Saturday, April 18, 2020

Movie and Movie CCR



https://youtu.be/z30Q7U3YdT8

https://youtu.be/dDEB2uSKKuc

     Above I have my movie and CCR. My CCR consists of the four questions. I decided to do an interview for the video. Since I can't go outside and do it with a friend I had to figure out another way for some to interview me. I asked one of my friends to interview me over the phone. First I had to write the script, so that I knew what to say. It took me a while, but I eventually finished. I emailed it to my friend so that she can read it before we record. I had to wait for a day she was free to call and film. We finally called and did it. I called her from my phone and recorded it on my mom's phone. We did it in two tries. When we finished I edited and finished.
     The movie is Butterbean and it's a thriller/stalker film. It's about a girl that is being stalked by her girlfriends ex. My partner, Bianca, and I filmed the movie together. It took a long time to make the movie, but we still didn't finish it. Sadly, because of the coronavirus we weren't able to make it perfect, but at least we somewhat finished. The journey was a long one, but it was fun and challenging at the same time.

Friday, April 17, 2020

Music Video CCR

Commercial CCR

Creative Critical Reflection
1.    My product uses conventions in all of the scenes.  It uses all of the customs because it brought all of the scenes together.  My product does represent a social group. It represents teenagers that drink coffee to give them more energy to go to school.  I did this by showing how when teenagers drink coffee they get a burst of energy.
2.    My product engages with audiences by showing how if they drink coffee, they will feel more energetic.  The point is to show how if someone is feeling tired, they can get a cup of coffee to get energy for the day ahead of them.  It would be distributed as a real media text by possibly being a commercial for Dunkin’ Donuts. My product advertises Dunkin’ Donuts to teenagers.
3.    My production skills developed throughout this project by learning how to use all the equipment.  I learned how to use a tripod and camera. I learned how to use the Pinnacle Studios for editing my film.  I was unfamiliar with editing, so it took me a while to learn how to use it.
4.    I used different hardware on this project.  I used a tripod and a camera to film. I also used different software.  I used an SD card and Pinnacle Studios to edit. 

Sunday, March 22, 2020

Editing Blog: Missing Shots

     When we finished filming Saturday we knew that we had to start editing when we got back to school. Later during the week I got an announcement that we weren't going back to school in a while. I realized that we needed to find a way to edit. I was thinking that maybe we could use iMovie. I did my filming blog a few days later after filming, so it would be ready. We didn't edit this week after filming. My mom doesn't want me to get sick, so we have to figure out a way to edit. I thought we were done with filming. The day after filming Bianca texted me and said that we weren't done filming. She explains that we forgot to do our angles and movements. Luckily Bianca remembered because I totally forgot.
     We have most of our shots except for over the shoulder shot. We have both angles. We don't have either pan or tilt. Shot reverse shot, eye line match and action match has not been included yet. Since we are using voiceovers for our movie we have to figure out a way to include non diegetic sound. For eye line match I had an idea that we could use that on the scene where I open up the door to find the letter on the floor. Over the shoulder shot can be included in the scene where it zooms into the phone. Non diegetic sound could maybe be the TV. I think pan and tilt will be harder to include.

Friday, March 20, 2020

Filming Blog: Speed It Up

     On Saturday, I had to go to Bianca's house to finish filming. I had to go to her house early because she had things to do later. Since I took home the camera and tripod I had to bring it to her house. I got to her house and we first looked at what we had to film. I gave Bianca the camera and tripod, so she could set it up. We couldn't run on the camera and we were confused. I then remembered that I didn't charge the camera. I took out the charger and plugged it in. We filmed the scene where the camera zooms into my phone and then zooms out to me walking away. We filmed this scene while the camera was charging. We left the camera to charge for awhile.
     Bianca told Pixie and I what to do for the scene. We practiced a few times while the camera was charging. I asked Bianca if she had an outlet in her living room, so she could charge the camera while we filmed. Bianca made us do the scene a few times just incase some looked bad. For the scene where we walk back inside wit the pizza we had to make sure the table next to the door was setup like last time. Pixie and I had to speed up some of our scenes because they were too long. The scene where I open the letter I had to do quicker, which wasn't hard. Once we finished all the filming, we recorded ourselves saying our lines because we are going to do voiceovers. When I left I took the camera and tripod and Bianca stayed with the SD card.

Thursday, March 12, 2020

Editing: No More Cuts

     Today in class, we weren't able to edit. We haven't been able to edit for the past two days. We still have to film this weekend. We should be able to finish filming on Saturday. If we don't finish filming on Saturday then we have to finish filming on Sunday. I have to figure out what time I can get to Bianca's house. On Saturday at 10:00 a.m. I have a nail appointment. At 12:00 p.m. I have an appointment to get my nose pierced. Hopefully you can't notice that my nose is pierced. Most of the scenes my nose isn't pierced, so we have to see if you can notice it. I'm also getting my acrylics removed, but I don't think it'll be noticeable.
     If we don't have enough time on Saturday then we have to film on Sunday, but I doubt we'll have to film on Sunday. I checked what scenes we had to film, so that we didn't forget. The first scene is the one that needed a lot of work on. It was really choppy and we didn't like it. Most of the scenes were fine, but we want it to look as good as possible. Filming should go smoothly because we have already filmed the scenes. Some scenes we have to do perfectly because they will be combined with previous scenes. Since we are doing voiceovers we have to record ourselves saying the lines. It'll be hard to get it perfectly, but we will make it work.

Monday, March 9, 2020

Reshoot Blog: Unlucky Weekend

     After we got our peer review back we decided to reshoot. Bianca told me that I had to take the camera this weekend, so we could reshoot. On Thursday Bianca texted me that we were going to have to film next weekend because her friend Pixie couldn't make it. So we weren't able to reshoot this weekend, but I started to think of ways I could improve the film. We had to remove the pool scene, so I didn't worry about that. For the first scene we have to reshoot it because I didn't film it correctly. I have to make a cleaner transition from the lamp to Bianca cutting the paper. The scene where Bianca rings the bell was choppy. Pixie and I had to have a reaction when the door bell rang and we didn't. When we reshoot that scene Pixie and I have to react and then I have to say something.
     The scene where Pixie and I say goodbye was too long. Pixie has to say her lines faster, but not too fast. I have to hug Pixie and then close the door and sit back down on the couch quickly because the scene was too long. The scene when Pixie and I walk inside after I pick up the letter is too long, so we have to shorten it. The main point of that scene is to show me picking up the letter and throwing it on the table by the door. After Pixie leaves there is a scene where I sit back down on the couch and unpause the TV. It was too long, so when we reshoot it I have to go a little faster. Then there is a scene where I pause the TV and look at the table where the letter is and I stand up to go get it and then sit back down. The scene was really long and there was unnecessary parts that we have to cut down. The final scene where I open the letter was really long and if we don't cut it down our film will be too long.

Thursday, March 5, 2020

Peer Review Blog

     For my peer review I had to review my persons movie. The movie was called The Hunt. One thing I really liked about the film was that the storyline was easy to follow. When I first started watching the movie I noticed that kids were involved. This gave me an idea that maybe it was going to involve the kids getting kidnapped. The scene where the kids were going outside by themselves confirmed my idea that they were going to get kidnapped. The mom then went looking for them, but couldn't find them. When the mom went outside she found a note, which was probably from the kidnapper. The movie was very simple. It could've had more to it, but was still interesting. 
     One suggestion I would make to the film is to make sure you can't hear what is happening behind the camera. In the beginning of the movie everything was fine. In the scene where the kids had to open the door you could hear someone say "Go" behind the camera. She could've easily cut that out. The rest of the scenes were fine. The last scene where the mom found the note, you could hear someone behind the camera laughing. This time you could hear the laughing for awhile. They probably have to shoot that scene again. You could perfectly hear the actors speaking in the movie. The sound throughout the movie wasn't bad except for those little scenes where you can hear someone behind the camera.


Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Editing Blog: Making Cuts

     For the first day of editing we watched all our clips after we dumped the footage. I realized that a lot of the clips were long. We knew that we were going to have to do reshoots. Bianca imported the footage into Pinnacle Studios. Bianca is better with editing, so she did most of it. We started with the first clip. We made a lot of cuts and then we had to add the flashback. Bianca asked for my opinion on where the flashback should be placed. We decided on where to add it. When we finished the first scene the bell was about to ring. Bianca saved what we had edited for us to work on next class.
     Next class we pulled up our footage we were editing last class. When we got it we saw that it wasn't loading, so Bianca asked our teachers and they said that it didn't save, so we had to start over. That was our last day to edit, so we had to work fast. We easily edited the first scene because we remembered what we did last time. Then we did the rest of the scenes. I realized that the movie might be over two minutes. We started to stress out because the movie was too long. We decided to just cut things out. We had one long clip that took forever to load. The bell was going to ring and we still haven't finished, so Bianca said she could stay for her study hall. I felt bad that I wasn't going to be able to help her because we don't have the same study hall, so I told her to text me if she needed anything.



Thursday, February 27, 2020

Filming Blog: The Beginning

     For the first scene we were going to film we had to go to the park. Bianca, Pixie, and Sam were already at the park. When I got there we went to the spot where there were benches. I checked if the camera was charged and if we had the SD card. Then I started to setup the camera and tripod. I asked Bianca to check if I setup the camera and tripod correctly. I waited for Bianca and Sam because they were practicing their lines. When they were ready I started to film. I took three shots, so that we had a few to choose from. When we finished this scene we packed up all the stuff and walked to Bianca's house. 
     We got to her house, I changed into a different outfit. The first scene we shot was me walking out of the bathroom and checking my phone. I had to do the scene a few times because we had to get the phone to ring at a certain time. Then I had to walk down the hall and open the door for Pixie. We had to shoot a few times. Since I didn't know Pixie it was weird at first, but then we got comfortable. After this scene we went outside to film the scenes by the pool. For one of the scenes I had to fake laugh. It took me a few times because it was weird, but then I got it. We went back inside when we finished the pool scenes. We didn't film anymore scenes because I had to go home.

Monday, February 24, 2020

Filming Blog: Pre-Production

     We needed many things for filming. One of the first things we needed was the pizza box. I didn't know where we could get an empty pizza box. Then I remembered Bianca worked at Pizza Hut, so she could get a pizza box. She told me that she could get a box and was going to use her uniform as the costume. We also needed the letter for the movie. I told Bianca to make the letter. I helped with writing what the letter was going to say. I helped her choose the photos she was going to put in the envelope. She made a fake article to include in the envelope.
     I had to make sure I charged the camera. For the photos that went inside the envelope I had to be in it. The photos had to be of my fake girlfriend and I. When I got to the park we first took one on the bench. We tried different poses and choose the one we liked. Then we went to the playground to take a few there. I had to stand on a pole with Sam, fake girlfriend, next to me. Then we went on the slide to take a few there. We did one where Sam pretended to push me down the slide. Then we had to take pictures of Sam and Bianca together. We took one of them sitting on a stair step.


Thursday, February 20, 2020

Filming Blog: The Lover

     For the stalker film, we needed a partner for me to be my boyfriend. At first Bianca asked her friend, Bobby, to be my boyfriend for the movie. He said he would do it because we really only needed him to take pictures with and to film a fight scene. Then one day we asked we asked him if he was free after school to take pictures with me and to film the fight scene. He said he wasn't free, so we asked when he was and he said he was busy most days. I was thinking that maybe we should ask someone else to play my boyfriend because Bobby was obviously busy. Bianca asked some of her other friends if they could do it. She didn't get a reply till a few days later and not all of them answered. None of the guys were available, so Bianca said that maybe we are going to ask a girl to play my girlfriend instead. I didn't mind, so Bianca went ahead and asked some of her friends if they could do it.
     The day that we had to film Bianca was going to tell me when to go to the park to take the pictures and film the fight scene. I still didn't know who my girlfriend was going to be for the movie. I started to get ready and did my makeup. I packed a bag with extra clothes, so I didn't have the same shirt on. Bianca texted me and told me to head over to the park. I asked Bianca who my girlfriend was going to be and she told me her friend Sam. When I got to the park the first thing we did was take pictures of Sam and I. Bianca and Sam took pictures before I got there because Sam was also playing Bianca's ex-girlfriend in the movie. Once Sam and I took the pictures we went to another side of the park and filmed the fighting scene. I was the one filming because Bianca and Sam were the actors for this scene. I had to film several times to get the shot right.



     

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Planning Blog: Storyboard



     It took us a few days to figure out what we were going to draw. Even though we had three scripts, we still struggled. We both went back and forth trying to figure out what to draw and write. Camila believed that we should draw it before we write it and Bianca believed that we should write it first. We both agreed to just take a few papers each and do it our own way. Camila did the last four scenes while Bianca did the first four. We had to stay up even later than we were hoping the night before this was due because we wanted to make sure we had the time to check out a camera. We still couldn't even finish and spend over an hour in class uploading the pictures to google slides and putting it into the blog. The entire process was very stressful for both of us. We would do it again, though, for any other project we would do in the future, although we agreed that we wouldn't do this when we start our filming career's.

Monday, February 10, 2020

Planning Blog: Title Design



     This is the title design power-point for our project. We first discussed the title fonts, which took us forever because we wanted different fonts. There were three different fonts that we finally agreed upon. We then discussed the title contrasts and how they would vary depending on what was being said. We chose the color, backdrop, size, and spacing for our titles. We had a lot of title ideas, but finally landed on one. It took us a while because we both had very different ideas on how the title should look like and include. Most of the title ideas were related to money or a pizza girl because we decided those were the most important aspects of the movie. The title that we chose was Butterbean because it stands out from all the other titles, it being the main characters name and she being the reason the stalking started. Lastly, we discussed our title movements, which didn't take us that long because we had a pretty good idea about what we wanted our titles to look like as they moved within the scenes.

Planning Blog: Checklist



     This is the checklist for our planning phase. We started with the location because knowing where you're going to film is the most basic, yet most important part of planning. Then we focused on sound because we needed to know what sounds we will need to import or overlap in the editing phase. After that, we decided to get down the participants so we know the jobs of everyone so we won't get confused later on. We mentioned health and safety because we felt it was important to at least have down. Even though it's common sense to have a first aid kit and emergency numbers ready, it doesn't hurt to type it in. After heath, we wrote three slides about our schedule. This was because we wanted to write in everything we did up to this point and everything we're going to do. Since we're still going to be working on this project for at least another month, we want make sure we have a good idea about what we're doing when we start filming. This power-point is basically the skeleton of our project. 

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Planning Blog: Shooting Script



  This is the script that will allow the directors, Camila and I took look at when we need help with our scenes. Even though we will have our storyboard, this many help us as well. It was hard to make because we had to type what we had written and we ended up blending scenes together. This caused a lot of confusion between both of us and we both got frustrated. Going through every slide for each scene will make it easy on us when we have to draw out our storyboard since it's word for word on paper. At first, I was working on it myself, but I asked Camila to help halfway through because I was confusing myself. She helped me understand what was going on and get back on track. I was originally going to make the slides with the basic black and white background, but I remembered what we did for the sound script and I wanted them to match up. It took extra time to work with because the font was automatically set to dark gray, so after every slide, we had to change the colour to white. This just made us annoyed with the power-point. 


Planning Blog: Sound Script


This is the sound script for our movie. The script is split up into scenes. The dialogue for all the characters are included. All the sound that would be heard throughout the movies are included as well. Only two of our scenes have no dialogue. The rest of the scenes involve dialogue and sound. The characters start speaking in the middle of scene two. Music starts playing in the first scene and later fades out in the beginning of the second scene. The music fades back in scene three and fades out in scene four. There is no music until the beginning of scene twelve, then the music stops at the end of scene sixteen.

Friday, January 31, 2020

Title Research: Splice

     Splice is a sci-fi thriller shot in 2010. The first five seconds, the screen is black, maybe to build suspense. Then letters fall into place that reveals the production studio the film is from. The letters falling gives us an idea about the type of movie it is. You can tell that it's a horror thriller because the way the letters fell gave off an eerie vibe. The start is very slow, probably to build suspense. This is a good way to get the audience interested in the movie. By giving them the feeling of uneasiness that would normally come with a horror, it's a good start to the movie. After the production, we see a green coloured screen with spooky, slow music playing in the background. The green has a type of pattern on it but the camera is so zoomed in that it's hard to tell what it is. This keeps the audience guessing and keeps them intrigued. The next words are showing the name of the director of the movie.
     After the director goes away, we are shown very vague shots of this green thing, which keeps us guessing. Then it speeds up, showing us much more of the green thing but not enough to figure out what it is. The music is still playing, but it sped up and got louder. Then we see the names of the actors, written in a type of cloth. It starts with the main actor then moving on to lesser known ones. After the actors, the shot goes to zooming through the green substance with the names of everyone behind the camera floating in white font. During the entire clip, the music continued to get louder and faster. This builds high suspense for the audience, giving us something to look forward to when the story-line starts. The green thing is slowly revealed throughout the shots but it's still hard to make out. This can be because it's a really big turning point in the movie later on, or because it is completely insignificant and it was just something used by the creators for a creepy feel. 
     Two minutes and forty seven seconds in, and the green thing starts throbbing. Almost like there's a heart behind it. After the writers show up in floating letters, the letters fade and we're left with what looks like a beating heart behind skin and veins. Those veins then shift around to form the title of the movie, then it shows the directors. We are then presented with, what looks like a streak of light that the camera keeps pulling away from then pushing to. Every time the camera gets closer,the light gets bigger and brighter. Then we are confronted with a white screen which begins the start of the movie. 

Title Research: Crash

     I went onto Watch the Titles website and went onto featured films. I scrolled down to look for thrillers. I found Crash which is a thriller. When I started watching the title scene, I saw that it wasn't anything special. The title of the movie didn't come up immediately. First the producers names came up and then who it was distributed by. The directors name came up next and after that the actors names came up. Finally the title appears, first from far away and then close up. After the title appeared the rest of the actors names popped up. Then the rest of the credits appeared and it looks like the credits are coming out of the screen.
     The credits are lined up and come forward to the screen. The music is subtle and gives it suspense. It isn't too loud, which makes it kind of creepy and suspenseful. The font has a blue shine, which makes it look like glass. The screen starts off black and then a blue light appears from a corner. The light moves across diagonally to the other corner to reveal the words. The blue light is kind of white in the middle. The middle of the light is white and gets a darker blue as it leaves the middle. The entire title scene is a black screen and then a light coming from a corner and then going diagonally to the other corner to reveal the words. This title scene is very simple, but still has the effect it needs.

Title Research: The Final Destination

     I went on Watch the Titles website to choose a thriller movie. I wanted to go on Art of the Title website, but couldn't because my computer wouldn't let me. When I got on the website, I clicked on the feature films and looked for a thriller movie. I found Final Destination and decided to watch it. When the movie starts the title immediately pops up with blood. The music sounds like music you would hear in a video game. The names of the actors that played the main characters showed up first. The font of the letters seem basic and all the names are uppercase. Then the names of who it was casted by showed up. The names were all uppercase, but the heading "casting by" was lowercase.
     Then came the costume designer, associate producer, visual effects supervisor, music supervisor, co-producer, edited by, production designer, director of photography, executive producers, produced by, written by, and directed by. The whole title scene has this x-ray effect. Just by looking at the title scene, you can see that the movie is going to be about a car accident. At the beginning of the scene it shows how a ladder from the side a building went straight into someones skull. Then it shows a person getting a pole through the skull. It shows a van blow up and then a person get cut into pieces by a wire. An x-ray of broking bones is shown and then one of the bone pieces turns into a car. It also shows a person reaching for a knife, but then the knife fell of the counter and stabbed the person straight on the chest. A skull with nails is then shown and then lights blow up then transitioning into a bunch of broken glass flying everywhere and an x-ray of a person with headphones that fell out. A hall blows up and then transitions to an x-ray of a skull. It then goes into a spine and makes it seem like its a rollercoaster.
     At the end of the title scene a bus crashes into the letters to finish it off. The title scene is kind of give bits and pieces of what happens in the movie. You can already tell what the movie is about by what's on the title scene. The title scene shows that there is a lot of things that are going to go on in the movie. The title scene was suspenseful and exciting.

Title Research: Dr. No

     Dr. No is a thriller movie that takes place in 1962. It starts with naming the producers of the film, followed by a short clip of a man walking through a circular lens, as if  he's being followed. The man stops and shoots a gun at the camera, which leads us to believe that this will be an action packed movie. Then the circle fades out into a white dot, soon filled with the name of the author who wrote the James Bond novels. Without knowing what the movie is about, we already know that it is one of the first James Bond movies, which is going to be filled with action and adventure. The clip then switches to show various types of positions of the title, Dr. No. Which can imply that the movie will be very fast or filled with action. We are shown the actors names next. It starts with a very high end actor. This is probably to get an audience, or to get the audiences attention or excitement. If this is one of the first James Bond movies, then using the name of an actor that people know and/or love, will give them a type of security and they can put trust into the movie. 
     That name is followed by the other main characters of the movie. This is to give insight about who's acting in it and that they'll have important roles. They give three lists of names, probably to give more power to certain people. The first group of names were of the immediate main characters of the movie; the best friend; boss; etc. The second group of names is of the characters who James Bond had a good connection to, but not the main focus of the movie. The final group of names were of people who had enough lines to not be considered extras. The screen then started to show the names of the people behind the camera. Starting with the director of photography then to production designer. 
     Then it cut to two silhouettes dancing, then three. Then revealed the production manager and editor. It showed the copyright notice, then continued with the names. While the names flash onto the screen, the people dancing in the background change. Almost to show the actual people dancing as silhouettes. After the dancers, the background cuts to men walking with canes in a line. There are two more groups of people that are noticed, then the producers and directors. The old men are then show as people actually walking on the road and the movie begins. During majority of the scenes, there was very spy like music, music used to build suspense in a movie. Toward the end of the credits, as the movie was starting, the music switched the upbeat. 

Title Research: Watch the Titles Website

     Watch the Titles is another website that also shows the opening titles for movies, shows, games, and even projects. At first glance we are shown three second clips of featured films. When scrolling down we are shown interviews of creators and categories for the film titles that can be viewed. We decided to ignore the interviews and just look at the categories. The featured films category and the event titles category caught our attention. We went under featured films and noticed many horror/thriller movies. After glancing through them we switched to event titles. We didn't like the films under event titles, so we decided not to use them. Then we went to the search bar and looked up thriller movies. We were disappointed to find no results in the search. We went back to featured films and picked five of our favorite to review. This gives us leeway to pick our favorite two to blog about. To know what we are dealing with, we clicked on a random title. We wanted to find out what information they would give us. We were given the title; the date it was released; a summary fo there movie; the credits; and the clip of the title sequence. 

Thursday, January 30, 2020

Title Research: Art of the Title Website

     Art of the Titles is a website that shows the opening titles for movies, shows, games, and short films. We are looking at this website because we need to research professional title shots. This website will allow us to see titles from any genre and allow us to find our own. We started with the "Top 10 Title Sequences of 2019." We noticed that none of these titles worked for our genre, so we went searching deeper. We searched thriller, and got the titles of many thriller movies, shows, games, and clips. We were given titles sequences, designers who create thrillers, featured title screens, and news. After we got the chance to look through what they showed us, we decided to stick to the title sequences. We then had to decide what title sequences we wanted to look at out of the 34 that we were given. After realizing that not all of the title sequences were movies we decided to add movies to out thriller search. We were then left with 18 movie sequences to choose from. By clicking on a few title sequences that were chosen at random, we were given information about the title sequence and how it was created. We were shown the video of the opening scene, given a summary, and showed the credits. By seeing this information, we understood more of where to take our own film. Using this information we cut our choices down to 5 different movie opening to choose from.

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Genre Research: Venom

     The camera angles and movements used in this film, are tracking shots, wide shots, extreme close ups, eye level, and birds eye view. 

     The costumes are police uniforms, a basic robbery outfit, and the same two outfits the main character wears because he is barely shown in the movie. The lighting is very dark because it is action packed, intense, and mainly takes place at night or in darker places. The actors are Tom hardy who plays the main actor and the supernatural, alien like being who latches onto him. There is also Riz Ahmed who plays the main villain in the movie. The props used were cars, a gun, and advanced scientific machines that were used to portray the job of future technology used in high-end, secretive science missions. The setting took place in a crowed city in the present time of the shooting, maybe in the early future because of the technology used. 

     Common sounds were screaming, over-voice, cars, and any sounds that would normally come from a busy city. 

     Common edits were editing in the venom character because that doesn't exist in our world; all of the cut scenes; and major editing when using a green screen like when there was a spaceship.

     The elements were suspense, action, and the main character facing death. The element that was not enjoyable was the amount of cut scenes. I felt like the movie was moving extremely fast, going from one scene to the next, it gave barely any time to think about what just happened.

Genre Research: Unsane

The camera angles, movements, and shots used in this movie were: extreme close ups, to show the characters in distress; wide shots, to express the panic or intensity in the scene; low angles/high angles to show the power imbalance; tracking shots to show the point of view of the main character; and birds eye view to show detachment from certain scenes.

     The costumes used were: professional work attire to show the main character at her office job; robes and plane clothing to represent the patients in the psychiatric hospital; and scrubs to represent the nurses and doctors working at that hospital. The lighting was more yellow toned to maybe show a non-welcoming and but not dangerous environment. The actors consist of Claire Foy as the main character who was submitted to a mental hospital under the name of Sawyer Valentini and the other main actor named Joshua Leonard who plays the stalker of Sawyer by pretending to work at said hospital. The two make-up looks were a light face of make-up worn by Sawyer when she was shown at work and no make-up when she was shown in the hospital. The make-up was used to show her in a humane situation and when she had no make-up on was used to show the stressfulness and intensity of the other parts of the movie.The props were the weapons used by Joshua to murder his victims and the needles were used to sedate the patients when they went crazy. The setting took place in a crowded city and a mental hospital. The time is unknown but considering there is nothing to suggest a future or past time, it is assumed that this movie took place in the year that it was shot, 2018. 

     The sounds found in the movie were the cars honking and police sirens to indicate a busy street life outside, and the conversation of patients and nurses to show a normal setting inside the hospital. 

     The editing wasn't as big as it would have been in a fantasy film, with the need for sounds and lights to represent magic. The movie had editing in terms of having to edit cut scenes and the opening/closing scenes. 

     The elements are suspense and intensity shown in thrillers. There are also fight scenes which are also in thrillers to show the climax of the movie. 

     Disappointing aspects of the movie were the plot line and the choices the director made about how to shoot a certain scene. The story-line was very boring and cliche, and the fact that it was a movie made only two years ago makes me question if the director was just trying to get his career up and running, which would also explain why the angles were so awkward. 

Genre Research: Creep

     The camera angles, movements, and shots in the movie were: point of view shot, eye level, high angle, low angle, two shot, close up, extreme close up, hand held camera shots, mid shot, long shot.

     The costumes the actors were wearing in the movie were: jacket, jeans, wolf mask. The lighting in the movie was: practical lighting, high key. The actors were: Mark Duplass played Josef and Patrick Kack-Brice played Aaron, both are the main characters. There was no makeup in the movie. The props used were: camera, hatchet, money, phone. The setting of the movie was in a small town.

     The sound used in the movie was: diegetic sound, dialogue. There was sound of water when Josef was in the tub and sound of screaming when Josef was watching the CD at the end.

     The editing in the movie was: eye line match.

     The elements in the movie was intensity and suspense that are in thriller films. The plot twist about how Josef lied about having a pregnant wife and that he was actually talking about his sister. The movie was all hand held camera shots because Aaron was filming Josef the whole time.

     The elements we liked ware the intensity and suspense and the plot twist in the movie. The element we did not like was the fact that it was all hand held camera shots.

Genre Research: Berlin Syndrome

     The camera angles, movements and shots in the movie were: three shot, two shot, tracking shot, over the shoulder shot, aerial shot, close up, extreme close up, long shot, medium shot, establishing shot.

     The costumes that the actors were wearing were: jackets, jeans, leotards. The type of lighting in the movie were: key lighting, practical lighting, high key. The actors in the movie were: Teresa Palmer played Clare Havel and Max Riemelt played Andi Werner, both are the main characters. The makeup used was fake blood. The props in the movie were: backpack, camera, books, basketball. The setting was in a city.

     The sound in the movie were: diegetic sound, non diegetic sound, dialogue. There were cars honking to represent how busy the streets were.

     The editing used in the movie were: shot reverse shot, eye line match.

     The elements in the movie was the intensity and emotion the characters showed. The downside of the movie was the fact that they started speaking another language which made it hard to follow the story line.

The Last Three

The first genre we researched was crime. We made a PowerPoint on it discussing all the elements, editing, sound, CAMS and CLAMPS. Crime doesn't really fit with our movie because our movie isn't really about crime but more of a mystery or thriller type of thing. The second genre we researched was fantasy. The reason we researched fantasy is because its a genre for one of our pitches. The third genre we researched was thriller. Thriller fits perfectly with our movie because since the movie is a stalker film it has a lot of suspense and excitement which is what a thriller is.

The Fantasy Behind the Thriller

     The genre for the movie we are filming is thriller. The camera angles, movements, and shots in the genre are: low angle, tilted angle, zoom, pan, close up, point of view, tracking shot.

     The costumes that are in thriller movies: dark clothing, long jackets, hats, suits, dresses. Key lighting, back lighting, high key lighting, under lighting, filler lighting, low key lighting, and top lighting are all different lighting used in thrillers. The type of actors you will see in thrillers are: serial killer, stalker, victim, agents, cops. In thrillers is not type of specific makeup. Props in thrillers are weapons, phones, money, and brief case. Common settings in thrillers are cities and suburbs.

     The editing techniques used in thrillers are: jump cuts, elliptical editing, shot reverse shot, parallel editing, graphic match, match on action, fast paced editing, slow paced editing, focus, continuity, montage, transitions.

     The elements in thrillers are: the protagonist faces death, forces of the antagonist must be initially clever or stronger than the protagonist, main storyline for the protagonist is either a quest or a character that cannot be put down, each character is dragged into a dangerous conflict.

     Some examples of thriller films are: Parasite, Get Out, Us, A Quiet Place, Taken.

     Sounds used in thriller films are: silence, dialogue, music, sound effects, voiceover.

     Elements that we liked are: each character is dragged into a dangerous conflict, the protagonist faces death.

     Elements we did not like are: forces of the antagonist must be initially clever or stronger than the protagonist, main storyline for the protagonist is either a quest or a character that cannot be put down.

     We chose the genre of fantasy because we knew that was genre of another pitch that we had. In movies like the 'Harry Potter' series, there are many shots throughout the movie that implies power over another character, or conversation. When there is a fight scene, there are many wide angles or extreme close-ups to show how severe the situation is. In action filled fantasy, such as Frozen and Frozen II, there are camera movements and angles such as tracking, zoom, pan, and tilt. 

     In fantasy, there are many different types of costumes. For movies like Frozen, there are princess dresses. In Harry Potter, there are robes and cloaks. In The Wizard of Oz, there is a costume for a tin man, a scarecrow, and a lion. There are also fantasy films where the characters wear normal clothing with no special meaning. The lighting in most fantasy films are bright and open or dark and mysterious. The bright colours represent adventure, like the lighting in the Avengers films or The Hobbit trilogy. The darker lighting represents a fighting scene or darker times in the characters lives, which is also found in the Avengers and Harry Potter. Actors in fantasy films also very, although there is usually someone who: has a magical power or ability, is a super-villain, a quirky best friend or other main character, and someone extremely normal who was put there to question everything about the plot. This person can also be the best friend of the main character. For example, in Frozen, Kristoff was the normal person who questioned everything about Anna and why she was chasing after her sister in the mountains. Make-up can be very dramatic, which is only worn by someone who contributes a lot to the plot, for example, a fairy princess who starts the main character in their long journey will probably be wearing a full face of bright make-up. Props in fantasy will be something that holds some sort of magical ability; including wands, a staff, a hammer, or a crystal ball. The setting can be taken in any point in time as fantasy is an extremely old genre, although it is usually taken place in an alternate universe where magic or superpowers are a big deal. 
     
     Editing for fantasy can range from editing a green screen to show an unrealistic shot of someone in space, to editing in special effects and powers like flying, or streaks of colour shooting out of a wand or hands. 

     A few films in fantasy are the Hobbit trilogy, Frozen I and II, the Avengers movies, the Harry Potter films, any princess movie, the Barbie movies, etc. 

     Common sounds found in fantasy are intense music, exciting music, sounds of magic leaving an object, the sound teleportation or flying would make, that woosh sound, and lots of dialogue. 

     Parts of fantasy that are enjoyable are the characters and the setting. To see people living in a world that I could never be in and doing things that I could never do but feeling like I'm there with them is a great feeling in the moment. I really like the feeling of getting to be in their world for a few hours. The leave enjoyable part of fantasy, is probably the plot because they're always unrealistic, and even though that is the point of the film, sometimes the filmmaker goes out of their way to make it so unrealistic that it turns into a bad film.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Genre Research: Genre PowerPoint in September










This is a genre PowerPoint that my old team and I created toward the end of September. It was the first project that we worked on together, which created slight tension between us because we didn't know how we worked together. We decided to work together only because we were sitting so close to one another. When the teacher called up one person of each group, Kyndell went up and got a slip of paper with the word "crime" on it. This let us know that we were going to work together to make a PowerPoint about the genre, crime. We split the PowerPoint into thirds and worked on our separate slides. After creating the title slide we picked apart the PowerPoint in terms of what each of us knew we would be good at researching. Which ended up with Kyndell working on the first three slides, Bianca working on the middle three slides, and me working on the last three slides. When we were done creating the slides, we all judged each others slides to make sure it was good enough to submit for a good grade. Since we all worked well together, and did our part well we knew, we would be a good group for future projects.

Monday, January 20, 2020

Never Give the Pizza Girl the Address to Your Past

     We are starting with our three pitch ideas. Our first pitch is a stalker film, our second pitch is a magical fantasy, and our third pitch is a dramatic love story. To figure out what film we don't have the most passion for we have to break down our three films. We have to put each film in realistic terms that allows us to have a flexible schedule and work with what we have. Our first idea can be filmed completely in one location which eliminates travel problems from the equation. Our next idea has a lot to do with magic which will need intense editing. Our last idea deals with two college students in realistic time. Taking into account everything that we would have to do for each project we are deciding to eliminate our second idea about the girl in a magical fantasy. Now that we have removed our second idea we can now dig deeper into the other ones.
     To begin, our first pitch the stalker film can be shot in one location. This helps with transportation issues. The film won't require many actors to act in it which eliminates the issue of obtaining people. Although the film can be shot in one place it will require lots of editing. The editing may not be that big of an issue because we are giving so much time to do it. We won't haver an issue with costumes because we will already have everything needed. With very little problems with transportation, actors, props, and location the film will be a good choice to produce.
     For our second pitch we will have a dramatic love story. The film would need to be shot in several different locations. We would have to find a quiet cafe, an empty hallway, a crowded house for a party, and a lecture hall. Because of the fact that we are in high school we don't have easy access to a lecture hall or house party. Although we could work around that its would deter the film from being the best it could be. Since there will be many locations to shoot from it will also require a lot of editing. Unlike our first pitch we will need to find many people to play roles in this film. Unlike professionals we don't have the time, reliability, money, nor resources to get an abundance of actors. The props that we need for the film we already own because we are students.
     Comparing the pros and cons between each pitch. We are deciding to shoot the stalker film. Our reasoning is based off of the fact that the stalker films pros out weighs the romance films pros. We also feel that the stalker film will have more attention and will be more fun to produce. To end, we feel the production of the stalker film will enhance our directing abilities and prepare us for the possibility of working in the film industry.

Starting the Final Task

     I came into Media Studies half way through the first quarter. I was lost when I first came into class. After the first week of being in the class I began to understand the material. I didn't have any friends in the class. Eventually I made some. The first friend I made, Bianca, also came in the same day as me. I really enjoy the class because it is one of my easiest one's. I have been doing good so far in the class. Bianca is my partner for the final project and I am happy to be working with her again. She is a great partner and is great with filming and production.
     I've learned so many things from the class. I've learned how to use a camera properly. Storyboarding was the hardest for me to learn. First of all, I didn't know how to space out the film. I also didn't know how to put what I was thinking on paper. Filming was the easiest for me to learn because I like being behind the camera. If I ever get into filming it will be very useful to know all of this. I'm excited to use
     Pitch "Hollywood term to describe an idea where a film is encapsulated in 25 words or less, usually with one sentence". Our first pitch isa story about a girl who stole another girls boyfriend. What she didn't know was that this now single lady holds grudges like no other. Now she will come back to ruin her life. Our second pitch is about Lucy the homeschooled c-average girl as normal as could be never expected to be so extraordinary. She will have to battle her magical future while stepping back into her cursed past. Our third pitch is about a girl who starts college in a new state to get a fresh start. She soon falls for the "bad boy" and struggles to balance school and work. She realizes that this could be her worst mistake yet. Will she drop her bright future for the "bad boy"?