Film Opening

 Hey blog!!!!! It's finally the last time I'll be saying that and although I am relieved to be done with this project it is also bittersweet. After months of hard work our film opening is officially completed and ready to be viewed. We can't wait for you to watch what we've spent so long working own and hope that you enjoy it! Thank you Cambridge for giving me the opportunity to be a part of this collaborative project in which I've had the opportunity to learn so many new skills. 

Yours Truly, 

    Vanessa Goetz

Cycles

By: Nadia Hernandez, Vanessa Goetz, Zain Vidal, and Clara Matiello

Creative Critical Reflection

Finally after hours of editing my CCR's are complete, and I've officially learned to use VN!!! Please enjoy and thank you for your time:)

 CCR #1: TedTalk 

Answers Question #1: 

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

CCR #1

CCR #2: Interview

Answers Questions 2,3,4

• How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?
• How did your production skills develop throughout this project?
• How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

CCR #2

Reflection

Hey blog! So the project has come to an end. I feel like I've been working on this for forever and at the same time everything went by so quickly. For the past months my life has just revolved around the planning and production off this film and all the parts that come with that. Although its been a learning experience I'm glad its finally over. 

Making this film intro gave me a bit of an insight into how much work truly goes behind each and every movie. This intro has shown me that all directors, producers, and actors are so under appreciated for what they do. There are so many tiny details to each film that make or break how successful they are. 

We really did everything such as creating different foley sounds with a team member laying on the floor so the camera wouldn't see them to using 3 different editing apps throughout our entire group because some members were less experienced than others. 

In this reflection I would like to express my gratitude to my group. I started off as mostly acquaaintances with most of the girls in our group but throughout this project we have built friendship and respect for each other. Although my teacher recommended groups of 3 or less, we we're set on being a group of four and knew having a large group would come with it's own issues. But overall, our issues and preferences are blocked by our individual strengths and skills that we each brought to the team. I know if it weren't for my team and how hard everyone worked my film intro would be nothing like the one we came up with. We were able to effectively communicate issues and preferences with each other and make time to meet up according to everyones schedules. 

Finally, I have to thank man teacher the most for providing me guidance throughout the whole year. Not only has my teacher dedicated her time to teaching me everything I needed to know prior to filming but was also willing to help and give feedback throughout the process. Although i hate lecture days and occasionally zone out my teacher has taught me everything there was to know about the project and never left me questioning what I needed to do. 

My next blog posts will include my final film introduction and creative critical reflections. Thank you! 

- Vanessa Goetz 

CCR #2 Q&A Rough Draft

 Hey blog!!! I've finally finished my first CCR and now its time to get to work on my second one as I am running out of time. After watching some samples in class I was inspired to do something similar to one that my teacher showed from a previous student of hers which used Vogues 73 question idea. 

I think this would be a great option specifically for me to do as these types of videos typically show around the house and considering that my house was the main "set" for the film I think my idea can be very unique. 

Here I will include a "rough draft" of points I should address in my answers to the three remaining questions: 

• How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

- our target audience is young adults and specifically women interested in STEM career paths,  we created this film by young women and for young women to try and inspire future generations.

- We engage with our audience by promoting our film on our social media accounts and uploading sneak peeks and behind the scenes footage for our audience to watch. 

-Our film will be distributed on YouTube to ensure maximum viewership 

• How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

-Starting off no members of my team were familiar with the topic of pseudoscience and after research we all understood it and developed our film

- We initially approached the project with our overall idea and this did not change throughout the filming process

-Nadia, Zain, and I have been working together since early on in the year. Initially, we approached most of our projects and decided to use just a simple camera. This project though we took more seriously and rented out better quality cameras, lights, and all sorts of equipment.

-As the main actress in this film, I learned what it was like to be in-front of the camera instead of behind it and because of this I pay so much more attention to detail. 

- Additionally, I didn't edit any major projects throughout the year but helped out when it came to this project. I learned how to use the VN platform and despite it taking me over 5 hours to edit a simple 2 minute clip I can say I have learned a new skill I am proud of. 

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

- Apps we used to edit include photos, iMovie, and VN

- Additionally, in some instances we used our iPhones to film as well as digital cameras, tripods, and lights that we rented from a nearby place called "Beacon". 

- Issues we experienced with technology included uploading all clips so that everyone was able to view and open them.

- Finally, throughout the Course of the project I have blogged the entirety of the process using blogger.com, on my blog you can find anything from research to issues we experienced during the project. 

CCR #1 Editing - Ted Talk Part 2

 Hey blog I'm back and the clips have finally downloaded to my computer so its time to do the actual editing now. I haven't finalized which app I'll use yet but I want to try VN because it seems to have more gadgets and features than iMovie. 

Here is what it looked like once I had all the clips into VN and began adding titles..

I added my titles according to the different Ted Talks that I investigated such as this one, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxgE0q1_m6U.

As you can see, titles such as the name are centered and kept together which is what I decided to implement in my CCR to make it look more like a ted talk. Although VN didn't provide the option to switch the font or color of the text I decided to simply capitalize the first letter of both my first and last name so that it would be clear those are the different parts of my name. 

The same goes for information such as the date and city filmed in. 

Here is how mine turned out!!!

I will continue editing this CCR using the VN application. 

CCR #1 Editing - Ted Talk Part 1

Hey blog!! I'm finally back from my trip and now starting to edit and finalize my CCRS. Unfortunately, I am not able to re-film this one as everything must be submitted by Tuesday April second and we only have one day of school before then in which I could use the auditorium. I would prefer not to risk the time that I have and instead try to make-up for the lighting and positioning inconvenience through different types of editing techniques. 

Also, due to a shortage on time I was only able to answer ¼ questions in this first CCR but am prepared to answer the remaining ones in the next reflection. First, because my CCR is in the form of a TedTalk I must take the TedTalk logo and recreate it. I did this using Canva, this is my final product 

Additionally, I learned how to use two different applications to do editing which are VN and iMovie. Ichose these apps as VN was recommended from a classmate who edited their short film using the app and I have previous experience with iMovie but would like to increase my knowledge on how to use it. 

One of the first issues I came across when trying to edit was getting the clips of my CCR onto my computer. Initially, I was fine with editing on my phone as that's how I have always used iMovie, but when I entered VN on my phone it felt too compact and I wanted to try on a bigger screen. Therefore, I downloaded the app to my laptop and sent myself the different videos I could use. Given that each video is  around 2:00 minutes long I knew this might take long. What I didn't know was that even after an hour of saving they still hadn't loaded onto my computer. Then, I tried signing into my iCloud account from my computer so I could have access to all the photos and videos on my phone and download them through there. At first this didn't work and an error message kept showing up but I left my computer open while I ate lunch and it thankfully loaded. Now, I chose the videos I wanted and started to download them which took a while. 

Part 2 Representation: Women in Stem

    Good morning blog!!! I'm currently in the airport on my way to Colombia and wanted to get in a final blog for the week. As the due date nears my team and I will continue to edit and find sounds for our project. 

    Our short film was inspired by the movie hidden figures, which follows a group of colored women during the civil rights era. These women were mathematicians and played a vital role in NASA's success. Now, this film focuses on African American women in mathematics while ours represents hispanic women in math. Because the genre is so under-represented it received three Oscar nominations. 

    Not only is it rare for hispanic women in STEM to be represented in the media but it is also quite rare in real life. According to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Latina women hold less than 2% of the total stem workforce. 

https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2147&context=etd#:~:text=Percentage%20of%20Latinas%20in%20STEM%20Careers&text=And%20while%20Latinas%20represent%20about,than%202%25%20of%20STEM%20occupations.

    Given that the media has an absurd amount of power they have the chance to try and diminish the gap in STEM representation or enhance it. Our character Tina is seen working tirelessly to complete her job and shows her dedication throughout the short film. Tina like many young girls is in a workforce surrounded by men and constantly trying to outperform them just for her to be noticed. 

https://www.srgtalent.com/blog/we-need-to-talk-about-media-portrayals-of-women-in-stem