It's Time

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The time has come! Here are my links, enjoy:))

Opening: When The White Seeds Fall Opening (YAYAYAYAAAYAY)

CCR questions #1 and 2 (filmed with Arantza Chavez): CCR 1

CCR questions #3 and 4: CCR2

I'M DONE (reflecting)

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FINALLY!!! I'M DONE WITH THE PROJECT! After, what was it? 7 weeks? I'm finally done. It was definitely a wild ride and to be honest, I'm so done with this. But I also really had a fun time. I have never been given this much freedom for a project or... anything actually. I'm one of those people that start doing something and never finish, but I obviously could not do that with this project. So it was crazy to see me go from being excited for this, to be tired of it, love it again, despise it with every fiber in my being, slowly start to like it again, then hate it once again, love it again, and, finally, feel relieved but so so proud of it. 

I've genuinely learned so much by working on this project... and it sounds like a joke... when I was reading the reflection posts of other students before starting this process, I definitely thought they were just saying things for the sake of a good grade. But, truly, I've learned so much. 

Editing my CCRs

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I'm so so close to finishing, all I need is to edit. Well, I already started editing my Oscars interview one and I've come across an issue... we filmed it with a black screen behind us so I could edit in a background... but didn't notice that Arantza was wearing a black dress... so... that's just gonna have to be my background... it's the content that counts, right? My second CCR is a lot easier to edit because I didn't mess up and pause as much, so I'm leaving the easiest one for last. I'm also gonna add some clips from my opening and probably some random graphics and visuals to make the videos more entertaining. Here are some screen recordings of me editing my ccrs:)

Editing CCR2

Filming CCR Number 2

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So... I'm in Argentina... and I had to film my 2nd ccr here. The plan was to film a news interview but I have nowhere to film it, city streets are not safe. So! I updated my ccr ideas post (you can look at what the plan is there) and I decided to just film myself where I'm staying. Here are some behind the scenes clips:)

Me practicing what I'm going to do

Me messing up

Me checking if my head is in the frame

Filming my CCRs!! (Actually only the 1st one)

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So I've been filming my CCRs! Today I filmed my Oscars interview one at Arantza's house. We dressed up nicely, both wearing our hoco dresses and just got to filming. It took a lot longer than expected though... I kept messing up... like way too much. You'll probably see the jump cuts in the video after I edit it. But here are some behind the scenes clips...

Getting ready with Arantza

The setup

CCR Ideas

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So, I now have all of the info for my CCRs! I will use my blog posts as a script for the audio portion of these videos, leaving the visuals as the final part to figure out. I've seen many examples and am sure I want to at least try to make it fun to film and watch, not just a presentation and a voiceover. So, here are my 3 favorite ideas that I came up with.

News Interview

So, I'll link the inspo vid under this paragraph, but for the past like 7 years I've seen this one street interview on BBC so many times it's concerning. Basically, an English reporter was going around the city streets asking for people's opinions on a specific soccer match in the 90s only to randomly come across one of the goal keepers of that game. It's a very heartwarming interview and I thought it would be cute to recreate it in my own style and to fit the CCR questions. So, I would have one of my friends (probably Arantza) walk around my neighborhood and coincidentally come to me asking about the film "When the White Seeds Fall." I will break it to her that I am actually one of the directors and respond to her questions (the CCRs) with in depth answers. 

News Anchor

If you haven't noticed already, I'm a very news person (I want to pursue a journalism career). So another idea is acting as if I were a news anchor reporting on my film and maybe referencing an interview that the channel conducted on my actual self. And my news reporter character will basically just report my responses as if it were a current event. And I didn't mention this in the last idea, but I would incorporate different types of visuals (pictures, graphics, videos, etc.) and clips of my film opening to make the CCR more entertaining than just seeing and hearing myself talk. I would also probably have to use a green screen for this idea, but that alright. 

Oscars

And my fina CCR idea: I got nominated for an Oscar, wow, now it's time for me to walk on the red carpet. Before the Oscars start, there's always a red carpet and many interviewers asking the people attending questions. I think it would be pretty cool to pretend that "When the White Seeds Fall" was nominated for best film or I got nominated for best director and I dressed up nicely and simply went to the Oscars. I get interviewed by, again, probably Arantza, with the CCR questions and that's my video. I would also probably have to use a green screen for this one (by the way, when I say green screen I mean just a blank wall that I can edit the background on), but I'm not too worried about that. I would do the same as my other ideas and add visuals to it, making it more entertaining, and that's that. Here's an example of an actual red carpet interview.

Edit:

Just Walking Around

New idea!!! So, I am short on time, and I probably won't have time to film my 2nd CCR before I leave to Argentina for spring break. So... I will have to film over there. My new idea is just walking around one of my family members' house, which has a bunch of cool, old things and somehow try to relate what I'm talking about to the old objects. I'll probably add graphics and clips from my opening, as well, so it's not just me talking, but yeah I think that's what I'm gonna to have to resort to.

Prep for CCR 4 (last one yayyy)

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Update: This will no longer be a news interview, I will only say my part.

CCR 4: How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

Interviewer: That is amazing! And so, how would you say your production skills developed throughout this project?

Me: This project was definitely a wild one. I had already done a few small projects leading up to this one which I feel definitely helped with the specific parts like editing, sound, and filming, but it still didn't compare to this one. I think what I most learned, to be honest, was personal skills. No one talks about how important communication and teamwork is when creating something this big. I was luckily able to work with my friend Arantza for this and, at times, it was difficult, but I learned how to explain in a detailed manner exactly what I wanted when filming a shot, for example and later we sort of had to take both of our ideas into account and combine them so we were both happy with it, even if it wasn't our individual original idea. Speaking of being detailed, details are so important. I didn't realize how much you have to pay attention to the small things when producing these types of products. Since our film takes place in the 2000s, we had to make sure everything was time accurate. Which meant we not only had to worry about costuming, but we also had to reshoot a few scenes because an Alexa or Tesla was seen in the background. We also had a reoccurring flower theme going on, where everything that related to flowers had a deeper meaning, for example Lily's name wasn't just a pretty name it described her life... literally... Lily's name literally described her life. I feel like in general this project taught me to question things and really focus on what they may mean.  Also organization. I am like one of the most unorganized people ever, I'm a huge procrastinator, and you just cannot do that when doing these kinds of things. We created a schedule with small deadlines to meet for certain portions of the production process which helped us stay on top of things (something I've never done before) and also the blog I was talking about before, it really helped me organize the ideas inside of my head and put them down in writing so I could look back on them rather than rely on my memory, which is not the best. And lastly, perseverance and patience. Arantza and I encountered, many, many issues. We had to work around our, our actor's and my family's schedules to find days to film. On film days we had max 3 hours of daylight to film after school. I was also travelling one weekend and the next Arantza got like really really sick. And only to add on to the pressure, I was leaving for Argentina a few days before all of this was due, so we were definitely under limited time. And even though we were stressed and were met with all of these challenges, we still tried our best, trusted the process and made the best product we could with whatever we had. 

+ I will probably add some clips from the opening in this one for sure, so here are some of the clips I like the most (OOOO WAIT maybe I can add bts... that's cute)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18CJA38AXR7HwxVVHUO4z94b5RsmO7KAt/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1__7_wQmZT8aECMkdTw3MoLZwH9zOb-RW/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vcTTQCunv3Fbzj0D5TrihCuzmH3Glu8O/view?usp=sharing

Prep for CCR 3

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Update: This will no longer be a news interview, I will only say my part.

CCR 3: How did you integrate technologies in this project?

Interviewer: Hello!! Did you watch the new hit film, "When the White Seeds Fall?" 

Me: Yes, I did! I'm actually one of the directors of the film.

Interviewer: Are you really? Sofia Fernandez?

Me: Yep! Sofia Fernandez.

Interviewer: Oh no way!!! What a coincidence! Wonderful to meet you! Do you mind if we ask you a few questions about the film for Star News and Entertainment?

Me: I'll be glad to answer some questions!!

Interviewer: Well, this film is so well-made, people are dying to know, what gear or tech you were using to capture that look?

Me: I'm going to be honest, I really didn't use all that much. I am a beginner so simple to use or low-cost supplies were all that was used. Starting with the basics, we used Arantza's iPhone to film the whole project as it had amazing camera quality. And we actually didn't use a tripod or anything to film, all of our shots were handheld, which I feel made the film even better and personal since it really immersed audiences into the story and our character's lives. We did, though, find a stabilizing setting on Arantza's phone that allowed audiences to be immersed but still kept that professional look that films usually have. We found that background noises and music on the website Pixabay and I recorded a few foley sounds using my bluetooth earbuds as mics and recorded videos on my Samsung's camera app, which I later converted to an mp3 file on my laptop. We used Premiere Pro to put all of the shots and sounds together and, well, we made "When the White Seeds Fall." I would also, though, like to emphasize how much technology helped us in the pre-production process, as well. We made most of our props ourselves, so my printer was a lifesaver. For example, we placed the NYU logos, addresses and names for the envelope and acceptance letter in a Word doc, printed it out, and glued it all in its place. Google was also our best friend. So, Arantza and I were not alive in the early 2000s, so we had to research a lot about the fashion style, how college acceptances worked and more from the time period this film takes place in. Well lastly, and arguably the most important technology we used was Blogger. Throughout this whole process we each kept a blog that really helped me, at least, stay organized and reflect.

 

Prep for CCR 2 (Oscars)

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CCR 2: How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

Interviewer: And what in your film do you think resonates with audiences so much?

Well, our target audience was teen girls since... well, that's what the film is about... and I feel that many of our watchers have or had a strong friendship like Jackie and Lily's that they are able to feel some sort of connection to. And I think this film also brings comfort to teens regarding hardships they may encounter and proves to them that they will be able to overcome them. Even with older audiences, that fun youthful innocence and excitement combined with the 2000s style also adds to that nostalgic feeling that we wanted to include that some are able to reminisce on.  

Interviewer: Respond/react to that. The attention that "When the White Seeds Fall" received was overwhelmingly positive. So, how did you get to sharing this film to the world as a small, independent creator?

Well,  I started out by just submitting the opening to local film festivals for fun, when I received a lot of good feedback I realized, "wow this could actually become something." So I decided to post it on Youtube and eventually researched how to release it on Tubi, which is a great starting point for beginner films. And yeah, since it was put on Tubi, it gained wide traction, was watched by thousands of people and well, got me to the Oscars!

Sources:

Tubi. (2025). Tubi unveils insights on how marketers can navigate the shifting entertainment landscape in “The Stream 2025.” https://corporate.tubitv.com/press/tubi-unveils-insights-on-how-marketers-can-navigate-the-shifting-entertainment-landscape-in-the-stream-2025/

Global Media Insight. (2025). YouTube statistics 2025: Users by country + demographics. https://www.globalmediainsight.com/blog/youtube-users-statistics/

Prep for CCR #1 (Oscars)

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So, another big part of our AICE exam are the CCRs, Creative Critical Reflection. Basically, each student will answer 4 questions about the process of producing our film opening and reflecting on it. We are also supposed to do them in a creative manner, hence the name of them. I don't really know exactly what I want to do but I do want to make it fun to film and watch. Arantza and I plan to help each other film next week Monday to Thursday (also includes coming up with script and memorizing it). So in the meantime, I'm going to start researching about each question and find a bunch of information I could include in my CCRs. So here's the first one:)

1st Question: How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

Interviewer: Sofia Fernandez!! It's so lovely to finally meet you!!! ... talk talk talk

So, tell me, how did you even come up with the idea for this film? What makes it unique and different from others?

So, it actually isn't that different. When my partner Arantza and I began brainstorming ideas, we already knew we wanted to make a typical coming-of-age film. We grew up watching and loving these types of movies, so, we chose to follow a lot of those genre conventions and stereotypes. Already in the opening, we included upbeat music, natural lighting, and a warmer color scheme, all of which tie together to bring that nostalgic joy coming-of-age films always have right from the start. "When the White Seeds Fall" also really dives into the classic themes of self-discovery, resilience, and grief which shows the shift from childhood to adulthood Jackie and Lily go through during this time of their lives. All of these were also meant to help our audiences feel seen and relate to the characters on screen. The film focuses on Jackie and Lily's last summer before college, a point in life many people experience and can or will relate to. Our protagonists are also 2 different representations of teenagers that I'd hope today's youth can connect with: Jackie portraying the creative, artsy teens, and Lily the caring, quirky one. But there is also a challenge that must be overcome that, I feel, those who have experienced the loss of a loved one can attest is a very difficult time period that we thought was important to add into this film, as it can be a very important part of growing up.

Sources:

MasterClass. (2021, September 24). Coming-of-age movies: What is the coming-of-age genre? MasterClass. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/coming-of-age-movies

Kench, S. (2023, September 24). What is a coming of age movie — Examples and characteristics. StudioBinder. https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-a-coming-of-age-movie-definition/