Aribah Imtiaz created a romantic comedy movie opening to fulfill a school assignment. She conducted a survey to determine which genre would appeal to the most people in her apartment building. Most respondents said they preferred romance, comedy, and movies about social issues. She chose to make a romantic comedy addressing cheating in relationships. Imtiaz faced challenges finding locations, coordinating her cast's schedules, and editing, but learned valuable lessons about filmmaking through the process. She integrated various software, hardware, and online platforms to complete the project.

1. Creative Critical
Reflection
Made by
Aribah Imtiaz

2. How does your product use or
challenge the conventions and
how does it represents social
groups or issues?

3. Horror
Thriller
Romantic
Comedy
Genres
I wanted to do a movie as per expectations of a
large audience that what they wants to see. I
took a survey to understand that.

4. I selected my Apartment building and a nearby one,
totaling 125 apartments. My questions to peoples of
different age groups about what type of movie they
would like to see provided me with the clue.
I learned that
people would
like to see
Romance and
comedy and
movie on
Social Issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Horor Comedy Romance Social Issues Thriller Childrens
Kids
Teens
Middle Age
Old
Romantic Comedy
with a Social Issue
was my choice.

5. A few examples of
Romantic Comedy
that I had in mind
and watched for an
idea.

6. A Romantic Comedy
Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted,
humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such
as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles.
My movie depicts a love story based around an
important issue of a boy in a relationship with two girls,
with promises to each. The Romantic Comedy allows
me to deal with this sensitive issue of love and cheating
in a light and humorous way.

7. ‘Never Again’
I have named my movie to describe it in a vague
manner with a mystery in the name; not reflecting
the genre of the movie.
I think this will attract a larger audience as more
people will try to learn a little further about the
movie, before watching.

8. A Rom-Com usually attracts the teenagers and the young adults.
Kids
Teenage
Young adults
Old age

9. The age group I would prefer to watch this
movie would be school/college going teenagers.
My movie is a light film. Which I would suggest
teenagers to watch. But, on the other hand, it is
not catering to any particular segment and can
be viewed by others as well.
My opinion concludes that it will be more
enjoyed by the teenage audience.
Age group I advise for my Movie

10. Also, in my movie I am indirectly sending
positive a message to the teen audience of what
reality looks like and not every story can be a
‘happily ever after’.
The movie is basically surrounding around the
teens life but will be of interest to their parents
who may want to know about the issue
presented in the movie.

11. Conventions of a romantic comedy movies are:
• Conventional Formula - Two people fall in love, they get along
fine but breakup after some kind of misunderstanding and
finally get back together at the end.
• The two main characters are likely to be of different social
classes.
• Often starts with a voice over explaining the characters.
• A typical ‘Boy meets Girl’ scenario.
• Often centered around the female character, the film is seen
from her point of view.
• Happy endings.
• Examples; Bridget Jones Dairy, Love Actually.

12. I have challenged the very common convention of
Rom-Com.
- My Characters are from a similar social class
instead of different social background.
- There is no misunderstanding between the main
characters as cheating by the boy is evident just in
the opening of the movie and so the plot is not
simple for a happy ending. Whereas in every other
Rom-Com a twist is often expected in the middle of
the movie.

13. Similar scenes to the movie which inspired me
A Bollywood movie-Hum Tum My movie-Never Again
A Hollywood movie
John Tucker Must Die
My movie-Never Again

14. Social Issue
My movie opening highlights a social
issue which is very common all over the
world.
In every other society usually teenager
are very fond of relationships but as
they aren’t mature enough to handle it
for a longer period of time they breakup
due to several reason, which may
include; one cheating the other, family
background or class differences etc.

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

16. USP
The unique selling point of my movie is its
closeness to reality. It shows a normal life of two
girls through their routine, without knowing
each other and also that they have common
boyfriend. But the sudden coincident of the
three characters meeting together crates an
interesting situation. So the audience will want
to watch the whole movie to find out why the
boy is cheating, how they met and other details.

17. Distributor for My Movie
Searching and choosing a film distributor; I found this
task as the most difficult one.
I researched on a lot of large and small distributors and
in the end I came to the conclusion that I wanted
Universal Studios to be my film’s distributor.

18. I wanted this for many reasons.
Firstly, Universal Studios are interested in film’s all
genres; comedy, romantic, action, thriller and as well as
horror. Therefore my genre, which is romantic comedy
will also be interest to Universal Studios. Since
Universal accepts all the main theme genres, it is very
helpful for the producers.
Secondly, Universal Studios distribute both, high and
low budget films. So as per my planning of a low
budget film it will be easy for me.
Furthermore, a big name will help me attract a larger
number of audiences as it is a mass market film.

19. Some Romantic Comedy movies that are
distributed by Universal Studios are:
So all of this clearly
shows the reason of
choosing Universal
Studios as distributors
of my movie Never
Again.

20. I will also use social
networking sites to promote
my movie, such as:
•Facebook
•YouTube
•Instagram
•Twitter
•Netflix
•IMDb

21. I will release my
movie’s soundtracks
on iTunes.
And will also
release my movie
on DVD one
month after
theater release.

22. How did your production skills
develop throughout this
project?

23. The Assignment
Working on the project of making a Movie Opening has
been really fun and interesting.
- The project played a very important role in expanding my
knowledge and preparing me to minimize all the
unexpected in any next assignments.
- From deciding the genre and writing the story to directing
the actors, choosing their wardrobe and selecting the
location, everything was a great experience, But, once I got
out of the storyboard, there were ups and down in each of
these steps.

24. Story Line
Thinking about the story was difficult as so many things were coming up
in mind but I had to choose an idea that can be handled alone. When
the story was finalized in my mind, I didn’t care about how I will manage
the cast as an opening with three characters looked quite manageable.
- For the outdoor location I selected a public park considering daylight
shooting without the hassles of extra lighting.
-However I didn’t even think that the Park Management, where I will be
shooting will have to be approached beforehand for the permission?
- Add to that, the Park Management insistence for an adult supervision
during all the shoots and my pleadings to my father to
spare time from his busy schedule!
Still, I am happy that I dropped the other alternative
of shooting someone thinking about the past, in an indoor
environment. Also, when I discussed this story idea with
my Media Studies Sir, it was approved.

25. Where to Shoot?
When the need for permission from the Park Management downed
on me it was just like being hit by a lightning bolt, I got panicky.
- The first park I visited made it clear that movie cameras are not
allowed as the people using the parks may object. However, the
management was kind enough to allow the shooting after the parks
morning time, on a date when there was no cricket match. But that
was way out of my schedule.
- Then I thought of shooting it in the Maritime Museum. The Navy
guys were really helpful and were kind of allowing but fortunately a
quick look around the location made it clear that it will not depict a
park for jogging.
- The next park in my list proved to be good and I followed the Park
Management advice to not to shoot the people jogging in the park,
because if someone objects the management will be on their side and
will not support the shooting activity.

26. The Cast
My cast, I am so thankful to them for sparing their
time for me and my project, from their assignments
and preparations for exams. The big day for me was
the Saturday for the outdoor, which proved even
bigger for one of the cast with an A Level mock on
Monday.

27. Day of the Shooting
It had rained just in the early morning and the Sun was shining fully
clearing away the usual blanket of dusty environment or haze. Can
anyone believe that this could turn out to be a problem for me!
- I wasted a lot of precious time adjusting the setting for this lighting
as the camera was just catching up a lot of light. Some frantic calls to
friends and then advice from one of their expert brother solved this
once and for all times.
- Afterwards, there were no major problems and I was finished up
with the shooting much before the Park’s evening time and was
relieved to think that now the whole movie can be edited with just a
single remaining indoor shot.
- However, the shooting in the park has its own lighter and harder
sides with a great laugh by all in a blooper when the donut bag was
dropped by the actor just as he was supposed to show his
astonishment.

28. Editing and Initial Review
I always enjoy the editing works but the
park shots, specially the long shots, I
found difficult to edit without listening
carefully to the dialogues that could be
barely made out for my first experience
of outdoor shooting.
- It looked like the editing will never end.
- When I was done with the editing work
it looked good, until reviewed by my
Media Studies Sir!

29. Advise for Additional Shots
Only a few extra scenes were advised by the Media Sir but the shooting for these were
like I have not done anything earlier.
-The cast, all three, were found impossible to again manage their availability together, in
the short time available before submission of the project.
- Separate shots were planned for each, on different days.
- My request to them for same dress was easy just as the request for same glasses.
- They managed the same dress but forgot the black spectacles, wasting a lot of time on
one of the shooting.
I studied the earlier shots, beforehand to take care of which hand holds the donut bag
and which hands the coffee but to make sure that the cast follows it was not easy.
- I felt lucky that the donut bag was not opened in any of the shots otherwise the donut
flavors could have wasted more time. Still the body language and posture of the cast
recorded in the last shoot was quite difficult to replicate, even in the close-ups.

30. Most Important Lesson for Me
Watching a movie is the easiest thing to do but
making one is quite a challenge.
- I have learned that it needs a lot of careful
planning at every stage.

31. How did you integrate
technologies (software,
hardware and online) in this
project?

32. Software
For converting
the video I
have used
Total Video
Converter.
For the use of
editing I have used
Windows Movie
Maker.

33. For learning how to edit, I watched a
few tutorials and practiced
editing.
Earlier, as finding the right convertor
took a lot of time so since then, I am
using the same convector for every
assignment.
The more you use the more it is
learned, like after wasting a lot of
time to control the firing letters to
stay a little more after the last text, I
ended up by just adding a space at
the end.

34. Hardware
The camera use to shoot is Nikon
D5200.
I have learnt how to use a tripod. At
first I used to think that it is going to
be difficult to handle the camera and
tripod side by side. But, when I
started doing my media assignments
and started to shoot videos I got the
hang of it.

35. Camera Angles
1.Extreme wide shot
2. Very wide shot
3. Wide shot
4. Mid shot
5. Medium close up
6. Close up
7. Extreme close up
8. Cut-in
9. Two shot
10. Over the shoulder
11. Point of view
12. Dutch tilt
13. Pedestal shot
14. Jib
15. Track shot
16. Dolly shot
There are more then 15 camera angles that I
have learnt in my Media class, which include:
Also some frames that include:
1. High angle
2. Low angle
3. Depth of field
4. Rule of thirds
5. Connotation
6. Symmetry
7. Silhouette

36. Close up: I learnt the importance of taking
close ups. It breaks the drag in a scene, and
also it emphasizes on the characters emotions.
Taking a close up was hard as I had to make
sure that my actor did not get uncomfortable
with the camera being right on her face.
It took me 7 to 8 retakes to get a final shot.
These are some of the camera angles that I have used in
my movie opening.

37. Medium Close up: I also learnt the importance
of taking medium close ups. A medium close up
is half way between a mid shot and close up, it
shows a clear face without getting
uncomfortably close.
In my movie opening this shot helped me to
show the calling on phone, taking off sunglasses
and even waving hand.

38. Over the Shoulder: This shot
is actually framed from
behind a person who is
looking at the subject. The
person facing the subject
should usually occupy about
1/3 of the frame.
This is used during
conversation between
characters to focus on both of
them while speaking or
listening.

39. Very Wide and Wide Shot: The most
important shot through which you can tell
audience the location , setting or the
surrounding the character is in which makes it
easier for them to understand the scene.
In the VWS, the subject is visible but is further
away then a wide shot. Also the safety room
must be kept intact slightly above head in
both the shots.

40. Online
As I was asked to submit all assignments on blog. Therefore, I had to make
one. My blog is on tumblr. It was fun maintaining a blog throughout the year!
Here are a few screenshots of my blog.

41. Media Assignments
The first assignment was a pair work. We had to make a movie opening of a
person driving and all the shots were advised to be taken from inside the car
except two three from outside.
http://aribahimtiaz.tumblr.com/post/100586908135/movie-opening-d-
firstmediaproject-driving
In the second assignment I had to make a monologue. I tried low key
lighting in this one, It turned out to be good. Also, it was appreciated
by my Sir.
http://aribahimtiaz.tumblr.com/post/102454900010/monologue-
secondmediaproject
In the third assignment I had to make a pubic service message, in which
I showed child labor.
http://aribahimtiaz.tumblr.com/post/109110362705/public-service-
message-thirdmediaproject

42. In the last I would specially like to thank my Media Sir who
kept on pushing everyone to complete the project. His
advises on every aspect of the movie and his critical review
meant we are closer to our goal of achieving high marks.
The way he teaches us with a certain friendship meant that
we should take care of his every observations and I did the
same after his review.
His thinking that everyone write about
his experience of the movie making,
much earlier, was a great help in writing
this Creative Critical Reflection. Without
that preparation I might have been lost
in the movie making alone.

43. Thank you 