Representation

 Hello! today we are discussion what representation our film "Do no harm" holds and how it does or doesn't challenge regular film stereotypes 

In this scene we see Elena about to perform surgery to save her husband. 

In this scene we see another female doctor. In our film every doctor is female which challenges the idea that woman can't be in positions of power and lead others. 

In this scene we see Claire speaking with another female patient. 

-Who is Represented within your film/movie opener? Is it fair, stereotypical? How are you challenging representation with your film?

In my film, "Do no harm" the main representation is a female doctor, she is portrayed as intelligent, skilled, and emotionally complex, which challenges the stereotype of women in film being shown as weak or dependent. Instead, she holds a position of power as a heart doctor and holds large responsibility. However, she is shown as someone who makes morally wrong decisions which also stays away from the perfect and idealized stereotype. 

I think my film has a fair representation because it shows doctor's as real humans who also struggle with personal emotions instead of portraying them as completely flawless. At the same time, this could be viewed as challenging the usual stereotype since doctor's are normally portrayed as people who always do the right thing but in my film, Elena faces personal conflict which interferes with her ethical morals as a doctor. 

My film challenges stereotypes by representing woman in powerful positions but also showing how even people like doctor's are as flawed as any other human. This makes the story more realistic and encourages the audience to question trust, ethics, and how far someone might go for someone they love.

-Do you feel you need to make any edits to improve your characters? If so, what changes?

I feel like there could be some changes that could be made to the character development for example maybe making Elena seem more torn about her breaking ethical values. In our family Elena is shown doing these acts without a second thought, with no remorse. I feel like making her seem like she is questioning whether to do it or not more make her seem more human and less evil or deranged. We wanted Elena to be portrayed as someone who had no other choice, who would do what they have to to save so someone they love like any normal person. Therefore, we should of made Elena seem more conflicted with the decision she was about to make to make her seem more human so that the audience could better relate to her situation. 

Final Storyboard

 

Hello! today we worked on the final storyboard since previously we only worked on a rough draft to guide how each scene should look like. Now that we have filmed our movie, we can compare and contrast and explain why we made the changes we made. Here are the changes: 

Scene 1

In this scene, doctor Elena looks at her husband in the hospital bed, lying unconscious. Distress is clearly displayed on her face. Wires attached to Daniel's skin, keeping him alive. She finds out his dire condition and is informed that he can't be helped since Daniel has such a rare blood type. Finding a donor would be nearly impossible, especially for such a vital organ. (heart)

A two-shot is used for the two characters having a sad moment. It helps keep both characters in focus at the same time. 

A non-diegetic sound is playing of the beating of the machines. Elena's soft sobs are heard. 

The only changes made for this scene is the transition we went from a straight-cut to deciding to use a fade-out instead to transition to a different setting smoothly but not make it a sudden cut.  Also we decided not to add the sound of faint breathing because it clashed with the sound of Elena crying.

Scene 2

In this scene, the doctor calls the patient later on to tell her that she needs to come back to a different private clinic because the blood results came up and something looks wrong. The doctor tells her a time and location where everyone will be gone. 

The sound of their conversation both the doctor and the person on the phone. Also, the phone is ringing, waiting for the patient to respond.

A lot of changes were made to this scene starting with an over-the-shoulder shot instead of a close-up to show the doctor conversing with the patient over the phone is shown, which aids in keeping the audiences' focus on the conversation being had instead of the doctor's expressions. Additionally, text/dialogue is displayed on the screen, it helps reader focus on the importance of the words the doctor is saying to Claire. Also a straight-cut is used instead of fade-out to show a different character at a different location and help transition through the scenes, this is because we had already used a fade-out in the previous scene. 

Scene 3

In this scene doctor Elena meets the patient at a private clinic owned by Elena. The patient is checked in by the "secretary" (a friend of Elena's helping her with the crime). The patient walks into Elena's office to talks about her blood results. 

There is a wide shot of the patient checking in with the receptionist to establish the new location, and the background is shown. 

In this scene we took away the emphasis from the fact that the clinic was alone and instead added a diegetic sound of crowd talking in the background as well as a conversation between the receptionist and the patient is heard. Also we didn't end up taking a shot of the patient entering the door to get out of the reception and the door of Elena's office as a way to introduce a match-cut because we would go way over the minute limit. Instead, we used a fade to black. 

Scene 4

In this scene, the patient meets Dr. Elena in her office, and doctor Elena explains the negative results of her blood test. Elena explains that an emergency surgery will need to be performed. Elena tells the patient the procedure is quick and only needs her there and another doctor. She asks's the patient if she is available.  

A mid-shot is used to show Elena and the patient having a conversation about the test results. The mid-shot helps draw focus to their upper body language. 

There was not many changes for this scene, other than the change in transitions. We decided not to use a J-cut and instead another fade to black since the next scene and this scene didn't have any music. Also the sound of Elena and the patient talking is heard but we decided not to add the sound of pages flipping because there were no pages flipping so it didn't make sense. 

Scene 5

In this scene, Elena comes behind the patient with a cloth and puts it over her mouth and nose to put her to sleep. The patient's shock is shown in her eyes as she begins to fall asleep and she gets dragged into another room.

A lot of changes were made to these scenes for starters, we decided not to end the movie opener here and add and even creepier scene to build the suspense. Also the angle of this scene was changed instead of a dutch angle (we forget) that followed Claire as she was being dragged we used a.. Then a straight-cut transition with a flickering effect was used to add drama to the scene. 

Scene 6

 There were a lot of changes to the final scene.The movie opener ends with a POV view of what Claire would be seeing if she was awake. It first shows a close-up of Claire unconscious and then cuts to the POV shot of doctor Elena about to start the surgery. There is also a non-diegetic sound of Claire's heart beating. Then the sound of Elena's glove smacking against her skin is heard and sound that creates a "what will happen next" atmosphere is inserted. Lastly, a fade to black transition is used as the title in dark red is shown against the black background. There is a sound track that creates ominous vibes for the end of the movie opener as the credits scroll. 

Title Sequence

Hello everynyan! Today after doing the finishing touches on our film, we finalized our decisions for the credits and title. Here is what we came up with and what brought up these ideas: 

 TITLE of my film

Do No Harm

Studio or distribution company Presents

reDot studios

Production Company 

VKSN Productions

Actors/ Starring Cast

Starring- Veronica Madrid, Kamryn Phonseuksam, Suri Nguyen

Music provided by

CapCut and Victors crypt 

Written by

               Suri Nguyenu

Produced by

- Veronica Madrid, Kamryn Phonseuksam, Suri Nguyen, Niliem Valdes

Directed by

Kamryn Phonseuksam

Edited by

Niliem Valdes and Suri Nguyen

Story by

Veronica Madrid

             

 During the making of our title sequence, we had earlier discussed that we wanted to use the font called "Chiller" from word as the main font of our title. We chose to make it the color red because it makes stark contrast with the black background of the outro, also because the color red is associated with blood and sets a sinister atmosphere. As a group we also decided to add blood dripping to the intro because it prepared the audience for what was to come. It built anticipation and gave the audience an idea of what kind of film this would be. Other fonts we use are Battery Park  during the credits for the minor heading and Josefin Sans (light) for our names. Lastly we used Westsac for the word "Title Sequence" and the intro. 

Intro:

Outro minor heading:

Outro names:

Title:

Font #1

Font #2

Font #3

Font #4

Editing 2

 Hello, today we followed up on our editing progress  and this is what I have to report on that matter. We also had the pleasure of finishing all our filming recently so we are mostly working on editing. 

As previously mentioned in our last blog, editing 1, we are still working on editing our movie opener "Do No Harm" and we are still planning on using Chiller as our chosen font for the title. Recently, we haven't faced any new problems, mostly the same problems mentioned in the previous blog like giggling during filming and forgetting lines. as well as, trying to amplify the actor's voices and suppressing background noise.  As stated before in the last blog we will be using voiceover as a way to combat that problem and we will also rehearse lines before recording. So far, our group was able to collect and record the last pieces of footage to finish our movie opener, so all that is left is to put them together and then record the voiceovers. For clips like the one where the doctor calls the patient and she answers her cellphone, we are going to use audio effects such as beeping from the buttons being pressed by the doctor dialing and a ring tone for the cellphone of the patient. We also made up different selections of eerie music for the added clips and were trying to choose which one adds better suspense to the clip. This was the job me and Kamryn mainly focused on. Regarding transitions, we are using straight cuts and match-cuts to transition between the rest of the clips. We also added some video effects such as light flickers and slow blinking for the unconscious patient. This time during editing we spent around 2 hours working on the videos. 

Editing 1

Hello, today we were instructed to talk a little about our editing and how everything is coming together. Here is what I have to note: 

 The title of our film is "Do No Harm" because it's a thriller/ horror movie and the title is meant to create slight sarcasm due to the ending of the opener. The font we plan to use for the title is called "Chiller", which is part of CapCut. The editors in my group are Suri Nguyen and Niliem Valdes; they work together to edit long clips and put them together. While they worked on most of the editing, my other group member and I contributed to deciding and opinionating on fonts, effects, and transitions we should use in the film. For audio, we used sounds like eerie music in the background for scenes where there is a tension build, EKG monitor beeps for hospital scenes, and  faint breathing sounds for the unconscious husband. Additionally, for video effects and transitions, we added a black fade-out effect to transition the scene of me (protagonist) crying because my husband is in a coma into the doctor explaining what's wrong with my husband. We are planning to use transitions such as match-cuts, j-cuts, and more as we get more clips.  On a different note, some problems that we encountered during filming were trying to amplify the audio and suppress the background noises that occurred during filming, as well as having to make several small cuts to different scenes because our actors kept laughing or smiling during a sad scene. Keeping a straight face was hard. What we could do to fix these problems is record a voiceover and overlay the current audio with the new one and practice scenes without recording to avoid re recording the same scene. Currently, my group has spent little time on editing and focused on the basics of editing, like putting clips together and adding a few transitions. We plan to focus more on editing when all the clips are collected. An estimated amount of time we have spent on editing so far could be about 40 minutes to an hour at most. After school today we will continue to film for the remainder of our clips. 

Peer Reviews of Initial Draft

In today's class, we showed 2 groups the clips we have so far collected and edited together. We discussed with each group 4 things that could aid the film in being better put together, and what are some things that need to be fixed regarding sound, costume, camera angles, lighting, etc. 

After peer reviewing my work with the group that Elijah, Noam, Bianca and Anna are part of, they gave me the useful criticism that follows: 

• The plot was hard to follow through every clip.
• After the part where the main character puts their head on the other person's hand, the transition used, which was sort of a blurring out of the scene into the next, made it seem like the next clip could have been a delusion of the main character or a dream-like state. It made the clips even more confusing and didn't clarify the fact that it was supposed to be a transition to the next day. 
• The audio is of bad quality, and it is hard to hear the characters speaking. It is especially important for the scene where the doctor is telling the crying lady what is wrong with her husband, since this is an important context for the film. 
• Where did the second patient come from?
• The clips are too long and don't add much to the storyline 

Finishing the peer review with the last group and grabbing their input. I followed up with another group, which consisted of Milo and Reinaldo, to collect further opinions on the clips we have so far made. This is the criticism they had:

• The camera angles and afterward effects were good, but the sound needs improvement for the first clip. 
•  The second clip needs a cut into different shots so it doesn’t feel too long and doesn't bore the audience because of the lack of movement. 
•  I personally would add a more emotional appeal to receiving life-changing news. 
• More diegetic sounds should be integrated to make the atmosphere of the hospital natural and less quiet. 

After taking into consideration these opinions, the next time we film, we will draw focus on adding some sort of background sound, as well as speaking during filming, doing voice-overs, so the audio quality is better for the characters speaking. We will also add more transitions as we collect more clips, as well as change the particular transition we set between the 2 clips we originally had. Another thing we will change is the length of the second clip since many of the other groups commented that it is too long. If the length is necessary for the dialogue, they suggest changing between different angles to make the scene less static. 

Challenges in Film

 Hello, today we discussed some of the challenges we have had after our first time filming and how we solved them in the end. 

What are the challenges involved in filming? 

During filming, we faced challenges like finding props and having to retake the same scene over and over because I wasn't showing the right emotion or because we were using the wrong camera angle. Another challenge was remembering lines and cooperation. For example, Niliem had the right angle, and I forgot my line, or Niliem laughed at my face because my fake crying was too fake. Lastly, in a few clips, Suri would accidentally move in the shots of the unconscious husband, so it ruined the whole clip. 

 How are you handling each of these challenges? 

We handled these challenges by retaking scenes and rehearsing lines, also editing clips that were mostly perfect, but some minor details weren't quite right. Patience was also a big part of everything since the constant stress of redoing things over and over weighed on all of us and made us want to give up. 

Is everyone pulling their own weight? 

Not everyone is currently participating because we haven't reached the patient's scenes yet; we are just filming the beginning. She mostly sits out in the current scenes and helps when she is asked to. Suri and I are doing our best as actors, and Niliem is doing her best filming. 

Lighting? 

Lighting hasn't been a big problem since we are overall using high-key lighting, which is easy to find in the nurses' office. As of now, we are not using any lighting shifts, so we have had no issues with it. 

Sound?

When we did our first try, we realized the sound wasn't as loud as we thought it would be. In the end, we decided to voice over some of the actors' lines and record all the non-diegetic  sound separately and then edit it so it's clearer.