Audience and Institution Practice Essay

‘Nowadays, everybody consumes media texts in the same way.’ 

     Media texts have become a staple for creativity. Films can become a representation of someone's culture, ideas, or art. However, it all depends on how the audience consumes it. The consummation of a media text can be thought of as how the way the audience receives the text and where they receive it.

      To begin with, each film can earn very different amounts in the box office. The consumption of a film can be related to how much the movie earns because of the sheer amount of people it attracts. Sometimes the audience watches a film and recommends it to their friends and family. A joint liking of a film can cause a mass conversation on social media platforms that motivate other people to go watch it. More people in the theater means more box office revenue. For example, largely popular films such as Spiderman: Homecoming, earned approximately 880 million dollars in the box office. Before the film was released much talk on social media platforms speculated how the new actor, Tom Holland, would play the character. After the movie was released, it was a must-see. The early watchers took to platforms to share their opinions which increased the number of people who went to watch it and therefore increasing the box office. However, we see other films like Fast and Furious 7 which did not perform as well in the box office although it also had a considerable amount of social media hype around it. To compare numbers, Fast and Furious 7 made approximately 400 million dollars. This movie had just as much conversation around it as Spiderman: Homecoming did because of the death of one of its main characters (Paul Walker), however, Spiderman did twice as well. This shows just how differently audiences consume different films. The difference in consumption can be due to how the audience sees different production companies. Spiderman: Homecoming was produced by Marvel Studios, a Walt Disney production branch, and Fast and Furious 7 was produced by Universal Studios. It could also be from the fact that Spiderman was the start of a new sequel and Fast and Furious is a long-running series of movies. Whatever the reason, the fact remains that people did not consume the same way.

      Additionally, the way different people are attracted to different films displays how they consume them differently. For instance, different methods of marketing are used to attract the audience that's most likely to want to watch the film. An example of this would be the live-action movie of Beauty and the Beast. To target female audiences, Disney had some of the actors host an episode of The Bachelor. This act of synergy promoted the movie to the largely female audience that tunes in to watch The Bachelor. Another way Disney marketed itself was with merchandise for little girls; this includes new costumes released for little girls. Disney also collaborated with Morgan Taylor to make movie-themed nail polish colors. Overall, Disney was quite successful in their promotion of this film. However, notice that most of their marketing strategies target mostly females. The reason for this is that different social groups interact differently with movies. In this case, Beauty and the Beast is a love story, these types of plots do better with a female audience; therefore, the marketing is targeting them. These products can sometimes motivate people to go watch the movie. For example, if a young girl is bought a costume and she grows to love playing in it, she'll want her parents to take her to see the movie, buy the movie, or constantly stream the movie when it's made available. We see marketing used in a different way to appeal to many different audiences with Universal Studios' increasingly wider range of films. For example, in recent years they have released thrillers like Get Out and Us, children films like Despicable Me 3, as well as comedy films like BlacKkKlansman. By expanding the types of audiences they are causing more people to watch Universal's films. In the future, the diversity of films will cause the audiences to branch over into other genres. The way people consume films is quite complex. However, we can see that different types of films attract different audiences differently, whether it's the genre or the way it is marketed.

      In conclusion, we see that people interact with films in different ways. Whether it's how much the audience watches the film, or they come across watching the film, people have their own ways of consuming films. Alternatively, they also all interact with people. Without an audience, filmmakers would cease to exist. What is the point of art if there is no one to appreciate it?

Practice Exam: Game of Thrones

AICE Media Extract Essay: Game of Thrones

            This extract shows two men entering a new city on the premise of making a request. It is likely that the request was to form an alliance. The lords of the kingdom refuse. However, after a discussion with one of the men, the lords will have the fulfill their request. All of the characters in the extract are reluctant and seem as if they would’ve liked to have avoided this new forced alliance. 

            From the beginning of the extract you can sense a sort of tension in the two men entering this new city. Right of the bat the non-diegetic music is completely dry of hope, which adds an ominous mood to the upcoming scenes. The aerial establishing shot that comes with the ominous music provides context to the scenes that follow it by showing the men arriving into the city; proving that they are not from there. Not to mention that the lighting in this scene is bright but drained of color. All of the characters clothing is dark, the city is dead, and the sky is pale. This shot is followed by the two men are staring off into the distance at the city with serious faces. There was no dialogue in this scene, but it was not silent: seagulls gawked in the background and so did the mumbling men sailors on the ship. Therefore, showing that the two men heading into this new kingdom are unhappy about being there.

            From the ship to the scene in the castle we see a jump in time. This jump cut along with some help from the dialogue that followed helped show that the men had been waiting a long time. Waiting a long time is often a sign of unfortune. The men came to the kingdom for a reason and seemed to be waiting on someone or something to complete what they set out to do. In the meanwhile, the men begin to talk. One of the men is pacing up and down while the other one is speaking to him. This two-shot shows one man’s anxiety in the background and the other one’s composure in the same shot. It can serve to contrast the two and how differently they will react in future scenes. The dialogue they produce introduces a superiority factor in their relationship. It begins to become clear that one of the men is the other subordinate. The lighting in the castle they’re in is very dark. As they were talking you could see the shadows from the man who is pacing. Overall, this scene serves to introduce the characters and a bit of how they are like, which foreshadows the scenes that are to come.

            After the men are converse a little, three new men come from a door in the room. As the door opens you hear a squeaky noise come from it which is immediately followed by the clopping of footsteps. The feet of the three lords are followed with a tracking shot which does not capture their faces. The close up of the feet introduce the new characters with a superiority complex as they sit at the table. After the lords sit down, they begin speaking to the two men. Only one of them speaks but when he does the dialogue, he uses immediately shows he believes he’s brunt and thinks lesser of the two men. As the men begin to converse their words are followed with a shot-reverse- shot. This technique was used to focus on each person as they talk. Another trend in their conversation is that all the men are shot at eye-level. This could be to show that neither of them is superior than the other. Their words might suggest that the three lords are indeed better at first, as it develops it appears that they need the two men as much as they do. It also becomes apparent that one of the two men is a lord as well. However, upon learning that his request was denied he quickly gets up to leave without arguing. His subordinate begins to defend him and while doing so the viewers get a better view of his clothes. In comparison to the four other lords in the room his clothes were made of cloth while theirs was made of leather. All of these factors develop the status of the people in the room and develop their characters.

            In conclusion, the extract showed two men going to a different kingdom in search of an alliance. Throughout these scenes viewers get to learn about the characters, their personalities and status, all while understanding that the situation they were in was not wanted.

Creative Critical Review

     I’m so happy that I am finally done with my opening sequence. It’s been a long journey. Reflection on everything I’ve done throughout the year feels quite special. Not only did I learn about the filming process, learning it itself had its own steps. I feel like I’ve grown a lot over all the past projects I’ve completed. I’m very happy to share this with you. My creative critical reflection was intended to be funny, so if you see some jokes in there please laugh. I tried my best to make it a bit entertaining but also informative. It's also edited and composed like a Youtube video, by a regular YouTuber. I speak about many different topics, including, technology, social groups, and conventions. I apologize if I speak too fast, I find the speed very normal. I’m very happy to have been able to take this class. I think it’s probably the most fun I’ve had making a project. I originally don’t like cameras, however, I also feel that’s beginning to change. I hope that in the future, once the world is no longer a mess, I can go outside and film with friends. Without this class, I would still not know how to use a camera. I wouldn't know how to edit. I wouldn't know how long it takes to film. I might sound dramatic but that's what I think. My journey throughout this class has been one I’ll remember for years to come. I'm not sure when my next blog will be, but until then I hope everyone stays safe and healthy.

The Opening Sequence/ Final Task

     This video is my movie opening. It's approximately two minutes long. I worked with new members for this project: Mariapaula, Darwin, and Rafael. My group and I started working on researching genres for this video back in January. It feels like it's been years since then. We had come up with many pitches but I'm glad we chose this one. After all, it was the one I had suggested. Mariapaula might say it was hers but I distinctly remember the call on which I suggested it. I probably remember it so vividly because I was very busy when she called I had to step away from my family for a second and stand behind some bushes. Returning to the subject at hand, the video shows a girl and a man getting ready at the same time. The girl is a regular teenager who plans on going to a party. The man is her driver who plans on kidnapping her. The opening sequence would show the before of what would happen in the rest of the movie. My plan for the scenes was to have their actions to be in sync. Whether this was accomplished or not, I'm not completely sure. Either way that was just an element I wanted, it was not necessary but I wanted it to be cool. The plot itself is solid, with or without the extra effects I originally wanted. Once we completed about two month's worth of research and planned out our movie opening accordingly, we began to film. The process began in mid to late February. Above, the product of that filming process is shown. During filming, my group and I experienced problems we never have before. We had a case where some of the footage we had filmed was accidentally deleted, a car go missing and a very slow actor.  Despite all the problems we faced, we got the job done. I'm proud of my group for getting this done in only two days. Filming has proved to be quite fun and I'm confident in saying that I'm glad I took AICE Media.

Remembering the Music Video

     The video that is shown above if the second project I did in my AICE Media studies class. I decided to work with the same people from the music video. We ended up choosing the song "We Are Young." This project was the most stressful of the three. I remember many problems arose when I filmed this project. In fact, I filmed it twice. The first time I filmed it I spent the whole day helping a different group with their project. When it came to filming my groups project, two of them left and I was missing one of my group members. I remember being extremely upset, honestly very passive-aggressive, and tired. I don't like being in front of cameras so I asked Mariapaula, which was apart of a different group, to be the female in the video. Before I did this, I was forced to film a couple scenes with me in them. I can't even put how I felt after that into words. Looking back on that day I'm so glad I didn't feel that way when I filmed my final task. The second time I recorded this, was the complete opposite of the first day. Everyone I needed was there and we actually had fun. As for the final product, I'm not one hundred per cent pleased. There were certain scenes that could've been better. For example, I expected more from the confetti scene, if the camera quality had been better it would be more pleasing to the eye. However, from this project, I learned how important having back-up plans are and how the absence of people you rely on can change your plans. To me, my commercial taught me about filming and this music video showed me something completely different. I'm very glad I did these projects because of the experience I gained off of doing them.

Looking Back at the PSA/Commercial

     At the beginning of the year, I did this project. It was supposed to be either a commercial or public service announcement. I picked my group based on the friendships I already had in class. This is the same group I did the music video with. This PSA is 30 seconds long, making an announcement on vaping and why you shouldn't do it. Looking back at it, I wished we would've picked a different topic. We chose this one to make it funny and mostly have fun. However, it proved difficult to fit all that we had planned into 30 seconds. We also could've done a fancier job if we had done a regular commercial.  At the end of the day, filming this PSA was really fun. I learned a lot about the filming process. Most of all I went from knowing nothing about how to use a camera to being a camera-woman. This was probably the most educational and stress-free project I did this year. I would have to be extremely pessimistic to look back at it and only feel regret. However, there are things we could have done better. To me, the biggest problem with this project was the plot. We didn't get to incorporate everything we wanted to so it didn't make much sense. I remember learning how long it takes to film. It also showed me being behind the camera isn't exactly easy. Having to position the camera steadily but correctly oriented proved to be somewhat difficult. It also demotivated me from trying to use crazy angles that I wasn't sure would work. Despite all the negative, I am very proud of this project. I only begin to doubt it when I compare it to the work of others, who didn't even do it on the same subject. What's important is that I learned so much from it and had a lot of fun in the process.

Editing: adding the titles

     My group and I are so nearly done with our opening sequence. After all the editing Rafael did, all he had to do was add the titles. When we wrote our story board many weeks ago, we had already decided where and how the titles were going to be placed. Most of what he had to do was just follow what we had already discussed as a team. In our previous plans we decided to add a red letter to one or two titles. He did tell the rest of the team and I that getting a certain red letter in the title proved difficult. He had to layer the red letter over the already existing word. These titles were placed at the end since one of them was "directed by"  and it was placed on the footage of the car driving away. After all, that is what we had discussed before. When he sent the video he had created, I thought it was pretty good. I was overall pretty happy with it. He also sent a message in the chat telling us to let him know of any anomalies. I hadn't noticed anything. However, Mariapaula realized the order of the houses was wrong. He fixed this quickly and matched the house with the corresponding character's scenes. We didn't think there was much to reshoot after we saw the final product because we had already re-filmed scenes we didn't like from the first filming day. There were certain things that could have been better. For example, the establishing shot was a bit shaky. However, with the global health crisis going on right now, none of us plan on going anywhere. We're all still in contact. I've talked to each of my group mates about 2-3 times each week since school has shut down. I feel like the corona virus has really had us very worried. Mariapaula and I have a lot of work to keep us busy and Darwin and Rafael have video games, so I guess we're distracting ourselves in different ways. I will still be uploading blogs in the future. I hope everyone can stay safe during this troubling time. Until next time.

Editing: trimming and trimming

     Long time no blog! As I mentioned when I last blogged, my group and I had to begin editing from scratch. Rafael did most of the editing this time. When he was done putting all the footage together the video was about two minutes and 30 seconds. What we currently had was 25% more than the maximum amount of time allowed. In all of my past filming projects this has been a problem. As you can see in the screenshot below, he asked us in our group chat what he should cut down. I suggested to cut down the whole first minute. I felt that it was unnecessary long. The scenes in that first minute only included the two of the characters getting ready. I've mentioned in previous blogs that Darwin is very slow. Some of his scenes took up quite a lot of time; for example, when he was brushing his teeth he took up about an entire ten seconds. It might not seen like a lot of time in general but 10 seconds in our film is about 8.3% of the entire film and of the first entire half, that currently consisted of the get-ready scenes, it was 16.67%. Two other scenes that were extremely long were the clothes being thrown on the bed and Darwin getting clothes out of the closet. The scene with Darwin taking out the clothes was about 12 seconds long, even longer than when he brushed his teeth. However, the longest scene that had to be trimmed was when Mariapaula was throwing clothes on the bed which took 25 seconds. Twenty-five seconds is almost a fourth of our video. Because of scenes that were way too lengthy, like the ones mentioned above, I told Rafael he should speed them up or cut them down. After Rafael finished trimming, he sent it back into the group chat. I was quite pleased with it and am very proud to say that my group-mate is a good editor.

Editing from scratch

     Due to the very serious situations that took place in my last blog, I decided Mariapaula should not stress herself as much as she was. I told her that the rest of the group and I would be handling the rest of the editing. There was a problem with this because of how she had began to compile the scenes together on iMovie. iMovie is an editing software which is only on Apple devices. Rafael was the main editor in the last two projects that he was apart of. Darwin was the editor for his past groups too, however, I feel he does not do well with responsibility. Because of these circumstances I told Mariapaula to send all the footage to Rafael. I would have edited the footage if I had any type of editing software or a computer. Rafael doesn’t have an Apple computer and he uses Sony Vegas Pro so he had to start the entire film from scratch because the softwares aren’t compatible. This didn’t make me feel bad or mad because I knew it was for the good of Mariapaula. This was a group project after all and we had to share the workload. However, I honestly don’t think we intentionally pushed the work on Mariapaula at all. At the end of the day she had put herself under a lot of stress on her own will and did things before the rest of us had a chance to. What I’ve just said may have sounded a bit aggressive but I’ve been in her shoes before and I didn’t mind taking her out of the whole she had dug herself in. I’m not saying I’m angry with her for voluntarily taking on most of the workload, but I wish she hadn’t done it and had thought about herself a bit more. At the end of the day, we don’t have control over everything in our lives and have to learn our limits. I believe Mariapaula has now learned hers and in the future she can learn from this experience. Returning to the main subject of this video, after Rafael compiled all the scenes together the film was way too long. It was roughly 3 minutes long. This began the process of trimming what we have and making big cuts. However, the scene that we had lost didn’t seem significant anymore and Mariapaula was doing much better. I am glad she has now relaxed and is in a much better place. The stress school causes can be a bit much, in the end I hope she will continue to feel better and is in a good mental place.

Editing: the big mistake

     After the last day of filming, it was then time to add on all the scenes to the film. Mariapaula started this process when we all left her house. I wasn’t much help in that case. However, when I was home I received a FaceTime call from her; which I felt was weird because she knows I don’t really like to FaceTime. When I answered she seemed quite stressed out and upset. She proceeded to tell me that she had accidentally erased footage that we were going to use. While she was selecting the extra footage that we weren’t going to need she forgot to deselect the scene of Darwin driving away in the house. This scene had taken quite a while because we had to refilm it on the second day because of the car availability. I tried comforting her by saying it happens, it was a mistake, it’s okay. She continued to tell me that she tried telling Darwin we might need another day of filming. I feel that all of us were tired of having to go to Mariapaula’s house because it was inconvenient and after the very busy school week I didn’t want to spend the time I had off to film. I know what I said sounds quite bad but it is how I felt. I did tell her that if we had to film again I would go because getting our film done was more important. She said that Darwin had told her that filming was a waste of his time and she was very upset about it. She then asked me to try to convince him. I didn’t really think I could, but I tried anyways. I texted him trying to be nice but he never replied to what I said and instead ignored it and ignored the subject. I didn’t want to argue so I just let him be and went back to Mariapaula, who was trying to find alternative methods to recovering the scene. I tried looking up methods of recovering as well but all required payments. I told her that if that’s what it would take, I would pay for it and to go ahead and do it. However, she decided not to, she said she wasn’t sure it would work anyways. So I started to think about more ways to solve this problem without another day of filming. I said to Mariapaula “Do we even need the scene?” She seemed a bit hesitant but I told her it wouldn’t affect the fluidity of the film. She still seemed quite stressed and was blaming herself so I told her to stop stressing and that the rest of the group members and I would do the rest. I continued on the call with her and eventually got her to cheer up.

Filming again and again

     I know I said the filming at Mariapaula’s house was done. However, the filming my group and I did at the different location was far from done. In fact, we had to do all of it. After finishing up the scenes at Mariapaula’s house she drove us to the other location. On our way there I could tell she was quite stressed out because the sun was setting and we were running out of daylight. The first scene I shot at the next location was the establishing shot of the other house. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a tripod with me and it was somewhat windy that day so the establishing shot ended up shaky. Next, I filmed the car pulling up to the house. This surprisingly took many, many shots. I’ve said this multiple times now, but Darwin is not a good actor. He drives extremely slow in some of the shots and sometimes drives too far or not far enough. Backing up to the stop sign was also pretty time consuming. After I finally got a good shot of him driving up to the house, I filmed Mariapaula walking up to the car. It wasn’t a difficult task for Mariapaula, but for me however it was pretty hard to follow her without being too shaky or seemingly too unsteady. Next, came a dialogue scene. For this Mariapaula and I decided that I should film each person talking all in the same shot. I got in the car and filmed Mariapaula saying her lines first, one after the other, and then filmed Darwin. This got done quite quickly because Darwin only had about two very short lines. However, while I was filming Mariapaula, Darwin and Macy kept talking in the front seat and I had to constantly ask them to be quiet because I was going to film. I could tell this bothered Mariapaula, just like it bothered me. After this scene, we were pretty tired and were glad to be nearly done. All I had to do after was film Darwin driving away and we were finally done. 

Filming again

     My group and I held another day of filming to finish up what we needed. To begin with, the first thing we filmed was the scene of Darwin in the bathroom, again. The scene we filmed the first time wasn’t good enough. It was also too long and when Darwin is walking away he basically waddles. This scene took us a while but not as long as the first time we filmed it. I feel like I’ve stated this before but Darwin isn’t the best actor. We then filmed the scene of Darwin putting in the materials into the car again. The last time we filmed it, it was too long and also took place in a different car. Speaking of different cars, we had to refilm certain shots because the car we used last time was not available. Mariapaula filmed this scene so I wasn’t really needed. I sat on the sidelines, watched the whole process, and provided any criticism. This scene itself also took quite a while. I’m going to repeat this again because it’s honestly very true, Darwin is not a very good actor. He walks pretty slow from the garage to the trunk of the car for some reason. Next, came the trunk shot. This scene didn’t take nearly as long time as the others, in a couple takes it was done. However, then came the most problematic scene we filmed. I will be talking about this scene later on because of what happened after we filmed it. This is is the scene where Darwin drives away in his character’s car. To begin with, this scene had already been filmed but we had to film it again because of the car availability. Secondly, Darwin kept driving off too slowly. Lastly, it accidentally got deleted later on in the day. While it was being filmed I was standing right behind Mariapaula (the person filming), watching the screen the whole time. After this scene, it was my turn to film. At Mariapaula’s house, in her room, I had to re-record the scene where she’s talking to “her mother”. This took quite a couple shots, but less than the last time. I didn’t have as much trouble with the camera or moving it around and Mariapaula didn’t have as much trouble reciting her lines. This scene concluded the last of the filming done at Mariapaula’s house (for now). 

The First Peer Review

     In AICE Media class we participated in a peer review. The pictures above show what I spotted and didn't see in this groups rough draft. Their video does need some improvement. However, I would like to talk about what I did like about their opening scene. All throughout their film the lighting is pretty good. It was bright, sunny and although it doesn’t exactly match their plot it makes everything very easy to see; there is no blurriness. The camera quality of the scenes is good as well. One of the first scenes was probably my favorite. Two boys are looking at this girl through bookshelves and I think it was kind of different. Most scenes that're filmed by high school students, such as myself, are quite generic. Although, I have seen scenes like this before it wasn’t as generic as what I usually see. It might sound a bit harsh but I did feel a bit of the other scenes were a little too common and a tad bit confusing. Returning to the library scene the lighting in it is pretty good, especially for a library, it was bright but not dull. The scenes where the kidnappers are in the car is also very well lit; the colors in the background are very bright and add some depth to the clips. 

    This leads me into what I feel this group should improve on. They definitely have to link their scenes better. The transitions from scene to scene are quite choppy, they might want to include fade in and outs. This choppiness might be due to the fact that they haven’t had much time to edit their clips so they were probably planning to fix this despite of this feedback. I feel that a better blend in between scenes would improve the film as a whole. There is another improvement I would suggest but I feel that it’s too harsh, I shouldn’t be too critical of theirs and make sure mine is ready to go instead. I do hope they fix this however, and look forward to getting feedback on my own film very soon. 

Editing: a partners solo task

     At this point we’ve finished filming about seventy-percent of our opening scene. My group and I will still need about another day to film the remaining thirty-percent, which was been rescheduled for tomorrow. This is a good time to stop and being the editing process. However, we didn’t do this together, although we should have. Mariapaula (my favorite group member) did this by herself this time but I’ll make sure we try our best to edit together next time. All she’s done so far is join all the flips together chronologically and shave off some time. When I was filming I could tell this is something that was going to be necessary for our film to not exceed the time limit.
     I honestly did not play a role in this. The only thing I did was when she finished me and my other teammates reviewed it. Honestly, I really liked it. I’m surprised because I’m my last projects I’ve felt sort of unsatisfied with the first draft, even if it was unfinished. I’m looking forward to helping her or whoever edits next in the future. None of the titles have been added yet but when they are I feel it’s my duty to make sure they’re good.
     Getting down to business though, I couldn’t help Mariapaula edit because I was helping another girl with her own project. In hers, I play the role of an assassin who gets her next and last target. She asked me to help her with quite a lot of time in advance and I couldn’t cancel on her. I did many scenes with her; although, I’m not sure how much of her film is done. This process was also pretty fast. She felt satisfied after about one or two shots of each scene. However, the scene with dialect did take quite a bit of tries. I honestly feel the words in the lines were in a weird order. It was also the last scene we did that day and it was outside on a street. Cars kept coming and we, of course, moved out of the way each time for safety reasons. Enough of my excuses, next time I will contribute more to the editing process, especially since this first part didn’t require too much decision making, and the next parts probably will.

Filming: the continuum

      I’m bringing to you my experience with the second part of filming. During this section my team and I filmed in Mariapaula’s bedroom. First, we filmed the scene of her throwing her clothes on the bed. Next, I filmed her on the phone. Mariapaula on the phone is also one of the only two scenes with dialogue that will be in our film. Moving on, the scene where Mariapaula (Caroline) is throwing clothes on the bed took quite a couple shots. I set the camera up on her night stand to get a good angle of the clothes falling. Her dog Milo (which can be seen in photos below) also proved to be a little bit of a challenge. He is usually not allowed on Mariapaula’s bed and didn’t seem to want to stay on it while we were filming. However, he is an extremely obedient and calm dog since he ultimately and quickly gave into our demands with treats. In some shots clothes fall directly on him and he doesn’t flinch. This scene might be a bit too long for our opening sequence but because of the way it was filmed it can be edited to start at any point and end anywhere as well. 

        Secondly, I filmed Mariapaula/Caroline on the phone. This scene proved somewhat difficult to film simply because it contains dialogue. Everyone in the room had to be silent and Mariapaula had to talk. Later on, if my group and I decide that we don’t like the audio in the clip we might include a voiceover. To continue, Mariapaula kept forgetting her lines. It also proved difficult to bring able to hear herself on the phone, since the phone on the call was in the same room. It took quite a couple shots to get her to say the right lines and she still couldn’t say them until we put a teleprompter on the nearby desk. Another obstacle I found while filming was getting the camera to zoom out at a perfect speed. It’s something I’ve done before, but this time I had to zoom out and move and the same time. I feel like in the end I did a good enough job, I’m obviously no professional. Hopefully the next time my group and I film we will finish filming the entire opening scene. 

Filming: the beginning

     On Monday, me and my group got together to begin filming our opening sequence. Rafael and I got to Mariapaula's house at approximately 1:20. We waited for Macy who we would be helping us with filming and she arrived about 20 minutes later. We were a bit slow to start filming, we lounged around for about 30 minutes and then started the work. I wasn't needed very much through out the process. I filmed some scenes, which I will talk about later, but other than that I was not an actress in it. The first couple of scenes were supposed to be quiet simple. However, this took about an hour just for the first two scenes. The establishing shot was quick and easy, as expected. The scene with darwin shaving however took a lot longer because Darwin didn’t really know how to shave. I had to refilm this scene multiple times and am honestly not so happy with the final replay. It’s a scene I already plan to film again on the next filming day. Not to mention that the scene I shot doesn't really fit the mood nor the time frame. This one scene is about 6 seconds long, which in my opinion is too long for a scene that has no dialogue and doesn’t hold any necessary information. In the same scene Darwin walks away but when I reviewed it at the end of the filming day, I realized he almost waddles away. The position in which he walked was rather awkward and further coaching will be needed on the next filming day. Otherwise than this, while I filmed the trunk scene I didn’t notice how long Darwin took to load up the props. I was only rewatching to see if it looked sufficient but in my doing so I relied on editing to shorten things. Overall, the results the first part of my filming experience has been a tiny bit stressful. Cooperation from all of my teams members is needed. I hope that next filming day I can work with them a bit better and get better results.

Planning with a storyboard

  Attached to this blog is the storyboard of our final task. Each slide contains a sheet of what we will be filming. There are 10 pages for the storyboard template and each page has 6 boxes. The 6 boxes have  specific drawings of every action. The camera’s movement and location is described with angles and shots, for example, high angles and tracking shots. The actions of what the actors should be doing in each scene is also included. Sound is specific, especially diegetic and dialogue between characters. The titles are written in black pen in order to have an idea of where they should be placed in the scene. It also helps to plan out what titles we want to use for our final task. Hopefully our group would not have to add more scenes because it is a short opening sequence. 

Planning the title design

   Attached is the planning for our title design for our final task. We want our titles to be unique and eye-catching. We do not want them to be just some words we throw at the bottom of the screen. We decided on using different fonts depending on when and where the titles will pop up. For example, a chilling font will be used for titles that go up during the Driver's scenes. And for the victim's scenes, a happier font will be used for those titles. The main title will be bold and large to attract the audience's attention and so that you will not be able to miss it. Most titles in the two minutes will be monochromatic, meaning it will either by black on white, or white on black. The spacing for only the main title will be different since the font we are using puts the letters too close together. The titles will fit the background and most will last 2-3 seconds, long enough for the general audience to read.

Planning the location, sound, participants, safety, & schedule

   Attached is the location, sound, participants, safety, and schedule of our final task. The locations used for our film will be Mariapaula's house and her neighbor's house. We will mostly be using the inside of M's house as the setting for both the Driver and the Victim. We will use different rooms to add the illusion of the Driver and Victim getting ready in different houses. We will mainly only use the outsides of the house for establishing shots. The sound used will be royalty-free background music used throughout the entire two minutes. Other sounds will be mainly sound effects like doors opening or faucets running. Participants will be all four of us. Darwin and Mariapaula are the actors, while Rafael and Emily will work behind the scenes. One slide on the slideshow is the overall schedule of the project, while another slide is the filming schedule in detail. In the slideshow, we covered many practices we will be doing to make sure we are safe at all times. For example, one scene involves the Driver shaving his face. During that scene, the razor being used will be dulled to prevent cuts.

Planning the Sound & Dialogue

     Attached in this blog is the sound script for our final task. This is the script for every sound made, including dialogue, music, and any form of noise made. Each slide contains at least 2 scenes from our film, which describes all the sounds made in that particular scene. It shows whether or not the scene is playing music, and describes what genre or mood it makes if there was any. As well as any form of exchange in dialogue between characters, or a noise that someone makes. The sound script also includes sounds of objects or movement in the scene. For example, if the shower were to turn on, the slide would describe the sound of the handle, as well as the sound of the showerhead itself. If there happens to be no dialogue of any sort in the scene, it will be mentioned. Additionally, it also states the kind of sounds that are occurring: diegetic or non-diegetic. Diegetic meaning that both the characters and the audience can hear the sound happening in that scene, and non-diegetic meaning that only the audience hears what the characters cannot.

Planning: Shooting Script

   Attached is the shooting script for our final task. Each slide contains the general shooting details of each scene. For example, the second slide is for scene 1. It comprises the type of shots and angles in the scene. It has what the character(s) or subject(s) are doing in the scene. It also has the lighting; whether it is bright and cheery or dark and gloomy. The entire slide show is thirteen slides: one slide for the title and twelve slides for each of the twelve scenes. A majority of the scenes are morning-routine scenes from both Carolina's and Kenneth's point of view. Their routines are cut together to compare and contrast their preparation for the day. For example, while Kenneth just messes with his hair really quickly, Carolina puts thought into how she looks for the day.

Title Research: Hostage

     The movie I researched is called Hostage. It is listed on Google as a Crime Thriller. I found this opening sequence on the "Watch the Titles" website. I counted 31 separate titles that were shown off in unique ways. Sometimes the title would blend in with the floor or a wall. Other times the title would be on a prop like a gun. Many images of the setting were prioritized in the opening sequence. It displays an industrial area on the outskirts of a big city. There appears to be a crime scene inside one of the big warehouses. Also, so images of men with weapons and firepower were shown, tying back into the crime theme.

          All of the images carry a mysterious connotation. They all make the audience curious about what transpired here. "What caused the news and police to come to this setting? Why are there a ton of men armed to the teeth?" It's all to lure the audience in and capture their attention. Crime is a staple in the thriller genre. So the crime scene-setting fits right at home in this thriller movie. Also, the firearms and goons in black are pretty in this genre, and in movies in general. However, I believe that that feature fits more into action movies than thrillers. Additionally, the camera moving around frozen subjects is seen a lot in other thriller movie openings.

          At the start of the opening, a newscaster is appeared to be in front of a crime scene. So it can be safe to assume that this incident will be very relevant to the story. Also, at the very end of the sequence, it transitions into the start of the movie. It flows into a furious man talking on the phone about, what I can assume, the crime that took place in the first location. The use of dark colors, monotone colors with blood-red highlights set the notion that this is not a kid's movie. And if that wasn't enough, the constant display of guns makes sure that this is targeted at mature audiences. 

          The whole opening sequence seems to be a render CGI model of a city and an industrial area. The people in shots seem to be models aswell. The camera is constantly moving through and around interesting shots. It would start really close to an object, then pull back and reveal a title and the associated people. The camera would also use tracking shots to reveal names and titles on walls and floors. The last shot is a filter put over a real person. The filter is then removed and it transitions into the first scene of the movie.

Title Research: Split

I found the title sequence for this film, Split, on the website Art of the Title. The genre for this film is under the Thriller category. The film seems to have already briefly started. Before the titles appear, a clip plays of a man wearing a mask and glasses, holding a spray bottle reaches his arm towards the camera inside of a car. In total, there were 22 titles, with the first one being the name of the production company, Universal Studios. The titles are presented on a simple black background with white text. When transitioning to a new title, a 4x6 grid of the next title appears flashing, which then all go black and reveal the next title. The first three all include the production companies, and the creator of the film. The following title is simply the name of the movie: Split. In between some of the titles are little clips of a hallway of some sort, in which the camera slowly pans down revealing a woman being transported on a cart through it. The rest of the titles display some of the actors' names and the production team (e.g. Music Producer, Executive Producer, etc.). The final title is simply the text saying "Written and Directed by M. Night Shyamalan."

   The images shown throughout the title sequence carry the connotation that the movie is mysterious and ominous. The woman being transported through the hallways unconsciously on a cart is not something that typically is a daily occurrence for most. This gives the audience a sense that something bad is about to happen, and encourages them to continue watching. The text used in the title sequence are connected when on top of each other. For example, the letter "Y and L" would be connected through the bottom of the Y and top of the L. This reinforces the name and genre of the movie "Split" which is ironic, since the letters in the titles aren't split. The music is also very eerie, as it has no melody, beat, or lyrics. Simply just background noise, mixed with humming and rumbling. This also reinforces the genre as the music can give the audience a thrilling experience. 

   The film establishes an enigma from the beginning by cutting in the middle of the scene of the man with the mask. The man is clearly up to no good, and by cutting right as the audience is about to see what occurs, it builds mystery and hype to continue watching. As well as the woman being transported in the hallways. The viewers have no clue on what has happened and what might happen later. All of these strategies are also used to ensure that the film appeals to its viewers who enjoy Thriller films. Technology has been used effectively by the way that the title sequence is presented. Since it is simply text, the camera plays no part in it. They must use computer software to generate the grids flashing for the transitions, and the connected text, as well as adding the bits and pieces of clips during the sequence. When the camera is being used, the camera angles are from a low angle looking upward. Which with every new clip after each title, it slowly pans downward, which then reaches and reveals the woman on the cart.

Title Research: The Reaping

     Using the website www.watchthetitles.com, the opening scene of the movie The Reaping was available for viewing. While viewing the scene I counted the number of titles used in it. To my surprise there were 26 titles! Opening scenes seem to be relatively short while watching movies, I did not expect there to be this many in what I thought was such a short amount of time. Also to my surprise the title of the movie wasn’t the first or last title shown, it was in the middle. The beginning title was “directed by Stephen Hawkings,” and the last title was “A Stephen Hawkings Film.” During the opening sequence, images of leaves, the moon, a frog leg, hair, eyelashes, eyes, a chemical looking substance, an arm, dried up land, and bugs which were briefly flashed. Most were dark with poor lightning and were faded in and out from black screens. The images that weren’t dark or shaded had some element with black in it. For example, the clip of the chemical substance started with a green chemical substance with drops of a black liquid being put into it. The clips of extremely close up hair and eyelashes look very similar to the insect legs. Overall, the images created a sort of eerie mood, very thriller. Just from the intro we can see objects that contain aspects of the movie that foreshadow what will happen. They have mysterious yet dark connotations to them. The multiple angles, shots, perspectives of each image and the speed at which they’re flashed get the viewers on edge. Even the contrast between the black screen and the images make the viewer pay more attention to each detail.
     Throughout the opening scene the thriller genre is showed with the dark, mysterious aspects included in it. The objects which are seemingly random hold a deeper meaning in this film. For example, the chemicals, insects, eyes and hair give off the idea that the movie will contain some sort of disease, outbreak, or chaos, maybe even a drought. Of course maybe not every object is significant. However, if they’re not important than they’re included to set the mood for the movie. After all this is only an introduction to the movie, it must give off the suspenseful feel crucial to the thriller genre. The opening scene also includes fast music and a type-writer-like font that also add to the suspenseful mood. The early enigma of the movie is well supported by the background music because of the rapid beating behind the sound of the eerie violins. The font is blood red, smeared, and faint. Fonts like these are obviously eerie, they give an old timely, apocalyptic feel to the words. These aspects give very little to no information. This can appeal to viewers because they want to know what happens next. The suspense created throughout also makes them want to know what’s coming; what the objects they just showed mean.The flashes and music make the audience think this is going to be a film filled with rapid changes of emotion, this appeals to fans of the thriller genre for obvious reasons: thrillers are meant to cause fluctuations of emotion. Another topic, which I find interesting, are the different angles, transitions, and editing techniques the creators of this opening scene used. For instance, they used different angles of the same object to put new titles on the same image but at a different angle. They also transitioned almost everything with fade in and fade outs, they matched the music playing in the background that heightens the suspense. The titles are put in different places each time, they cause you to look at a different part of the screen. Even the movement of eyes this causes make the viewers pay more attention to the images in the background. Overall, the opening scene in this film doesn’t provide a lot of context, but it does set the correct mood for the film and what it will be like.

Title Research: Panic Room

This was taken from the website, Art of the Title, and it is under the genre of Thriller. The logo of Columbia Pictures, which comes from Sony, fades in. This is used to give the audience the info of the movie they are watching and what film studio it comes from. The first scene of this movie seems to be an establishing shot of a large city, with the title of the company that produced it. That is one of 20 titles that are seen throughout the entire opening sequence. The first three titles are the production companies, and then it leads to the names of some actors. The list is quickly paused, with the title of the movie being shown. The next scenes present the rest of the actors in the film and the technical support who helped make the movie. In each image, it is easier to make out that this large city is actually New York City. With these aerial shots, they are taken to popular places around the city, for example, Times Square, Empire State Building, even Central Park. Title 20 was the expected "Directed by," which is always seen before the movie begins. Transitions are very abrupt because each scene is only a few seconds long.

The design for the titles is unique, for it has a 3D effect, where the letters being angled the same as the buildings. This matches the mood of the intense music and setting portrayed. Also, the camera seems to start at an aerial shot and proceeds to lower to the ground. Before the movie actually begins, the last title scene is at a low angle, and a long shot of Central Park. I would assume that this is to tell the audience that the movie is about to begin and the characters will be introduced.

The genre is reinforced in this opening sequence by some intense music and the titles design, looking bold and realistic. They look realistic because they cast shadows on the buildings and are reflected through the windows. The fonts are also large and high in the air, to give the audience "low-grade anxiety," according to the description. Usually, when something is high and unreachable, it symbolizes wealth and power. This creates a strange presence that haunts the city. This leaves the audience to wonder what will take place in New York. However, one would not know if the movie is a thriller because the setting is on a nice day in fall and characters are talking about something they are excited about. That is if they never watched the trailer for the movie. The proposed idea that the characters are discussing is of a building, and how it is going to be a great investment; and for movies that discuss houses, the main plot will be about the house and what it has. It might have a great feature or a haunting/powerful one.

Strategies used to appeal to the audience is making the names of the actors appear visible and are on for a few seconds for them to acknowledge who will be in the movie. The enigma that is established from the outset is where the rest of the film will take place, which is later found out that it is in the house that contains the "panic room."

Title Research: Watch the Titles

     We are using this website to research different opening sequences for our own film. This website contains several distinct title sequences for a range of genre options. The website also has title sequences for TV shows, video games, and even student projects. This is a great website to research the conventions of openings for movies.
          Our main focus is on the thriller movie opening segments. A recurring characteristic of each clip is that it is ended with "Directed By." We learned that, even though movies share a similar genre, their openings can be drastically unique. Also, we noticed that although the movies have different genres, they have similar titles in the opening scene. We learned that actors usually do not have titles associated with their name. In some cases, the actors are famous enough that audiences watch the movie for them, so they should already know who they are. In other cases, it can be assumed that the names popping up are actors. Other titles, such as "edited by", "music by", and "casting by" are showed with the corresponding staff member. Another common element used in opening sequences are cutting to black to show the titles of each of the people that worked on the movie. The film would show a movie scene of something going and then in between each shot, they would flash the titles. Slow-motion is also used quite frequently.

Title Research: Art of the Title

    This website shows the use of titles in movies, and even gives examples of what some may look like. Art of the Title is a very presentable site and we are on here to explore the different designs of titles, especially from every genre. Each group member has to choose a movie's opening scene under our genre, to conduct research. This is for us to know the conventions of how the titles are for thriller films. What was seen is that the website has a very long list of all the designers and studios that make the titles for movies. This would be useful if we are researching how the individual designs their own titles, probably if they use the same font to establish it is them. There is also a lengthy page of many movies. These are clips of the beginning of the featured films. There are not only movies but TV shows too, even ones from Netflix. Following the clip, under it, there is a description of the movie and titles used and information on who directed, what studio it was in, and the styles. After watching some of the clips, the website does not always offer the opening title sequence, but only the end credits. Also, some of the descriptions give interviews that are held with the producers and directors. What was learned is that the beginning sequence offers the names of actors, and usually the most known/famous one is seen first. The director is the title scene that is always put before the movie begins. This is to remind the audience who was the person to create the film that they are watching. 

Genre Research: The Clovehitch Killer

   The Clovehitch Killer, like any other was filled with camera shots, angles, and movements. Among the camera shots were establishing shots, over the shoulder shots, many close ups, long shots, medium long shots, medium close ups, and medium shots. It’s important to bring to attention that the establishing shots were very important in this movie. Showing where the characters were or were about to enter also told the audience whether this was out of the ordinary. For example, when the main character’s dad entered one of his victims’ house. Camera angles frequently used were low angles and mainly eye level. I saw few to non oblique and high angles. Lastly, recurring camera movements were tracking shots, pans, tilts and tracking shots.
     The costumes in the movie were regular, for the most part. However, there was a scene where the main character’s dad dressed up as a woman using his mom’s clothes. He put on a mask and took pictures of himself being choked by a rope. This costume in particular stood out extremely from the rest. Before this scene the costumes were normal civilian clothes. The only one that strayed from this were Boy Scout uniforms. The costume additionally composed of heels was the fathers attempt to satisfy his desires by using mock pictures. The lighting throughout the movie is quite dull. It fits in with the small town feel, the small town aura. There is occasional dark lighting creating an eerie feel to the corresponding scenes such as when the main character discovers his dad’s secret room under the house. The props in this film are especially important. The Polaroid pictures and licenses found of the father’s victims, his camera, the clovehitch knot found at all of the scenes adds to that characters signature.
     The sounds, or lack of sounds, in The Clovehitch Killer adds an especially eerie and suspenseful mood to the film. While watching the film you can hear a pin drop! There’s a scene where the family is having dinner and the awkwardness felt by all of them is very realistic, down to the faint chewing noises that can actually be heard at a real dinner table. The lack of diegetic sounds that can be found in cities or suburban areas adds to the small town feel. One of the only songs played throughout the movie is when the dad is alone in the house dressing up as a woman and taking pictures of himself. It’s shut off when the main character’s love interest knocks on the door and he immediately goes around the house hiding evidence of what he was doing.
     Like any film, the creators of the movie utilized many editing techniques. One of the main techniques being cross cutting. Throughout the film the scenes are cut from what the main character is doing and what his father is. In one of the most vital scenes where the main character catches his father in the act, shot-reverse-shot is used in the conversation they have in which the father convinced the main character to give him the hunting rifle. Before this the main character’s love interest looks at a revolver placed on top of a dresser, where we see an eye-line match. Another example of crossing cutting is right at the end when the main character is giving his speech while being promoted from a Boy Scout to a leader and we see what really happened to his father after the altercation in the scene before the jump cut. Speaking of, between the altercation where the main character confronts his dad there’s a passage of time. When this scene ends a missing poster of his dad is shown stapled to a light post. There are many other examples of editing in the movie, we would be here all day if I went over them.
     The Clovehitch Killer follows many of the conventions that come along with thriller movies. One of those being the intense eye contact in pressing scenes. There is definitely suspense-fulness throughout the movie. A good example of this would be one the main character handed over the gun he had been pointing at his dad and his dad says “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed,” he then points the gun to his son’s heart at pulls the trigger and is shocked to find out that the gun was unloaded. There is a slight moment where the audience doesn’t know what’s going to happen and then the son takes the gun and they begin to have a physical fight. The film goes against conventions in the aspect of noise. There is barely any noise at all throughout the scene; there is no jaws theme song playing in the background, it’s mostly absolute silence otherwise than the dialogue.
     I have an opinion about the elements of this movie, just like any other. As a general comment I liked the movie. I liked the plot, I liked the silence, I liked how it was not all about the main character and his love interest. I also very much enjoyed how the movie begins with a Boy Scout meeting and ends with one as well. I didn’t like the girl in the beginning who finds the Polaroid picture and blames the son, but that’s just my opinion about that character. I feel like the fist fights were a little scrawny. The movie was dragged on quite a bit; you would think it was coming to an end and boom another scene is introduced. However ending the movie where it did was really good. The final words “Dad if you’re hearing this, I love you,” really left me thinking. After all, it was his dad. However, I feel as if more emotion was needed from him, he remained very calm throughout, it was a little unrealistic. Overall, I liked the movie I would watch it again, however, it’s not an absolute favorite.

Genre Research: Get Out

     There are multiple different camera angles & shots used throughout the entire movie. Some of them being: tilt, pan, zoom, shot reverse shot, and more. Whenever two characters were speaking with each other, there would be a shot-reverse shot focused on those specific characters, and their emotions and expressions. Throughout the majority of the film, it would stay at an eye-level angle, with the occasional high angle and low angle, of course (especially in intense scenes). The reason for this is to fully immerse the audience into the film, for them to have a better experience and to feel as if they are among the characters and as if they were in there, too. There were many fighting scenes in this film, and whenever those would occur, there would be tilts, pans, and zooms. This is mostly done to give the fighting scene more life and action. The film would also have many close up shots. Mostly whenever a character would cry, get a nose bleed, ponders, or is just speaking in general. Many establishing shots would also occur. This is done to let the audience know where the current scene is about to take place in (e.i. Rose's House, The Police Station, etc.).

   In the film, the camera tends to move frequently, especially during intense scenes. There is a scene where Chris tries to leave the house and the white people confront him. In this scene, he realizes the situation he is in. There is somewhat of a fight between him and the others. The camera pans and tilts a lot, as they go back and forth between Chris and the white people. In the end, Chris falls to the ground, and the camera is at a high angle, as the others look down at him. Later, in another fight scene, Chris escapes the room where he was placed in before, unconscious. He attacks the person in his room who is unaware of his presence. As he kills him, the camera does a close-up of his face and a high angle of the body on the ground. It then pans to a deer head mounted on the wall. Then, the scene cross-cuts to a man operating on a man's head in the room nearby, when the camera follows Chris as he runs into the man with the deer head, killing him.

   The costumes and clothes used in the film were meant to be distinctive, between the rich, old, classy white people who wore more fancy and traditional clothing, while Chris and his friends wore more modern attire. The lighting in the film is also very ominous, especially in important scenes (like fighting) where it was very dim and tense. The action in the film is very present, as there were many important and violent encounters between the characters. The makeup is not very noticeable in the film, but you can clearly see it on the characters. Makeup is especially used on the white people at the house, to show how cleaned up and classy they were, while Chris wasn't. Many props were used in the film. Mostly used to show that they were in a fancy house. Such as very expensive and fancy furniture all throughout the house. The setting of the film is meant to appear to be a small town, with some urban areas, but then Chris leaves to the suburban areas with Rose, where he spends most of the film in.

   Throughout the entire movie, there is a lot of eerie music, to give the film an ominous tone and sense. As well as numerous editing techniques, like the cross-cutting, and CGI used in the film. Some of the elements that I enjoyed about this movie was the music and the lighting. The music gave me a very nervous and chilling vibe throughout the film, knowing something bad is about to happen. The lighting also did this, many of the scenes took place at night, using dim lighting. This can be considered candles, street lights, and simply dim indoor lighting. However, I disliked the climax and build-up toward it. I felt as if it was too direct, and I wish it were more mysterious. Some elements of the Thriller Genre used in this film was the dim lighting, tense music, diegetic sound of breathing, and quick cuts. All of these were used throughout the film in one way or another.