Researching My CCR #1 (once again..)

You know that feeling when you think you’re done with a project, and then… nope, there’s more? Yeah, that was me with my CCR #1. I wanted it to be way more than just me talking, looking back I wanted to answer the questions for it in an interview format. I was going to make either my dad or a friend interview me on the experience. But after realizing it, everyone was doing that. I needed a whole experience, something that would make me different. That’s how I ended up turning it into a full-on TV news investigation. I decided to answer these two questions because they went well together when dealing with challenges.

-How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

-How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online in this project?

The Research Phase: Piecing It All Together

First, I had to figure out how my film used and challenged conventions and how it represented social themes. I knew my movie played with thriller elements, but I needed actual proof, so I went back to some of my favorite psychological thrillers (The Sixth Sense, Se7en, The Others) and studied how they used shots, lighting, and misdirection.

I noticed something interesting:

• The Sixth Sense used normal settings to hide the twist. Just like mine!
• Se7en relied on close ups of objects to make the audience look for clues. I had something similar with Joseph’s lack of attention and the magazine.
• The Others built tension by making the characters question reality, exactly what happens in my film.

Once I had those examples, I could explain my choices better. Instead of just saying "I made Joseph look confused," I could say "I used misdirection like in The Others to make the audience feel what Joseph felt." Way more effective. 

 Bringing It to Life

I didn’t want my CCR to just be me sitting there, listing facts. Boring. So, I went full creative mode. I made it a TV news broadcast where an Anchor (me) introduces an investigation into my film. I took inspiration from the movie Barbie where everyone is the same person just in different ways.

I even added an Expert Analyst (also me) to break down the movie, comparing shots and explaining how I used technology. The best part? The transitions made it feel like an actual news segment.

I wanted to keep it engaging, so I threw in:

- Side-by-side shots of my film vs. famous thriller movies

- Music to build tension 

- different costuming and characters

And just like that, my first CCR was born! I didn't use a specific script, I recently helped my friend film her CCR and it was an interview, when remembering the script it felt so forced and like we couldn't both express our personalities. That's when we decided to ditch it and just speak whatever came to mind. In the end, this helped my CCR because I just wrote down points in a word document I wanted to mention. Next step? Filming and editing