Hello all! I am back! I have just survived a very long week and it is now a calm and peaceful Saturday night, exactly what I needed all this time!
Before we start, I have some not so hella news for you all...
I'm sick :((
Today I woke up with insane fatigue and a sore throat, so you already know I grabbed my jug and drank as much water as I could! All of today, I've been a little sluggish, but still used all the brain and will power I had left in me to create a decent idea for my CCR! I also drove around Weston with my dad and did pretty well, and watched Mamma Mia (the movie) with my parents! Pretty awesome day :D even if I was internally dying!
So as you probably already figured, this post is going to be all about question #1 for the Creative Critical Reflection (CCR) which is basically just a reflection answering 4 important questions that will require me to take a step back, analyze, and explain our choices made for our opener. I'll be telling you all about my idea for the 1st part of the reflection, then the research made for it, and then to top it all off: the script! So with all that being said, VAMONOS AMIGOS!
SICK ASF BUT WE UP: SCRIPT AND IDEA! IDEA AND SCRIPT! SCRIPT AND
Being so incredibly honest right now, it took me a solid almost I think 2 hours to fully come up with an idea for the 1st CCR video. At first, I thought of doing a talk show, but then I was all like "nahhhh" because to be honest, I would only like to feature myself in the CCR'S as working with another person can take up time, and filming could only be done on specific days and times that may not work for me and the CCR needs to be done pronto! I also said "nahhhh" to this idea because even if I didn't work with another person, and a different version of myself acted as the host, I don't really like the idea of making the camera switch back and forth from host Emi to famous actress Emi.
Guys I think I have a fever I feel myself heating up help
So then after saying "nahhhh" to the talk show idea, I then thought about doing an interview while in character; like instead of me answering the questions, it would be Charlotte! But then my archnemesis, Overthinking Emi, came and was all like "bro how would she even know about the fact that she was in a movie? You would have to break the 4th wall and shit, and then multi universes will break out, and then the world would explode, AND THEN THE UNIVERS
I need water
AND THEN THE UNIVERSE WOULD EXPLODE!" So then that made me be all like, "oh crud you're right dude, that doesn't make sense...WHAT SHOULD I DO???
I then spent almost an hour watching CCR videos from the past to gather inspiration and quiet down the voices. After watching some and thinking to myself for a moment, I got an idea and thought it was the one: ME WITH A SUIT AND SUNGLASSES ON WHILE DOING A PRESENTATION SHOWN ON MY GAMEROOM TV wait no that would low key be boring and you would probably need a green screen and you don't want to do that, because editing is hard and and and SCRAPPED!!
After walking around my room in circles aimlessly while listening to Pop Rocks by Cherry Hencefox (guys this song has genuinely been stuck in my head all day please save me), a little light bulb popped in my silly scatterbrain and said: "EMI EMI EMI EMIII BRO, YOU KNOW HOW LIKE SOME YOUTUBERS AND INFLUENCERS AND STUFF DO UNBOXING FAN MAIL VIDEOS??!!! HOLY CARPY WHAT IF YOU DO THAT??!?"
And then I was all like, "YES" and searched up unboxing videos for inspiration! I then came across a video made by one of my favorite YouTubers ever of all time in the history of the world: CORYXKENSHIN!! He has a series of unboxing videos and I immediately saved them to my "CCR CENTRAL" playlist.
From Cory's content, I found out that in unboxing videos, fans usually don't only just send letters, but also a number of other goodies!! These include but are not limited to: posters, fanart, paintings, books, (swedish fish), shirts, sweaters, figurines, plushies, dream catchers, and even katanas. I KNOW RIGHT??! So from my findings, I got a whole soup of ideas and decided to not only make famous actress Emi read letters that ask profound questions, but also unbox and react to other goodies that were sent to her, because, y'know, FUN!!! I love having fun guys!!
OVERALL IDEA:
So finally after 2 hours of this:
EMI is sitting on her main desk, the chair turned back to face the camera
EMI: Hello everyone, Emi here! It is officially now a week until my big interview with Vanity Fair where I talk all about the film I produced for and starred in, Death is No Friend! So because of this, I thought I could make today’s vlog all about choosing the best outfit and-
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
EMI’S totally real roommate: YO EMI! I GOT AN INSANE AMOUNT OF SHIT FROM THE MAILBOX JUST NOW AND I THINK THEY’RE FOR YOU, PLEASE OPEN THE DOOR.
Door opens and a bunch of boxes get dropped on the floor
EMI picks up one of the boxes and looks at the camera
EMI: (laughs) You serious??
NEW SETTING! Another room (my game room) with a red bean bag on the side
Boxes get dropped and EMI sits down on bean bag
EMI (humorous tone): So uh..clearly, a lot has come in the past month. You guys are wild. (she lays out her hands towards the boxes) LIKE LOOK AT THIS!
EMI: I genuinely did not expect this to come up, but yes, I have got an absolute overflow of mail from you guys…so guess what we are going to do first instead?? YOU GUESSED IT! ITS FAN MAIL TIME! However, I'm only going to unbox about 4 of these boxes because I still got outfit business to take care of right after this! So with that being said, lets get on with it!
EMI pulls out a box
EMI: First up, we got Ryan from California!
EMI opens the box and reacts to each thing Ryan sent which includes: Fanart, a plushie, and then the letter.
EMI (reading Ryan’s letter): Yooo Emi!! Love your vids and movies!! Death is No Friend was an absolute banger and your performance was outstanding!
By the way, I got a question for ya. I got inspired to make a film of my own and figured you might know a thing or two!
How does your film use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
Thanks so much!
EMI: Of course Ryan! Thank you for all the awesome gifts!
“Death is No Friend” follows a good amount of conventions while also challenging huge parts of em! A number of Western films have the common theme of moral ambiguity, which basically means they feature situations and conflicts that really question who is in the right and in the wrong. So it’s no surprise we chose to do it ourselves with our plot by asking the question: Is Charlotte truly in the wrong for murdering her boss out of self defense? Or would she be considered evil and a criminal?
With visual conventions, Western films most of the time have their main characters wear the iconic cowboy hat and outfit, completed with boots! In our film, Charlotte sports a black cowboy hat, red vest, brown pants, and black boots, all of which provide meaning to her character and screams to all, “HEY! YOU’RE WATCHING A WESTERN FILM!”
We also challenge a huge convention in Western films by having a female protagonist!! YAYY!! Most, if not almost all Western films star male protagonists who are typically characterized as individualistic, tough, and rugged; women however, are barely acknowledged, and if they are, they are mostly portrayed as the “damsel in distress” or “saloon girl.” This representation can reinforce the subordination of women and patriarchal norms, which isn’t very awesome. Our film, however, stars a woman who takes on the predominantly male cowboy role...CHARLOTTE!
As for representing social groups, by using gender performativity theory, which basically says that gender is socially constructed, instead of her being a damsel in distress or any other harmful stereotype, our opener will portray Charlotte as a capable, independent, and tough individual. This choice will challenge the gender barrier that most Westerns have and will have the chance to normalize these roles for women, further influencing societal expectations to be more accepting of them!
Regarding her costume, we decided to have Charlotte wear brown pants and a deep red vest. The pants are meant to defy gender norms that were especially present in the 1800’s, and the vest is meant to convey her strength, establishing that she is not one to be messed with!
NO EMI DID I GET YOU SICK???
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