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

Editing !

 Hey blog!! It's officially spring break!!!!! WOOHOOOO!! JK won't be much of a break I'm gonna use it to catch up on school work but it's okay. Anywayssss, today I met up with my team members Zain and Nadia to get started on some editing before Nadia and I leave for break this week. 

As mentioned before Zain is our main editor so we wanted to help her and get a head start on editing while we were still here. Unfortunately Clara couldn't join us as she left to Brazil Thursday afternoon. But thankfully she has been very helpful in finding and organizing our foley sounds. 

Nadia, Zain, and I met at 12 and sorted through all of our footage and titled each of our clips as well as tried to put them in order to our best ability. We got to edit the complete office scene but found that only that section took up 40 seconds of our allowed 2 minutes so we are thinking of cutting some of what we filmed. 

As I have little editing experience I will be helping Clara to find more sounds as well as background or theme music. I began to organize all the sounds we found into a notes document for easier access to all team members. 

Also, we came up with out production company name which will be ZVCN Productions, each letter represents our initials. Here is our logo....

CCR #1

 Hey blog earlier this week  my team member Clara and I went too the drama classroom to ask permission to use the auditorium some time this week to film our first CCR. I had the idea of doing something like a TedTalk and Clara liked my idea and wanted to do it aswell. The teacher said we are allowed to use the auditorium on Wednesday after school. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to write my CCR before Wednesday so instead I wrote it in class since we had a sub. My goal was to answer the first 2 questions but I only had time to write the script for my first one. 

I had relied on Clara to be there on Wednesday to help me setup my phone and computer as a teleprompter. Unfortunately, Clara woke up with an allergic reaction and spent the day at urgent care so I had to improvise. My other group members were either absent or unable to help me film on such short notice. 

When I arrived at the auditorium there was a group of drama students in there singing so I continued to write my script while I waited for them to leave.

Final Script for Question 1: 

 I ended up setting my phone up on top of the projector and somehow balanced my computer next to it. When I watched back the recording I noticed the camera was far too low to see me. See image below for reference. 

Additionally, the lighting is something I would like to have fixed as I can barely see myself in the video. I went to ask for help but the teacher had already left. I didn't want to press any buttons without supervision as I didn't want to break anything. 

Then, I decided to place my phone on top of stacked chairs to elevate it closer to my level. These videos came out much better. 

Although the lighting continued to be an issue this was out of my control so I am happy with the result considering I had to set up and film alone. I would still like to re-film this if given the opportunity as I know it could be better. 

Representation In the Media. Part 1.

 Hey blog!!! This is my final post for this week in which I will be discussing a very important part of our film which is representation in the media. 

With a female lead character there is automatically women representation. As a group of 4 girls we instantly knew that we wanted to represent mostly girls and this would also be most convenient for us as we wouldn't have to recruit any actors. Women representation I the media has been a touchy subject for years now as reflects societies ideas of gender roles and stereotypes. While attempts have been made to be more inclusive we are still far from achieving equality when it comes to representation of females in media vs males. According to a study in San Diego State University, only 29% of protagonists were female in 2020S highest grossing films. 

Recently though there has been a bigger trend in female characters and directors after the 2023 release of Barbie, and Mean Girls: The Musical - 2024. 

The Barbie film stressed female empowerment and leadership. Although the Barbie doll was once controversial due to it's unrealistic body shape and features the 2023 movie was created to erase the controversy as we are introduced to dozens of different "Barbies" with different careers, body types, backgrounds, and interests. In all, this movie was made to be inclusive of all women and diminish the standards that young girls playing with Barbies created in their heads when they were first introduced to the skinny, blue eyed, blonde hair doll that was praised by so many and therefore perfect in their young eyes. Aside from the cast being mostly female, so were the people behind the magic. This includes director, Greta German, and executive producer, Margot Robbie. Additionally, the soundtrack to the movie included hit female artists such as Lizzo, Due Lipa, Nicki Minaj, Ice Spice, and Billie Eilish. 

Showed feminine mise-en-scene through the use of the color pink in movie outfits, set and on Barbie press tour. 

In our film we included the use of pink pajamas to represent females and add a hint of color to the movie. Aside from this we used a light and natural makeup to make our main character look more presentable and feminine. 

The pajamas we used: