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.