CCR

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vOV-XdQ45mWGBc71srS4LJ7O1SJimPkyfWewYdEcoK0/edit

1. How does your product use or challenge conventions AND how does it represent social groups or issues?

One of the conventions that could be considered is the main male role being played by a girl. Although this is a very common thing to do in theater, it is not a very known thing in the film. This role was not originally seen to be “boundary breaking” by our group but more convenient. This is because we could not find a male actor to play this role and Natalie came dressed like that to school for spirit week. We believed that this was perfect timing for our film and thought nothing more of it. However, when looking at it now, this can be seen as something out of the ordinary. These days, this type of thing- a female playing a male role- is not seen as a huge deal. This is because society is becoming more open to these things and more accepting. Although, there will always be someone who does not see the same perspective as the rest of us and can cause controversy to this film.

2. How does your product engage with audiences AND how would it be distributed as a real media text?

This video gives the audience a visual for the song, Getaway Car and allows for a fun spin on what we believe the video means. During this process, our main goal as a group was to properly show the storyline and take the song literal instead of how the artist originally intended. This is because we thought it would be more entertaining for the audience and what Taylor Swift herself would have probably done. Although the production, props, and editing are not as expensive or creative as to what the artist would have done, we believe that the video we created was a good representation of the lyrics and meaning of the song. There has also never been a music video created for this song. Which is a let down for her fanbase and other supporters because this song is very beloved and known by a lot of people. However, there have been a lot of music videos to this song by other people, sharing their ideas as to how they believe the video should go. When posting this video, it could be spread through the fanbase and others who love this song mostly online or by word of mouth, like almost everything else posted on the internet today. 

3. How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

In the beginning of the filming process, I immediately had an idea of how we would portray this song. Then, I discussed it with Hayley, since we have the same period together. We talked about it and she seemed to like my idea but there were some tweaks we needed to fix to make the storyline run smoother. This time together talking about the film allowed us to share both of our ideas and come up with compromises. Such as how we wanted the characters to be portrayed or the order in which the story would go. This taught both of us the importance of planning for production and how necessary it is to have a clear, communal agreement on how the video should go. These compromises also allowed for us to achieve the best possible version and expand our ideas. After this, we told our other partner, Natalie, and she agreed with our idea. Then, we began to think of the outfits and props that would help show the idea in our mind. This part of production took a while to develop because none of us wanted to spend a lot of money on this project, so we had to get creative with our props and do most of the work ourselves. When we started to film, we learned a lot of tricks to make the filming process more efficient. For example, we filmed all of the shots that were in the same location first and changed clothing or signs to show the difference in scenes. This cut time in half and allowed us to use our props and signs made. When we were done filming in one shot, we moved to a different location to film the bank scene. One of the team members came up with the idea to use the hole in the wall to introduce the new location. This was also something that developed with time, we all began to become more creative with the camera angles to show properly what was going on. Such as the pan of the car, or the over the shoulder shot with Hayley dialing 911. I believe that this was the most valuable development during production because it expanded our creation and thought of smoother transitions. These shots also allowed for the audience to have a better understanding of what the characters were doing and what was going on in the music video.

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

For this project, my group and I mostly used our phones to film and edit. To film, we mostly used Hayley’s phone because she had the best camera and battery life than the rest of us. We also used my phone for the car scenes in the video. This is because the car was connected to Hayleys so it would have been difficult to film. After we were done filming, these clips were sent to me where I spent a couple of days editing and combining the clips on CapCut. Personally, this editing platform was the best one to choose for this video. This is because it was the most simple and straightforward to use. CapCut also seemed to have more options compared to iMovie without making editors pay for it. Utilizing this app for all of its perks was one of the best parts of editing. I tried several new things that I have not seen before. For example, I played with the transitions to properly show the flashback in between scenes. I also experimented with the text bubbles. Such as its shape, font, and size. When it came to placing the music over the video, I recorded the song with my phone and used my laptop to play the song off of Apple Music. This process took a couple of tries because of the background noises of the environment I was in. But finally, I got the recording and imported it to CapCut.