CCR Question #4

    Juan: Welcome everyone to Juan's director commentary of Moribund. Today I will be answering CCR questions 3 and 4.

    Juan: The question is, how did you integrate technologies - software, hardware, and onlyine - inthis project? We used a variety of different technologies during the production of our project, this included my phone, canva, Clipchamp, and two different lighting equipments. To record our project we used my phone, which is the iPhone 16 Pro. For our lighting scheme we used a lamp that had the options to change to different colors, and another big lamp that had cool, warm, and intermediate lighting. For our hardware we used used Canva to make our company logo. When it came to editing we used ClipChamp, which allowed us to both edit at the same time from two different places. We had a few obstacles in the production process, having to change our editing software from DaVinci Resolve to ClipChamp due to us being unable to edit together in DaVinci, and having to scatter and change the gender of a character from a man to a woman. Aside from all of that this project went pretty smoothly.

CCR Question #3

    Juan: Welcome everyone to Juan's director commentary of Moribund. Today I will be answering CCR questions 3 and 4. (I will probably answer question 4 first). 

    Juan: Now moving onto question 3. How did your production skills develop throughout the project. At first I was pretty nervous of my shooting and editing skills, but by the time we were done with the project I realized how much I have improved. First we began with the research process, which for me I found fun. Since back then I was not sure what genre I wanted to do, I researched both Sci-fi and Horror, this process included researching things like distribution, marketing, and the many conventions this genres hold. When it came to the production process, we had all planned out but we were forced to change the our main character due to some problems with our previous actors. We also spent a great amount of time maaking the props that would make up Owen's room, which for us was super important and could not be over looked. I also spent a good amount of my time practicing editing by doing a very small project that took me no longer than a few hours to make. I started this project extremely nervous, I was very insecure of my abilities when it came to production. Now I feel proud, even though my production skills have a long way to go, I feel like I've improved a lot since the begining.

Ideas for CCR

    Hey guyss! Today I'll tell you about the ideas that I have for my CCRs. I really want both to be creative and achievable since I don't have much time.

    The first idea I was given was during our second group meeting by one of my amazing classmates. This idea is basically doing a Bill Nye style show. I really like this idea because it ties into the scientific theme that my project deals into. I would have a coat on and some goggles to really be immersed in the character and would answer the questions as if in the TV show.

    The second idea is doing a director commentary, I've seen this done with some films and I really like this idea. I will most definetly add some more things to the video rather than just my voice in the background. Both ideas I think are good, and can't wait to execute them.

CCR Question #2

    This is my script for my first CCR video, I will also add the one for the first question since I did not add it to my CCR Question #1 blog post.

    Juan: Did you know that if the Earth stopped spinning, we would all go flying? Insane I know! For our next section it's all about spinning, we'll be spinning a wheel and do whatever it lands on. 

    *The wheel spins*

    Juan: It looks like it landed on CCR question #1 and #2. Let’s read the first one! How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues. For the sci-fi genre, conventions includes a variety of things like, cool tones, cautionary tales dealing with technology, and male protagonists. In our project we mostly do not challenge any conventions, for example we utilized a cool fill light when filming our main character during the first part. But it is also true we challenge some conventions as well, since the protagonists of sci-fi movies are mostly male, we instead made our character woman. Even though at first our main character was not a woman we ended up liking this decision since it makes our project stand out from the usual sci-fi genres, this takes us onto the next part of the question, represention. This part of the question is very important to me, since when we started brainstorming we wanted to have a good background and really do a good job representing woman in STEM, which as of 2026 has seen a rise on popularity and in representation, my portfolio project its not the exception. In the sci-fi genre usually the main lead is male, in our film this is much different since we challenge that convention and make our main character a woman. Throughout the film we make it clear that she is abundantly ambitious, and thpat she works had for what she wants. We also represent an issue that many viewers deal with, which is not having enough money to live, our character, Owen, struggles with this exact problem constantly. Representation for us was invaluable, we wanted to represent this group of people in a way that was respectable, even though we did not take the most insane approach for that, we are super proud of our work nonethless.

    Juan: Now onto question number 2! After doing some intesive research we landed on a target audience, at first the target was going to be male centered, but after changing our main character the target audience became woman around 30-45 years old. This is unsual for the sci-fi genre, which is usually males around the same age range. Our production choices work to engage this audience, a mis-en-scene element that we created, which is the board gives context and engages the audience by giving them a great amount of information. The content of our movie also engages with our target audience, by the making our lead a woman who is a genius, this is not usually seen in movies, we change that and make her our main character. I plan on releasing it on Youtube, it's the easiest, most realistic way for me to make it available for audiences. I also considered film festivals, but ultimately decided that Youtube was the best option for me right now.

    

References

• Abreu, R. (2022, June 12). Cyberpunk explained — Origins, characteristics and themes. StudioBinder. www.studiobinder.com
• Davis, E. (2025, December 28). 13 most anticipated sci-fi movies of 2026, ranked. Collider. https://collider.com/sci-fi-movies-2026-most-anticipated-ranked/
• Krotos. (2024, April 16). Exploring the sound design in ten of the best sci-fi films. https://krotos.studio/blog/ten-best-sci-fi-films-sound-effects
• Locus Online. (2026, January 1). Conventions. https://locusmag.com/conventions/
• Mikas. (2025, March 6). How to master a sci-fi film score + Logic Pro X template [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSxhjyx17pM
• Space.com. (2025, December 31). Upcoming sci-fi movies in 2026: 10 good reasons to head to theaters this year. https://www.space.com/entertainment/space-movies-shows/upcoming-sci-fi-movies-in-2026-10-good-reasons-to-head-to-theaters-this-year
• The Hollywood Reporter. (2025, December 31). 2026 new movie releases: 
  Avengers
  , 
  Toy Story 5
  , 
  The Odyssey
  . https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/2026-new-movie-releases/
• Yocum, M. (2022, May 25). Sci-fi action sound design tutorial with Matt Yocum [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R3F07mfx14 

• Dillman, L. (2015, September 24). The generic conventions of sci-fi films [Slideshow]. SlideShare. https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/the-generic-conventions-of-scifi-films/53109658
• Hellerman, J. (2023, June 28). What is the science fiction genre? Definition, tropes, and examples. No Film School. https://nofilmschool.com/science-fiction-genre
• Screencraft. (2021, July 1). 5 popular sci-fi tropes in movies and TV. https://screencraft.org/blog/5-popular-sci-fi-tropes-in-movies-and-tv/
• WeVideo. (2022, June 23). What makes a sci-fi movie? Exploring the science fiction genre. https://www.wevideo.com/blog/sci-fi-genre
• Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. (2024, February 12). Portray Her 2.0: An analysis of 15 years of women in STEM on-screen, 2007–2022. https://geenadavisinstitute.org/event/portray-her-2-0-an-analysis-of-15-years-of-women-in-stem-on-screen-2007-2022/

    

Post-production #2

    Hey guyss! Editing has been so fun, after practicing it a LOT on friday I find it so enjoyable, even though I still have a lot to learn. I actually find editing so much more enjoyable than filiming, it is crazy how things change. Anyways, for the progress when it comes to editing we started adding some sounds, especifically royalty free music. 

Ignore the green line, its the song

    We're also finishing to fully choose what our soundscape is going to be made up of, which consists of many made up sounds, especifically for the visions. The rest of the editing process has been coming along nicely since the practice round has paid off a lot. I will keep updating the process soon.

CCR Question #1

    Hello everyone! My research today is about the first ccr question. The question is: How does your product use or challenge media conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues. I really like this questions because it deals a lot with representation, which I could talk about forever.

    In my particular product, we use many genre conventions rather than challenging them. One of these is the use of technology as a main plot point in many films. Our film is no different from these, our plot could not work without the use of technology. Our story also revolves around a futuristic world, while it is true the viewer does not get to see this world at the beginning of our film, it is set in a somewhat distant future. 

    

    For the second part of the question, our film represents a very specific social group, which is woman in STEM. Even though it is true our first character was a guy, due to some unexpected issues we had to change to woman. The idea of our main character being a woman is way better than what we originally thought, this allows us to represent an incredible group of people. She is an aspiring scientist, who is not heard by the higher ups and has to do something about this. We tackled one issue, fear of the death paired with mental instability. When we were coming up with Owen we wanted her to have a motive, something that drove her forward, we came up with the idea of her not having a stable life ever, so that's why she's doing everything in her power to get some stability. When she sees her death, she realizes all her effort will have gone in vain, and slowly loses her mental health.

References

Clute, J., Langford, D., Sleight, G., & Nicholls, P. (Eds.). (2025). The encyclopedia of science fiction (4th ed.). https://sf-encyclopedia.com/

Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association. (2026). Writing resources. https://www.sfwa.org/other-resources/

Science Fiction Research Association. (2025). SFRA resources. https://sfra.org/resources/

TV Tropes. (n.d.). Science fiction. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ScienceFiction

Starting to Edit

    Hey guys! Since post-production is the main focus for us this week, I really put in my best foot forward and practiced the whole day my editing skills. Today I did not go to school, so from early morning to the evening I edited a small project to really polish my editing skills.

    For context a few months ago I learned about something called Machinemas, which is basically making a video using a video game. When I remembered this I decided to use it to practice my editing skills, I also used one of my favorite songs to make a short story for me to follow and edit. I knew this was the best way for me to practice because in any other way, I would've died of boredom, and this way kept me entertained while I still improved. After hours of practicing I dedcided that it was good enough and started editing the project. I actually got so much better with DaVinci Resolve too, I feel comfortable using it and its pretty easy.

Moribund 

    

    While I had to edit and record both, they were very differently, one of them allowed me to follow a song, while the other I had to make sure was perfect with no help. After practicing, I can say that I find editing somewhat enjoyable, it is a long and annoying task, but its fun if you REALLY look underneath the surface. I will continue to update on the progress of the editing for the project

Practice Project