Final Doc + Thumbnail

This is my final work on my crime documentary opening project 

Final Doc:

Gdrive link incase unable to open: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EDZ4-G2wWtWxOSBAO0QdT6KticQJI22D/view

Thumbnail:

    

Critical Self Reflection

 This is my post for my critical self reflection on my crime opening documentary project

link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PsPAEEJjy1-oEN78abeDaYRQfvtlq_c42iyva8ecZKc/edit?usp=sharing

Documentary Title Research & Development

 This is my research & development for my crime documentary title

Genre: crime documentary 

Sub genre: murder 

Documentary name: 

1. "Digital Deceit: Betrayal in the Click"

2. "Web of Lies: A Friend's Fatal Secret"

3. "The Perfect Match: A Deadly Friendship"

4. "Swipe Right, Murder Left"

5. "Fatal Connections: Trust Turned Deadly"

6. "Best Friend, Worst Nightmare"

7. "Online Obsession: The Dark Side of Love and Loyalty"

8. "Virtual Vows, Real Revenge"

9. "The Double Life: Love, Lies, and Murder"

10. "The Friend Trap: Murder Behind the Screen"

11, Fallacy 

12. Deception

13. Obscura 

14. "Me, Her & Him" 

These are the potential titles that we had for our crime documentary, at first we agreed on "Deception" as it captures betrayal and deceit from her best friend. This is also such a powerful word to conveys the theme of dishonesty, two-faced, and murder involved in hidden agenda. However, during our editing process we came up with the name "Me, Her, & Him" as it hints at the dynamic and complexities of our plot where there is a triangular relationship between the character. Moreover, we also think that this title would intrigue audiences more as they would be questioning the roles and relationship among the 3 people. This ambiguity if effective in drawing the audiences in and keeping them engaged with our opening. 

Reflection: Picking title for our documentary doesn't take a long time or process as it is easy to come up with new title ideas as we go by. I also ended up liking our title "Me, Her, &  Him" due to it focuses more into the relationship of the characters rather than being direct and forewarning. It also creates ambiguity and depths as it doesn't give away too much and more delving into the psychological and emotional factors contributed to the story.

Thumbnail Research + Development

This is my thumbnail research and development for my crime documentary project

Research

Firstly, I look for thumbnail inspiration in Netflix and noticed some conventions that film maker used when creating the thumbnail. One of them that stood out the most is the mise-en-scene, the uses of dim or using dark lighting. I believe, this is an effective way for drawing attention to serious subject matter and to imply danger, terror, and mystery. 

The text being used is also mostly in bold and capital letters to ensure that it catches the viewers eyes even amidst another content. It also creates a sense of branding which ensures that audiences are aware of the crime documentary and both the thumbnail and the documentary use visual similarities to reinforce the crime theme. It can also emphasize a sense of urgency and importance where it is visually commanding thus compelling the audiences to pay attention to the information. Moreover, crime documentary also often uses desaturated dark colors or monochrome images to create a sense of ambiguity, where details are present but not fully revealed. This can heighten the sense of mystery or suspense, encouraging viewers to watch the documentary to uncover the truth behind the blurred or obscured details. 

Moreover, the crime documentary thumbnail also usually covers or blurred the image of the main character in the to imply mystery and creates hermeneutic codes for the audiences. Additionally, crime documentary opening also mostly features lots red color which symbolizes danger, courage, and anger. The camera shots and angles also they all uses direct mode of address which speaks directly to the audiences and it is a technique to construct an emotional bond, and promotes a real relationship between the audiences and the text. It also enhances the interest of the reader as it directly talks with them. The thumbnail covering the eyes also connotes a there is a hidden meaning which the audiences needs to decode from the image.

Here are the 2 documentaries that fascinated me and my team mates. First one is What Jennifer Did (2024) it uses split face imagery of the same person but showing two different expressions, this symbolizes the dual personality or character of the person especially from the contrast color, with the right ones being red washed and the left one is more natural colored which conveys happiness and purity. Additionally, the visual textures also resembles a distressed or aged photograph this creates realism contributing to potentially a disturbing or unsettelling narratives. However, me and my team couldn't use this since our crime documentary is about 2 best friends whilst this thumbnail only covered a person. While the Ice Cold documentary has lots of textual elements which is like a news paper clippings and legal document. This visual helps creates a sense of controversy and public scrutiny.

Me and my team mates also agreed that this version of Ice Cold thumbnail is also great and really similar to what we wanted to make as it covered 2 best friends in polaroid frame. The uses of monochrome color also supports our conventions that contrasts to the joyful smiles in the polaroid picture which hints the audiences that there is something underneath the smiles and happiness of both characters. Moreover, again with the uses of capital letters for the title in white color makes it standout against the monochrome background. 

Development

This development is made by my team mates (Audrey)

Self Reflection: This reflection is made by Audrey, however, I also contributed by giving feedbacks on how the thumbnail should look like and give ideas on the color grading, typography, and the main image. I think doing the development consumes lots of time as we need to record every single changes that we made and me and my team mates also make several designs for the thumbnail and having a hard time choosing them. Despite that, I learned mostly in the development process on how we can create thumbnail that satisfied our audiences and in line with our target audiences. 

Editing Process

 This is my editing process for my crime documentary opening 

This editing is done by Chelsea

Self Reflection: This editing process was made by Chelsea, it was very unfortunate since we were excited due to our editing platform could do collaborative edit, however, it couldn't actually worked and require only one person to edit at a time. Due to this, we as a group decided to be in a zoom call together to discuss any changes that we should make, potential soundtracks to use, editing techniques, and all. This process was actually very challenging and took a very long time as the changes can only be done with one laptop.  Additionally, with issues like subtitles changes their size according to the length of the sentences is a small obstacle however my team mate need to adjust every single one manually which is quite a difficulty. Despite that, editing is fun when we have figured out what edits and soundtracks we should use and just experimenting with it but its quite a hassle since we really need to focus alot on the details, audience expectations, and revisions. 

Script + Story Board

 This is my Script and Story Board for my crime documentary project 

 This storyboard is made by my team mates Chelsea and Audrey

--------------------------------------- Script ---------------------------------------------

Script by: Kalista, Rara, Chelsea, Audrey

Me and my team mates collaboratively work on this script and make changes together 

this is my link for my script (incase the preview are not working) : https://app.arcstudiopro.com/drafts/mqyJgx

Self reflection: This storyboard is created by team mates Audrey (first half) and Chelsea (Last half). However, I participated through the development or brainstorming process contributing on how the overall plot will go and continuity on how the scenes would progress. I also recommended on what the character should do or behave like as I make the statement of Intent so I am familiar with my target audiences. Moreover, I also take part on giving feedbacks on the camera angles and movements to make the crime doc realistic and professional. On top of that, contributed to writing and refining the script, suggesting dialogue as it shapes how the story is told and how the key messages are conveyed to the audiences. Furthermore, me and my teammates contributed equally on the script writing with structuring the narrative together when introducing the victim, to her online relationship, until the events leading to her death. 

Statement of Intent

 This is my statement of intent for my documentary opening project 

Self reflection: This Statement of Intent has been a crucial factor in helping me create my opening crime documentary project, as it provides a sense of clarity and focus, especially regarding my primary target audiences. Personalizing my content to meet the interests and needs of both primary and secondary audiences, by considering their demographic and psychographic traits, has helped me develop a story that will resonate with them. Moreover, Statements of Intent are important for avoiding content sensitivity. Since my crime documentary portrays teenagers from a specific race and addresses issues such as online dating, it is important to handle these topics delicately and appropriately to ensure that my team and I avoid offending any group. This approach allows us to make the documentary both effective and respectful by recognizing potentially triggering issues and exercising caution with the content we create. Additionally, the Statement of Intent helped us identify the message and impact. By emphasizing the importance of online safety and the dangers of toxic relationships, we clearly defined our dominant reading, giving the documentary's narrative clear direction. It also helped us shape the characters' personalities and choose appropriate settings, adding depth and meaning to the story and making the experience interesting and engaging for our audience.

Behind The Scenes

 This is my Behind The Scenes for my crime documentary project

INTERROGATION by chelsea tirta BEACH

BEACH by chelsea tirta ONLINE

ONLINE by chelsea tirta

ADDITIONAL SCENES by chelsea tirta 

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Self Reflection: This behind the scenes slides are some made by my Chelsea, and one of them by Rara. They have put all of our pictures and BTS in this slides according the locations that we used during our filming.  I contributed through being the clapper board person and also the camera man during our shooting process.