Final Project

Click the link below to watch the short film EROS.
https://youtu.be/SxeFq3vG2Ms
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxCVV6m7At4QYnZ4ZUU2RjFsem8

Click the link below to see the website for the short film EROS.
https://sofiaprieto6.wixsite.com/eros

Included below are photos of the postcard for EROS.

(front)                                           (back)

Creative Critical Reflection

My creative critical reflection can be viewed at the link posted below:
https://youtu.be/XQkRZ3YF_so

The Final Countdown

It is officially almost the end the last week. Six weeks ago I was just beginning my journey with simply an idea and 7 weeks to bring it to life. Now all my hard work is almost complete. At this stage in the process everything is nearly complete. With a few final touches on the website and postcard, and some last minute edits on my short film, I will using these last few days to perfect everything and make sure I've produced the best work I can. I also just need to finish recording my creative critical reflection, which I plan to complete tomorrow.

Almost two months ago now, EROS was merely a thought, an idea that came to me in the middle of the night. Now EROS is a reality, an actual short film that I created. I have never before created a complete short film, so this was an amazing learning experience. Even though I know its only a project and it won't go on the win Best Picture, I'm proud of what I've created because I was able to take a small idea that lived only in my head and turn it into something that I can watch and share with others. There is no feeling quite like that of having created something, having produced something from nothing.

This is my last post before I share the final products of the portfolio project. It feels thrilling to be nearly done, but also bittersweet because it has become part of my daily routine and it will be strange to not be working on it whenever I find myself with some free time. But, as they say, all good things must come to an end (sorry, that was cheesy, wasn't it?). So I bid you all farewell and I hope you enjoy EROS.

Just a Small Bump in the Road

Of course, nearing the end of my time with this project not all things can go exactly as planned. While I was editing my short film I realized that some of my footage was extremely dark, dark to the point that no editing could make it any better. And I guess I would be at fault for that. TIP: Always check your footage BEFORE you finishing filming and begin editing.

The particular scene that was too dark was my opening shot, which is pretty important, because you always want to make a good first impression. The only solution was to completely reshoot it. This meant having to break the news to my actors that we would have to redo a couple shots. This also meant having to redo my set dressing, which was quite elaborate despite the simplicity of the shot. The shot takes place in a dimly lit room. The first challenge was getting the room to be dark enough in the middle of the day, in Florida, the Sunshine State. Simply closing the blinds was not enough, my actors and I ended up taping yoga mats to the window in order to block out the sunlight. It wasn't the most eye-pleasing solution, but it got the job done. Then with the help of a small desk lamp, I was able to have enough light to keep the room dim, but still be able to see my actress.
Here is a still from the final shot:

This small error in production also gave me the opportunity to go back and get any extra footage that I may need, so in a way it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It always better to have too much footage than not enough. This was a learning experience for me when it came to filming and not only checking footage, but making sure I got enough of it. And thankfully my actors were wonderful and you can't even distinguish the scenes filmed at different times. This problem threw quite a curveball at me, especially so close to the end, but everything worked out and all issues were resolved, so it is all back on track and nearly ready to be revealed to the world.

EROS Preview

My short film EROS is going to be distributed primarily through local film festivals. This means that the short will not be able to view online right away, nor will it be released into theaters. As a way to build up some hype for my short I will be posting a short preview of the first 30 seconds or so of my short film. The preview will feature the beginning of EROS right up until the title card. This preview will act as a sort of 'trailer' for my short film.

In my experience these types of previews have been used mainly for television. In order to gather attention for the premiere of a new series or seasons, some shows will release the first 5 minutes, so that when people see it, they are more inclined to go and view the entire episode. But, most recently, I saw this technique used to promote The Ghost in the Shell. The studio released the first 5 minutes online as a way to give audiences a sneak peak of the film.

This technique is a great way to draw in audiences, especially when it comes to a piece that will not be available online. Instead of ignoring the online market, I want to use the popularity of social media to my advantage when it comes to promoting EROS. In the case of my short film, people would see my preview online and then therefore be more likely to go and watch it. In the long run I would eventually be making EROS available online, so the preview would also aid in advertising the digital release. And as a low-budget creator this is a great way to advertise without spending extra time and money to produce a trailer.


Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_in_the_Shell_(2017_film), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlXuACzsPcw, 

Preparing the CCR

The creative critical reflection is the last main component of this project. Through the CCR I will be reflecting and evaluating all my work thus far. The CCR is also guided by 4 main questions:

1. How do your products use or challenge conventions and how do they represent social groups or issues?

2. How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’?

3. How do your products engage with the audience and how would they be distributed as real media products?

4. How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

Here are examples of the general direction I will be heading in for each question.

1. Here is where I will be talking all about my genre, which is a genre. For the most part I followed the general characteristics of the genre, which you can read more about in this post. I will also be discussing the conventions I both followed and challenged in terms of typical representation of couples and relationships. On one hand I followed the typical conventions within Cora's story. In her case, it was her boyfriend who was the 'dominate' one in the relationship and she relieved heavily on him. Cora is also shown to be far my emotional than her now ex boyfriend, which follows typical tropes. On the other hand my character Ezra challenges many of the typical conventions. In his case his girlfriend was the one who held the power in the relationship and he was more dependent on her. He is also far more emotionally invested in the relaionship and he was never afraid to express his feeling to her.

2. Here I want to talk about by overall aesthetic. When creating all aspects of my project (the short film, website, and postcard) I wanted it to be explicitly clear that they all went together. One of the main concepts for this was the transition from a more dark and lonely atmosphere, to one that was bright and hopeful. This meant a lot of contrast between black and white. I want the change from dark to light to represent the character's development as they overcome obstacles that they face. The main image on my postcard is meant to symbolize where the story begins, the color palette is dark overall and feature cooler tones, but the warm lights above symbolize what could be in terms of a happy future. This directly correlates to particular scenes in my short film which will obviously connect the two. There is also the same aesthetic acheived in my website through incorporations of the same colors and tones, as well as more images.

3. As a short film I would distribute it primarily through local film festivals. As a new, low-budget director odds are I wouldn't be debuting my work at festivals like Sundance or Cannes, but I could get my work shown locally. Living in Florida there are a multitude of local festivals where I could have the opportunity to show EROS. I also created a short preview, which is available on the website, to act similarly to a trailer when it comes to promoting the short. There is also the postcard, which is a small, physical advertisement for the the short. The postcard will be distributed directly to audiences at film festivals as a way to draw in a crowd. Eventually, after the short has been showed in many festivals across a larger span of time, I will make it available to view online in order to reach a greater audience.

4. This entire project could not have been completed without the use of various pieces of technology and software. I used technology in every aspect of this project, including this very post. I did an entire post, which you can see here, where I broke down the different technologies that I would be using. In the CCR I will be going in to greater detail, as well as showing how I used them in real time.

To present my answers to these question I will creating a screen cast. With the screen cast I will be able to record what is happening on my computer screen in order to better exemplify what I will be talking about. I will be recording it both the audio and the visual using QuickTime and then editing it all together in Final Cut Pro.

As I am putting this final component together, I began to realize that this journey is nearing its end. It had been a long journey, but I am very excited for everything to finally come together and to have created something I can be proud of.


Sources: https://www.sundance.org/festivals/sundance-film-festival, http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/, http://sofiaprietoshortfilm.blogspot.com/2017/03/tech-and-software.html, http://sofiaprietoshortfilm.blogspot.com/2017/03/genre-research.html

Script Changes

EROS follows two people experiencing a breakup and their journeys overcoming that obstacle. Filming has begun and overall everything is going according to plan except for one minor change. As I began filming, I began to question and aspects of my script. In my first draft I had much of the silent scenes accompanied by voiceovers of the voicemails left by their exes, explained theirs motives behind breaking up. When I was filming and going over the script I realized it was repetitive and wasn't really showing the evolution of my main characters in the way I had imagined. To solve this problem I went back and scrapped all those lines and replaced them with voicemails left by my main characters when they tried calling back their exes. These voicemails will more clearly show the changes in the characters as they begin to get over their past relationship. It is a much better way to convey the emotions of my characters and the different ways each of them reacts to the situation. It is also a way to show how hard it is to let go of something that was a large part of your life and the reluctance to move on.


Here is an excerpt from one of the updated scenes:

[in a voicemail left for his ex]
Ezra: “Fun? You think all that we had was just fun? Are you kidding me?” "I thought this was serious, I mean we were together for over a year, and you think that was all just fun and games? Did you even love me or was I just some guy to have 'fun' with?"


With this new line I can more accurately show his anger and frustration with the situation, which wouldn't have been obvious before. Overall I think this change was necessary and benefited the short in general. Now their emotional journey is far more clearly represented.