions to help out with their education road. I have experienced this issue on whether or not to follow my ambition or the ambition my parents want me to do. After O level, it took me a while to figure courses and subjects to take especially since my parents wanted me to take a nursing course while I am not interested in it as I do not like science and was more into creative work. I believe following your dream is very important as it determines your future and it is the journey for the rest of your life so it is important to choose wisely.
Another element that I have implemented in my film is the mother-son relationship. The texting scene from my film opening shows the character's close relationship with the mother. In the texting scene, we see Sa'ud texting his mother about to tell the good news on his acceptance into his dream school which is the University of Culinary Arts. However, once his mother told him about the acceptance of the medical school interview, Sa'ud decided to not tell his mother on the acceptance letter of the University of Culinary Arts as he knows that his mother wants him to study at the Medical School of Belait. As my film is a family film, by implementing the mother and son relationship, it can help mothers and son or family members watching together feel connected also through the character's relationship with their parents.
Lastly, another element I have implemented on my film opening that can engage with the audience is gaming. Even though my character is a hard worker, he still does play games and this can help the gamer audience feel connected to the character.
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Distribution as a Real Media Text
For my product to engage with the audience, I have created and posted my video on YouTube. As YouTube is one of the most used and popular networks worldwide, it might help to get more viewers to view my video and even get recognized worldwide. I would also be able to advertise my film through YouTube by posting teasers, trailers, and even do interviews with the star of the film.
If I were to distributed my video with local distribution, I would choose to distribute it through Brunei’s broadcasting company, RTB (Radio Television Brunei). The reason I chose RTB is that it is one of the most well-known broadcasting companies in Brunei. Not only would I be able to premier the film on RTB but I would also be able to advertise my film on RTB too by premiering trailers and teasers.
If I had the option to distribute my video with any international film production company, I would choose Warner Bros Pictures as it is one of the most well-known film production companies out there. Warner Bros Picture has produced a lot of well-known films such as DC films series, The Lego Movie, Crazy Rich Asians and Harry Potter film series.
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Advertising
If I were to advertise my movie, I would choose social media as the main one. This is because, in my country Brunei Darussalam, most Bruneians use social media especially Instagram and Facebook. This can be seen from a report by Hootsuite – We Are Social in January 2019. It was reported that 82% of the population of Brunei are active mobile social users.
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Other than that, as social media is used worldwide, it might be recognized by people all around the world giving the video more viewers. The benefit of using social media is most social media allows you to post photos and videos such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. This will allow me to post different kinds of promotions to promote the video such as a film poster, teasers, and trailers. By uploading advertisement and work online, can allow viewers to leave a comment on their opinion and review my work. It can also allow forums that allow fans or critics to engage with the product. This can help me as a producer to see what is good and what can be improved.
Other than social media, I would want to advertise my video through radio broadcasts. Most people listen to the radio especially when they are in the car. In Brunei, the most popular radio station is Kristal FM as it plays the latest hits every week and sometimes featured guest stars to talk about their latest work. If I had the opportunity to advertise my film, I would want Kristal FM to advertise my film by featuring as a guest to promote and talk about my work.
3. How did your production skills develop throughout this project?
To answer question number 3, I have used audio podcast.
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Research
Before I start off creating my film opening, I did a lot of research to give me some ideas and inspiration for my film opening. At first, I focused on analyzing different film openings' plots which made me struggle to find inspiration for my film opening’s camera movement, sound and mise en scene. However, after looking back at the two-film opening I have chosen; Guardian of the Galaxy and the Chef, I slowly start paying attention to little details such as the diegetic and non-diegetic sounds, camera movement, camera angles, the character’s emotions, behaviors and relationships with other characters. This has helped me to plotting my film opening, storyboards and creating my shot list.
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Shooting
One of my biggest struggles with filming is managing my time. During the first day of shooting, it was a mess as I was not organized nor managing my time properly. On the first day of shooting, I shot my video in the afternoon and the lighting was terrible and I did not plan properly what scene I wanted to shoot so I end up shooting all of the scenes in that one day. In the end, I end up not using any of the footage. Before reshooting again, I start organizing and schedule my time properly. I would only shoot 3-5 scenes per day. This allowed me to take my time and reshoot scenes I was not satisfied with until I am happy with it. Slowly with these techniques, it has also helped me with organizing my time with editing my video.
After a while of shooting with my actor Sa’ud, it has improved our teamwork skills. During the first day of shooting until the third day of shooting, we had a couple of arguments due to us, not team working together as at times, we had miscommunication due to me not being clear with what I want him to do. But slowly as we shot more footage together, we were able to work with each other better as teamwork skills developed.
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Editing
Other than shooting, I struggled a lot with editing especially since I have never used Premiere Pro for editing. My researching skills have helped me a lot in finding useful tutorials to help with editing. Scheduling and organizing my time have also helped me edit my video. At first, I would focus on editing my footage together. Once I am satisfied with it, I would focus on the diegetic and non-diegetic sound and perfecting the video. The more I edit my video, the more I improve using Premiere Pro. Editing my video has also allowed my creativity skills to develop. During the scene when Sa’ud puts down the recipe book and the gaming console on the right side of the table, the sound will only come out on the right side of the headset. I did this on purpose to create a more ambient feels so the audience would feel as if they are the character.
4. How did I integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?
To answer question four, I used audio podcast.
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Throughout my whole journey on working on media studies component one, I integrate different kinds of technologies whether it is for filming, research, editing and blogging.
Online
Before I start planning for my film opening, I did quite a lot of research online. To get some inspiration and ideas on my film opening, I researched a lot of film openings online on YouTube and took some notes on ideas I want to incorporate into my film opening and that is when I came across Guardian of the Galaxy and the Chef opening scene. Any notes and ideas I had and jotted down, I would keep it on the software Microsoft Word to put into my research and planning report.
For some of the graphic text for my film opening such as the ‘Magical Pictures Presents’, ‘A Film By Syahzani Afiqah’ and the movie title ‘Young Chef’ I used Canva. After I designed the graphic text on Canva, I downloaded it into a video and then import it into Premiere Pro to include it in my film opening.
To blog on my component 1, I use Wix.com. It was recommended by my tutor as it has various functions to choose from and it is quite easy to use once you get the hang of it. Any shot list, planning, storyboards, video edits, research, planning and development I have made, I update it on to my Wix blog.
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Hardware
To film my opening scene, I have used different equipment to shoot my video and the audio. To film my video, I used my camera which is the Canon 200d Mark II and at times I would use my tripod for stability when the camera is static. For the non-diegetic sound that I had to record separately, I mostly used my phone which is Honor 8s and at times I would use my microphone Razer Siren Mini which I had to connect to my laptop; Acer Aspire E 14 to record which I used the recording app installed in my laptop for this.
All of the footage from my camera SD card to my laptop, I would import the footage to Premiere Pro to edit. I would do the same thing with the audio from my phone. I would transfer all the audio recorded on my phone to my laptop and then I would import it all to Premiere Pro along with the other audio that I have recorded with my Razer Seiren Mini.
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Software
Any ideas, notes, planning, research and development, I would keep it on software Microsoft Word to put in my Wix report.
I used Premiere Pro to edit my video. The reason I used Premiere Pro is that it has various functions to choose from. It is also a widely use and recommended application for video editing. Before this, I had never used Premiere Pro for editing videos so I did a lot of research on tutorials and tips and advice on YouTube and the Adobe website.
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