AICE Media Component 2, Question 2 Extract

My previous post focused on question one of component two and this post will focus on question two; for this essay, I had the option of choosing one of six questions. The question I chose was to "Assess the importance of marketing in the media area you have studied." The media area I had put was filming; so, I mentioned different techniques and their benefits and losses. This question really gained my interest as I am also in a business class that focuses on marketing and advertisement toward specific consumers, in this case, audiences.

AICE Media Component 2, Question 1 Extract

I was told by my teacher that I had to do a practice exact for the class to show my knowledge I had gained even through our current special circumstances; in the lesson, I was given two choices of extracts which were either 24 or Game of Thrones and I decided Game of Thrones. The video provided a loop 4 times to present the real version of what the test scenario would have been. I was instructed to not take notes during the first session and after was allowed to take notes through sessions two to four; I had very useful templates, however, my printer does not currently work at this moment so most of them I had to write out. I'm glad I was able to do this practice assignment as I believe this is a systematic way to show my knowledge developed through the course.

Final Project: My Movie

As I mentioned this was my most anticipated project from the beginning of the year. It has truly taught me what production is like and I felt that I have learned so much through just its editing. All those things were hard at first and still technically our it does amuse me to do such work. I have always been interested in filming and production and this class just proves how much I anticipate it. From my commercial to my music video and now to my movie; everything has helped shaped me and my skills on a more personal level. In honor of what this class has taught me I would like to do more in the future specifically College. It is very time-consuming to start filming and to get creative ideas however once you're in the process it's practically unstoppable. So many people and so many companies have influenced me and my ideas; although I don't think it's just me I hope that others also reflect on what it's like to have media in the real world. With such a connected economy now people have so much access to media and can be easily influenced by films.  Additionally, I did not film my movie as planned but I'm still glad that I could go through with it; plus, I could compromise a new schedule in such a manner of days. This does not feel like the end but only a new beginning; now I would like to take the skills with me to ensure that I can succeed with them in the real world. It's very interesting to me how we have such communication although it seems like new films barely get any recognition.

Final Project: My Portfolio

All of these items formulate my portfolio for AICE Media. The first is my commercial, which I started filming at the beginning of the year. This is my shortest and first project so, I believe it reflects my skills and knowledge before actually being informed in the class; although at this point I was taught about angles, movements, and transitions, I did not actually have the experience of implementing them into a project which makes this even more special. So far, out of all of my projects, it was the easiest one to produce; this is mainly is due to is the duration and quantity of scenes that had to be edited as it was only around 30 seconds long. I used basic transitions per scene mainly because the way it flowed was visually smooth and I did not have much experience with other types of transitions. Additionally, there was no music in the background as I was told not to add any sound other than dialogue or background sounds; it also makes sense since most commercials do not have music as there could be a problem of Copyright infringement. In the end, it would open up my mind for new creativity and acknowledging the number of resources I have to my availability.

Additionally, I have my music video; this project was much longer than the commercial and gave me more pressure for the editing process as I had around 20 scenes of raw footage that needed to be edited individually. I believe my hardest task was having enough opportunities for all the actors to be present for their scenes when needed; all the actors knew each other so, they had felt comfortable to film with each other. My music video is supposed to be an inspiring summer-like upbeat video that represents beauty as an attraction in everyone no matter their different looks outside. "Objective" beauty usually follows by standards in society as what is seen as beautiful and because of those values, forces others to try changing themselves when they do not want to. This is presented by my scenes that include bullying; these scenes are enforcing the message that people should not bully because it's morally wrong and mentally degrading- people should not feel bad for the looks they were born with. The background music is Who Says by Selena Gomez and The Scene; copyrighted music was allowed for this project. Editing was the hardest part because now I had to structure the scenes so that they went with the right verse/ lines and to be as on point as I possibly could.

Reedit Blog: Slowly But Surely

The pandemic known as the coronavirus, or COVID-19, has altered our schedules completely; with much fewer people leaving their homes now, it feels as if our new schedule is just to stay home. For me, personally, I am not bothered by online learning as I've taken, and still am taking online courses; the only difference I see is a very great quarantine break until April 15th, which quite worries me.

At Fort Lauderdale High School, we allow students to challenge themselves by taking high-assessed academic courses that grant college credit. However, we only have approximately half a month or so to review the content in most challenging classes such as AICE. Reviews mainly happen during the school day or after school, even sometimes during the weekends when reviewing with a peer or a peer group. Although, I find it relatively hard to focus on my academics as I'm more concerned about the virus; trying to sustain my health as possible and also my family's health. With this in mind, less of my attention is drawn to what is happening academically rather than what is happening globally. 

I believe it's not just my attention drawn; daily, I see more articles written about COVID-19, how it affects people, how many people were already affected and etc. This pandemic, although much lower here in the United States, is still a humongous issue that needs to settle down before anyone can go back to their "normal routine." However, it seems hard to do so as many events people were looking to are now postponed or canceled altogether. As much can also be said about Hollywood's films and how they've postponed or stopped the process in total. This negatively influences the production process; if filming is postponed then it will obviously have to start at a later date which may conflict with dates the actors already had planned. This may delay the process even further as the conflicts have to be solved in order to continue the already postponed filming.

Relatively, the opposite concept is happening for me; as I only need to finish editing, and I'm content with the editing applications I have at my disposal, this quarantine session is helping me rather than hurting.

Reshoot Blog: The Next Step

I finally have the current schedule for reshooting; it takes into consideration other schedule conflicts, approximately duration per scene, and issues that are occurring or may occur. As I mentioned the first time I filmed for the movie, we used the alternative place (the house) to film as there was a difficult connection to physically meet each other to film; however, since I have to reshoot, I find this an opportunity to film at the places we had before. The main problem is overall scheduling; since this film involves many actors and people, they all need to be available for their selective scenes at the specific time of day. Also, I realized that filming takes so long personally due to mistakes that occurred during the take and had to be reshot during that time or equipment malfunctions; so, in advance to avoid these situations, I will check over the equipment (i.e. the camera is charged, the tripod functions, etc.) and also reduce the number of mistakes by making it officially clear filming is happening, going over parts with actors, and etc. I am quite pleased with this schedule as it seems more elaborate since the amount of time we have is greater due to the number of days that school is closed; which means, the greater likelihood of the schedule following as there are no distractions other than academics.

Recently, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been catching everyone's attention and many organizations have postponed or completely canceled events such as Coachella, and Calle Ocho. In simplicity, no one should obtain this virus and should avoid it at any cost. With this being said, extra measures will be taken to ensure the highest probability of safety and health; for example, the parts of the reshooting scene for the house will be disinfected or clean such as windows, hand objects we will carry, and etc. Although I cannot control how other people act during our outdoor scenes, I will film in a secluded environment and clean the objects around us and objects we will be using. Furthermore, every actor will be wearing a surgical face mask and if they do not have one in their possession, I will supply them with one. Of course, during the scenes we will have to take off the mask and maintain it in a concealed bag; there will be extra masks and other supplies as we film if it is deemed needed. Conclusively, we will ask the organizations or owners of the establishment we are filming at whether we are still allowed to film due to this pandemic; if the given response is a no or similar, then we will schedule a new place. 

Reshoot Blog: Postponed

The information gathered from my peer reviews really guide me into the direction I need and highlight my weakened skills; with full accuracy, I believe this peer review is one of the best ways to understand my progression through the course and reflect on what skills need to be demonstrated better. The main problems identified in my peer reviews is the lighting in the last scene and the sound combinations in the background; for the scene with the lighting, the camera's battery had died, so we had to wait until it was charged enough for the scene- now reflecting on that situation, I will cautiously charge the camera more efficiently before I film. Next, the problem with the sounds was that they were overlapping and caused confusion; this is due to the music being approximately equalized to the same volume as the dialogue in the background- this is a simple fix as I can adjust the music in the background in the video with an app on my laptop. Other than that, most of the details given in the peer reviews match closely or exactly to its requirements; with this idea in mind, as I start reshooting, I will focus on lighting changes and sound quality to ensure I do not repeat any mistakes. Overall, these peer reviews helped me to focus on specific elements of the video that I would not notice that is bad/ low quality; this perspective enforces the idea of audiences and what they want to see when viewing a film.
Although, I did not film any new scenes as it had to be rescheduled due to conflicts with other actors' schedules; with many constraints on filming, I believe that scheduling is always one of the most demanding and time-consuming. This is because peoples' schedules will not always line up and then compromises have to be formed in order to continue with the progress of filming; this is also a part of the reason why it's time-consuming as I personally had to find free time to reschedule and plan how the filming would proceed, which takes much more time with the more actors and people I have involved. Furthermore, scheduling also has to deal with factors that I cannot influence such as weather, events (happening at the said location), and personal emergencies with actors; these factors are the hardest to deal with as there is really little to no compromise. At least there could be a degree of compromise for actors' schedules, however, when it comes to indeterminable variables, it is very risky to make a late compromise.
The place we want to reshoot first is at the house; during the scenes that have overlapping and loud noises in the background, we hope to influence clarity among background sound. I may also take into consideration filming in new alternative places due to personal conflicts with the currently scheduled areas.

Peer Review: Pick a Movie, Any Movie

Last class, we were given a group to peer review their finished product. My group was group six and overall had a decent movie except with a few minor problems. The features I liked most about the movie was the clearness in quality, sharp cuts, great focus on the subject, proper lighting, and efficient backgrounds. The quality throughout the whole movie was contained meaning there were no glitches nor mistakes in the editing; which also reflects the sharp cuts, I love how it flows one scene to the next without hesitation and it looks very organized. In the movie, there is an intense focus on the subject meaning the viewers can easily pick out what/who is the main focus. Also, there was decent lighting in the majority of the film, whether it was indoors with artificial lightings such as lamps or outdoor lighting with the natural glow of the Sun. Lastly, the backgrounds were very efficient and elegant as they weren't very crowded nor messy or confusing; all of the backgrounds were very clear and contributed great quality to the film. However, as I mentioned there are several problems with the film as well.
Films may never be seen as truly perfect because they are all viewed through different perspectives of its viewers and it's up to that viewer to decide on what to think about a certain feature in a film. This does not mean that the film is bad- it just means that there are features incorporated into it which not everyone agrees upon. Some of these features are dim lighting (in a few scenes), story clarity, and missing angles/ shots. In the scenes that occur with the subject getting up from the bed, the camera is pointed down toward the face and shows the casted shadow of one part of the face darker; although the subject can be seen, it could be hard to distinguish what her actual facial features look like; so, the use of a dim light should help see the subject's face without contrasting the darkness too much. Furthermore, the story's plotline is very confusing, as a first-time viewer, I did not know what was happening nor what was the background context to the story; this should be elaborated on, however, through the technique the director sees fit such as whether to add a voice-over or simply arrange the scenes to influence clarity on the goals on the main subject. Lastly, there are various shots and angles missing from the footage as mentioned on the review paper; with those including establishing shot, long shot, over the shoulder shot, pan, tilt, shot reverse shot, eye-line match, and action match; although, these do not pertain as such a problem as they can be quickly implemented in scenes by just changing the angles and shots for scenes that are quite repetitive.

Editing Blog: Fire Alarm Fierce

I have fallen behind schedule due to any negative circumstances. I was editing my film at school on my own personal laptop, I was editing in the morning before school started and lunchtime; however, then the fire alarm was triggered because apparently there was a fire from a teacher's lunch and so then I had to evacuate the building, closing my laptop and doing so erased the edited film I already had on my computer. I still had the film but now nothing was edited; in shock, I tried getting as much done with the leftover battery on my laptop and restarted. Although, I could not do much as my laptop battery died and I had to wait to get home to finish. This taught me a very important lesson to always save my work even when I'm almost finished. It was upsetting to lose all that progress and possibly even more upsetting to restart it all again. It was harsh to have to redo all of my setups, yet I was glad to learn this lesson for future personal projects I may do. This project is probably by far the hardest one that was assigned in the class, yet I do not regret taking it because as I mentioned it always teaches me a lesson. Now the video is mainly edited; yet, I still have quite a few edits to do. I am constantly looking for ways to communicate my ideas; personally, I believe a lot of producers do this. Mainly because it doesn't hurt looking at other people's perspectives; as competitive as it sounds directors drive off of each other's ideas.

Editing Blog: Work at Home

I have finally moved onto the editing phase of my movie. This means I have selected my footage, dumped my raw footage, and organized it by scene. Although my editing process differs from others, I regularly edit individual scenes then edit the film entirely; as in, during this phase, I edited the lighting, background sound level, and overall visual details for the scenes. I do not want to compile so much editing; this is because if an accident occurs. Although not much editing takes place during this phase. Much of my film already has good lighting and decent background so I do not completely edit it. I ensured that most scenes with sound had a clear background and that lighting was bright but not too much. I believe the background music is intense for the action genre; however, not to an extent where it's too loud. I believe the hardest part of this editing process is the sound as it can get very conflicting.

Filming Blog: Hectic Heights

So far, I have postponed my editing and extended my filming phase; although I am almost complete with capturing my raw footage, I would like to have all the footage at hand before editing certain parts and making it seem non-cohesive. The last parts I need to film will be captured this weekend; these parts include the airport and the sleepover. As the airport needs a distinctive time, which does not work with my weekly schedule, and the sleepover is a two-day process, both of these events seemed perfect to hold during the weekend. The process of sequential order was not necessarily the problem but rather which one would take more time. The airport is further away to drive toward yet has a small scene time; although, the house for the sleepover is a closer drive but will take more time to film. So, for the order, it was based on the way our schedules were set and which scenes could be shot. Furthermore, I also had an event planned this weekend so I was not completely available for the selected scenes. Conclusively, I decided to film the sleepover scenes first then the airport scenes; although that is going in sequential order, which I do not particularly favor, it made the most amount of sense. With all of this in mind, editing will occur at the beginning of the weekend; although this process may take a bit longer than the weekend itself, it will be ready in time for peer reviews. Since more scenes need editing than others, I will edit the scenes that need more progress than ones that take shorter times; not only is this process time-efficient but, it gets the bigger parts out of the way leaving smaller work for the rest of the week. Parts that need more editing, for example, include the introduction house where the college girl is first seen; not only does that part include various scenes, however, it includes music, dialogue, and the main titles. So, more time is needed to focus on higher amounts of edits rather than the specific edit itself; even so, I will edit the majority of my film with my own equipped software.

Filming Blog: Go Big or Go Home

Unfortunately, I could not film as much as I wanted to during February 21st-23rd because I attended an academic field trip to Orlando, FL for Business Professionals of America (BPA) and would not return until that afternoon. With the long duration of the trip as well as preparing and actively executing my work, I overestimated the amount of "free" time available during the weekend. By the time I returned back home, which is approximately 4 hours, there was very limited time to set up and film all the scenes that I desired; so, I had only filmed scenes that had little duration and were easy to direct. The scenes I filmed were quickly shot and a fraction of the raw footage may need to be re-shot; however, at this moment I will only be filming what is required and then reshoot any scenes that lack quality. As I filmed, I did achieve to get a variety of scenes such as the car and mall. I had filmed the car first then the mall; the development behind this is to follow the storyboard. Since the mall scenes succeed in the car scenes, that means, rationally, it should be later in the day for the mall scenes. Although, there was just enough bright lighting to still see the subject and the surrounding area. At this moment, I am viewing and judging my own performances so I have a general idea of what should happen. For the next week and weekend approaching, I hope to finish all of my filmings and start editing my already collected raw footage; for the editing, I want to specifically edit visually than audibly. In this aspect, it is very easy for me as I can edit visuals faster rather than audio; this is due to having the audio in the correct duration and positions so it is perfectly sound with the film. For the rest of my filming that still remains to be complete, I hope to film the house and sleepover during the same day then edit succeeding. Of course, following the same thought process as the already collected footage, the house will be filmed first than the sleepover.

Filming Blog: Delayed Schedule

In this blog, I will discuss the schedule change of my storyboard for my movie. For the past weekend or so, I have been editing my storyboard with replacing the park or shopping scenes; after further analysis, the number of places I have does not necessarily correlate to my genre; in fact, it made my schedule much more complicated and the story less complete. With the story constantly jumping from area to area, it discourages the consistency of the idea behind my movie; my story can still be an action genre when applied in a different way. I found out that my genre is applicable in the stance of movement and dynamics from a specific location rather than jumping from multiple locations which force fast developments between characters rather than developing a full relationship. I want my story to flow smoothly while also holding the original plot in mind; this is specifically hard to do in that situation of introducing many new and different topics. Conclusively, I have decided to fix the part of the storyboard with the park scenes; those scenes are very repetitive of what already happened (as in people questioning the college girl) and lead in a bunch of supporting characters that do not add much to the storyline itself. Whether we admit it or not, every character in a book has some degree of significance; it does not make any significance when multiple people all represent the same idea.
I decided to replace the park scenes with an extended version of the shopping mall situation; the twist is that more of her friends coincidentally meet the college girl before she leaves. This allows my story to remain consistent with the scenery and with the characters' relationships; it specifically focuses on the contrast of relationships between the college girl with her close friend versus her other friends. Although this may seem like a difference in personality and "fake" identity, people tend to do this gesture all the time; where people act in different ways around different people. Overall, I believe adjusting the park scenes were the greatest decision as it allows flexibility, consistency, and a formally complete movie introduction.

Planning Blog: Storyboard

 The above PowerPoint is my Storyboard for my movie; although I wanted to color it for finishing touches, I realized my storyboard may change in the future which would cause conflict and more time-consuming work; so, for now, my storyboard is in pencil and will be colored when it is actually finished/ when the filming is complete. Also, I was notified that our class will have peer reviews soon and so I kept that in mind for my storyboard as well. My storyboard just reflects the combination of both the visuals and sounds; however, in the description box, there is more listed for visuals rather than sound as the sound is a simpler element. One thing to note is that the actors and objects that are more contrasted are usually more important; for example, the college girl is more bolded than compared to her other friends that show up later. Should any additional complications show up, there are backed up locations and back up actors; with any future changes should be noted in the later blogs along with my commentary on how it was resolved.

Planning Blog: Title Design

The above PowerPoint is my crafted titles implemented in my movie; their form and characteristics reflect those of example action movies with their titles. I mention the font, contrast, color, size, duration, credits, and titles to ensure clarity to the highest maximum. Most factors for the titles usually work together in cohesiveness such as the font with the contrast and size with duration. This design is formed very custom due to personal interests and likes, however, all specific characteristics are supported. The font will be very animated to show a school/ childish perspective to reflect the young beginnings of the college girl; the contrast is represented in the title to give greater emphasis and catch the attention of the audience; the color varies between the working title and the crew and also is consistently light; the size of the people is bigger than the jobs and the size of the working title is bigger than the people; the duration will not be long, only long enough to read the title presented and continue; the overall credits will be presented in places convenient for the audience (i.e. on a billboard, piece of paper, etc); and lastly the Working Title, Escapist, will be presented in the open and have a very "popped" perspective.

Planning Blog: Schedule, Location, Participants, Health & Safety

The above PowerPoint is my crafted plan and factors implemented in my movie; all of these factors are significant in some way, although, some are more significant than others. The schedule may be the most intense plan as well as fluctuated as we could encounter errors that schedule back the whole process. Most of the schedule occurs through February and to the middle/ late March. The locations will remain the same, especially with permission granted by the owners and/ or security. All consistent participants will have consent whether to be filmed or not; however, this is harder to apply to strangers/ pedestrians in the background. Health and Safety are both great issues; more so safety for this movie introduction rather than health. Both are regulated by parental/ adult guidance so, no participant should get injured.

Planning Blog: Sound Script

The above PowerPoint is my crafted sound script for my movie; specifically what the actors will be saying and what sounds will be heard in the background. Although some slight audio changes may occur, the majority of it will remain the same and the mood will be preserved. Additionally, I will only be observing royalty-free music unless given permission to use royalty music; of course, permission needs to be received before the due date of my project. The elements incorporated into music such as beat, flow, tone, pitch, and more establish the mood for the scene; this is why most of my music used will give a traveling or inspired vibe, to ensure the audience's engagement. Although, the bulk of the introduction includes dialogue between actors- especially in the middle of the introduction. Some audio will overlap such as the background music and dialogue which develops the intensity and gives a basic example of how audio is incorporated into films to engage attention; conclusively, audio is necessary for my film and helps to better convey the reaction and emotions of the audience.

Planning Blog: Shooting Script

The above PowerPoint is my crafted shooting script for my movie; specifically what the actors will be doing, how they will be doing it, and in what surroundings they will be doing those actions in. Although some actions or angles may change, the majority of it will remain the same and the concepts will be preserved. In addition, I incorporated my favorite aspects of the action genre into the script mainly by the use of location changes; with the constant changes occurring roughly every 15- 30 seconds, it gives a swift mindset and captures the audience's attention by adding more motion and interaction. Other elements such as lighting and actor/ character development emphasize action by having the introduction and adjustment to a chaotic lifestyle. Lighting specifically focuses on the greater subject and what the audience should be signifying their attention to; both light and dark lighting are used in this matter, however, light tends to emphasize good and dark tends to emphasize badly. Personally, I believe it will be harder to film given such various amount of locations and timing that will be given to it; although, since most locations are in the same general area it should not be as difficult as I anticipate.

Title Research: This Means War

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? There are exactly 22 titles in total. What images are prioritized in the opening sequence? The opening image starts with a dark screen with the words emphasized for the title "This Means War." The showing of the titles seems to be in match with the beat/non-diegetic sound in the background, which makes it more appealing to the audience. What connotations do the images carry? Well, after the movie title is displayed, the background is covered with moving images and lights which create a graphic match to a person's body/ body parts. Which, conveys how humans are closer to robots/ technology than we think as the background images seem to be filled with code. How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? The constant use of the movement of pictures to display the movement of a human body builds up the feeling of action as whenever a human moves their body it always has a personal application. Also, the color red tends to make people more psychologically angry/ upset, so the use of red and colors related to that, builds up the mood for the audience that the producers anticipate. How does the film establish an enigma from the outset? Well, considering the transition goes straight from the movie title to the body movements, some people may wonder is that an actual actor and if who, also, why are body movements so emphasized in the beginning and why does it end with a woman holding a blowtorch, etc. What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience? The transitions between the image movement and body movement convey a connection and flow to which the audience pays attention as it is visually appealing. Another technique is editing, as in the background it shows a visual sound bar moving to the rhythm of the music while also establishing visual appeal when mixed with the imagery motion, pulling the audiences' attention closer.

https://www.watchthetitles.com/titlesequence/this-means-war/

Title Research: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? There are exactly 35 titles in total. What images are prioritized in the opening sequence? At first, it shows one of the main characters eating food and then cuts into the credits- with a rainbow. What connotations do the images carry? The whole scene gives a happy, positive, innocent feeling; it really conveys the audience to go into a nice, light mood. How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? The use of rainbows and bright colors enforces the idea of action as people associate with light intensity to action- for example, the brighter it is, the more active people are. They also create a correlation with the titles as the titles are outlined in a bright white. How does the film establish an enigma from the outset? The animations themselves are a bit odd, usually, the animations are just the characters dancing happily together and interacting with one another- so the audience will question what are the characters' relationship, why do they act that way, etc. What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience? Since it's a Disney film, its audience usually is young children to even adults; however, their big base is children. So, to appeal to children they use a lot of editing for bright lights, background changes, animations, and etc to make the film seem more welcoming.

https://www.artofthetitle.com/title/cloudy-with-a-chance-of-meatballs/

Title Research: You Only Live Twice

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? There are exactly 32 titles in total; the titles seem to display a more dramatized/ thriller look. What images are prioritized in the opening sequence? At first, the scene opens up with a man, hypothetically murdered, in his bed as there is a pool of blood next to him. What connotations do the images carry? At first glance, it seems like a murder mystery that may want to be solved; however, later on through the credits, it seems that there is no actual detective- as in the scene just transfers to a woman with background cobweb design and volcano lava to accompany it. How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? Considering this is an earlier film, the genre is more dramatized in the fact of blood and murder mystery; personally, I believe the cobweb may signify a web of lies and the lava is "the heat" being brought on from those lies. How does the film establish an enigma from the outset? Well, the audience will definitely be curious as to why the man died, who killed him, and who was the woman/ women showed after him, etc. What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience? The transitions are definitely incorporated as the big aspect; after the first scene with the man, the screen keeps transitioning to the next person/ people and does not exactly show the faces later on- more like a shadow cast by light onto the wall.

https://www.artofthetitle.com/title/you-only-live-twice/

Title Research: Deadpool

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? There are exactly 23 titles in total; the more significant one seems to be the producer. What images are prioritized in the opening sequence? So, rather than doing a collision of images, which is a common technique used as titles are being displayed, the screen views only one scene while time is stopped; the titles play while jumping from one specific area of the scene to another. The position of the objects and movements of the people indicates a comedic stance. What connotations do the images carry? At first glance, the images just tend to carry the audience through the scene in a static way to implement the titles efficiently; however, as an underlying message, it tends to go around the scene as showing the movie- the introduction, the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and resolution; all in one scene, but in different parts. Furthermore, it gives a basic foundation of what the audience will most likely see in the movie and what visually drives them to watch more. How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? In the very beginning, the audience sees a person with blood makeup and a gunshot, indicating there is/ has been a fight recently; the use of weapons and wounds reestablishes the genre as action tends to hold very intense fights with weapon use and dramatic outcomes; later on, as the scene progresses the audience sees more men being wounded and using weapons. How does the film establish an enigma from the outset? Since the scene starts with a fighting scene, the audience will be puzzled by who are the enemies against Deadpool and why exactly are they his enemies, also, why is everything positioned the way it is- is it to show an actual scene or is it just for comedic visuals, etc. What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience? Marvels' audience really contains a broad age range from older teens to mid-aged adults, so one strategy is the positioning; they deliberately positioned all the objects in the scene to make a comedic effect and keep the audience entertained while watching the titles; another strategy is the titles themselves- the titles use explicit and provocative language to generate a humorous feeling from its audience. How has technology been used effectively? Well, I would say the most prominent is the camera angles; the angles give perspectives mainly close to the faces of the people to provide great detail and emerge a feeling for that actor. Most common angles include close-ups, medium close up, and long shots.

https://www.artofthetitle.com/title/deadpool/

Title Research: Watch The Titles

This is the second website given to me by my teacher, but I believe it's more specific; what I mean is that there visually seem to be fewer titles display on the screen. I do not think this will drastically change my search as the action is a constantly used genre; however, I could find more specific styles that I didn't know existed. I'm looking for the general elements of what I mentioned in my last blog, which is the font, size, and features; although in this search I'm looking for more specific styles- perhaps styles I saw in the other website which did not originally grab my attention or new styles I've never seen. Overall, I believe this search will be more extensive as I'm looking for styles I haven't already seen or see from a different perspective. With this website, as I mentioned earlier, it seems a bit more limited compared to the other; however, I found a title that was not only a different aspect but, a repetitive style used in a slightly different manner. The movie This Means War is an action/ romance which may focus less on the action as it has a sub-genre incorporated; however, it doesn't mean that the action is very less significant. In fact, it could be said that both genres drive one another; action drives the tension of love and love drives the want of action. Films that tend to have a more complex storyline will usually hold more than one genre in order to convey all the given complexity of that film. Overall, I believe this film has the element of surprise I was looking for.

Title Research: Art of the Title

This is the first website given to me by my teacher- as we're studying titles used in films, we're supposed to find titles that fit with the genre we've chosen; since my chosen genre is action, I'm looking for titles that have a fast pace to them; or, titles that pop out visually to the audience as that shows another form of physical activity. Other factors I'm looking for are the font, size, and features that may be used on the text; I believe the font is important as it gives the style to the film the audience is watching- for example, Playfair Display could be used for Noir; the size is also another evaluative factor as that it may display importance- the main title and director tend to be in a bigger size than most of the other credits; lastly, the features like bold/ italicized,  the way it flows, is very important for the development and underlying meaning behind the titles such as titles going consistently lower to represent an underwater film.
So, after shifting around to notice the titles that fit with my (action) genre, I had noticed multiple patterns: the job and the person's name were in different colors, possibly to emphasize the words and maintain a more creative approach; the font was much bigger for the movie name and the peoples' names rather than their job; the way the titles are used (especially in Marvel movies) are incorporated into objects and time is stopped so everything is frozen in place- which adds a comedic side view; lastly, there were a lot of titles that were confused for action or incorporated with other genres with a sub-genre being action. The three titles I had picked were from Deadpool (2016) and You Only Live Twice (1967) and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Deadpool's titles were an excellent feature that incorporated the traditional Marvel elements; such as time-frozen (with a comedic position of all the objects), explicit funny titles that correlate to the movie's theme, and the titles being moved around the scene as it remains frozen. The other movie, You Only Live Twice, creates a greater "old" or nostalgic sensation- as it's publishing time is much different than Deadpool's. Some characteristics it includes are dramatized mysteries- conveyed by blood on the bed; a sort of cobweb design to mainly add a background decoration; shifts of the people and scenes with plain comic styled titles. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs incorporates their titles differently as they are an animation so, they could use it to the cartoon-like advantage.

Genre Research: Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Common camera angles include establishing shot, high angle, dutch angle, long shot, and close up.
Common clamps included: costumes (for the actual people) were casual (business wear, home clothes, and etc.) Lighting tends to be more high-key when focused on Godzilla and low-key when focused on the people; actors were of the same race (Asian) as Godzilla was an idea founded in Asia; makeup wasn't very dramatic/ took to natural tones; props were used heavily to display Godzilla's power (i.e. cars, houses/ buildings, etc.) The setting took place in Japan, with mainly dark lighting to emphasize the antagonism of Godzilla. This film definitely has its own characteristics with a terrorizing monster in a big city, with powers and strength never seen before; which gives a very fantasy-like plot to a very real world, which makes it interesting and controversial. Common sound includes non-diegetic, voice-overs, and dialogue. Common editing includes fade in/out, shot/ reverse shot, reaction shot, eye-line match. Elements of the genre included loud noises, intense lighting, heavy prop use, and tons of movement. What elements I liked were the intense lighting (to show the subject more) and the heavy prop use (to make the subject seem more significant.) What elements I didn't like were the constant loud noises and tons of movement (movement is good- just never when it comes to Godzilla.)

This movie can already be applied to action as it involves fantasy and creatures; when dealing with fake or mythical creatures, most people automatically associate that to action as creatures and their fantasy worlds tend to be much different than that of Earth. These worlds tend to be filled with a lot more adventure as well as mystery and the constant learning of the world usually drives the action in the plot. However, this movie occurs on Earth, so it uses both the factors of mythology and reality combined to make a realistic yet fantasy-like experience. Additionally, the visual effects added to Godzilla make the creature seem more realistic- which focuses on more human experience rather than a mystical one.

Genre Research: Rambo: Last Blood

Common camera angles include wide shot, medium shot, and close up. Common clamps included: the costumes were a bit more modern rather than fantasy type; the lighting was quite bright/ high-key to emphasize the subjects; the actors were very (physically) built and signified their aggression; makeup was mainly used for fights (bruising, bleeding, wounds.) Props included weapons and vehicles; the setting was mainly outside surrounded in a desert area. This film's techniques definitely make it as interesting as the others yet, it doesn't contain as much movement or effects (like explosions) as the others, which makes it more unique and interesting. Common sound includes dialogue, non-diegetic, and music (added in.) Common editing includes fade in/out, shot/reverse shot, action match, and reaction shot. Elements of the genre included intense movement, sped up music (for suspense), and dramatic fight scenes. What elements I liked were the suspenseful music and dramatic fight scenes; both factors tend to get the adrenaline running. What elements I didn't like included the intense movement; it seemed to be in too many various areas and too fast-paced to keep up with.

Compared to the other movies I used, this movie tends to use the traditional approach; traditional meaning that action is usually increased or fueled based on fighting, tension, active scenes. These techniques are especially useful when there is a larger crowd of people and allows the actor and plotline to stand out; fight scenes were used a lot as a way to not only categorize the character's emotions towards others and build personality but to also create the fight or flight response for the audience. That technique isn't a bad idea- but if used a lot then it generally targets a more aggressive audience. Also, effects in this movie were used differently than compared to the rest; since the other movies mainly focus on fantasy, a lot of effects are used to show power, strength, and dangerous situations- while, in comparison, this movie mainly uses it for explosions. Overall, this movie proves it's action-packed in a very traditional way.

Genre Research: Fast & Furious

Common camera angles included establishing shot, high angle, and medium-long shot. Common clamps included: costumes were more modern-like and not exaggerated; lighting was more intense (high-key), actors were more physically built and were smaller protagonists (not like the Avengers.) Makeup was less definitive, more natural; props were mainly vehicles and weapons; the setting was mainly outdoors. With all of these factors mixed together, it creates adrenaline yet the suspenseful type of plot and allows the audience to keep watching by keeping them on their feet. Common sound included dialogue, diegetic/ non-diegetic, and music (added in.) Common editing included shot/reverse shot, fade in/out, and reaction shot. Elements of the genre included were fast movement, bright lighting, and exaggerated fight scenes. What elements I liked included fast movement (because it keeps the watcher's attention and creates suspense) and the fight scenes (because they create an intense feeling of victory.) What elements I didn't like included the bright lighting (it may draw the watcher's attention to another subject.) Overall, this movie is certainly not as energized as Thor: Ragnarok as it is limited to only real-life human fights and has limitations to just how much destruction can be caused; although, this sets up the characters to be more connected to the watchers as both can connect to human struggles and limits. Therefore, makes it more relatable due to the realistic feelings- although, we will always have to follow speed limits.

This movie also gave a good indicator of its genre from the beginning; although, as I mentioned, it's not as thrilling as Thor: Ragnarok, it doesn't mean it cannot get the adrenaline pumping. In this movie, there is a big focus on car races- which mainly conveys the whole context of the action genre in the movie; other factors that develop the action are weapon fights, character conflicts, the growing central problem, and other side influences. Although I do not have a history of watching Fast & Furious, I can definitely say they know how to pull in the audience from the start- with the costumes. It may seem weird, however, the movie is very modernized which draws in younger audiences and makes it more visually appealing to people with a materialized mindset. Especially, when the costumes are very modernized- it gives a realistic vibe with action; which encourages the whole living and danger theme. On top of that, the story is driven (pun intended) by the characters' interactions and conflicts; the growing of the problems and relationships focus the story on the timeline while also diverting to side distractions to create a small break from the tension. Another admiring factor is the scenery. Specifically outside, where the desert is their landscape and highway; using the broadest principle and emptiness of the desert- which could also be symbolized into the characters' lives. An empty and broad platform they try sustaining. 

Genre Research: Thor: Ragnarok

Common camera angles included establishing shot, wide shot, medium close up, and over the shoulder shot. Common clamps included detailed costumes, high-key lighting for actors/ low-key lighting in the setting; male protagonist/ antagonist and supporting actors; makeup for wounds/ to detail a main actor's face; props were mainly weapons/ vehicles; setting was fantasy-like and held decorated architecture. By implementing all of these features together, gives the more powerful view of the genre and presents a thriller sense compared to the others; this type of design usually occurs with superheroes/ fantasy. Common sound included dialogue, non-diegetic sound, and music (added in.)Common editing was shot/ reverse shot, action match, and reaction shot. Elements of the genre included were low-key lighting, exaggerated costumes, very detailed props, and fantasy-like setting.
What elements I liked included the lighting (how it focused on the subject), the props (how they were all set up), and the setting (how realistic and fantasy-like it looked.) What elements I didn't like included the exaggerated costumes (they look nice but I don't think its necessary to point out the protagonist.) The whole movie basically is an action thriller that holds the fantasy undertone; these characteristics sum up alternative universes that hold human traits/ behaviors.

This movie, in particular, enforces the action genre as it heavily focuses on fantasy and physical conflict; especially toward the end where the real fights take place. From the costumes to the props, this film is driven by such action and suspense. It's also very intriguing as human morals and knowledge are merged into an alternative/ fantasy world that is supposedly held in another galaxy. It really influences me to look at all the details hidden in films to see how they all convey into the same general message yet, make it specific to that director's style. In my opinion, the factor that sparked the adrenaline most was setting; considering it was taken place on another planet- it would obviously have different architecture. By this, I mean architecture that is not seen daily; which caught my attention very easily by its details and set up. Although, it wasn't the only factor that highly contributed to the film. I believe lighting and editing are tied at a close second; they both contribute so much to the whole feel of the film and convey the moods of the characters. The lighting expresses the subject/object focus on screen; it's mainly used to guide the watcher's attention between the main focus and the less important subjects/ objects. Editing also focuses on the subject/ object, but in a different way; editing emphasizes the importance (strength, sound, brightness) of events and visually characterize them as good/ evil depending on the edit and the context.

Genre Guess

In the end, the genre I have chosen is action. I realized that horror is a bit out of reach for me as my pitch doesn't exactly line up with the elements horror contains; when I was plotting my pitch, the horror genre strands far from the actual plot I had in mind. Plus, when in comparison with action, it stood out less to me; even though, I am content that I had the experience to research a genre that was out of my comfort zone in the sense of visuals. It seems that the way the action genre is founded, it was very close to the original idea I had in mind; to drive the plot by a sense of suspense with multiple actors. In conclusion, action intrigued me since I was already comfortable with it and it fits in with my pitch.

Genre Guide

Now, I have to research two more genres; which cannot be a repeat of the first used in our project. The two genres I picked were action and horror. My selections are personally just based on what attracts me as I tend to like media that involves a lot of movement and suspenseful plots. For action, it suffices much more than horror as it constantly involves movement, plot suspense, and overwhelming emotions; however, I have an interest in horror too. Although I cannot say gore and blood attract me, I do like how the directors all tend to follow the same template but all use different techniques to convey the same theme; honestly, that itself is a production, the pre-production and figuring out how everything will implement into one another. With these two genres in mind, I will have to research: common angles, mis-en-scene, editing, elements, examples, sound, and elements that I like/ dislike; by doing so, I hope to gain a closer connection to both genres and a clear understanding for which is better to use in my final project.
For action, common angles for action include aerial shot, close up, long shot, and high angle. Common mis-en-scene for action include: the protagonist's costumes tend to follow suits (sometimes include capes) and "regular" clothing they wear when they are just living their normal lives and not fighting crime; while, the damsel in distress tends to wear light and flowy costumes to represent innocence and love. Lighting includes mainly natural as most action will occur outdoors rather than in- there are some special cases, such as when shown the villain's story, where there is low-key lighting used instead; actors are focused around the plot but generally include the male protagonist, male helper/ donor, female accomplice/ lover, evil villain, and supporting characters; makeup tends to be more emphasized on the protagonist/ villain and other makeup tends to include fake bruising/ blood on the other characters; props include vehicles (race cars/ motorcycles), weapons (knives, guns), and high-tech machinery. Lastly, the setting is usually set in a modern big city where there's a focus on businesses and mass technology use. Common editing for action includes fade in/ out to create a dramatic transition to the next scene and to let the scene pop out to the viewers, graphic/ action match to make the film seem more visually appealing and catch the watcher's attention. Common sounds for action includes dialogue, voice-over, and non-diegetic. Elements of action include heavy movements, loud sound/ explosions, over-the-top battle/ fight scenes, and a significant death/ loss. Examples of action include Thor: Ragnarok, Fast & Furious, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and Rambo: Last Blood. What elements I like about action is the costumes (the details in the capes/ how it differs between the protagonist and antagonist), the lighting (tends to focus on its subjects and also creates a lighter visual impact when the victory is completed), the setting (usually takes place in modern-day cities but includes something fantasy-like.)What elements I dislike about action are the actors (it always makes the antagonist seem to be the bad one, even when they have reasons for their actions), plot twists (they tend to add one around the end when everything seems fine and it destroys the whole plot.)
For horror, common angles for horror include the birds-eye/ high angle, close-up, tracking/ pan shot, reverse, tilted angle, extreme long/ long shot, low angles, handheld camera shot, point of view shot, zoom, and over the shoulder shot. Common mis-en-scene for horror include: costumes tend to be very dark and overexaggerate loneliness/ imperfection for the antagonist (the one who is creating the horror.) Lighting usually is dark unless when it's focusing on a specific subject/ person (usually low-key lighting.) Actors include the protagonist (usually a shy female) and the antagonist (could be anything/ anyone a doll, a male serial killer, etc.) Makeup is included for bruises/ blood or for dolls/ little girls to represent innocence. Props are regular house furniture, weapons, and outside architecture. Setting usually occurs in a house (tends to be a rundown mansion/ house with a basement.) Common editing for horror includes a reaction shot, eye-line match, and jump cut. Common sounds for horror includes diegetic, (subtle) dialogue, and voice-overs. Elements of horror include low sound/ noises, long wait/ suspense, dark surroundings, and creepy objects (tilted painting, messed up doll, etc.) Examples of horror include A quiet place, Hereditary, The Witch, and The Conjuring. What elements I like about horror the costumes (design of the darkness/ innocence implemented between the characters, the makeup (how realistic the blood/ bruises look), the props (it seems they can use almost anything as a weapon.) What elements I dislike about the horror genre is the lighting (too dark), and the silence/ suspenseful music (it adds up to the horror but makes me very anxious.)

My Generic Genre Research

At the beginning of the year, everyone in the class was told to grab a piece of paper from a bin and then do research about it. The pieces of paper were filled with various genres in which we would group together with people that picked the same genre. Although it was interesting to get a randomly generated genre, I would have appreciated researching my own picked genre (which is happening sooner than later); but just to reinforce the experience- I really liked researching musicals. Of course, the first subject my mind focused on was The High School Musical Movie Series by Disney. Although now, I find it intriguing that there is a TV Show in creation for the movies- but it wasn't the only musical we could research. We needed various examples, different actors, other experiences, and it would've been appreciative to look into different time periods to give a sense of change over time periods and generations. Once we got the instructions, it was time for research.
We were told to research all of the following concepts: lighting, camera angles, movements, mis-en-scene, elements, examples, common sound, and factors that are/ are not appealing. Since there was so much work to be done, we decided to split it between our group (which contained three people, including me.) Personally, the hardest ones to cover were mis-en-scene and the factors that do/ don't appeal; this is because you have to really focus on what the director is trying to accomplish and how they merged all of these elements together in order to make the film they wanted. The parts of the project I completed were: movement, elements, common sound, and non-appealing elements. Looking back at it now, I realize I could have elaborated better on the movements and sounds as it's much more generalized and does not focus on a particular term, just a particular theme. On the other hand, it shows my growth and experience throughout this course and realization of the material that matters; which is one of the greatest parts I like about this course- the realization of exactly how much goes into media production and how directors elaborate their ideas through production. I can confirm, without any hesitation, that this project was the main bulk of our course material; if it was not assigned at the beginning of the year, I would feel that my experience was weaker throughout the course, had it been assigned toward the end of the year. At the end of the project's completion, all the group members showed each other their work and elaborated on the details of their slides; this made it convenient to learn about the material of the genre while completing it on time.
Furthermore, the actual project itself wasn't hard, it was just quite time-consuming; we had to make sure that the details we received were correct and also elaborated on so that it didn't seem confusing. Also, as I mentioned before, we couldn't just focus on one example as that would create too much genre bias from that one example; by using multiple films to examine it proves a variety of lighting, sounds, and movements could be implemented into the film to give across the director's ideas; the genre isn't necessarily specific to one type of each element, however, specific to a set of similar techniques for that given element. It definitely perked my interest in seeing the genre's main concepts change throughout the years, especially in the Silent era where live music was accompanied rather than editing it in the film's post-production. Also, the way the elements changed themselves in the genre was peculiar; as in, how sounds would become louder and more upbeat to support the movement which was fast and flow-like. Overall, the experience enforced the understanding just how much goes into creating a film, what the process is like, what factors are accompanied by a certain genre, and basically all of the in-depth details under the creation; this project aided me in my experience and thought process as a director and what factors I am attracted to.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/120FcK-anrMywLeSykKDuNpem6r_6TuaiBlkFmytXijQ/edit#slide=id.g6036323fc2_3_8

Boss versus Girl

My top two pitches are down to Big Bad Boss and Summer Vacation. I summarized both as I realized these two pitches are perfect when keeping in mind materials, time, actors, and costumes, and more.
Big Bad Boss is better to do for this assignment as it requires more work, concentration, and management as compared to Summer Vacation. This pitch also deals with more emotions, or less depending on the view, either way, it is a much more complex storyline than to that of Summer Vacation. This pitch also deals with a specific situation while the other deals with a regular decision many people make, such as going to college after graduating high school. The boss has to take into consideration the whole corporation as well as their own career while the other considers going to college to further their knowledge. Although both pitches interest me, I understand that this pitch would be specifically harder for me to do as I would have to schedule more extensively and intensely in order to set the scene correctly. The whole view on this assignment is not just to "extend a portfolio"; it is to advance and use new techniques that we've learned throughout the course. Considering this pitch uses much more scenery and props, that would also include the use of new techniques to not only set up properly but make sure the film is clear.
On the other hand, Summer Vacation is still a very good pitch. Yes, it is a very normal view on a teenage girl's life however, this view is specific to this girl and is also trying to show a universal lesson of accepting change and separation. In this current time, there is the greatest population of educated people and the ability to extend one's knowledge by attending an educational institutional after high school. Thus not only is it a relatable moment, however, it is presenting permanent change and growth; additionally, it is also allowing people to understand change is inevitable and the only way to feel truly comfortable is by accepting it rather than ignoring it. For this assignment, I don't believe it is challenging enough; it is understandable that the filming process itself is already long and invigorating although, considering this pitch is set for a more "Home" scene vibe, it will not be as challenging to create a schedule plan for personal households rather than actual establishments. In conclusion, I believe Big Bad Boss will just take more time and effort to create rather than this summer home feel.
In the end, I have decided to pick Summer Vacation; it seems easier although the concept of accepting change and growing through life is something that never gets boring to me. I believe with enough effort, this pitch will show others how to accept change in a dramatic way.

Starting The Final Task

I believe I've progressed a lot through this course and believe I retain more knowledge and terms on film compared to my prior experience. In my previous years to this, I maintained a growing interest in technological development such as coding and software; this core value helped me support the interest I have in developing technology. As I've mentioned before, I've had a peaked interest in filming due to my core interest in technology as both fields are easily related; however, more specifically my interest in visual production. Personally, visual production gives me satisfaction on the effort, time, and willingness put into the actual product, and to see the end piece is truly a remarkable memory because it reflects all the growth we've gone through to get to that point. When I was enrolled in this class and still learning the content, I began to realize that we build our own portfolios based on the projects assigned to us. The greatest contradiction, about the projects, is the amount of fun we have filming versus the amount of stress we have while editing. It's not always that way, however, filming involves constant movement, energy, and attention to the certain project while editing is trying to perfect the film into a product that meets the satisfaction, which takes about the same or more work. Overall, I've finished most of my portfolio and am very excited to start working on the movie opening.
I progressed a lot throughout this course and feel like I've been brought closer to the filming and production/ visual world. While creating the advertisement and music video, I learned: scheduling is very important, time needs to be precise and available, there needs to be a constant check on important details such as location and actors, and there has to be more film for backup. Additionally, I didn't realize mis-en-scene had such a major impact on film; before this, I did retain basic information such as the emotions should reflect the scenery and the scenery should be accurate for the time and location. Although, I did not emphasize how the list of costumes, lighting, actors, makeup, props, and scenery all tie together to create this complex storyline; but now since I've been filming more and having more involvement in production, it's hard to ignore all of those factors as those are the main factors for the entire film. One talent I would like to emphasize is my scheduling; for the most part, scheduling almost always remains consistent and if it changes, I automatically notify the actor(s) and the establishments. Although my other areas of filming have improved, I acknowledge that this skill has improved the most; even though scheduling was a talent I already had.
A pitch is a term from Hollywood to describe an idea where a film is created in 25 words or less; this pitch specifically is mentioned as an "elevator pitch." There are three ideas I have in mind: WWIII (World War III), Big Bad Boss, and Summer Vacation. For WWIII, a newly recruited soldier has to stand up against the war general when they can't get a grip after being newly drafted. In Big Bad Boss, a woman boss is already mean enough but completely throws away her humanity when new competition arises in the business and the workers can't stand it. Lastly, for Summer Vacation a high school graduate has been waiting for college her whole life but finds herself with separation anxiety when she can't deal with the changes.