SUPERHUMAN - CCR

Here it is... The CCR.

I hit all four points in order, but here goes nothing!


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lhhJc0kGgMZIXC23CICiLlG8BoFiuQAW/view?usp=sharing





Hope you enjoy :)



Thank you for allowing me to share my experiences producing this film.  It's been a blast and I'm excited to work on some personal film ventures in the future!

                                  - Jake



TODAY'S HERO: ELEKTRA (Elektra Natchios)



Backstory:
Elektra is a trained bounty hunter and assassin who flew to Japan after the death of her father.  There, she was trained by a cult of ninjas called "The Hand".

Powers:
She excels in Japanese martial arts, and additionally uses two sai to damage foes.

Other:
- She is in an active relationship with the hero Daredevil (Matt Murdock)
- Olympic-level athlete and gymnast
- Attended Columbia University

First Appearance:
- Daredevil #168 (1981)

Movie History:
- Played by Jennifer Gramer, she appeared in the 2003 film Daredevil
- Reappeared in 2005 for the spin-off film, Elektra

CCR - Script

I severely underestimated the video that is the CCR.

Over the course of two days, I have been writing the script, making sure I hit every essential part of the questions I was asked.  For my sanity (and for organization's sake), I answered the questions in order.  Upon writing my answers to the questions, I timed how I plan on delivering these lines in my video.

That's right.  I'm sitting at a comfortable 9 minutes and 45 seconds for my CCR.  This is fantastic.  It's not TOO long, but it's also not too short where I forget information.

As far as recording my voice over for the CCR, I used QuickTimePlayer to record my audio.  I read the script, paragraph at a time, capturing each section of my voice.  I found that the audio had white noise in the background, so I did what any sane person recording their voice would do:

I set up a mini recording studio under my bed sheets to block out all other sounds. This helped me get audio like this:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1MkZxTczl8dPs3ogkpM22OY6WP6XgLuxn

Now to go back in the studio and record the remaining twelve more audio clips :) This will be fun.

TODAY'S HERO: DOCTOR STRANGE (Stephen Strange)

Backstory:

Dr. Stephen Strange was a wealthy surgeon that got into a serious car accident, severely damaging his hands and ruining the opportunity to give surgeries again.  In an attempt to heal his wounds, Dr. Strange stumbled on a Temple of the Mystic Arts where he learned how to use magic; he would become so skilled at his wizardry he became known as the "Sorcerer Supreme".

Powers:

Dr. Strange has typical spellcasting abilities that he utilizes as a wizard.  He also possesses artifacts such as the Cloak of Levitation and the Eye of Agamodo which allow him to fly and manipulate time, respectively.

Other:

- He is the guardian of the New York Sanctum, which is the United States entrance to the wizarding world.

- Strange was trained by a being called The Ancient One, who taught him how to use magic

First Appearance:

- Strange Tales #110 (1963)

Movie History:

- Dr. Strange was introduced in the self-titled film Doctor Strange (2016) played by the legendary Benedict Cumberbatch.

- Strange made a cameo in Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

- Latest appearance was in Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

SuperHuman - Film Opening

Behold, SuperHuman.

It's been nothing but an exciting seven weeks with this film, and I'm so excited to share the beginning of my story.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SZPtMadKZq4ydUr6Y5yNXIIa6_T204J_/view?usp=sharing

                                                   - Jake

TODAY'S HERO: GAMORA

Backstory:

She is the sole survivor of her species, the Zen-Whoberis.  Thanos found her as a child and trained her to become a weapon for combat. 

Powers:

Gamora has superhuman strength, speed, agility, and durability. She also is a trained assassin and is trained in hand-to-hand combat.

Other:

- Has a sister named Nebula, who was also adopted by Thanos (this connection is more eminent in the MCU)

- nicknamed "The deadliest woman in the whole galaxy"

First Appearance:

- Strange Tales #180 (1975)

Movie History:

- First appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) played by Zoe Saldana

- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

- set to appear in Avengers: Endgame (2019)

I DID IT

After days of editing... I finished editing my film.


Even with all the times I was away from my computer, the short time period I had for filming, having to jump in and act in my film, my inconvenience in finding time to edit, I still finished my film.  With time to spare.

Actually, I did show the film to some of my friends and they said that the film was dark for some odd reason, so I increased the brightness, contrast, saturation, and temperature for all of my shots to create a more vibrant scene where the colors of the clothing actually appear the vivid color I imagined they would be. I'll be posting it tomorrow.


To reflect, the obstacles that I had definitely sucked, but I am really fortunate that I have people that I trust and experiences that I've had in the past to help me overcome my troubles in this process.

1.  Right at the beginning of my production process (during the research and story building phase), I had a full musical to put on at school.  Rehearsals were extensive and lasted for a very long time after school; I was able to pull out my laptop and breeze through the thought processes that I had beforehand.
2. My dad only being able to film one day definitely messed with my head and my planning.  If I had two days (like I originally planned for the Monday and Tuesday before I went to my States Competition), then I could review footage after the first day then be able to modify those angles and shots and test new positions on the second day of shooting.  However... that didn't go as planned. What also made filming difficult was...
3. That my actor couldn't be in the film. Because I could now only film on Tuesday for a specific period of time, my original performer couldn't play the role.  I am lucky because I knew I was capable of being in the film, and I am even luckier because one of my good friends is very comfortable holding a camera.  I don't think I shared this with the blog, but I have done a music video with Luis where he was behind the camera and I was the main actor. It was a really positive experience for me and I was more than willing to let Luis carry out my vision for me.
4. Editing during my Spring Break was a monster. If only I didn't fall asleep on the flight to Nashville, I would have gotten it done sooner.  I had to stay in the hotel sometimes while my family would check out an exhibit in the Country Music Hall of Fame just so I could get the transitions between cuts to be exactly how I desired.

Doing these blogs have really been positive for me; I never have a problem of thinking of what to blog about or not having enough information to fit into the blogs.  I always have fun doing these blogs and I think I might pursue doing more blogs even after this portfolio project is over. Just wanted to throw that out there.

Now I need to work on my Creative Critical Reflection.  I already know how I plan on structuring my video, I just need to make a script first and then I can record a voiceover to place over different photos and videos of my production process.  I have until Sunday; I can definitely accomplish this.

Next post will be my Film Opening for SuperHuman, then the following post will be my script for my CCR.

                                 - Jake

TODAY'S HERO

Before I begin this segment of "Today's Hero", I want to announce that Luis and I actually got tickets to the more important Superhero film of any Superhero film ever created: Avengers: Endgame.  We got tickets to see this epic film on April 25 (the day BEFORE it's official release date) and we are beyond excited to see how the Russo Brothers plan on concluding the story that the Marvel Cinematic Universe began in 2008 with Iron Man.

In honor of this infamous event, I'll make an exception to the "Hero" rule that I've made for this section and I'll research the villain of this film and of the MCU (so far).

THANOS

Backstory:

The mad titan himself was born on Titan, the moon of Saturn, where he grew up in his childhood years. As an adolescent, he fell in love with the embodiment of Death and to please her, sought to kill half of the universe to get her attention.

Powers:

He possesses superhuman speed, strength, stamina, immortality, and invulnerability (because he is descendant of the Eternals, a race of aliens). He also possesses skilled hand-to-hand combat and is able to project beams of energy at opponents.  With the Infinity Gauntlet that he is commonly depicted with, he is able to manipulate all matter and alter all events in time and space.

Other:

- Is famously seen wielding the Infinity Gauntlet with all six Infinity Stones in it

- Has a helicopter in one comic called his "Thanoscopter"

- The iconic "snap" from Avengers: Infinity War was from a scene in the comic book where he also finger snapped with the full gauntlet equipped.

First Appearance:

- The Invincible Iron Man #55 (1973)

Movie History:

- First cameoed in The Avengers (2012) played by Damion Poitier

- Appeared in following MCU movies (played by Josh Brolin) in 

      - Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

      - Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

      - Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

      - Will appear in Avengers: Endgame (2019)

SUPERHUMAN - Scene 2 (Editing Process)

This scene is difficult.

I'm both pressed for time and also limited in the footage I have. There are a few clips that are difficult for me to edit because there isn't a lot of variation in the shots that I have, but I don't have a lot of time for reshoots.

I'm trying my best to change the character I'm focusing on during dialogue, but some of the lines are delivered very fast by the actors so it's not guaranteed that the audio will sound fluid with the cuts. This is something I have to test with outside opinions because I've watched and rewatched my video numerous times trying to perfect my edits.

This is what I have so far, I'm going to ask for outside opinions and hopefully in my next posting I will have this video completed!!

I also realized I have to have a brief credits section. That won't be too difficult to implement, but just something I have to consider before I finish editing.

                                     - Jake


TODAY'S HERO: CAPTAIN AMERICA (Steve Rodgers)



Backstory:
Steve Rodgers, a hopeful soldier in World War II, was chosen to be experimented on by the US Government to test a "super soldier serum".  Rodgers was then sent back into the battlefield as Captain America.  An incident during battle left him stranded in ice, where he stayed until the present day.

Powers:
"Cap" has maximized human strength, speed, durability, agility, reflexes, mental processing, master tactician, and wields a shield made of the strongest metal on Earth, Vibranium (fictionary metal of the Marvel Universe).  This shield can be thrown similar to a boomerang as it returns back to Rodgers after being thrown.

Other:
- A fun fact that I want to mention, there is actually a hero by the name of "Captain Britain" that I discovered while playing a LEGO Marvel game with one of my friends.  I thought it was a funny parody of Captain America. I might as well do my next TODAY'S HERO section about him.
- The original Captain America shield was manufactured by Tony Stark's (Iron Man's) dad.
- Had a sidekick during WWII named Bucky Barnes; he became the anti-hero "Winter Soldier"
- Bucky actually became Captain America in one rendition of the character.

First Appearance:
- Captain America first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 (1941)

Movie History:
In the MCU, Steve Rodgers is played by Chris Evans.
- Debut in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
- Reappearance in The Avengers (2012)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Most recently appeared in Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

SUPERHUMAN - Scene 1 (Editing Process)

Man, conversation scenes are weird to edit.

I told Luis to get mostly over the shoulder shots for my scenes, so there didn't seem to be a lot of diversity in shots for me to work with.  One of my difficulties was trying to find breaks in dialogue where it made sense to switch shots. There are only four cuts, but I think that they are in places that are effective. 

I need to tighten some of the editing up, especially because some of the dialogue sounds choppy with the editing.  I could always extract the audio from one clip and play it over another one to lose the odd discontinuity in dialogue, but the actors speak to fast for me to make this edit. The timing of this scene is exactly how I timed it when I read from the script, so I'm very proud of myself for that. 

After watching, rewatching, and rewatching my edit multiple times, I realized that one of the flaws of WeVideo is that they don't show you your video in full resolution until the project is complete.  The screen recordings that I'm taking and uploading to the blog don't do the film justice (I know this because the G7X Mark II camera that I used films entirely in FullHD (1,920 x 1,080p)).  This is a huge downside to this software because it would be more effective for me to see my film clearly right at the moment of editing so I know exactly what the audience is going to see.


I'm glad I was able to sneak in some time to edit this short yet fun scene of my characters and (fingers crossed) I might get at least 80% of this project done by my next posting!!

                                 - Jake

TODAY'S HERO: HAWKEYE (Clint Barton)

Backstory:
Clint Barton and his brother Barney ran away to the circus after their parents were killed in a car accident.  At the circus, Clint was taught to be an expert marksman and was trained to be an extreme athlete.  Clint went on to become a star carnival attraction, being dubbed "The World's Greatest Marksman" and "Hawkeye".

Powers:
Clint obviously has excellent bowmanship, but in addition, he is skilled in hand-to-hand combat and has a slew of different arrows he can use in varying scenarios.

Other:
- His iconic purple suit is not worn in the movies because the mask was deemed "too weird" and challenging to make cool on screen.

First Appearance:
- First appeared in Tales of Suspense #57 (1964)

Movie History:
Played by Jeremy Renner, Clint has appeared in
- Thor (2011) (cameo)
- The Avengers (2012)
- The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Clint Barton's character is set to reappear in April's Avengers: Endgame (2019)

The Challenge that is Spring Break

Oh boy, this project could not have happened at a more convenient time for me. This entire week (starting yesterday morning through Sunday evening) I'm going to be in Nashville, Tennessee going around the city exploring, then heading to Gatlinburg to hike in the mountains.  If I was in any other stage of my production, this would be very convenient for my blog, but because I'm in the editing process (and taking into account that I slept on the 2 1/2 hour flight from Miami to Nashville), I've had to go to extreme lengths to try to get my editing done.

I'm currently sitting atop my hotel in Nashville which has an excellent view of the nearby convention center.  Because the weather is 67º and sunny today, I figured it would be a wasted opportunity to not sit outside.  Of course, this meant that I'd have to sit on the sixth-floor deck with my mom's sunglasses on, squinting at my laptop screen,  but the breeze is nice and I have a lot of fun working on my blogs (if you couldn't tell already).

I've connected to my hotel's WiFi so that I can edit the first scene of my film in the 90-minute window of time that I have before dinner, so in my next blog post I will definitely showcase my edit of that specific scene of the two characters outside the classroom, then my fourth post of this week will be of the scene inside the classroom.

From Nashville,

Jake

TODAY'S HERO: MS. MARVEL (Kamala Khan)

Backstory:

Kamala Khan is a teenager from New Jersey whose dormant "inhuman genes" are activated after a major event in the Marvel Comics storyline.  As a huge fan of heroine Captain Marvel, Khan adopted the name Ms. Marvel.

Powers:

Khan has the ability to alter the size and shape of her limbs (similar to Mr. Fantastic, my first superhero entry :) ) and has a healing factor (similar to Wolverine, who I've also posted about previously).

Other:

- She is the first Muslim character to headline her own comic book series

- She is the fourth person to hold the mantel of Ms. Marvel, the first was Carol Danvers (now Captain Marvel)

- The first volume of her series (Ms. Marvel) won a Hugo Award for the best graphic story in 2015

First Appearance:

- Kamala Khan actually first appeared in a Captain Marvel comic (Captain Marvel #14 (2013)), where she began her enthrallment for Carol Danver's superhero alter ego

Film History:

- She currently has not been in any major films at the time of this posting (although there have been rumors that her character is desired to hit the big screen).  I first found out this character existed two years ago and I really enjoyed that Marvel is trying to appeal to have more representation in their heroes.  Although Khan is not currently a household name, I hope in the future that more diverse characters will be discussed in society to join the ranks of T'Challa (Black Panther), Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel), and Matthew Murdock (DareDevil).

Title Graphic

Obviously the most straight forward and essential feature of a film opening is the title.  It helps the audience know what to associate the content of the film under; similar to how a book has a cover page that the reader has to look at before viewing the content of the story.  I'm going for a similar idea in my film with the title graphic I just created.

(The first 10 seconds of the film)

This is the first shot of my opening, and I want the audience to know (from the beginning) that they are watching a film about a SuperHuman.  It saves time and gets the title out of the way in the film so that the audience can be fully engrossed in the story and not interrupted by the title.

This graphic was super simple to implement in my film.  I knew I wanted the title to be on one side of the frame and Ivan to be on the other side.  During filming, I made sure to communicate my vision of this opening to the cinematographer, who composed the shot with me in the left corner so the title can appear on the right third.

In WeVideo, there is a tab that grants me access to text functions over my film. Upon entering this folder, I can see different text options that I can select for my film.  I chose a different style in this clip but for my film, I chose "puff", which is a cool (and brief) fade effect (this can be seen in the first video).

(how to access the text tab in WeVideo)

To reposition the location of the text on the screen, I used the x and y coordinates to alter where the title would be displayed.  This allowed the text to be in the composition I wanted.

Now to work on the timings of the dialogue. Hopefully the clips I got don't make the film run over time.

                                 - Jake

TODAY'S HERO: THE FOX ACQUISITION

In this section of "TODAY's HERO" I actually didn't want to talk about a specific hero, but an entire group of them.

This past week, Disney recently acquired 21 CENTURY FOX.  Although this purchase was fueled by the desire to fill their upcoming "Disney Plus" streaming program with more properties, many fans of the Marvel franchise have raved over this event. This is because FOX previously owned the rights to a multitude of beloved Marvel characters, such as The Fantastic Four family, the X-Men, and popular film franchise Deadpool. 

In the 1990's, Marvel had sold their properties online to a multitude of studios so that they could create films with their characters in them.  However, Marvel Comics realized their error in losing access to their roster of heroes, so they created their own production company and slowly tried acquiring production rights to their characters such as Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk (who are both partially owned by Marvel at the moment). 

This recent merger allows for fan's dreams to come alive on the big screen and give them the ability to see the Fantastic Four partner with Spider-Man on missions as well as see the X-Man fight the Avengers. 

The next 10 years of Marvel will definitely be exciting years for the fans because they will see (practically) all of Marvel together as a family telling the same stories they did in the comics.