Production Journal

Week 1

Goals Completed

  1. generated ideas as well as concepts
  2. started writing script
  3. created an overview of the casting

Cancel News Network (CNN) is a satirical news program meant to highlight the frivolous nature of cancel culture. One component the Cancel News Network production will include are segments that display different ways that people can be canceled in today’s society through a news format. These offenses include things relating to race, relationships, and social class.

Week 2

Examples of concept

The Boondocks as well as skits created by RDC World and SNL follow a comedic format while imitating real current events in the world.

Week 3

Segments

  • Jock of the Week: This segment will include coverage of someone being canceled in the sports world. This would include anyone from players, commentators, announcers, and even coaches. This segment will be covered by the reporters of Cancel News Network (Cameron & De’Andra).
  • The Karen: The Karen is a Caucasian woman who thinks men/women of color are always conspiring against her which ultimately results in calling the cops
  • Canceling Sports Figures segment: Our sports reporter discusses the cancelation of sports figures and why they should be canceled. Our sports reporter does not require a specific description.
  • Everything is Men’s Fault segment: Ma’Keisha is a reporter who talks about her experiences on a date and is infuriated that he will not pay for her tab. This segment is meant to show the “Men are trash” perspective portrayed in modern society. Ma’Keisha is played by an African American woman with a rather loud and animated personality.
  • The Hood Affiliate: Every good news show needs an inside man to get inside content about particular subjects. Our hood affiliate is an insider in the “hood” that gives Cancel News Network the word around the streets. Who is snitching? He will tell us.

Production Crew Bios

De’Andra Jacobs is a multi-media content creator, creating different kinds of content across multiple platforms, ranging from sports, culture, gaming, and fashion. De’Andra has been creating content since adolescence and now is proficient in multiple Adobe applications such as Premiere, Photoshop, and Illustrator. De’Andra furthered her love for mass media as she chose the “Film” pathway at Richmond County Technical Career Magnet School. De’Andra now attends Valdosta State University as a Mass Media Major and will graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. In her academic career at VSU, De’Andra has reported in multiple productions, edited many videos, and assisted with producing many live shows. De’Andra continues to pursue her career in journalism and design as she continues building her content and clothing line Jay Nation Creations.

Cameron Sanders is a multi-media journalist who has aspirations for entertainment, sports, and storytelling. As early as elementary school Cameron participated in school morning shows and had to read a prompter, and had to show vitality in his speech. In middle school, he was highly active in debating just about everything. Sanders’ debating became such a passion in school that he sometimes would get told to quiet down multiple times by teachers and sometimes even get kicked out of class. In high school is when Cameron’s love for mass media began. He made a plethora of sports documentaries, and movies, and learned about many aesthetics of media. In high school, Cameron also learned how to be a journalist and was an editor of the school newspaper. Not to mention he attained the journalism cord, resembling his acquisition to the society of journalism. After attending McEachern high-school Sanders attended Valdosta State University to pursue a degree in Mass Media. In his four years in mass media, he’s anchored and reported on multiple election shows and broadcasts. He also has a sports Youtube channel that has grossed thousands of views. Cameron is someone who has an ultimate drive for success and perseverance to pursue his dream to be a media personality.

Week 4

Goals Completed

  • Completed and finalized script 
  • Completed and documented locations and shots for the film 
  • Created film schedule 
  • Create Pitch Video

Week 3 in the production process of Cancel News Network consisted of finalizing the script. My partner read through the script and finalized the concepts we wished to include in the production. We also created a location log for all the locations we plan to shoot in production. 

Locations 

  • Because Im Black reporter: outside of McDonald’s on North Ashley Street. Across the street from Red Lobster (2102 N Ashley St, Valdosta, GA 31602) 

  • Men Need to be Canceled reporter: Outside of red Lobster on St. Augustine Road. Across the street from Mcdonald’s (1179 St Augustine Rd, Valdosta, GA 31601)

  • The Karen Reporter: Blanton Common Apartment Complex 1505 Lankford Dr, Valdosta, GA 31601

Shooting Schedule 

  • Tuesdays & Thursdays @ 6:00 pm 
  • Wednesdays (if needed)

Week 5

Cast

Brianna Lauser as The Karen

Brianna is a theatre major at Valdosta State University. Brianna is an actress that has played many roles and is looking to expand her skills by playing different roles.

Imani Sibert as Ma’Keisha

Imani Sibert is a Mass Media Major at Valdosta State University. Imani has experience in camera operation, editing, production assisting, and audio tech.


Shaudy Prince is a recording artist and CEO of HRE (Hood Royalty Empire) record label and The Hood Royalty Network.

Joshua Julian as Reporter

Joshua Julian is a senior Mass Media Major at Valdosta State University. Joshua currently works with a minor-league baseball team in Atlanta. In our production, Joshua plays a role in “canceling” or critiquing multiple athletes and or sports figures.

Production Process

Week 6

This week my team and I tried filming in Mass media studio A but another group was in the studio which caused a scheduling conflict. We then entered studio A that following Thursday and were surprised to see that the teleprompters were not working for the studio. Using the teleprompter was something very vital to our project. Our professor would then attempt to fix the teleprompter for the following week.

Week 7

This week we attempted to perfect the script due to the fact that the teleprompters weren’t working. We also discovered that one of the segments that we wanted to do couldn’t be done due to the lack of actors we had at our disposal. To replace the missing time this would have on us we incorporated a commercial segment to our show that could be comical and fill time. This is where you met Cameron’s brother Camron. The following Thursday we were told that the teleprompters could not be fixed.

Week 8

This week we filmed our first reporter Brianna, also known as Karen in our project. Karen’s lines were pretty simple and Brianna came prepared to give us everything we needed. We shot the Karen scene in the Blanton Common apartment complex not too far from the pool area. After filming Karen’s portion of the film we got on premier pro and edited the entire sequence to get it ready for production. We also filmed M’Keisha part of our show at the Red Lobster. It took her a couple of takes to really get into character but it worked out for us.

Week 9

This week Professor Mulligan told us that he might have a solution for our teleprompter problem and introduced a PowerPoint slide that would move at a downward angle just like it does on the teleprompter. We then took our script out of Studiobinder then began to fill PowerPoint slides with the dialogue used in the script. That following Thursday we attempted to use the PowerPoint software as a teleprompter but it didn’t come out the way we had liked. Also, there weren’t any actual chairs in the room so the vibe just didn’t match what we were going for. Then as we tried to control the teleprompter while speaking was an absolute disaster.

Week 10

Because of the problems we faced in studio A, we decided to ask another professor if we could use the neighboring studio after his class was done. He accepted and we began to produce our main segments of the show in Studio B. Studio B gave us so much more room and way more variety than Studio A. That following Thursday we shot segments of the show. After recording we then transferred those files to our hard drives and began to work on them again.

Week 11

We continued working in the studio to make sure that our project was to our liking this included retaking some shots, looking at shot composition, and seeing if their anything more that we could’ve added to a segment. This week we also received the voice recording from our “hood affiliate” which was great as well.

Week 12 consisted of creating assembly edits in Adobe Premiere Pro. The assembly edit was created with the footage that we gathered so far into production. The edits also assisted us with figuring out what elements were missing from the production and what other elements creatively we could add.

SCAN ME!