Finished!

   
    The wait is over! Hoped you enjoyed reading the blogs and I hope you enjoy the final product! Here is my CCR as well as a full script: https://youtu.be/HtwgWxUFaEU

Our film, being a dramatic comedy, may not be taken as a serious film at first glance. The viewers really need to reflect on their own lives and personal experiences in society as a teenager or young adult to understand the themes we tried conveying to them. As a soon to be high school graduate I felt like the emotions and issues these kids must face in society needed to be portrayed. Themes like young love, short-lived fame, and sacrifice all work together to shape these kids into the adults they will soon become. Our main characters all have end goals in their high school career, but each one differs in their personality. Nick, is seen going through the most obstacles and is really challenged within the first two minutes of the movie. Between having to rob the gas station and host the big party. He is doing all of this for the sole purpose of getting the attention of his ex, we wanted to show how strong his emotions were that he was willing to do all of this for one person. Of course Neil, Thomas, and Julian all have their own unique intentions with the party but that would be shown later in the movie as side plots all complimenting Nicks main plot.

My main goal of the film was to make it relatable to the target audience, we were aiming for a younger audience. Teenagers and young adults are able to relate to the drama in the movie, as well as laugh at the comedy. Even if that one specific event never happened to you, you're able to subconsciously relate to the similarities. They will be able to relate to the fame, the sadness, the love, and even the comedy all coming together in the end. When it comes to the distribution of the final product i'd like to take the route of a full feature film in using movie posters, billboards, and ads on social media like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube. This method requires more capital than lets say an independent short film, which was my second choice but in the end it proves to bring about more popularity and profits in the end a majority of the time.

Rodrigo and I have known each other for years, and even worked together in the past. So knowing each of our strengths and weaknesses that came with our skills and personalities, we decided to assign roles from the start of the project. I would be the director, in charge of casting and filming due to my strong personality and leadership roles. While Rodrigo, someone who is more timid and prefers to behind the camera utilized his camera skills and experience to get the best shots possible. We both constructed and planned each shot together, playing off of each other's ideas and edited the film together. By now, I can say that both of our skills expanded and developed in different areas that we were never expecting. Set design and directing was essential for me to be on top of, we needed to really make the party feel real almost as if the audience was there. My creativity bursted, I thought of a million different ideas for the set that we used. Lighting was something I hadn't been familiar with, so with some research and the right tools I was able to create rigs for lighting as well as know their correct placement. Overall I would say my creative and brainstorming skills were really pushed on this project, and dealing with such a big cast really tested my directing and leadership abilities.

I have to say, one of the most impressive and exciting things that made me look forward to beginning the project was using all the different tools available. Rodrigo and I both own a good amount of production equipment as it is, and with the friends we made in class we had access to even more technologies. Cameras, tripods, stabilizers, lighting, props, audio equipment, and even fog machines all helped create the setting we wanted. It was awesome being able to use them and learn more about them throughout the filming process. For editing, we used various Adobe Creative Softwares like Photoshop and Premiere Pro. These softwares allowed us to edit in detail compared to some other options, also we have been using these softwares since our freshman year so we were just more familiar with it. In the end all the different tools we used helped create our final product that I am very happy with.