Critically Reflecting Upon Myself

The following is my critical reflection for the A-level project:

Simplify, Simplify

I previously posted my poster on this blog; however, that was one of my longest posts, so, for simplicity's sake, I am re-posting the poster, plain and simple.

Two Trailers, Comin' Up!

Trailer 1:

Music licensing:
"The Escalation" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Trailer 2:

Music licensing:
"Undaunted" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

If There's a Minimalism, is there a Maximalism?

Posters are hard. There. I said it. I am not a graphic designer, have never taken a class on computer programs, and I only know how to use basic tools on Photoshop.

However, I know more than Lisa, so this wonderful task was handed over to me (to be fair, the website was handed over to Lisa).

Because of my lack of knowledge with all things design, I took to researching. I started with "what makes a good movie poster." Next, I researched drama movie posters. Then, I thought about how to make ours different, so I looked into minimalist movie posters (minimalism is in right now, right?). From there, I noticed that many minimalist posters are also graphic posters, so I took the time to look into those.

With all these poster ideas running through my head, I got stuck on the idea of branding. We need a central image that can carry over between all media, as well as one that can be used for the campaign we're our production companies are starting to go along with the movie.

That, my dear friends, was when I recalled The Hunger Games poster:

It's a graphic, central image that is representative of not only the movie but also the cause. Granted, this cause is fictional, but the idea is still the same. The best part was that The Hunger Games has just about the same target audience as Alma's Angel, so I knew that this marketing technique would work. Picking an image was easy: The movie is called Alma's Angel, so our graphic should be wings. I had the perfect movie poster sitting in my brain.

After all this, though, I still didn't know how to make the poster, so I once again took to the Internet, uncovering this little beauty:

A wonderfully large photo of a basic outline for a movie poster.

We already had a font, I had our central image, and we knew who the actors all were. I quickly came up with a hashtag (#BeTheChange) and less-quickly came up with a tagline (It only takes one person to make a difference). All that was left was putting it all together.

Wow. I just made that process sound so much easier than it actually was. Suffice it to say, Photoshop is not a user-friendly program. But I did it! It's complete!

Ladies and gentlemen, I am so much more than simply proud to present the completed movie poster for our film,  Alma's Angel. You may begin the applause.

The completed poster for Alma's Angel, credits, ratings, and all.

And, because no long message is complete without a P.S., here's mine: I also made a campaign poster. Here it is:

This poster will be featured in our trailers.

And Again

Our second trailer will be much darker. We decided to make a more sad, struggle-driven trailer to appeal to those who enjoy more dramatic films. The script is as follows:

Black screen.

NORA

Something happened. Something bad. And nothing will ever be the same.

Abridged version of suicide scene, interspersed by flashes of black, fading in and out, more somber music. Drinking alcohol, grabbing pills, sinking into bathtub. A drum beat per shot

REPORTER

In other news, 17-year-old Alma Rodriguez committed suicide last night (pause). The Harrison High school junior was reportedly being bullied at school for being gay and died from drowning herself in her bathtub.

Shot of grieving family, sitting at table covered in black. Shot of memorial made by students with pictures, teddy bears, flowers

RAINA

Why are you doing this?

NORA

To make what happened to Alma never happens to anyone - gay, straight, whatever - ever again.

A bully stands, screaming, with a crowd surrounding him, laughing.

BULLY

You’re nothin’ but a bunch of FAGGOTS!

Nora riding bike, with fliers under her arm. Nora looks broodingly at mirror. Nora stares into her bath.

RAINA

You can’t do it. It’s impossible - the people, the prejudices - they’re not going to change. You can’t possibly take on the world.

Large crowd of people flocking to table and signing up.

NORA

You can take on the world, or let it take you. But it should always be your choice. It only takes one person to make a difference.

To Begin Again

Now that we have completed our AS project, Lisa and I have begun work on our A-level project. In order to ensure we have enough time, we decided that we should spend our class time writing the scripts for our two trailers so that we can start filming as soon as possible. We have completed the script for the first trailer, which will be uplifting and inspirational. Our script (which, if our opening was any indication, will probably need to be cut down) is as follows:

Black screen. As REPORTER voice is heard, the screen fades into an image of ELEANORA making eggs in the kitchen.

REPORTER

In other news, 17-year-old Alma Rodriguez committed suicide last night.

ELEANORA whips around, dropping the egg-y whisk on the ground. Report takes over the screen.

REPORTER

The Harrison High school junior was reportedly being bullied at school for being gay and died from drowning herself in her bathtub.

ELEANORA

Oh my God.

Fade to black. Cut back in to see Eleanora, flyers in hand, walking from door to door, handing out flyers and giving speeches.

ELEANORA

I thought Alma was really brave. She put up with a lot of shit just for being gay, and I always admired her. I’m bi, and I never really told anyone and she just… I dunno. It’s my last year, and I want to make sure that what happened to your sister never happens to anyone again.

Cut to ELEANORA’s face, pleading with RAINA.

ELEANORA

Or, y’know, at least try.

RAINA

I appreciate that, but now isn’t the time.

ELEANORA

I understand. I’ll go. I just wanted you to know.

Fade to black. Cut to ELEANORA opening her door to RAINA, the two of them working on Photoshop, RAINA passing out flyers on campus. While this is happening, ELEANORA’s doing a voiceover.

ELEANORA

There is no difference between us. Gay, lesbian, straight, bisexual, demisexual, transgender, and all the rest: we’re all just people trying to make it in the world, trying to find our joy and our pleasures.There is no need to be cruel to each other. There is no need to belittle those who are different from us.

Life gives us enough troubles.

Cut to ELEANORA on a stage.

ELEANORA

Why do we need to help it along the way? Sign the pledge, join Alma’s Angels, and together, we can make a difference in lives across the city, across the nation, and maybe even across the world.

Completions and Reflections

I am proud to introduce our complete AS-level two-minute opening*:

The following is my critical reflection of the above project:

*Because our music is Creative Commons, we were required to include all of the extra information about the creator, the website, and the piece in our credits.

Forwards and Backwards, in G-flat

So, Glassnote Records never responded. We called them several times, and they only picked up once. That conversation simply established that some upper-management people somewhere were looking at our request.

We waited as long as we could. Literally. I only added the music an hour or so before Lisa and I posted our video. But alas, the news never came. Our Glassnote plan fell flat.

But it was some kind of blessing in disguise. After watching our opening with Heart of Nowhere, we were thrilled with the outcome. We both love the effect of this dog and the feelings it evokes in the viewer.

And now it's over. Our AS project is officially complete, and we can begin the journey that is our A-level promotion project.