This semester in LIFE (Literature Intensive and Film Experience) we created original short films focusing on themes of Change. The project's title is "Change is Gonna Come" after a song by Sam Cooke. We were given the options of focusing on Change in Social Justice, Personal Change, Change due to COVID-19, or Environmental Change. I chose to go with Personal Change, specifically how miscommunication corrupts relationships. I decided on this topic because lately, I have noticed how words get misconstrued and there is no appreciation for fighting to maintain a healthy relationship. I wanted to raise awareness because it is important to know how to change circumstances to hold on to good people.

To write my script, I started by brainstorming abstract concepts that I wanted to focus on. I selected Communication, Gratitude, and Sacrifice, and wanted to express the claim that once you learn the importance of communication for a person you truly care about, you are willing to sacrifice your time, energy to build an attitude of gratitude for your new relationship. For my script, I chose to write in segments. Each paragraph is another story/topic to add to my video. Drafting the script was a little difficult for me because I wanted to be relaistic. I knew the message that I wanted to display, but bringing it together was a little challenging. We had to make a cross-curricular connection to something that we were currently studying in another class. I chose to draw connections to US History. We are currently getting in depth with the 13 colonies and here is my reference in my script. “I believe the two parties could have came to an agreement if they heard eachother out.” Speaking about the relationship between the colonies and Great Brittian.

To create my film, we created storyboards and first planned out 8 original shots to include in the film. Storyboards looks like comic books. They are important in pre-production and helped out a lot once I started filming. I’m not that great of an artist, but used Kami to draw on a pdf file. Even though it wasn't super detailed, it did help me think about how I wanted to frame these shots. In the beginning, I included my family for my video as one of the scenarios of miscommunication. The rest of my film included voice overs and photos from the past. I edited the film using InShot, which I have used before. This app is amazing! S many features can be used and it makes the video look very professional. It also includes no Watermarks for Free!.

Overall, I am really excited with how the film turned out! My film came Great. I really like my idea of voice recording instead of you all looking at me the whole time. The process did teach me a lot about ways that I can express my opinions artistically, and I look forward to learning more about editing and cinematography. Some of the steps, like storyboarding, was very new to me, but I do see how they could be useful in the future when I go into production.. I am proud of myself for taking a leap of faith to express the importance of communication and how it affects others. I look forward to seeing a change soon..