Project Components

  Today is the day you all now can officially see Unaware in all of its glory,

  I have created a linktree to put in the film's Instagram bio!

  Here are all the links to each specific component.

Short Film

Instagram

Postcard

  It is possible I posted the film on both Instagram and Youtube at 11:11... superstitious much? 

  I hope you all enjoy this piece, thanks again.

  Till we meet again.

Critical Reflection

  My short film, Unaware, aimed to capture the pressure felt by teens preparing for the SAT. More specifically, I aimed to capture the idea that preparing for your future as you prepare for college can be a challenge that people often do not accept and deal with which leads to chaos.

  Unaware is a comedic coming-of-age film. When looking at the coming-of-age conventions I was reminded of how coming-of-age films often focus on an important period of time for the main character as change is occurring. Researching these conventions made me think of two of my favorite films Sixteen Wishes and The Half of It which both feature stories about change that incorporate a love story, another common coming-of-age convention. Unaware features Sofia who is studying for her important SAT. To an extent, my film challenges the coming-of-age conventions since there is no strong romance in this film, but there does seem to be a developing crush on someone unknown. Unaware aligns with the comedic conventions which ties to the specific comedic choice of dialogue used. For example: "Help me, Harry". This current age reference is meant to make the audiences laugh and feel that they can relate to Sofia. Often people love to associate with and feel a connection with their favorite celebrities. Also, specific shot choices such as the long shot where Sofia falls on the treadmill and the long shot where Sofia forgets her keys making her stop mid-shot come together to develop an overall comedic tone. This aligns with the comedic conventions since often in comedy films there are over-the-top actions taking place, which is exemplified by Sofia taking a long time and doing unnecessary tasks to prepare for school. Challenging the comedic conventions is the ending of Unaware since it does not end in a happy tone rather it ends in the frustration Sofia feels after realizing she woke up during the middle of the night.

Frustration Filled

  Unawares' target audience is mainly females between the ages of twelve and eighteen many of whom are a part of Generation Z which is a very technological generation. Due to this, when branding Unaware the focus was placed on developing a relatable brand. The film component includes aspects of recent pop culture such as the previously mentioned reference to Harry Styles and the inclusion of modern prop pieces such as a hydro flask and minion figurine. Also, I created and posted a blooper reel to develop the feeling that there is a sense of realness behind the film. To target younger audiences I posted short promotional TikToks since younger generations tend to have short attention spans. The brand was not only meant to target Gen Z but also older people who can relate to the film's storyline. On Instagram, I included an interview with my mother who is not a female between the age of twelve and eighteen. I did this to potray that older generations would enjoy this film and to promote parents watching the film with their children. Also, when creating the Spotify playlist that is inspired by the film I used both recently released and past released music. I then used this music and posted Instagram stories to promote the film and interact with the community. Also on Instagram, TikTok, Spotify, and in the film itself, I decided to only use lowercase letters which is a common trend amongst my target audience. On the YouTube page, however, I did use capital letters as YouTube typically has an older target audience.  This relates to the idea of Unaware establishing a relatable brand.

  A way I could improve the brand would be by using the same font on all promotional items such as posts and the postcard. Speaking of the postcard, I do not think it developed my brand well. I mentioned
the social media pages and film festival screenings on the back of the card, but the postcard itself may have made the film look like it was a horror film due to the darkness of the key art. I used pink text to try and balance this out. This choice of the colored text relates to my target audience being females. 

  My brand is not only able to interact with its female aged twelve to eighteen target audience but is also able to represent its target audience. The main character and only character featured on the screen in Unaware is Sofia. Sofia is dealing with the struggle of feeling like she is disappointing her parents as can be known by the music choice she listens to "When Do I Stop" by Ale Aldana. Sofia is a Latino teenage female. I decided to create the character Sofia since young Latino women are underrepresented in film. Paola Segnini, a Latino portrays the role of Sofia, and Ale Aldana a Latino created the music for the film. The age of Sofia can be seen through the story since the SAT is specific to students and also by the overall mise-en-scene. In Unaware it can be seen that Sofia is around the age of preparing to go to college since she has college shirts hanging in her closet. As mentioned prior, there is a romantic aspect of Unaware. After waking up Sofia sees a text from a contact labeled with a heart. The audience never learns the name or the gender of this person. There is often a lack of LGBTQ+ representation within the Latino community so it is possible that Sofia is not out to people so she hides the identity of this crush. She also has a mini pride flag on a shelf in her room. I choose these aspects to represent the LGBTQ+ community and to normalize their existence in films. Many films based on LGBTQ+ characters solely focus on the romance aspect. I think Unaware is successful in representing my desired target audience due to the modern aspects of the story, but I could have included more Latino culture such as Sofia using Spanish after she falls on the treadmill or her mother using Spanish to express her deepened frustration towards her daughter after she is informed of Sofia's actions.

Modern Materials

  After the creation of Unaware over the span of ten weeks, I have gained knowledge on the process of creating a short film alone. I also have deepened my passion for marketing. I know there are aspects of each of the three components that could've been better, specifically making sure that all three aspects are tied together both visually and meaning-wise. All things considered, I am proud of the short film Unaware, its social media pages, and its postcard. 

Did I Find My Purpose?

  Hey blog, it feels crazy to type that by this time tomorrow my short film "Unaware" will be released. I wanted to wrap up my A Level AICE Media blog the way I began it which was by discussing how I hoped to find purpose whilst creating my AICE Media Short Film.

  When I began this project I was facing some mental health struggles which led to me missing a good chunk of school. I am still dealing with these issues which have impacted my motivation levels. I believe the formation of this project brought out my "good side". I have noticed that when I am focused on something I am passionate about, whether it be an American Sign Language Signing Show (which I was a part of earlier this year) or coming up with social media marketing for Unaware, I become an overall more stable person. Was I stressed while making this film? Of course, I was, but it was a sort of good stress as it made me push myself and gave me a reason to go on.

  Now to reflect on the specifics of the project. I know I should have done more research into other coming-of-age films, but my lack of ideas at the beginning completely pushed my timeline back. If I would have watched other coming-of-age films I could have likely written a better script, but I do think my sort of modern-day culture-related lines in the script and overall storyline were good.

  Filming wise I would love to get a "real" camera for any future projects I decided to create as my iPhone was slightly problematic. I would not have the issues of forgetting my iCloud password and having trouble saving footage if I had a camera. Also, I like to invest in a mic and a lighting kit. I do think given the lightning I have in my home I used my resources well for example by using a night skylight that gave the bedroom a night-like atmosphere. I think it would have been nice to use a mic to record the few sounds I recorded such as the shower running and the sink running. This would have given me clearer sounds.

  

  Editing wise I am happy with what I created. I think iMovie really pulled through in being easy to use. I would like to learn how to use other editing platforms on my own time when I have lots of time to learn the programs, but for now, iMovie worked well. I was able to use certain iMovie tools I had not used prior such as the ability to speed up clips and the usage of filters.

   In regards to marketing this was my favorite aspect of the project. My postcard may be slightly boring as I forgot to take any pictures during the filming process... but I think it came out alright. I really like my social media. I interact with my audience on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Spotify which are all commonly used by my target audience. I enjoyed getting to be creative when posting specifically when creating the TikToks. I do however wish I could have learned how to import fonts into and out of Canva as I believe this would have created more cohesiveness within my project.

  I am very thankful for the people I worked with during this film. Paola was a great actress as well as an overall supporter throughout this process. She is a person who will give her honest opinions so this was much appreciated. I also have to thank, Laura, who played the unseen role of the mother in both the film and my life. Her support throughout this process is very appreciated. I also must thank Ale Aldana who created the songs used in both the film itself and the blooper reel. The song "When Do I Stop" well-encapsulated Sofia's emotions. Prior to Ale's offer to create this song for my film, I really had given up on music due to not hearing back from multiple companies. Lastly, I thank the past and current AICE Media Students and my teacher Ms. Stoklosa (hi if anyone is reading this) who have made me push myself. Seeing other people's projects come to life has been awesome. The people in my class are crazy talented and I cannot wait to see what they accomplish in life as most of them head to college.

  It feels weird to think I will not be taking AICE Media during my senior year of high school. I am a person who hates change so I hope to continue to use my film passion to create new projects just for funsies. One passion AICE Media sparked in me was the passion for social media/marketing. I first fell into this when I created a website and merchandise for the AS Level Music Marketing project.  I then again was able to use this passion to create the social media for "Unaware" which I am quite of.

  I thank all of you who have read these blogs even if somedays the blogs were just me complaining about how all music companies hate me (side note, yesterday I received an email from the owners of the song "Cold Cold Man" by Saint Motel, which I wanted to use for my blooper reel, asking for more information to help me gain the rights to the song... a little late). I hope to continue to use my passion as a way to escape from my mind. I hope to blog more here in the future, even if it is just little life updates because I miss blogging.

So Did I Find My Purpose? Do people even have purposes?

Post Card

  I have now completed all three components of my project! Here is my print component, the postcard!

Front 
                                         

Back

My postcard is simple since my target audience of teens may not want to read a lot of information. Instead they would rather scroll through social media which I listed. I also listed my fake screening at the Florida Film Festival which is an upcoming festival in my home state. 

Sadly I was unable to figure out how to import a font into Canva. I was hoping to use the same font I used for my title and credits. However, I think this font, which I have used for promotion on the social medias works well! I was a little worried that since the stills I chose for the front and back are dark lightning wise it might give off the wrong perception that this is a horror film. This font I believe makes it clear that it is not a horror film. I choose the pink color since in the film Sofia wears a plain pink shirt at one point. As I stated in my social media post I have decided to use all lowercase for my social media posts and even credits, so I carried this through to my postcard. 

Social Media

  Hi again blog, I made a blooper reel for my film! Whilst filming Paola (aka Sofia) and I (the director) had lots of funny moments which I felt the audience would enjoy seeing. This is also a source of promotion for "Unaware" since I am posting it prior to posting the film. 

  I uploaded a few more posts on Instagram and linked the Spotify playlist I created for the film. I also created a Tik Tok account where I posted a few videos and then added them to Instagram as well. I have a few Tik Toks saved to post after the film's release.

  I have decided I am going to post the film and blooper reel on both YouTube and Instagram. YouTube is a very commonly used platform not just in America, but globally. 

  I am waiting to get Paola's approval to post the blooper reel since she is in it and should have an opinion on if she wants any clips removed. 

  Update she said I could upload it!

https://youtu.be/APTQSgO86QY 

  My goal when creating the blooper reel was to create something real. I did not edit the visual aspects at all so the looks are the originally filmed form. As you may notice in the image below (if it ever uploads) the first shot of the blooper reel looks quite grainy. I did not use this shot in the film itself, however, it is a realistic shot of what footage a cinematographer may capture. I did, however, edit the sound to make sure everything was even and could easily be heard. I tried to align my clips up to the music, which is the instrumental version of "When Do I Stop" by Ale Aldana, to create a blooper reel that is a satisfying watch.

  Plot-wise I was very lucky that my first and last shots came naturally. As you would notice if you watch the blooper reel (which you should) in the first blooper I mistakenly was recording and say "3 Oh I was filming this whole time" since I had planned to start recording, but already was. This leads well into the rest of the bloopers. The last shot is not really a blooper. It is footage I shot to use for a vlog, but then I never did create the vlog because I did not capture enough vlog footage. However, this clip fits perfectly as an end to the blooper reel as in it Paola and I wave bye to the camera!

Moving Forward:

  I will be creating my postcard tomorrow!

  

I can not believe this project is coming to an end. I am attending a Taylor Swift concert Thursday so my last blog posting will be on Wednesday. In that post I will have my postcard, short film, and social media pages linked. 

Editing Wrap Up

  Hey blog, I never made a proper blog post as to how editing my film Unaware went so here is this!

Importing Footage:

  When I initially imported my footage I had over five minutes of footage just from the start of the short film till the gym scene ended. I was very worried as I knew once I imported the rest my film would be likely over ten minutes. Luckily I found the portion of iMovie that allows you to change the speed of your footage! I majorly utilized this tool.

Speed

  This tool allowed me to be able to use all of the footage I shot. A great aspect of this tool is that it preserves the pitch of the clip.

Stabilize Footage:

  Another iMovie tool I utilized was the stabilization ability. Even with my camera rig, I had some shacky hands so some of my footage was shakey. I was able to add the stabilization effect so my footage is more stable.

Stabilized

Match Color:

I used the match color filter to make each gym scene look the same. Since I shot from multiple angles in that location the lightning differed prior, so this helped!

Matching Color

Matching Color

Filter:

  Speaking of color I used iMovies Day into Night filter to make sure that the clips where Sofia leaves and enters the house appear to be nighttime. We shot these scenes at night, but my outside porch light was a little too bright and cold not be dimmed.

Before and After

Crop to Fit:

  To edit a few close-up shots I used the crop-to-fit feature on iMovie so that the image displayed was easily readable.

Sofia's Screen

Sound Editing:

  All of my dialogue I was able to record while on set! I only added in the music/music alarm and a few extra dietetic sounds such as the sound of Sofia's phone being laid down and the sound of the shower running. 

Shower Sound

                                      
Title/Credits
  When choosing a font for my title and credits I knew I wanted something that the audience would look at and think of school. I used the website Dafont and found the font "School Book New" which looks like a pencil writing.

Font

Font in Film

  My screenshotted images do not seem to want to upload currently, but I hope they will later! Update I had to import them differently which took quite a few minutes :(

Moving Foward:

  I will be creating my postcard tomorrow!

  I have created a blooper reel for social media and will post about it now!

Almost There

 Hey, blog, less than a week remains till my project is due... that is crazy. I have an update for you all!

Storyline:

  I have almost finished editing! I would like to get some feedback on my shortfilm tomorrow and Sunday to see if people think any changes need to be made.

  I decided to use all of the footage I shot whilst filming. This means the storyline is longer! The ending is now when Sofia shows her frustration by laying her head down after she got ridiculed by her parents for waking up at the wrong time. I decided to go with this ending since I believe it fits my coming-of-age genre better since in coming-of-age films often the protagonist interacts with their family. In this case, the audience hears the protagonist's mom. I decided to have Sofia be the only character shown on screen since she is who the film is based on.

I apologize that this is short, editing has been taking up my time. I will go into more depth about the editing process and social media process tomorrow!

Music Hates Me

  Hey blog, I have not blogged on here thinking I would blog about my blooper reel being complete. Well... I have not started the blooper reel as I never heard back from Warner regarding using "Cold Cold Man" by Saint Motel. This really hurts the soul.

  I looked for a song for the blooper reel and thought I found one on this website uppbeat. I then realized the sound was one of their premium sounds and that I would have to pay to use this. I will not be doing this. 

  I might call Warner again tomorrow and see if they can give me a more direct number to call for information since the lady who picked up when I called did not know about licensing. I would like to beg you to use the song. I may or may not have recorded the song on my phone and started editing a blooper reel with it to see if the song is worth fighting for to use. It is worth it. When in contact with the company tomorrow I may even say how I will use the instrumental version of the song if needed. If they claim I have to pay I might just pay... I know I should just find another song, but I am so set on this one.

  I have already asked Ale, the creator of "When Do I Stop", to send me an instrumental recording of the song. I believe I will use this in my blooper reel if I do not gain the licensing rights.

 Additionally, today I recorded a few more sounds for my short film. I recorded the sink water running and the shower running. I believe I have all the sounds I needed for "Unaware". I am entering my final little fixes editing period and then I will be getting feedback from my peers as to if the editing is clean.

Moving Foward:

  I need to continue editing my short film.

  I need to create my postcard.

  I need to post on social media.

  I need to find music for my blooper reel if I am unable to gain the licensing.