Final Genre Decisions

As a group, we researched 3 specific genres we were interested in using. The first genre of epic, Reese and I researched for a prior activity. We didn’t think this fit our ideas very well because we only had one idea that wasn’t a horror film and it was more of an action. The second one was drama, which Lucy and James had researched for the project before. I thought the drama genre could be a potential option to use for our film but we thought of one more that might change our minds. This was the thriller genre. We all unanimously decided to pick thriller as our genre. This was because of our interest in the genre from our favorite movies to the enjoyment in the project. However, once we picked the idea of a scary film we had to choose between horror and thriller. At first, we did not know the difference between the two until we had researched the two genres. The horror genre was more gory and violent while thriller is psychological and sneaky. Since our idea had to do with a stalker we decided that the thriller genre better fit our idea.

Genre Research: Two Decisions

We chose to research 2 genres for our project, the first one is Thriller, and the second one is Epic.

Thriller-

Camera Angles:

Common camera angles used in a thriller movie include high angles/birds-eye view, eye level, and a dutch angle. These are all used because they create a dramatic and suspenseful effect.

Camera Movements:

Common camera movements used in thrillers include tracking shots, zoom shots, and pan or tilts. These are used to help develop the story and keep the viewer engaged and make the movie feel suspenseful.

Camera Shots:

Common Camera shots used in thrillers include Point of View shots, close-up shots, and long shots. These also help explain the story and depict the whole scene while also including shots like close-ups to keep the viewer on the edge of their seat.

Mis- En- Scene:

There is a wide range of costumes that can be used in a thriller depending on the story. It could be regular outfits or lab coats for a creepy doctor thriller. Next, the lighting in a thriller is typically darker and not so colorful to make the film feel more sinister and suspenseful. Actors in a thriller movie should be fully involved in the thriller and convince the viewers the events taking place in the film are almost real by maintaining the suspenseful tone and expression of the genre. Furthermore, makeup used in a thriller is normally minimal makeup to show the characters as regular people and to not distract the viewers from the intense plot. However, when appropriate like in a violent scene gory makeup is commonly used to show scratches and blood. Next, props that are used in thrillers are things like guns, knives, and other violent weapons. Also, sometimes in movies that are outside or about survival use things like ropes or tents. Lastly, a common setting in a thriller can be many places, like outside in the woods, or a creepy doctor lab, and some thrillers even have the whole movie taking place in a secluded room.

Elements of a Thriller:

A thriller needs to have an engaging storyline because the basis of a thriller movie is all about suspense. Also, and an essential element of a thriller is a victim falling prey to someone else's plan or scheme. Additionally, thrillers should be told from the point of view of the victim or protagonist. Moreover, some thrillers don't use any special effects to make the plot and characters feel realistic, while some are the complete opposite and use many effects if they are more along the lines of a Sci-Fi thriller.

Examples of Film in this Genre:

Examples of Thrillers include movies like Bird Box which is about a family trying to survive in an apocalyptic world, and Limitless, a movie about a young man who is taken by foreign businessmen and given the potential to unlock the full capacity of his brain.

Common Sounds:

Sounds that are used in thrillers can be either very loud and intense or purposeful specific sounds, depending on the movie. For example, a thriller that has a lot of action and fast-moving plot will use a lot of non-diegetic sounds to increase the intensity of the film, while thrillers like the TV series "You" use almost all diegetic sounds and a lot of voice over that make the movie feel creepy and suspenseful rather than fast-moving.

Elements you like:

A thriller movie typically has a very engaging plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat which we like a lot. Also, thrillers often make you think and use your brain to understand the complex plot, unlike genres like comedies which you can just mindlessly watch and sometimes get boring.

Elements you don't like:

Sometimes in a thriller, the plot is either too confusing or unrealistic which can make it hard to watch. Also, if you get scared easily then a thriller is not the best to watch since it will leave you thinking about the creepy plot afterward.

Epic-

Camera Angles:

Common camera angles are high angles, birds-eye view, and hip level angles. This help show what is going on in the epic and develop the storyline.

Camera Movements:

Common Camera movements used in an epic film include Tracking shots, tilts, crane shots, and flash pan. These help the viewer see all the fast action of the epic

Camera Shots:

Common camera shots used in an epic film include wide shots, aerial shots, establishing shots, over the shoulder shots, and close-ups. This helps show all the actors involved in an epic as well as the characters.

Mis- En- Scene:

Costumes in an Epic can range from avatar creatures with blue feathers to warrior costumes on a strange island. Epics typically have an "out-there" plot and setting so it could have very strange costumes. Next, the lighting in an epic is normally very bright and colorful like it is outdoors. Then, acting in an epic is normally very serious and there is not too much casual conversation, typically, the characters should act very heroic. Additionally, the makeup in an epic is used when trying to create a creature like the blue in the avatar, or sometimes in a violent scene but epics don't tend to get gory. Common props in an epic are guns, spears, and swords. Lastly, common settings in an Epic are outdoor locations and areas with very specific natural terrains.

Elements of an Epic:

Epics typically focus on a heroic character. There is also normally a historical or mythical event that takes place. Additionally, there should be lavish settings and costumes, and an elevated writing style. The story normally takes place during a societal crisis or time of war/conflict.

Examples of Film in this Genre:

Common Sounds:

Epics include a wide range of sounds like ambient sound, voice-overs, diegetic/non-diegetic, and always a muscle score at some point throughout the film.

Elements you like:

It is often focused on a heroic character, so it makes the protagonist more likable. Also, it is set in a time of crisis which makes the film more interesting and it helps appeal to a wide audience.

Elements you don't like:

Epic films are usually very long, taking over 2 hours to watch. They are one of the most expensive genres to produce, and sometimes not very exciting because of the complex and fantasy-like plot.

Genre Research: Taken 2

Common CLAMPS-  Costumes used in Taken 2 are used to represent real people/groups in the world. For example, the antagonist group are dressed as regular men as well as the protagonist in Taken 2 because in thrillers you want it to be like real life. As for the lighting in the film, it was the same as real life as they used natural light in some scenes and lights for others. An example would be as the protagonist is captured the lighting is more dim and sinister to build on the suspense of him already being captured. The make up used in the movie is limited to show bruises, cuts and injuries of the protagonist's journey to find the mother/ ex-wife. Make up was used to the damages after a fight so mostly commonly bruises would be on the face and cute on the chest/arm. The props in Taken 2 were all used in a sense of violence as there were guns, knives, and other objects used in combat. The setting of Taken 2 is in Istanbul, Turkey as it is the main place for the vacation. The significance of this setting pertains to the story line of a group who originates from there.

Common CAMS

Angles-  The angles used in thriller are high angles/birds eye view, eye level, and a dutch angle. These are all used because they create a dramatic and suspenseful effect. In Taken 2, the most obvious camera angle was the dutch and high angles. For example, during most chasing scenes, the camera is at a higher angle to capture the full essence of one character being right behind the other one. Also during the more serious scenes of the film, the camera tilts toward a dutch angle to maintain the build up of suspense.

Movements- The most common camera movements used in thrillers are tracking shots, zoom shots, and pan or tilts. These are used to help develop the story and keep the viewer engaged and make the movie feel suspenseful. In Taken 2, the camera is often tracking the protagonist as he runs throughout the city looking for the mother who was kidnapped. Also, during Taken 2 zooming in was a large part of the film's technique of building up suspense. For example as the protagonist would talk on the phone with the antagonist, the camera zoomed into a close up which further developed the suspense in the film.

Shots- Common shots in thrillers usually are Point of View shots, close-up shots, and long shots. The reason being is that these shots develop a more intense scene. An example would be the close-ups used in Taken 2. Each time the protagonist goes on the phone with the antagonist, a close up is applied to strengthen the scenes intensity.

Common Sound- In thriller movies,  common sounds are sounds that can be either very loud and intense or purposeful specific sounds in order to draw in the audience. In Taken 2, I noticed that a majority of the film was accompanied by loud action music with upbeat noises. The diegetic sound used in Taken 2 were common noises such as a cars honking to represent the genre's theme of real life events. This completes the movies spot as a thriller film as it maintains the genre's high intensity events

Common editing- The editing in thrillers is usually fast, rapid changes from scene to scene. Examples of edits used are jump cuts, flashbacks, action changes. Any kind of edits that move the story along while maintaining suspense are used in thrillers. In Taken 2, an example of these edits are in the middle of the movie as the protagonist moves through a city and the angles and shots change rapidly due to the editing styles implemented.

Elements of Genre- The elements of Taken 2 closely fit with the Thriller Genre. Thriller Genre films usually contains victim falling prey to someone else's plan or scheme. Additionally, thrillers should be told from the point of view of the victim or protagonist. In taken two, the story is a sequel to a daughter being kidnapped by a foreign group and the father of the victim racing to find her. The description of the movie shows every common element in a thriller as it is shown from the protagonist's point of view. Also, thrillers are meant to cause extreme amounts of suspense and in Taken 2, viewers are overwhelmed with suspense as they wait for the story to play out.

What Elements do I like- The Elements of the thriller genre that I enjoy are how the story revolves around a person. For example in Taken 2 the story line revolves around the ex-wife/mother and her journey of being kidnapped. It keeps the story in line and organized as well as keep the viewer engaged throughout.

What Elements I dislike- One of the elements of thrillers that I personally dislike is that sometimes the suspense can be too much at times to the point where the viewer is puzzled a little bit. For example, in Taken 2, the beginning of the film is confusing as to who the white haired man is (the antagonist). This being because of the amount of suspense surrounding the character.

Here we go again... Final Task

     Hey, it's James again and we are beginning another exciting and fun filming process; this time with a bit more weight on it. I am still a junior at Fort Lauderdale High School and in pursuit of my Cambridge Diploma here as well. Since last time I've gotten my cast off finally and have been able to swim again hahaha. Our teachers for this course continue to help us expand our understanding of the film process and integrate it into our everyday lives. For instance, as I watch any piece of film, whether it be a movie or tv show, I begin to notice the different kids of shots as well as sounds and editing techniques since I've learned about them. In our final task I will be working with Lucy, Reese, and Montana.
    Anyways, since our last project being a music video, I have expanded my knowledge and skills of the film making process. For example, since the last project; I have mastered iMovie studios and can finally use all devices and gadgets that are in it. Not only have I learned new software, but I have also have learned what works best in certain scenarios and how to implement them in my work. For example, from previous projects I had little knowledge as to how to change the plan and improvise based on what we want our final result to come out like. Now, I have developed the capability of thinking on the fly for certain scenes that may not have worked out.
     For our new project, the final task, we have had to submit 3 separate pitches as options for our 2 minute original intro. A pitch is a Hollywood term to describe an idea where a film is encapsulated in 25 words or less; usually fitting in one sentence. Our 3 pitches we have come to are :
 1)  Kidnapping- Maybe I should have stayed asleep that night, maybe things would have been different
 2) Cops and Robbers- We both went in to save the day, only one of us made it out.
 3) Murder Dream- I could've sworn it was just another nightmare, but after what I saw in my room it must've come alive.
 
 Below there are two photos of us working and researching our new topics as well as coming up with the pitch ideas

The Final Decision

   Since last class, we have been debating our three main pitch ideas as to which one we will be doing for our final task. So far, we have decided that we will be using our first pitch idea as well as our last pitch idea as we try to narrow it down to the one we will be basing our final 2 minute entry to our original film.
    For our first pitch, it is a girl that wakes up in the middle of the night and goes to get water from her kitchen. On the way to the kitchen she hears some noises and realizes a few other strange things on the way to the kitchen such as the drapes moving. After getting water from the kitchen, she walks to close the window on the way back to her bedroom; as she closes the window, she turns around because of a noise and sees a man, dressed in all black, standing behind her. She drops the glass and is taken by the unknown man and put in the trunk. The next scene is her waking up in the trunk and struggling for sometime before her kidnapper opens the trunk, it goes black again and she awakes in a house. As she tries to escape the house while her kidnapper is away, she fails after getting to the chained door and behind her is the kidnapper who then hits her with something ending in a black screen.  We believe this idea would be good because it gives the perfect amount of background but at the same time give more suspense for the rest of the film because this is only the first two minutes of our original film
   Our second topic takes place in the woods. It opens with the a girl running through the woods, with extreme panic. After sometime of running, she trips and falls onto the ground where she is turned over and a man with a knife and he is about to stab her. Right before she is stabbed, the screen goes black and she is waken up from her sleep. As she believes it was all a dream, she notices something in the corner of her room that resembles something of the dream. Our group has not decide the specifics of what the item will be but we do know that there will be an object resembling the dream. As a group, we believe that this is also a great option as once again there is enough context and background to know how this story will develop as a whole movie rather than just a 2 minute film.
   As a group we decided to go with our third idea, the girl running in a dream. The reason being that we feel that this pitch in particular isn’t a full film in 2 minutes but rather a great introduction into a movie that we will be introducing.

Music Video Editing Blog

Today, we began and mostly finished our Music Video's editing process. Since we finished our filming process on Tuesday, we were finally able to dump all our footage onto my personal computer to edit it. Once we dumped it all onto my laptop, we began to organize the clips into categories based on the parts of the song, for example, since we used the same lyrics but in different locations; we placed the takes of the certain part of the video based on the lyrics. The reason behind the

Final Filming Blog (For real this time)

During our filming process, we had some difficulty when it came to filming. We met on Saturday, November 30, to get most of our filming done before our deadline, December 9. When we met, we had a plan in place to get our filming done with ease as well as accuracy, however, the plan ended up not working as there were too many complications with it. For example, we planned on using a group members truck as a large prop in our music video, but when we met to film the truck was not available. Also, we planned on using our original storyboard for the music video but we had to use our backup Plan of using different locations but the same lyrics in each, this way we will blend all the clips together like a conventional rap music video. For example, we would be in the parking lot for one shot with the full lyrics we will be using and the following scene of us in the car using the same lyrics. This way we can merge the clips together and have the same lyrics just different locations.
     The day we met to film, we didn't get through the film. We basically used it as another planning day for our music video, except this time it was more like a costume rehearsal. This gave us an idea of what we were going to do for our film today. Today we plan on beginning our final filming as well as almost finishing everything today, besides editing.