Group Meeting #2

On 3/11, we had our second group meeting. When we shared our idea, the group suggested to to talk to the teacher as we did not follow her instructions.  Our project was about a creepy looking guy kidnapping the protagonist and trapping them inside. After the meeting, we discussed our new idea with the teacher as we are at the verge of just getting the project done/going back and fixing all of our blog posts too. 

I also got suggestions to make my blogs better as most of my blogs talked about the original topic itself and not how I can incorporate those contexts into my project. So starting today, I plan to re-film the shots without stalking/kidnapping. And also plan out my CCR's as the due date is less than 2 weeks away. 

We filmed again today. It's more of the protagonist being curious of why his friend is always on his phone. We added shots of me being on phone and the protagonist getting intrigued on to why. The location switched to outside my community and my garage. 

   

Leftmost : Anabella

White Hoodie : Me (Aneesh)

Middle : Kailen

Blue Hoodie : Adil 

Luis

Kailen

 Research for CCR question #1

As March 25th approaches, my anxiety levels skyrocket. I still need to refilm a couple clips and wrap up on editing. Anyway, here is the research for my CCR#1

Conventions

• I used suspenseful outdoor shots. The shots were shot outside on a nice day, but twists into a creepy basement shot

• POV : There are POV shots and close-ups. Which immerse the audience/make them feel as if they are in the game

• Jump-Scares : The protagonist gets caught suddenly from behind and is put into a dark/menacing room, which builds tension. Switches from a bright day to the dark room builds tension. Suspenseful music also plays over the scene. 

• Effects : The glitch effects, and suspense sounds create unease in viewers. Similar to found-footage horror films. 

Challenge Conventions

• Despite the film being inspired by a video game, we created the characters from from scratch. I acted as the neighbor and tweaked the outfits. 
• Blend gameplay and film storytelling. Starting with a few seconds of the game on screen before shifting to real life horror. 

Social Groups/Representation of Conflict :

Fear of being watched : The protagonist feels watched/haunted, reflecting scopophobia, or the excessive fear of getting stared at.

Curiosity --> Danger : The protagonist, haunted by his fear, curiously goes to face his fears. But, ends up in a huge conflict anyway. 

CITATIONS:

Rincon, Meenah. “Horror Films: Reflections of Society’s Deepest Fears and Cultural Anxieties.” Horror Films: Reflections of Society’s Deepest Fears and Cultural Anxieties | ASU News, news.asu.edu/20241028-arts-humanities-and-education-horror-films-reflections-societys-deepest-fears-and-cultural. Accessed 9 Mar. 2025.

Martin, G Neil. “(Why) Do You like Scary Movies? A Review of the Empirical Research on Psychological Responses to Horror Films.” Frontiers in Psychology, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 18 Oct. 2019, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6813198/.

 

Editing Day 2 (and foley)

 Editing Day 2

Today is our second editing day. We are experimenting with different glitch, transitions and blurring out addresses. We also realized we need to take another day to film the neighbor, as I cannot green screen directly from the game. We are utilizing premiere pro as our main software but also iMovie/built in phone editors.

Here, we are blurring out the address/ maybe some visible number plates by using the Gaussian Blur effect. And added tracking to make things easier.

We are also experimenting with different glitch effects. Here, the protagonist, haunted by the spirits of the game, looks to the left scared. The glitches enhance the feeling of unease and make the transition from game to real life. 

As per the sound effects, we gathered them from pixbay, and recorded our own. We recorded gasping noises, footsteps such as walking on grass, concrete, and running too. 

I will add effects over the gameplay footage so that it isn't fully visible on my final opening. Glitches, and camera shaking effects.

   

 Editing Day 1 

Today, we started editing by organizing the footage and, and trimming the unnecessary parts to make the sequence smoother. Since we had to re record most of our clips, trimming them and keeping necessary footage makes adding additional footage/effects easier. 

After organizing raw footage, we removed parts of awkward silence, background direction, and retakes.

Our next step is to film some more footage, if applicable. Then, record the neighbor from the video game, green screen him, and integrate it to bring him in the scene. We will also be integrating foley/sound effects, and adding glitch effects, or color grade to create a feeling of thrill. 

Filming

 Filming Day 1

We were supposed to start filming last week , but I got sick from the flu. Then our idea and plot needed some adjustments. So we just filmed everything in 1 day. 

- My project partner plays the role of the curious protagonist. Here, we filmed the shots of the protagonist simply walking around he scans his surroundings while his friend was texting on his phone by a tree.

- This is a back shot of me texting on the phone by a palm tree, completely unaware of my surroundings. 

 - This is a closeup shot of me leaving/forgetting the phone on the garage table. 

Then, we filmed a pov shot of me realizing I forgot the phone, ran outside the door only to find the protagonist trying to grab it. Lastly, we filmed a mid shot of me trying to stop him. 

WATCH THE CLIPS HERE

 

Sound Designing - Production (Week 5 adding to 6)

 Sound Design

In film opening, sounds are as important as visuals. Our film opening is about 2 friends hanging out, while one friend is always texting on his phone, then casually runs away, leaving his phone on the garage table. Since this relies on teenage device privacy invasion, I can incorporate natural Foley sounds, and suspenseful sound effects. 

Here are some sounds that I may incorporate into my Phone Privacy Film Opening. 

• Ambient sounds - it was filmed outside, and in my garage
• Notification/buzzing/ typing sound effects. 
• Doors opening and closing
• Footsteps (Walking/ running on grass and concrete) 
• Cameras in home beeping
• Doors creeking

We could test these by layering the sounds in editing softwares or downloading them from sound libraries such as pixbay/ the YouTube audio library.