Audience and Institution Practice Essay

Asses the importance of marketing in the media area you have studied

   There are many different ways for a production company to get attention drawn to their movie. Marketing is one of the most important and efficient ways to get people talking about an upcoming movie. Marketing an upcoming movie improves the exposure that the movie gets. It draws in viewers and gives the movie a platform for when it is released. 

   The movie Black panther was produced by Kevin Fringe and distributed by Walt Disney Picture Motion Studios. Walt Disney Studios is a very well known production studio around the world. Because of this, they are able to make many connections in order to market the film. Black Panther was released in February 16, 2018. Leading up to the release of the movie, Walt Disney Studios used many different means of marketing to promote the movie. For one, Marvel Studios hosted a New York Fashion Week event, where models wore pieces inspired by the movie. This marketing tactic helped to appeal to people who are interested in the fashion aspect of movies. Cross promotion was used as well in the marketing process of Black Panther. The trailer debut was made during an NBA Finals game. There were millions of people watching said game, so it was a great way for the movie to acquire some exposure. I personally saw the trailer when it debuted during the game, and I was very intrigued. As a marvel fan, I was immediately interested and excited for the movie. Seeing that trailer was the main reason that I went to watch the movie in theaters once it was released. This goes to show that marketing is very important when it comes to releasing new films.

   Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was produced by Kevin Feige and distributed by Walt Disney Studios. The movie was produced by both Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Studios. As said before, Walt Disney Studios is insanely well known, as well is Marvel Studios, which makes marketing an easy task. These studios used cross promotion in the process of marketing. The companies that they partnered with include Hasbro, Lego, Funko, LB Kids, GEICO, Ford Motor Company, M&Ms, Dairy Queen, and many more. Images from the movie appeared on bags of chips, candy boxes, and even cups at Dairy Queen. The movie also acquired its own flavor at Dairy Queen as well. The production companies also used synergy to market Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. The movie can be watched on the streaming app Disney+, which is a Walt Disney Studios application. There was also a commercial for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 during the Super Bowl. There was also merchandise released with images and characters from the movie. I personally was interested in this movie because the original Guardians of the Galaxy was one of my favorite movies, but I saw many different ways that this movie was marketed, including YouTube ads and commercials on television shows. The marketing strategies used for this movie helped it gain much of its exposure. 

   Jurassic World was produced by Frank Marshall and distributed by Universal Studios. Universal Studios, like Disney, is a very well known production company. It has been said that many people enjoy Universal Studios’ movies because unlike many production companies, Universal Studios isn’t trying to be like Disney. To promote and distribute Jurassic World, limited edition posters were made with images from the movie after it’s announcement. The production companies used cross promotion when marketing for this movie. When the movie was still in the production process, Lego sets and a Lego Jurassic World video game were announced to further the promotion and excitement for the movie. Besides the typical marketing strategies of cross promotion and synergy, Universal Studios also created a Jurassic World website. During the production of the movie, the website had a countdown to when the movie would be released. The website is still operational, and showcases Jurassic World as a real, fully functioning theme park. I first heard about the Jurassic World movie after seeing the trailer in an ad on YouTube. I have watched the previous Jurassic Park movies, so I was interested in Jurassic World right away. The marketing strategies used in the distribution process of this movie allowed it to get the exposure that it needed when it was released.

   Spider-Man Homecoming was produced by Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal, with the production companies Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios. It was distributed by Sony Pictures. Cross promotion was used in collaboration with Target during the marketing process. Many toys and figurines of characters from Spider-Man Homecoming were made and sold in Target. Synergy was also used in partnership with Cinnamon Toast Crunch. A small toy could be found inside the boxes of cereal with the Spider-Man image on the front. In addition, Spider-Man Homecoming released a soundtrack from the movie. This appealed to people who may enjoy listening to the songs found in the movie. Before Spider-Man Homecoming was released, merchandise was created to heighten excitement for the movie. The movie was released worldwide, which created a higher profit. I heard about the movie through word of mouth, and then viewed the trailer on YouTube. When the movie was released, I rented it on my TV to watch. I’ve seen many action figures and other cross promotion tactics for this movie in stores. This goes to show that the marketing techniques were efficient in getting the information out about the movie. 

   Overall, marketing in the film area is very important. Without marketing, movies would not be able to get the extent of exposure that they do with marketing. Although movies would still get attention and recognition without it, marketing helps to widen the presence of a movie, which further improves profit. Marketing for films creates anticipation and excitement for an upcoming movie. 

24 Extract Essay

   The theme of this extract is an intense and impatient atmosphere between the interrogator, Jack, and the woman he is interrogating. The director used suspense to build up to the climax of the extract. The climax of the extract is when the tension finally broke into physical aggression. This shows Jacks impatience and the tension between him and the woman. 

   The beginning of the extract shows the woman looking at Jack as he enters the interrogation room. When he enters, he looks towards a camera on the wall. There is a zoom shot up to the camera. This zoom in on the camera shows that Jack is aware he is being watched. There are people watching him interrogate the woman in another room using computers. Jack is impatient because he wants to get information out of the woman as quickly as he can so that the bomb does not go off. Because of his impatience, he is willing to do whatever it takes to get the information out of the woman quickly. He knows that if he does any physical harm to the woman, he will be stopped by the people watching. This shows his impatience. Cross cutting is then used to show the people watching Jack and the woman at the same time that Jack is interrogating her. The people who are watching them are also clearly impatient and tense. They are nervous about if the woman will give up the information quickly, and how Jack is prepared to obtain the information. The cross cutting is useful to show that everyone in this situation is stressed on time, and therefor impatient and tense. A point of view shot is used from the perspective of the woman being interrogated. She looks at the clock. This further adds to show that everyone in the situation is impatient. She knows that time is being wasted by having her in the interrogation room, and that if they do not hurry, the bomb will detonate. She wants to stop the bomb before it detonates because if she does, she gets pardoned from her crime. Her point of view of looking at the clock shows she is anxious about the time. Dialogue is used in the conversation between Jack and the woman he is interrogating. This is the main focus in the extract. The dialogue between them is very tense, as they both show that they are impatient. Jack’s impatience is expressed through his dialogue, as he is yelling and using a sharp tone. As his impatience grows through his dialogue, so does the suspension and tension of the scene. Dim lighting is used throughout the extract. It creates an ominous and serious tone. The lighting isn’t dark to the point where it seems horror-ish, but dark enough to insinuate a serious and tense interaction. Incidental music is also used throughout the extract. The music is suspenseful, as if building up to something. As the tension and suspense builds from the conversation between Jack and the woman, the music builds as well. When the climax of the extract occurs, when Jack strangles the woman, the music is much more thrilling. This adds to the suspense and tension of the extract because the music includes that sense of suspension and build up. Multiple props are used throughout the extract, but the most important ones are the chair and the desk. When Jack has almost completely lost all patience, he flips the desk. This causes even more tension in the scene because he is now close up in the woman’s face. The desk flip and his up closeness greatly increase the tension of the extract. When Jack finally loses all patience and self-control, he pushes the chair that the woman is sitting in up to the wall, and beings to strangle her. This is the climax of the scene that was built up by all of the suspense and tension throughout the extract. While Jack is strangling the woman, a split screen edit occurs. This shows how everyone involved in the situation reacted when all patience was lost. The split screen shows Jack strangling the woman, trying to get information from her, and the people who were watching from the camera rushing to stop him. The split screen makes it so that the viewer gets to see how everyone reacted after the tension broke into aggression.

   The theme portrayed by this extract was an intense and impatient atmosphere built up by suspense. Each aspect included played a different part in creating the tension and impatience that was seen throughout the extract. The aspects helped to build up to the climax of the extract, when all of the impatience, suspense, and tension finally broke into anger and aggression. 

Final Task CCR Blog

This is our CCR for our final task film. We set up this CCR to look like a talk show. My group mate acted as the host, while I answered the questions. The name of the fake talk show is called Film Talk Time. Each video is one question, but the first two questions are split into four different videos because there are two parts to the first two questions. 

Final Task Blog

This is our final task project. My group mate and I created a horror film opening sequence. We decided on a horror film because we knew we would be able to successfully create it. Our film is called Intruder Alert. It's about a girl who is alone at home, when she realizes an intruder has broken in. At first, the intruder does not know the girl is home. When the intruder finds the girl, he ties her up and knocks her out. She escapes the ties, and sees the intruder again. The intruder turns around to face the girl, holding a knife. The screen then goes black, ending the opening sequence. We wanted to leave it off on a cliffhanger for suspense. The music we used in this film was copyright free music we found on YouTube called Free Scary Music - Are Music - Copyright Free/Royalty Free. The publisher of the music is Joro Gaming. 

Music Video Blog

This is my group mates and I music video. This was the second project we created this year. The music video is for the song Slide by Calvin Harris featuring Frank Ocean and Migos. We picked this song because it is calming and lighthearted. We included visuals of sunsets to show how the songs is calming and reflects the happiness of summer. We included us dancing to bright lights to show how fun the song feels. I am most proud of how the editing came out in this video because the clips go along with the beat of the music in a way.

Commercial Blog

The commercial was the first project we did in AICE Media Studies. Our commercial was for the brand Nike. We showcased some of Nikes popular apparel. When we first were trying to upload this commercial to show our progress, we were unable to access our footage from the Nike commercial because it was completed on a school computer using the schools equipment and software. Because of the Coronavirus and the fact we are on quarantine, we are unable to access the school computers. But, at the last minute, one of my group mates was able to find the individual clips from when we filmed this commercial. I edited the clips together and added the music so that we could include our commercial.

Re-edit Blog

Since my groupmate and I did not need to reshoot, we could get straight to re-editing. We could not get together in person because of the Coronavirus outbreak. We just wanted to be careful because of how contagious the disease is. So, we decided to edit our film together over FaceTime. We used iMovie to re-edit our film, just like we did when we originally edited it. I edited the film on my computer, while FaceTiming my groupmate on my phone. We watched the film together and then talking about what we thought needed to be fixed. First off, we decided to fix the lighting. I made the entire film a bit brighter by using the brightness tool on iMovie. We made sure the lighting was bright enough for the viewer to see, but still dark enough for it to seem like a nighttime horror film. Once we were satisfied with the lighting, we moved on to transitions. We originally made the transitions sort of choppy to create anticipation. But, our peer reviewers said the transitions looked a little too choppy. So, we made some of the transitions look smoother, but still left some “choppy” to create a shot reverse shot effect. We then moved on to fixing the titles. We changed the font and positioning of the titles to make them easier to read. We also fixed the timing of the titles. Some of them were too close to one another and looked sort of rushed and cramped. So, we spaced out the titles better to make them flow nicely with the film.

Reshoot Blog

After doing peer reviews with our classmates, it was time to reshoot. Based off of the peer review we received, we didn’t feel the need to reshoot any clips. The feedback we received was mainly about editing and fixing lighting and titles. We also were unable to reshoot because of being in quarantine due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Luckily, we didn’t need to reshoot. We were able to fix our movie to make it the best it could be without having to refilm anything. Before the coronavirus outbreak, my group mate and I did plan on refilming just incase we decided we didn’t like some of our clips. But, since it wasn’t a necessity for us to reshoot, we figured it was best to just stay in quarantine and not re film. Based off our peer review, the mistakes we made can all be fixed by editing. We need to fix the lighting a bit, but that can be done in iMovie. We intentionally made our film a bit dark since it is a horror movie. We plan on making the lighting a little brighter so it is easier for the viewer to see. We also need to fix the timing of our titles because they seem a bit rushed. We are going to change some of the transitions as well to make the title sequence and film look smoother. My group mate and I shot a lot of extra clips when we originally filmed our video. This makes it good for us so we don’t have to reshoot anything. While we are re editing, we can always use one of the different clips if we really do not like a clip we used in the film originally. Because of the coronavirus, it is better to be safe than sorry, therefore we won’t be getting together to reshoot.

Editing Blog

After completing filming our film, it was time to edit. Out of my group mate and I, I am more experienced at editing videos. For this reason, I edited the majority of our video. First, I imported all of the clips into iMovie. My group mate and I had decided which clips we were going to use prior to beginning editing. After importing the clips, I went through and cropped each clip to the correct length. After that, I added transitions in between each clip. I made the clips seem kind of choppy on purpose to add a shot reverse shot cut and to crest anticipation. I made some of the transitions fade unto black, like when the victim is awakening from being knocked out. I then added the titles into the film. I put one title every one to three shots. I didn’t want the tittles to seem rushed or too close together. I also added sound effects, like a thump or creaking door. I then added music. I searched “Copyright free horror music” on YouTube. I then picked the sound I thought would be best for our film. It was difficult to get the music on the film. I recorded the sound of the music onto my phone. I then played back the sound on my phone as I did a voiceover on the film. After I did that, I saved the video to my computer, and emailed it to myself and my group mate. My group mate watched the edited video, and said that it was good and did not need any altercations at the moment.

Peer Review Blog

This week, our class did peer reviews on each other’s films. Each of our groups was assigned a number. We then looked at a list to see what number group we were grading, and what number group was grading us. Our class all put our films onto our own flash drives. We got the flash drive from the group we were grading, and gave our flash drive to the group grading us. We were given a piece of paper with questions to answer while we were reviewing the groups film. We watched the other groups film. We first watched it without answering any questions on the paper. Then we watched it again to fill out the questions. As I watched the video, I payed attention to the angles, shots, and movements used in the film. The paper asked if the group used the correct camera techniques, if they had titles, music, if they used certain shots, etc. We also had to write down the time that the group used each shot or angle. After filling out the worksheet, we gave the flash drive back to the group. We also showed them the peer review so they could see our feedback. After that, I got my flash drive back from the group who graded our film. I also looked at the peer reviews they wrote to see what my group mate and I could improve on. They said that we needed to improve on lighting, which I understood. We tried to make the lighting kind of dark for our film because it is a horror movie set at night. But we should have made the lighting a little brighter to make it easier to see. We will fix that and any other mistakes in the reshoot and re-edit portion of completing our film.

Filming Blog

Today, my group mate and I filmed our horror movie. After school, we drove back to my house. We began filming the first scene in my kitchen. We then moved on to film the other scenes we needed to film downstairs. We shot the scenes in the kitchen, hallway, and living room. We filmed each clip multiple times just to be sure we got the shot to be the best we could make it. We then moved upstairs to continue filming. We filmed on the stairs, in the bedroom, and in the hallway. Just as we did downstairs, we filmed each scene a couple times. Some of the scenes were difficult to get because it was only the two of us. We did not have anyone to help us film, so only one of us could be in the shot at a time. But, it ended up working out and making the film look more interesting and dramatic. We filmed all the scenes for our entire movie. But, we plan to get together again Sunday and re-film some shots. We want to film the shots again to get some better ones if possible, and to also have extra clips just incase. On Sunday, we also plan to edit the majority of our video. On Tuesday in class, some of our classmates will be watching the first draft of our edited video. They will be peer reviewing our video and giving us feedback on how to make it better. After that, we are going to reshoot and re-edit any necessary clips to make our movie the best it can be.

Filming Blog

Today, my group mate and I decided to begin filming some scenes for our movie. After school, we drove to my house. My group mate could not stay for long because she had to be home at an early time. Because of this, we chose to just do some practice shots. We looked at our storyboard and went scene by scene deciding where we were going to film each one. For the kitchen scene, we obviously chose to film in the kitchen. What we really needed to focus on was figuring out what rooms to place the intruder and the victim. We also needed to figure out how we could make the sounds we wanted to have in our movie. We decided to use my moms bedroom to film one of the scenes because it fit the idea of our movie the best. We did get some actual footage as well. We were not in costume or really trying to get any good scenes. Since we did not have much time, we wanted to go through and just practice filming each scene to see if we liked the camera angles and movements we planned on using. We also played around with the lighting. We wanted to make sure we were able to set the right mood in the scenes with the lighting and angles. We did decide to change a few of the angles in some scenes. We were able to create the desired lighting for our scenes. We did not get to go through our entire movie because my group mate had to leave. But, we now have a much better idea of how we are going to film our movie.

Title Research: Penny Dreadful

I am watching a title sequence from the website Art of the Title. The movie is Penny Dreadful. There are 27 titles in the opening sequence. The images prioritized are mainly of insects, playing cards, close-ups of faces, snakes, bats, and blood. These images show suspense and horror. The horror genre is reinforced by the eerie music and unsettling images. The images speed up as the music does, which adds suspense and leaves the audience wondering what happens next. The film establishes enigma by telling a sort of story through the opening sequence, and then cutting off at the climax of the images and music. The film appeals to its target audience by showing images of blood, weapons, and other common horror movie aspects. Technology was used effectively by the images speeding up with the music, the close ups of suspicious looking peoples faces, and showing some of the clips in slow motion. The close-ups of the peoples faces makes the audience wonder who those people are, what they did or are going to do, and why they are important to the film.

Title Research: American Horror Story

I am watching a title sequence from the website Art of the Title. The show is called American Horror Story. There are 8 titles displayed during the opening sequence. The images shown in the opening sequence are mainly creepy images of random things such as embryos in a bottle, bloody knives, monster-like creatures, and dark hallways. The images are very eerie, and create a strong sense of horror. The horror genre is reinforced by the ear-wrenching music and unsettling images. The film establishes enigma by choosing random and scary images. The images don't really seem to make sense together, so it creates a mysterious sense. The film uses the strategy of unnerving images and sounds to attract the attention of people who enjoy creepy horror movies. Technology was used by having close ups on all of the objects shown in the images, and having some shots taken from a low or high angle to show different points of view.

Title Research: Seven

I am watching a title sequence from the website Watch The Titles. The movie is called Seven. There are 26 titles in this opening sequence. In the opening scenes, the images prioritized show a man looking through what seems to be a police report. He is crossing things out and cutting out pictures. There are blood splatters. It also shows clips of drawings, hands, and razor blades. The images show that the person may be trying to hide a crime, possibly a murder. Or, the person could be trying to solve a crime. The images show radiate mystery. The genre is reinforced by the eerie music, bloody images, and glitching text on the titles. The film establishes an enigma by showing clips of a person holding suspicious objects and doing suspicious things. The audience does not know who the person is, what they are doing, or what they might've done. The film uses mystery and eerie clips and music to appeal to its target audience. The film is targeted towards those who enjoy horror movies. The close up angles of the razor blades, papers, pictures, blood, etc. are how technology was used effectively.

Title Research: Two Eyes Staring

I am watching a title sequence from the website Watch The Titles. The movie is called Two Eyes Staring. The title sequence of this movie begins with a name, and a weird shaped shadow object on the screen. Inside of the shadow looking objects it shows pages with writing on them. In the background, there is eerie, yet calm, music playing. There are no words in the music. There are 14 titles displayed in the opening sequence. There are 14 images prioritized in the opening sequence. The images seem innocent, yet creepy at the same time. The genre is reinforced by the sequence showing eerie images inside of a weird unidentifiable shape. This adds to the mystery aspect of horror films. The film establishes an enigma by showing short, seemingly random, clips from the movie. This clips are shown inside of a shadow-shape. The shape is not an identifiable shape, so it creates mystery. The opening sequence uses strategies like suspense and mystery to keep the viewer interested and wanting more. The clips shown in the opening sequence seem kind of random, which makes the audience want to know what happens in the movie to better understand the clips in the beginning. Technology has been used effectively in this opening sequence by showing only a few seconds of each clip. The quick preview of the scenes adds suspense, a key detail in horror movies.

Preparation Blog

To prepare to film our movie, my group mate and I planned out everything we would be doing. We decided that we would meet after school one day and film the movie at my house. We decided my house was the best place to film because it is close to our school and has the right setting for our movie. We also knew that if we need to get any props or anything else for our movie, we could drive to a store close to my house to get things we may need. My group mate and I both have a car and a drivers license, so transportation will not be a problem. We also planned what our costumes would be for the movie. My group mate will be wearing normal, every day clothes. She is going to be playing the victim in our movie. I will be wearing all black clothing and a ski mask. I will be playing the intruder. We wanted to begin filming this week, but both of us were busy the entire week and weekend, so we decided to film next week. We planned out our filming schedule so that we could have a full week to film. That way, if we make any mistakes or have to reshoot any scenes, we have the time to do so. Filming next week still gives us a good amount of time to edit. We will also have enough time to reshoot after editing if needed. We will most likely want to do a few reshoots to make our movie the best it can be. We want to try to complete the filming process early though, preferably within two days or so. But, if we need to take longer to film, we have the time. Editing will also take likely two days. We will be filming the movie with our phones, and editing it with iMovie on my laptop.

Storyboard Blog

Our story begins with a young girl washing dishes in a dark kitchen, in a dark house. She hears a loud noise. She wanders the house. She investigates the noise. She walks into her bedroom. She spots an intruder. They don’t see her so she backs away quietly. Suddenly, she makes a creaking noise. The intruder spots her in undeviating eye contact. The rest will he revealed in an exciting thriller.

Title Research: Watch the Titles Website

I am looking at the Watch the Titles Website. I am looking at this website in order to watch and learn about different title sequences in movies. This website will help me and my group mate to learn how to properly create a horror movie title sequence for our movie. On this website, there are a lot of different title sequences available to watch. On the top of the home page, there is a drop down bar that says Title Sequences, where you can look through popular title sequences. Next to that, there is a Designers section. This section has different title sequence designers. The next thing is a Studios section, which has a list of different studios that create the title sequences. There is also a Search bar where you can search for different title sequences from certain movies or movie genres. There is a part where you can watch interviews with different people who created title sequences of popular movies. Below that, there are feature films, then TV shows, then event titles, student projects, video games, and french Fridays. Each of these sections show many different types of title sequences. I used this website in order to help me better understand how title sequences are supposed to look. Specifically, horror movie title sequences. This website helped my group mate and I create our own title sequence for our horror movie.

Location, Sound, Participants, Health, and Schedule Blog

 The following is a Google presentation made to further explain the details of our horror movie project. The presentation includes the location of where we’re filming, which is a teammate’s home. It also includes the health and safety precautions we will be taking to ensure our well-being. The participants of the film are directed. Finally, the schedule is outlined. There are 3 processes: the planning/preparing, the filming, and the editing. Each are planned to take about a week, give or take. The planning will end on 2/14/20. The filming will end on 2/21/20. The editing will end on 2/26/20.

Title Design Blog

In this google slide document, we included all the information about what our titles will be in our opening sequence of our movie. We included each title name and what we will be calling it. We included what font we are going to use, as well as color and size. We also showed the spacing between letters. The working title of each title is also included in the google slide. We said how the titles will transition into the movie, and how long they will each appear on the screen for. The point of this google slides is to inform and plan how we will be creating our titles when we are editing our movie. We wanted the titles to look uniform throughout, so the same size, color, and font will be used for each title. Same goes for transitions in and out, and the duration each title appears on the screen.

Sound Script

 As opposed to our Shooting Script, this presentation is not separated by each scene. However, every 3 scenes are on a different slide. This is because our film has much action. But it does not have as much sound. Some scenes has the words “no dialogue.” This is not meant to signal that there is no sound in the scene. This is meant to signal that no characters say anything in the scene. Most scenes have a moment where a noise, big or small, has taken place. The specific causes of the noises offscreen have yet to be decided. However, they will remain true to the story on screen.

Shooting Script

Our shooting script is essentially a written storyboard. It explains the plot of our film and tells the story. It separates the movie by each scene. Every scene has its own slide. On each slide includes the scene’s camera angles and character actions. Each slide also has the lighting and its procedures. While the Sound Script will contain more in-depth sounds and sound procedures, the Shooting Script has a short explanation of most sounds. Almost every action any character takes is included in the presentation. Almost every effect of said actions are also included. There are 12 scenes in the film.

Title Research: Art of the Title Website

I am looking at the Art of the Title website. I am looking at this website in order to be able to look at and learn more about the title sequences of movies. I will use this website to help me understand how I am going to create my own title sequence. I will also use this website to research titles. On the website, the first thing that catches your attention is a section that says "Top 10 Title Sequences of 2019". On the top of the homepage, there is a dropdown bar that says "Title Sequences". It has many different options of different title sequences that you can look at. Next to that is another dropdown bar that says "Designers and Studios". The "Designers and Studios" section has a list of many different names of designers. It also has a list of different studios. Next to that, there is a search bar where you can search up different title sequences to watch. By looking at this website, I have learned about the different ways title sequences are done in my genre of film. I learned that the title sequences of horror films typically try to create an immediate sense of horror. They have an eerie and creepy tone to them in order to set the mood of the film. In some cases though, the title sequence can be calm and not horror-like, to create a sense of anticipation for when the movie will become scary.

Genre Research: The Purge- Election Year

The Purge- Election Year is just one of the many terrifying Purge films. Camera angles included in The Purge- Election year are high angles, low angles, and wide angles. Camera movements used were zooms, and tilts. Camera shots used in the movie were close up, wide shot, extreme close up, and long shot. Many different creepy costumes were used in the movie. Some of those costumes include The Purge Mask, clown costumes, bloody clothing, American Flag covered clothing, and more creepy and murderous masks. The lighting in The Purge- Election Year is always dark and eerie. Some actors in the movie are Frank Grillo, Elizabeth Mitchell, Mykelti Williamson, and Betty Gabriel. Makeup used in the movie included clown makeup, bloody makeup, and other horrifying masks and faces. Props used in The Purge- Election year were guns, chainsaws, drones, and knives. The setting is Washington, D.C. 2020. Common sound used in the movie was dialogue, creepy music, screaming, gunshots, and engines revving. Editing used in the movie included cutaway, special effects, and flashbacks. Elements of horror films are dark lighting, eerie music, suspense, creepy setting, and the fear of death. I like the elements of the dark and the fear of death. I do not like the element of suspense.

Genre Research: A Quiet Place

A Quiet Place was an extraordinary film that was almost completely silent. This was quite obviously an enormous challenge. The costumes were meant to be almost torn into rags as this movie took place post-apocalyptic. The lighting was dim and was meant to make the audience uneasy. The casting was exceptional as one of the stars of the film is deaf in real life. The film also featured Emily Blunt and John Krasinsky as partners, who are actually partners out of the movie. Many props were used to create an eerie sense of danger and unknowing at any point. The crew added in "emergency lights" which stood out creepily. They were to guide the family back to there home, without needing to use words. A water tower was also used and played a large part in the movie. The setting consisted of a post-apocalyptic world where the family thought they were the only living people left.
While camera movements barely occurred in the film, camera shots were immensely ranged. From extreme closeups to landscapes, the movie had it all. There was not a wide variety in angles, but most shots were taken from either an eye-level angle or a high angle. Sound was not very common in this movie. Apart from occasional (scripted) slip-ups from the actors, the only sounds came from times before the monsters roamed the world and eerie background soundtrack. The absence of sound, however, was not only a phenomenal idea but a very peculiar one as well. It truly made the story stand out from all the other horror movies when released. The concept that an apocalypse would force survivors to remain mute in every way without medical disorder is almost profound. As if society would be doing this to minorities metaphorically. Common editing techniques used include jump cuts and fades. The use of fades increases suspense significantly.
A Quiet Place uses relatively few elements of horror but nonetheless conveys the story without strain. The elements that it does include are the malevolent creatures and intensity. The malevolent creatures are those that now roam the Earth. They do not have eyes, so they listen very closely to see when prey is nearby. They eat anyone who gets in their path without mercy. This shows that they intend to harm. The silence in the movie increases the intensity as the audience can pick up better on what is not being said.

Genre Research: The Turning

The Turning was a paranormal thriller surrounding the idea that a house was haunted by its last, sexually assaulted, keepers. Its mis-en-scene was kept in the same range as many others in its same category for the most part. The costumes were more based on the 1970s to 1990s fashion, although taking place in the present day. However, a few characters were dressed more conservatively and victorian. Every main character was white and pale, adding into that victorian theme.  All main characters (characters that were living in the aforementioned house or had previously lived in it) were made up of even paler makeup, however, given dark and almost bruised eye bags. They all had a sickly look. The props included rusted, old mirrors, vintage furniture, and frightening porcelain dolls. The setting was a scary, rotting old house, with the nearest town being miles away and very small.
The camera techniques did not vary much throughout the film. The camera angles mostly consisted of close-ups, extreme close-ups, and medium shots. While sometimes a pan movement was thrown in, the only other camera element that was in the movie was jump cuts. However, sounds were used widely throughout the movie. There was an excellent use of waterphones that induced anxiety almost every time they were played. The background soundtrack was very eerie, as expected and many creaking sounds were highlighted. In some instances, a split-screen was used to show a telephone call. This occurred more than once in the film. Jump cuts were almost overused in an attempt to induce anxiety. Fades, however, were placed expertly throughout the story and created suspense.
The film included many common elements of the horror genre such as eerie music, dim lighting, paranormal phenomena, arousing disgust, and a sudden plot twist. The dim lighting highlighted shadowy figures, created tension, and made a blind spot for the audience to question what was happening. Paranormal phenomena is technically a subcategory on its own but is also an element of a wider range of horror movies. While paranormal phenomena should have been the plot, a different one arose when it was revealed that the main character who had seen the said ghosts had actually imagined the whole thing due to her mental illness. The paranormal section of the movie consisted of ghosts and dolls who would come to life. There were just two ghosts in the house though, a rapist and a rape victim. The plot twist raised many questions and left the audience members thinking even after the movie had ended. Although some might disagree, this was a very good addition to the film. The music had truly made the movie much scarier and was also a very nice touch. However, invoking disgust was unnecessary.

Opening Sequence

Our opening sequence will be of the horror genre. We chose horror because we both like to watch horror movies. We are also both interested in how horror movies are made. We find horror movies extremely interesting because there is a lot of effort and aspects that go into creating a horror movie. We believe we are going to be doing a sort of kidnapping horror movie. We chose this because we think i'll be fun and interesting to film. We are excited to learn about and be able to create part of a horror movie.

Two Genres

For the first genre, I chose comedy. Common camera angles in comedy films low angles, high angles, eye level, or dutch angle. Some common shots in comedy films are extreme close ups, long shot, medium close ups, and wide shot. Some common camera movements include tilt, pan and zoom. Common costumes in comedy are normal, everyday looking clothes, clown costumes, and other-worldly costumes for space films and such. Common lighting in comedy includes bright lighting and dim lighting as well. Common actors in comedy films usually include famous actors who have been in previous comedy films, such as Adam Sandler, Kevin Hart, and Jim Carrey. Some common makeup in comedy is normal, everyday makeup, and space or costume makeup. Common props in comedy films could be funny glasses, phones, and other comedic and entertaining objects. Common sets used in comedy films are schools, homes, malls, etc. Common editing used in comedy include zoom, flashbacks, cross cutting, and cutaway. Elements of comedy films include humor, laughing, falling, awkward characters, mean characters, "comedian" of a group of people, in a school, home, or other place. Some comedy films include Daddy's Home, Deadpool, Step Brothers, and Superbad. Common sound in comedy is funny sound effects, laughing, and dialogue. The elements of comedy that I like are the humor and dialogue. An element of comedy that I dislike is that it is sometimes corny.

For the second genre, I chose science fiction. Common camera angles in sci-fi include wide angles, high angles, and low angles. Common shots are wide shots, close ups, and long shots. Common camera movements include tilt, pan, and zoom. Common costumes in sci-fi are space suits, alien costumes, and metal suits. Common lighting includes dark light, colorful lights, and lighting from stars. Common actors are Tony Stark, Scarlett Johansson, and Carrie Fisher. Common makeup could be space makeup, alien makeup, or natural makeup. Common props are space ships, later guns, and labs. Common sets are space, Earth, or other planets. Common editing is flashbacks, zoom, and cross cutting. Elements of comedy are wars, fighting, invasion, and a mission. Science fiction movies include Avengers, Star Wars, and The Martian. Common sound is yelling, dialogue, war sounds, and loud explosions or bangs. The elements of science fiction I like are the intergalactic fights and the mission to save something. An element of science fiction that I do not like is that often many good characters die in the movies.

Powerpoint Blog

At the beginning of the year, my group did a project relating to a genre given to us. The genre my group go was crime. We created a powerpoint for this project. We had to create slides talking about different aspects of the crime genre. The first aspect was Common Lighting in Our Genre. The second aspect was Common Camera Angles in Our Genre. The third aspect was Common Movement in Our Genre. The fifth was Common Mis en Scene in Our Genre. The sixth aspect was Elements of Our Genre. The seventh aspect was Films in Our Genre. The eight aspect was Common Sound in Our Genre. The ninth aspect was Common Sound in Our Genre. The last aspect was Elements of Our Genre That we Like/Dislike. For each of these slides we included bulleted lists of each aspect.

Genre Research: Us

Us was an absolutely terrifying psychological thriller by Jordan Peele. It is hard to explain the plot as it left almost every audience's head spinning. The costumes ranged vastly. From all red suits to fashion from the 1980s to present-day fashion. Lighting was also ranging highly. There were scenes at night, during the day. Some scenes had mood lighting. Other scenes had harsh, artificial lighting. The significant difference between the natural lighting and the artificial lighting highlights the completely different worlds the clones live in. The makeup was a very interesting aspect of the movie. In horror movies, it is very common to have the makeup of the actors progressively become more intense or tired. However, Us took a new perspective on that. Towards the end of the movie, you find that the person who you thought was the original copy the whole time, was actually the clone. What an audience might not have noticed is that the "original copy's" white shirt became more and more red as she was killing more people. While this might seem normal, an easter egg in the movie was that her shirt was turning red, just like the red suits that the clones wore. The setting was almost pre-apocalyptic, however only in the United States. The experiment was never tested in other parts of the world, so there were no clones anywhere else.
Camera angles used mostly consisted of eye-level angles and high angles. The only recognizable repeated camera movement was panning. Camera shots included close-ups, medium shots, landscapes, and long shots. Common editing included jump cuts and eyeline match.
Some elements of horror that the film included are wicked or malicious characters and a shocking plot twist. The wicked characters are the clones who attempted to kill their original copies. While they were seeking revenge, it was not reasonable. Everyone but the character that Lupita Nyong'o had been unaware of the clones' existence and had not done anything to hurt them directly. The clones were simply following Adelaide/Red. The plot twist was the fact that Adelaide was Red and Red was Adelaide the whole time. This was shocking despite the clues that were dropped throughout the movie. It was an unnecessary but beautiful detail. Both elements enhanced the film.

Pitches Blog

   For our final task, we had a few different ideas. We narrowed down our ideas in between a horror movie and a drama. For the horror movie, we would want to make seem as eerie and creepy as possible. For the drama, we would want to make it as dramatic and extra as we could. We knew that whatever pitch we decided on, we wanted it to be the best it could be. We want whatever we create to be entertaining and eye-catching for the audience. We had a hard time choosing between these two pitches because we liked the idea for both. We thought for a while about our decision. After some good, long thought, we decided on one of our pitches. We are happy with out choice.

   For the drama, we would have done something like High School Musical. A typical high school drama movie is always entertaining and could be fun to film and edit. We could use our friends to help us create background characters for the film. We could use my mom's car for scenes. We could also use each others houses to film dramatic scenes. This pitch would be good because since we are in high school, we could accurately replicate real high school drama. But, we knew that this pitch could also be difficult to create. For this project, we are not allowed to film at school. So, it would be very hard to create a high school drama film without being able to film in school. Plus, although we thought it would be fun to do a drama, we liked our other pitch better.

   Our second pitch was a horror movie. For the horror movie, we decided we could do a kidnapping film. A kidnapping film could be entertaining to watch, as well as for us to film and edit. We wanted to do a topic that we would really enjoy making since this is our last project. Although we do not know about how kidnapping works, of course, we could do research. We would do the research by watching other films that have a kidnapping storyline. We would film the scenes in a variety of places. Both of us have our drivers licenses, so we would be able to use my group mates car to get to each location we would film at. The only downside to this idea is that it would probably be a little more work to create. But, we actually look at that as a good thing because it gives us more experience  and is more fun for us.

    The pitch we chose was the horror movie one. We chose this because we felt more interested and excited to film it. We also feel because it is more exciting, it is a better pick for our final task. 

Starting Final Task Blog

   My name is Jordyn. For my final task, my group mate and I will be creating a horror movie. I am sixteen and in tenth grade. I took AICE Media Studies because I thought that the class sounded interesting and fun. I figured it would be intriguing to learn about the technicalities of film production. I wanted to also learn more about the editing stage of the process, since I have enjoyed editing fun videos in the past. I love to watch shows and movies, and have always kind of wondered how they were made and the behind the scenes aspect of it all. I am glad to have chosen AICE Media Studies as one of my classes this year. My group mates name is Mila. We will be creating a horror movie scene for our final task.
   So far, I have learned a lot about the process of film making. I have learned the different camera angles, shots, and movements used in filming. I have learned how movies are editing and the different types of editing techniques used. I have also learned how movies are released and targeted to a specific audience to attract the most viewers. As of now, I believe I am best at the filming and editing processes. I have known for a while how to edit videos to make them entertaining, but I now know so many more techniques to help me improve my editing skills. I really enjoy filming as well. Finding the right angle can completely change a scene, and I enjoy doing so. My skills have improved in editing and filming a lot since I started AICE Media Studies. I still hope to improve even more during this final task.
   For our final task, we will be pitching three ideas to our teachers. A pitch is a Hollywood term used to describe an idea for a film. A pitch is typically encapsulated in 25 words or less. It is usually one or two sentences. A pitch is meant to capture the interest of a person in a short statement. A good pitch is the deciding factor of whether a film will be created or not. Our three pitch ideas were a horror movie, an old-time film, or a drama.

Pictures of my group mate and I: