Creative Critical Reflection

I guess that's the definite end. I hope you have enjoyed this journey just as much as me. Despite the anxiety, desperation, and cramming, I was giving an amazing opportunity through this course that I will take with me for the rest of my life.

Here's the link to my CCR: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2uRVmjml1qJWTBZRDk3NGFjb00/view?usp=sharing

Everything is here

This is my project, I don't think I have anything else to say that I haven't said before.

Here's the link to the video: https://youtu.be/l0dat6AywuI (please make sure to use this one, since I'll be updating the video later on with the final version of the song; they didn't have time to finish the song completely on time, so I'm using a "in progress" version)

Website: http://jeanvardara2.wixsite.com/website-1

Digipak:

Cover

Back cover

Inside left (with pocket)

Inside right

Vinyl

Pocket content front

Pocket content back

(Within the pocket there would be circles that come out, thinner than vinyl but thicker than paper, with the name of the songs on the front and the lyrics on the back).

Progress?

This week has been very chaotic in every different way possible, but I have been making progress. I can define it as filled with inspiration, where I change details, move stuff around, come up with new ideas, reject old ones, and desperation, where I get stuck in something that doesn't seem to make sense to me.

Unfortunately I won't be able to finish the documentary video for now, but I still intend on doing to later on post it on their website + YouTube page. I just decided to focus on the components I actually need to do, and I won't have time for the extra video.

Regardless, I have been making constant changes to my project, especially the website. Every time I go in to change something I want to add a new page, a new picture, a new detail, and find myself lost in the midst of all the buttons and options Wix has to offer. Truly amazing.

But I'd really like to take the time to bring light to thank some people.

First I'd like to take my teacher, Mrs. Stoklosa, for creating this course for us and teaching it with some passion that all of her students have grown and changed throughout the year. AICE Media Studies A Level has also helped me shape my mind in regards of what I want to be in life, and find out what I am truly good at.

Second I'd like to thank Cambridge, for even offering this course in the first place. It's different, it's unique, it's interesting, it's enriching, and yeah.. it's pretty cool.

Third I'd like to thank all my classmates, a lot of whom have become my friends. We have been through AS level together and now we are almost finished with A level, and I am sure all of us are extremely proud of ourselves and each other. It's amazing what this class has done -I don't know if to all, but at least to my side of the classroom-, teaching us how to take criticism, how to give constructive criticism, how to help each other, and how to work as a team even when we are not one. Through this process I can't count how many times my classmates have asked for my and others' opinions or how many times I have done the same. And we always look at the questions posed to us with a critical eye, with a helping heart, and expressing it with kind words. I think that if this class has taught us something that no other in high school has, is how to be true professionals. We've created our own family.

That's my progress.

Vlogs Galore

You guessed, another vlog. Here's the final part of the filming process, which resulted in a total 133 videos -16.9 GB. I'm guessing I have about two hours of footage to go through, which is oh so exciting.

I've got to say that we were filming for four hours straight, two consecutive days, but it was pretty fun. I don't exactly get excited by the idea of filming myself, I can come up with ideas, do story boards, direct, but actually filming it's not my favorite thing, but during these two days I surprised myself with some of the shots I got. In the end, it was a very enjoyable experience that I hope to repeat... but not too soon. Gotta rest.

Exploring Markham

We filmed the first set of video yesterday, UHUUUU! There was a delay on the time we started filming, because Santi had an emergency and had to cancel, so we just decided to start the solo parts. Jean took us to Markham Park, a park here in Weston, which is huuuge and has a thousand different settings that we could take advantage of. Here's a little vlog of how the day went...

I think I should also give a brief explanation of what my vision for the video was. I've mentioned before that we were going for a fully promotional video, since I'm trying to expose them as much as I can. The idea of the video is to have Rafa, Carlos, and Jean on three different settings and Santi driving a car, and towards the end of the video Santi picks up each one of them and they all drive to their studio to play. In each of their settings they are playing the song, jamming to the music, which is what happens in promotional music videos. The whole video alternates between the scenes in the different settings and the studio, where they are all together playing. The special touch is that the shots in the studio are happening in slow motion (they played in a faster tempo and I'm going to slow it down during editing). I know the idea seems a little basic, but I wanted to keep it that way so I can be very creative during editing. The video of "Red Hands" by Walk Off the Earth (which I've posted before) inspired me to take that decision, because even though I think editing like that would take me WAY TOO MUCH time, I still want to create something cool and different as they did.

Excited, nervous, and restless about editing this video. I'm starting this weekend. Wish me luck.

#recordingsessions

A picture of Jean and Rafa to light up your day.

I have a new vlog ~cheers~ to give an insider's perspective on what it is to record a song. The footage is from the second day, when they were basically just doing the final, smaller layers, so there's nothing on the recording of the lyrics. It was a super fun experience for me because I got to see some of the work that goes into recording a song, and even though none of them are professionals they can still come up with pretty good results. Jake, the guy I interviewed during the vlog, was the one doing the technical work (recording each layer, placing them, shaving off unnecessary sounds, etc.) and I thought that speaking to him would be the best way to convey what was happening.

I also thought of placing the lyrics right here, just in case anyone is interested...

There are those who will say

You will find your peace someday

It's your life, it's your way

There's no reason you should wait

Take a stand, hold my hand,

Let me wake up far away

But you're still picking up the pieces

Of a broken start

I'm thinking about you, dreaming about you, I'm alone (my heartbeat, my heartbeat)

I'm thinking about you, singing about you, on my own (my heartbeat, my heartbeat)

That is it. I'm ~hella~ excited to hear the final version and I hope y'all are too!

Scheduling

One of my favorite things in this world is schedules. I love making plans and having everything figured out. It makes me happy, calm, and confident; in summary, a fulfilled Lari. The schedules can be in big scales, such as a month or a week, or in small scales, such as a day or a portion of a day. An advantage is being organized and getting stuff done efficiently, but a disadvantage is always hoping the schedules will work and being disappointed when they don't. But I have made a schedule for this upcoming week with the band (all of us together, so no one is unaware of anything) that simply HAS to work.

Monday: recording session! They are recording the song and I am taking the opportunity to film final shots for the 'doc' video and the interviews regarding "Heartbeat".

Tuesday: we are having a photo shoot and filming the general interviews (since none of those have worked so far... I am not even getting into details).

Wednesday: first day of filming for music video!

Thursday: second day of filming for music video!

Friday: going over the footage and hoping all is right in the world because Rafa will be in a plane to Brazil by the time I find any mistakes and then... well, it's beyond my control.

I am a little frustrated that I haven't had as much control over this project as I wanted to regarding when things get done; you can call me a bit of a control-freak. Still, I am putting my personal feelings aside so I can finish this. The good part is that, even with pushing dates, delaying meetings, and taking long to finish the song, I still love working with them. I truly think that working in the music industry is something that I'd be happy to do in the future. But deadlines have me FREAKING OUT.

That's it. I'm stressed. I'm going to cry. Goodnight.