Lamby's CCR #1 -Production Proccess-

    I have filmed and edited my first CCR. To recap, I made my stuffed animal from my film opening interview me. Let me show you how I did it.

     To make Lamby, my stuffed animal move, I placed him on a chair and hid in the back, using my arms to move him around. I did want him to just be stiff because then he wouldn't have any personality. Moving Lamby around like a puppet made him seem more alive and it engages the audience as well. I wore a black long sleeve so my arms were more hidden and it creates a more realistic illusion for the viewers.

     Since I am representing an interview, I wanted the setting to look slightly professional. That is why I used fancy chairs and set up a clean wall for the background. I also incorporated some decor such as the pot and the candle sticks next to the chair. I feel like without those elements, the setting would just look too bare.

Here's some BTS of my set up:

(I used a camera stand to prop my phone up)

Here's some raw footage:

    For Lamby's voice, I did not keep the original audio. This was because I sounded too muffled, as I was talking behind a chair 5 feet away from the camera. On top of that, you could also hear my sister's pet bird chirping in the background. So I just voiced over all of the clips of Lamby talking. In contrast, in the clips where I am seen speaking, I kept the original audio because you could already hear my voice clearly.

     During the outro interview, Lamby jokes that the next time the audience will see him, he will be on a cereal box. Implying that he will become famous from his appearance in the film opening, when shown at film festivals and on YouTube. That being said, I created a cute little cereal box with his face on it on Canva. This pops up in the interview right after Lamby teases his cereal box collab.

Here's how I created this small detail on Canva:

Final Product:

Final Script:

LAMBY: 

Hey guys! Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Lamby, aka one of Amanda's favorite childhood friends. And today I am going to be interviewing her about her latest project, "Mind Over Mat". Also, if you didn't already know, I am actually an actor in this filming opening, and play as a stuffed animal that gets thrown at a door. Huh that sounds a little weird out of context. But anyway, here the first question.

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

ME:

   I believe my product has challenged the conventions of a teenage girl. The typical teenage girl usually does sports like gymnastics, dance, or figure skating. Allie, unlike other girls, does a more masculine driven sport, taekwondo. On the contrary, the film embraces quite a few general martial arts movie conventions, such as highly detailed action shots and bright color schemes. It also includes some coming-of-age conventions like voiceovers and a setting of a teenager's bedroom. Allie does fall into the category of being a teenager in general. For instance, she wears comfy clothing such as hoodies, shorts, and slides, when she is not training. Allie also uses her laptop in bed, as many teenagers do. This film opening represents the athletic social group, specifically of martial arts. Allie is seen to be practicing in a dojang with a real taekwondo uniform and black belt. She accurately represents taekwondo and her status of being a black belt, by showing her impressive movements and techniques. My product highly emphasizes the issues of mental blocks and injury, mainly with athletes. When Allie goes to do her flash kick, she hesitates at the last second, leaving her with a broken ankle. Essentially, the audience can see that Allie needs to become more mentally resilient, while also needing to heal her foot in the process.

LAMBY:

*sips coffee mug*

Hmm very well said Amanda. But I need to tell my other friends where they can watch this production.

How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

ME:

My product engages the audience by developing the character through mise-en-scene, including the setting and the costuming. Allie is first seen wearing a taekwondo dobok, inside a dojang. This illustrates that she is an experienced martial artist to the audience. The bright colors of the dojang and the other students practicing in the background  create a realistic and active environment. The first scenes also include energetic music that ties in with the action movements that Allie performs and the diegetic sounds coming from the story. This alignment with the auditory elements and the visuals captivate the audience due to their ability to work together and match. This film opening can be distributed through YouTube, as it is easily accessible by the whole world, and is directly displayed to consumers. Entering my production in film festivals are also other ways to get my product out there, and possibly be noticed by a distribution company. Some festivals I could potentially enter are the Central Florida film fest, Florida Asian Pacific film fest, or the South Asian International film fest (AIFF). These are all held in the state of Florida, so I could easily be able to attend and get my film opening more recognition.

LAMBY:

So people are going to see me on the big screen? Wow, I knew I was gonna be famous one day. Alright! That's all for now, next time you'll see me, I'll be on your cereal box. This is Lamby, your host, signing off.

Ideas for my CCR's

CCR #1:

     For my first two questions, I want to make a production where Allie's stuffed animal "Lamby" is interviewing me about my film opening. I want this CCR to be funny to watch and make the test scorers have a nice laugh while grading it. This was a fun idea suggested to me in my second group meeting from two of my classmates, Maia and Luke. To make Lamby come to life, I am going to be the voice actor for him, using a very high pitched, funny voice. My inspiration for this is going to be Elmo's voice. I will also be using him as a puppet by propping up my camera high, and using my arm to control his body movements. I can also use props such as a coffee mug to have Lamby drink out of, creating a cute parallel to normal interviews. I will film this video at my house, most likely at a table to give off an interview type of setting.

CCR #2:

     For my last two questions, I am thinking of making a production where I am being interviewed while I tape my foot. I got this idea because it brings in Allie's character and my own personal experience into the interview. I want to display the questions on the athletic tape, as I unwrap it from the roll. After I answer the question, I will add the tape to my foot. I will be filming this at my house, in my room. I want it to be the same setting of Allie's bedroom. By the end of the video, I will have my foot taped up and ready to go to taekwondo practice. That being said, I will wear my taekwondo dobok throughout the video. I wanted to do this because I have broken my ankle before and have had to tape it exactly like this, which connects my own personal life to Allie's life.

Additional add ins:

     I am also planning to incorporate some behind the scenes footage throughout these two CCR's, as it engages the viewers to what I am saying and creates nice visuals for them. Footage such as BTS of filming, the editing process, and creating my logo, will all be included and overlayed into the videos. In addition, the sources to my information will all be cited at the very end of the CCRs.

(Note: The two CCRs should add up to 10 minutes long combined)

CCR - Researching/Script for Question #4

Question #4:

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

   To record my whole project, Alexis, my videographer used my phone to film. I chose to use my phone because I could comfortably transfer all the footage to my computer, without needing use a USB or any other complicated technology. Using an iPhone was also easier to move, as it is smaller than a professional camera. This allowed me to do creative shots such as the POV shot into my failed flash kick attempt. To edit my project, I used Clipchamp. This editing software was accessible to me through Office365 since I am a student, and it provided an abundance of tools to help me assemble my film opening effectively. To create my production logo and my title, I used Canva. This online program helped me design and personalize my logo and title to my liking, as it contains many features for different fonts, colors, gradients, and objects. I had also created a mood board for Allie through Canva as well. And of course, I used Blogger.com to organize, research, and plan out my project over these past few weeks.

Sources:

Microsoft. (n.d.). What is Clipchamp? Microsoft Support. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/what-is-clipchamp-750e8940-cd76-4abf-9767-b34d3d3285d7

Canva. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved March 3, 2026, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canva

V Renée. (2017, August 1). The pros and cons of making a film with your smartphone. No Film School. https://nofilmschool.com/2017/08/pros-and-cons-making-film-your-smartphone

CCR - Researching/Script for Question #3

Question #3:

How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

     Throughout my filming process, I learned how to become a better actor as well as a better editor. Although it was my first time acting, I managed to portray Allie the way I had envisioned her to be. Additionally, I realized that it was very time consuming to decide which types of shots and scenes I wanted to include into the film opening. That being said I believe the storyboard was one of the most challenging processes for me. However overtime, when I knew more about my story, it was easier to come up with the scenes. Directing my friend, Alexis, my cinematographer, was also more difficult than I expected. I already had pictures in my head of what shots would like, however, it was quite challenging to explain certain shots with words. As a result, the filming process took slightly longer than what was planned. While editing, I learned how to time music with the credit sequence, as well as the strikes, blocks, and punches, making the final product look nicely assembled.

Sources:

The Los Angeles Film School. (2017, May 15). 5 skills every filmmaker needs. https://www.lafilm.edu/blog/5-skills-every-filmmaker-needs/

Hulett, S. (2016, March 16). Storyboard deadlines … storyboard timelines. Animation Guild. https://animationguild.org/storyboard-deadlines-storyboard-timelines/

CCR - Researching/Script for Question #2

Question #2:

How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

    My product engages the audience by developing the character through mise-en-scene, including the setting and the costuming. Allie is first seen wearing a taekwondo dobok, inside a dojang. This illustrates that she is an experienced martial artist to the audience. The bright colors of the dojang and the other students practicing in the background  create a realistic and active environment. The first scenes also include energetic music that ties in with the action movements that Allie performs and the diegetic sounds coming from the story. This alignment with the auditory elements and the visuals captivate the audience due to their ability to work together and match. This film opening can be distributed through YouTube, as it is easily accessible by the whole world, and is directly displayed to consumers. Entering my production in film festivals are also other ways to get my product out there, and possibly be noticed by a distribution company. Some festivals I could potentially enter are the Central Florida film fest, Florida Asian Pacific film fest, or the South Asian International film fest (AIFF). These are all held in the state of Florida, so I could easily be able to attend and get my film opening more recognition.

Sources:

The Los Angeles Film School. (2025, May 27). From screen to stream: A guide to indie film distribution. The L.A. Film School. https://www.lafilm.edu/blog/indie-film-distribution/

Metcalfe, B. (2025, October 18). Why sports movies continue to captivate audiences across generations. Stage and Cinema. https://stageandcinema.com/2025/10/18/sports-movies-captivate-generations/

FilmFreeway. (n.d.). FilmFreeway. https://filmfreeway.com/

The Editing process -Beginning Action Sequence-

    To start off my film opening, I wanted something that would grab my viewer's attention. To allow this to happen, I made a fast sequenced opening of Allie practicing her poomsae techniques. She does the front line of Taegeuk 8 (aka Taegeuk Pal Jang), one of the poomsae forms, and then freestyles her own elements after.

    During these scene, I wanted each and every individual punch, strike, and block, to have purpose and meaning. It was a great way to represent how each movement in taekwondo has its own significance and purpose. In order to do this, I used many fast cuts, close-ups, long shots, medium shots, and many different angles, to capture the resemblance of rapid movement.

    Adding to that, I also tried my best to time the beats of the music with Allie's strikes, blocks, and kicks. Doing this made the video look more cohesive and it makes the music and video look more intentionally placed and thought out.

Here's a quick snippet:

(video is slightly glitchy because it's not fully exported from Clipchamp yet) (Bear with me lol)

*(Side note: I will be adding in the foley sounds later in my editing process)*

CCR - Researching/Script for Question #1

    It's time to start planning for my Creative Critical Reflection. We have already gone over and took some notes on all the important information that needs to be presented in the CCR during class.

Here are some things I jotted down:

    In addition, I already have an idea of what I am going to make for my reflection. During the second group meeting yesterday, I was given amazing suggestions by Maia and also Luke that really helped me get inspiration for my CCR. I believe I talked about this in my Group Meeting #2 post, but as a refresher, Maia had suggested I should make my stuffed animal "Lamby", interview me for my reflection. I thought this was hilarious and a great idea. Luke had then suggested that I could use Lamby as a puppet, using a high pitched voice for when he talks. I am definitely going to incorporate this into my CCR because not only is it funny, but it is also using a prop/character from part of my film opening. I just love how connects my CCR with my actual production opening together so smoothly.

       Continuing on, there are four questions based on our film opening we will need to answer in this reflection. However, today I am just focusing on question number one:

Question #1:

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

   I believe my product has challenged the conventions of a teenage girl. The typical teenage girl usually does sports like gymnastics, dance, or figure skating. Allie, unlike other girls, does a more masculine driven sport, taekwondo. On the contrary, the film embraces quite a few general martial arts movie conventions, such as highly detailed action shots and bright color schemes. It also includes some coming-of-age conventions like voiceovers and a setting of a teenager's bedroom. Allie does fall into the category of being a teenager in general. For instance, she wears comfy clothing such as hoodies, shorts, and slides, when she is not training. Allie also uses her laptop in bed, as many teenagers do. This film opening represents the athletic social group, specifically of martial arts. Allie is seen to be practicing in a dojang with a real taekwondo uniform and black belt. She accurately represents taekwondo and her status of being a black belt, by showing her impressive movements and techniques. My product highly emphasizes the issues of mental blocks and injury, mainly with athletes. When Allie goes to do her flash kick, she hesitates at the last second, leaving her with a broken ankle. Essentially, the audience can see that Allie needs to become more mentally resilient, while also needing to heal her foot in the process.

   

 

Sources:

Manson, D. (2021, August 17). Representation in martial arts media. Martial Journal. https://www.martialjournal.com/representation-in-martial-arts-media/

Codes + Conventions: Martial Arts [Prezi presentation]. (n.d.). Prezi. https://prezi.com/6uuulatmd37g/codes-conventions-martial-arts/

Codes and Conventions of Coming-of-Age Films [Prezi presentation]. (n.d.). Prezi. https://prezi.com/svyzdw4qndq4/codes-and-conventions-of-coming-of-age-films/

Albishi, W., Alajlan, F., Alshehri, S., & AbuDujain, N. M. (2025). Athlete’s mental health and quality of life after sports injuries. JBJS Reviews, 13(9), e25.00123. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12445178/