Critical Reflection

 

The concept of “the ballad of bobby the blob” developed in a way that I was not expecting to come to me at all. Even though at first, I was stressed between different ideas, choosing to challenge myself through new ways of making art and exploring a concept and genre I am not really familiar with makes me feel like I have grown as a filmmaker. Through my research, I did not just learn about the concept of animation including how frames affect the motion of your subject and how detailed things need to be in order for the animation to run smoothly but it also helped me understand characteristic of the genre I was working with.

For example, while studying Pixar films such as Soul and Luca, I considered the fantasy aspects of both films, as both have this sense of adventure, which was something I wanted to include in my film.  
    In addition, within my research I realize that with the main characters I was writing needed to have different perspectives of Earth, not just because they come from various places and have different experiences but because they have different motives for their actions. In my research I knew that I wanted to make Bobby like Luca, where he was curious and ambitious to learn about our world and how much he enjoyed the little things like learning how to put on a seatbelt correctly. With Julia, I realized I wanted her to be a mix of 22 and Alberto, where they have fun and enjoy their world but there is something inside them that makes them wish things were different. I feel that my research did not just help me understand a different type of way to make film but learn how important it is to understand the goals and values each character holds, which is something I wanted to spread with my audience throughout the film.  

    For the promotion of this film, I mainly researched the Instagram of the Pixar movie Luca as it was one of the main films I was researching for this project. My target audience from the beginning was from ages 12-19 but once the development of the film started it made me realize that my main target audience were kids between the ages of 9-18. Since this is more of a fantasy storyline, I realize the main people who would be interested in this would be kids who are part of the middle class, adventures, and ambitious.

My social media helps to attract this audience as it keeps a consistent theme throughout the page but also has engaging post for the audience to learn more about what the film is about. For example, in a specific post I posted a still of Bobby in the film which got a good reaction from the audience as they seemed excited about Bobbys personality and character. Our postcard, I feel that it engages with audiences because it provides the opportunity for people to learn more about this film through our social media, check it out at different screenings in one of the biggest theaters in the country, and get in contact with me if they have any questions about my work.

    However, I feel that for the branding of this film I could have done a lot more to promote it and engage more people to see it. What I liked about the three components is that it had a consistent color scheme throughout the film and the social media. The use of purple is not just a comforting color, but it also holds a lot of power within color theory. But I feel that my film could have been more engaging if I had put in the extra effort to get special posts with actors and have them talk about the film itself to get viewers more excited about the coming of this film. I also feel that because this is not my usual type of filmmaking as I like to tell more stories on the realism side instead of formalist side, not being extremely confident that people will appreciate it compared to other films I have done kind of puts me in a weird spot with the film. However, one thing that I want to spread through filmmaking is appreciating the effort and time people put into their craft and art so slowly I am becoming more attached and growing more love for this film as not only did I challenged myself and tried something new, but I got to learn from this experience and understand more of the stories I like to tell and the type of filmmaker I am. I feel that this film has developed a new branch of my brand and gives me more opportunities to explore a fantasy brand within film.  

    That said, exploring this brand of fantasy in film and developing this story also gave me the opportunity to bring the realism side of film and incorporate issues that mean a lot to me. While I was developing this script, one of the main critiques I got with my advisor was that during the scene where we learn that Julia lives in an abusive home with her father, Bobby’s actions at the end of the story are very crucial to his character as it demonstrates how I need to spread the message of being kind is within the film in a specific way.

     Representing this issue within the film was important to me as I know people who have experienced this type of treatment and I feel should know that they are not alone within the world. Some might say that the concept of an abusive household is basic and overdone, but I feel that it’s important for people to understand that these are ongoing issues that still happen today and as a society we should do more about it. I feel that I represented this group in a successful way and gets the message across of how regardless of how people may be treated, you should aways be kind to one another because you don’t know what people are going through. Overall, this was a really great learning experience, and I can’t wait to see what I make in the future.