Film Opening

 Here is my film opening! Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/CAAnYf4ulSM

Creative Critical Reflection

     Before I post my film I want to reflect upon a few things. First of all, I have gained a TON of respect to people working withing the film industry. The amount of storyboards, editing hours, filming days, and so much more has given me a whole new view into how movies are made.

    Also, I think we did some things well such as filming in one day and letting Abhiram do the editing. However there were some things we could have done better like being more organized when recording the film, instead of just shooting it at once. All in all it was a great experience and worth it. So here you go!

https://youtu.be/wMzVGjCo9xc (directors commentary)

https://youtu.be/wcyCxJBM83k (presentation)

Answering CCR Questions

    I started planning the CCR questions this week. This is one of the main parts of the project so I consulted with my group members to make sure that what I will say is good. I will do the CCR tomorrow and on Sunday and I will then proceed to finalize my blog. I will most likely be doing a slideshow and a commentary over the video as I find these as the easiest options to do. Here is the link for my planning:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kVLBvJzy5dNdfKbpb2FX8HfsuyELA5J8/view?usp=share_link

Peer discussion

     In class on Monday me and some peers discussed our projects. Everyone I spoke with was in the final editing stages or had already finished their projects. One particular group member taught me that it’s better to start with dark lighting rather than bright lighting because otherwise the footage will look grainy. 

    We also discussed the CCR and how we would approach that. We discussed how we would present the CCR and most of us agreed that a slideshow and a commentary would be the easiest way of doing the CCR. I am still not sure what I will do but I think I will definitely be doing a slideshow.

Film Finished!

     I am very proud to announce that our film is finished! All the hard work and effort paid off and the whole group is very proud of how it turned out. I will be posting my reflections in future blog posts and my overall thoughts on the project. 

     Coming forward is the CCR and I will be preparing for that next week. This way the group can get ideas and so we finish it quickly to have time to review and edit the CCR. 

Almost done editing

    A crucial aspect of the film that we had to do this week were the credits. This process was fairly simple because this is very easy to do. Abhiram made the credits and we gave our feedback.

    On Thursday Abhiram and I talked a few times regarding the credits. He had two options in mind, a red font and a black font. The black font for the credits looked terrible as the beginning of the film takes place in a dark location. We decided to use the red-bloody font as it fit the style of the film.

    

    Apart from showing me the credits, Abhiram showed me the entire film. It honestly came out much better than I expected it to and his editing skills blew me away. The only issue with the film was that Abhiram's voice was a bit too difficult to hear so he increased the level of volume. We are almost finished with the editing process and we are now working on answering the questions for the CCR.

Good News

    Unlike in the last blog, I bring good news today. Abhriam with his magical editing skills managed to make the film look good. We no longer have the incohesive shots and my expressionless emotions in the film.

    Abhiram made the film last two minutes by spanning some clips. In the establishing shot of the house, he slowed down that scene so that the run-time greatly increased.

    He also cut the parts of the film when I had emotionless expressions so now it actually looks like I'm scared and confused.

Me on a call with Abhiram

    He told me that he showed Hayden previously and that Hayden was very shocked that he managed to pull this off. This was my same reaction and it is such a relief that we don't need to record the entire film again.

   

Hayden and I are going to find sound effects for the film while Abhiram edits the rest of the film. Hayden will also adjust the light in the film. I feel that we are actually doing good progress and should finish editing pretty soon. I also talked to Abhiram about the CCR and we agreed that they would come back to my house to do it.

   

Change in Plans

    Okay, so I have a bit of disappointing news. Hayden compiled all the clips together and showed them to me today. Let's just say it wasn't very good. 

    First, the film only lasted one minute and thirty seconds which is well under the required run time. The clips were all put so closely together that the film seemed so close and incohesive. 

    Additionally, some of my facial expressions weren't corresponding to the scenario. When I was supposed to be scared I looked neutral and emotionless.

    I got on a call with Hayden earlier today and we are seriously considering filming the whole thing again. I asked one of my friends who is in the advanced theater class in school if he can be the actor and he said that he might be able to. 

    Abhiram said that he will try to edit the clips to make the film look better and not confirm anything with the actor until then. Hopefully, he can pull this off because none of us want to reshoot the entire film.

Editing Planning

     In order for the film to look complete and semi-professional we need to edit it. This is one of the most crucial aspects of the entire project so I made sure to plan how we will edit the film.

    In the first scene where the camera is going around the main character on the couch we will have approximately four to seven different cuts throughout the conversation. We also have to merge this scene with the next one which is when he runs up the stairs. We plan to use eerie or fast-paced music when he is running up the stairs to make the scene more intense. 

    The scene where the protagonist hides in the room is cut into three parts: the opening and slamming of the door, him walking to the place he will hide, and the actual hiding itself. We plan to use a mid-shot, a low-angle shot, and a close up throughout this sequence to make the viewer more engaged in the film. 

    The most difficult part to edit will be the killing scene. I think for this part of the film when the killer jumps we use a grayish-whitish flash to not show the actual jumping of the killer since it would not look good. The flash will fit in to the horror aspect of the film. 

    We will definitely be using a plethora of cuts throughout the film since we have a lot of takes. We also plan to change the lighting of every scene to a dark lighting so it further fits the horror aspect. Using non-diegetic sound is something else that we plan to implement, especially in the revealing of the killer. 

    This is all I have for the editing as of now but this process will surely be explained in much more detail in the future.

Filming Process

     This blog will be longer than usual as I will be explaining the filming process. This was a very fun and unique experience.

    The film takes place in my house, so Abhiram and Hayden had to come over. We started off by planning where to film. The first scene takes place in my couch where the camera is going around the main character. Immediately we faced a problem which was the light. The group arrived to my house at six so it was still light which meant that we had to start filming from another part of the film. Hayden also made sure to bring a black mask, gloves, and a hoodie to cover up the killer.

Couch where filming first scene takes place

    We decided to start filming in the scene where the main character is running up the stairs because he saw the doppelganger. My idea was to use the shaky cam technique. Basically, Hayden would be behind me while I am running up the stairs. However, when we implemented this it looked really awkward and we couldn't get a good way to film it. What we did instead was while running up the stairs Hayden would film from behind me, and when I reached the halfway point Hayden would film me from above.

        

We then proceeded to record the scene where the main character hides in a room. After I ran up the stairs I would barge into a room and hide. The room we used is my mom's studio since it has blackout curtains and at this point it was still daytime. This was a fairly simple scene to film as all I had to do was run into the room and hide behind a piece of furniture. 

    

    After this we filmed the death scene. This was by far the hardest scene to film as we tried multiple angles and it looked really weird. This scene would take place after I came out of the room I was hiding in since I thought that what I saw earlier(killer) was just my imagination. I went to the railing in my stairs and had a sigh of relief. While I am doing this the killer is behind me and then I die. The problem with this was that we couldn't get a solid shot of the killer looming behind me. What we did instead was have the killer from a distance and when I look up I stutter and take two steps back and he jumps for me. In the actual production we would not show the actual jumping because it would not fit with the film. 

    At this point of the recording it was dark already. We filmed the opening shot which was the establishing shot of the house, and then we went on to film the first scene. The original plan for this was for the camera to make a rotation from the back of the protagonist's head all the way to his face. However we decided to cut the different shots together. We also had to film the main character while he is conversing with his friend on the phone. What we did here was that with every line of dialogue we would switch the camera to a different location to develop the conversation. After he hangs up he drops his phone on the couch and walks to the countertop which is when he "spots" the killer and runs away which loops back to the first thing we filmed.

    The final scene we filmed was the revealing of the killer. Throughout the film Abhiram was the one who was the killer and we made sure to thoroughly cover him up so when I revealed myself as the killer(since it's a doppelganger of the protagonist) it made sense. All I had to do was walk behind the couch and pick up the phone when the friend called. I then took off my mask and I went to the couch and took of my jacket so I would be wearing the same things that the protagonist was wearing. This made this scene more cohesive and more meaningful.

    A problem we faced here is that the camera ran out of battery so we just had to sit around and wait for it to charge. I will not be explaining the editing we plan to use and all the different cuts since the blog is already long enough. I will be doing that in the next blog.

    Overall, this was a great new experience and I can't wait for the editing to be complete so I can see the film in its entirety.

Film Complete!

     We finally recorded the film! My group has been so excited for this moment, and we've finally done it. All the hard work and planning have finally paid off and it was 100% worth it. We all think we did a good job and we're all proud of it.

    The filming process took longer than we expected it to so I won't be able to explain it in detail as we finished it literally twenty minutes ago and I have to finish my chemistry homework. Next week however the whole shooting process will be thoroughly explained. This has been a great day and definitely the best in the project by far.

Preparation for the day before filming

     Tomorrow is finally the day we record our film. The group has been looking forward to this for a long time so it's really exciting that we can put all the pieces together tomorrow.

    In order to produce the highest quality film, we needed to plan over some technical elements beforehand. Hayden has to be the person that records because he is the one who knows how to use the camera and the accessory proficiently. He also practiced some shots before the filming day such as shaky cam, close-ups, and mid-shots which is great. He also practiced with the lighting so we don't spend too much time experimenting tomorrow.

    Since Hayden is the one who is recording everything, that leaves Abhiram and me to be the actors. None of us are exceptional actors, but that doesn't really matter since we won't have much dialogue. Honestly, I don't see the acting as much of a setback and I think that it is the easiest portion of tomorrow's work. The problem is that we will probably be laughing a lot.

    We also planned the time of day to film. Since the film takes place at night we are planning on setting everything up at six and filming at 7. This will give us the lighting that we need. We also decided that we need to move some furniture around because we are looking for that mundane minimalistic lifestyle so the audience focuses completely on the film.

    All in all, I am very excited to see how this will turn out tomorrow.

In Class Discussion

    Today in class we didn't work on the project itself, but rather review blogs made by past students. I reviewed two blogs and I thought they were well made. Both blogs had a plethora of multimedia elements to better describe the process of the project, and the blogs were structured by short to mid-length paragraphs. 

    Something I learned when reviewing these blogs is that I should state the challenges I faced in the production of the film, and explain how I overcame them. Doing this will fully expand my journey throughout the project so I can receive higher marks on the final score. 

    Here are the links for the projects I reviewed:

https://rileyaicemediastudies.blogspot.com/

https://ryanblogcreation.blogspot.com/

Changes made

     In this blog, I will report some changes we have made to our overall film. I feel these changes need to be addressed since they are important.

    First, as mentioned a few blog posts ago the shooting schedule got messed up a bit due to Hayden not being able to film this weekend. This altered our schedule to having to film the entire project next weekend. That means that we will have to plan thoroughly throughout the week in order to be able to film the entire film. 

    Another aspect of the film that we might change is the actor. We were thinking on getting a proficient person in acting in order for the film to be of higher quality, but I don't think its necessary. Not only would it be difficult to find someone, but it's really not necessary. There is barely any dialogue and not too many close-ups of the protagonist so the acting won't be a huge problem. I would probably be the protagonist while Hayden is recording the whole thing.

    These were small changes made but I think they needed to be conveyed.

Script

     Recently, Abhiram decided to do the script for the film. This is really helpful because when we are filming we will have a reference of what is supposed to occur at that moment. The script is meant to be like a guide for us while we are practicing the shooting of the film. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Zc2z3aiUkJcSj2W1cY2sswxTKLQNIFTy/view?usp=share_link

    The script has very little dialogue because as I said previously, we want to immerse the viewer on the film and not on what the characters are saying. We only have dialogue when it is absolutely essential, which is in the opening of the film and the ending of the film during the phone calls. The script also has the types of shots corresponding to that scene which is great so it will facilitate our filming process.

    When we are filming, we will most likely have someone who is good at acting be in the film. We are all pretty bad actors and we would not deliver the lines with emotion. That is why we are "hiring" an actor. That is the main reason for the script, as it will tell the actor what they are supposed to do. When we are filming we will see what works and what doesn't and adjust it accordingly, meaning the script isn't 100% the final plan.

Plan Changes

     Okay, so we had to do a massive change of plans today. Originally, today was the day we were supposed to record the film just to see what it would look like. (NOT THE ACTUAL FILM) I live near Abhiram so Hayden was going to come to us and we were going to record either at my house or at Abhiram's house. We planned to do it after 4 since Hayden had a job interview,(congratulations) but he then told us that his parents couldn't take him to us.

    This greatly changed our plans because the blogs for next week were supposed to be on the revisions we were going to make in the final production, but now we can't do that. We decided since we couldn't record today that we will have to record the entire production next week. That means that all the planning MUST be completed before Sunday or Saturday. I will be sure to update how the change in plans affects us next week. Until then, I hope everything works out.

Mise en scene

    The aesthetics of a film are a crucial part of how a film delivers its purpose. It is vital in order to send the message. That's why I researched a variety of costumes for the killer and the color of the background elements. This will successfully portray the purpose of our horror film.

    Killer Costume

    I originally had a few items in mind for how the killer in our film should look. Throughout the film, we don't want to blatantly show the killer in order to keep the mysterious aspect of the film and for the viewer to think of what it looks like. Regarding this, a very dark outfit is necessary and preferably a bulky one to not show the killer. One idea I had for this was for the killer to have a long dark cloak. This should keep the killer mysterious, similar to the outfit of Dracula, while not revealing any part of the killer. We will need to have a black mask as well to not reveal the face. The dark cloak also gives the wearer an unnatural appearance which is what we're aiming for.

    Another Idea I had for the outfit of the killer is a completely black morph suit. My plan with this is to have the killer only appear when there is a completely black background so it acts as a shadow. The viewer will only be able to see slight movements of the killer which gives it its supernatural aspect. I think adding color to the killer will take away its unhuman appearance which is why I am only posting completely black costumes.

    Background

    The background of the setting is another important piece in a film. We need the appropriate colors to successfully represent a horror film. My intention is to have very little lighting. The only notable source of light in the film should be the television. I think that the environment should also be minimalistic so the viewer pays attention completely to the murder scene and not to background elements. Filming in a location with gray walls will be ideal, but if this is not possible we could just edit a dark background. An example of a minimalistic location is below. We could do something similar to this but we would film with dark lighting.

    There are many other options for the costume and background but for now, this is what I have come up with. Tomorrow in class I will discuss this topic with Hayden and Abhriam.

Storyboard

     We are really getting into the meat of the project now. After finishing the plot we started working on the storyboard in order to facilitate the filming process. Hayden was the one who drew it since he is the best at drawing out of the three of us. He also had the most experience when we were working on other projects before this. Abhiram and I suggested what he should add and revised his work.

The drawings are meant to be simple because we didn't want Hayden taking too long on this storyboard. We also described what is happening under each drawing so we know what we are filming. For some of the drawings we included the type of shot or editing such as cutaway to make the editing process easier. When we actually start filming we will change some things but I think the storyboard came out better than I expected it to.

Further plot planning

    Something really exciting happened this week, that being finishing the plot for the film. This took many discussions and arguments but we finally made it happen. Without further ado here it is.

    The film starts with an establishing shot of the house at night to establish the environment and the atmosphere. The protagonist is on their couch with the TV turned on while talking to a friend on the phone, all while the credits are playing. The protagonist hangs up and leaves the phone on the kitchen counter revealing something mysterious around him. It's only revealed because of the dim lighting of the TV. The protagonist runs up the stairs to run away from the mysterious object. He hides in his room breathing heavily and is very tremorous. He listens and nothing appears so his breathing slows down but he can still hear it loudly. (It's the mysterious object's breathing) The mystery is shown wearing a dark mask. Cut either to the living room or to still shots of the house and a faint scream is heard. The phone rings but this time the mystery picks it up. It's the friend on the phone so the mystery takes off its mask but it's the face of the man he killed. (doppelganger) The mystery says it's coming over.

    Some aspects of the plot are still subject to change but this is the storyline we are going with. I'm excited to see how it will turn out.

Further Project Planning

    Today was a very different day in terms of the project. Instead of discussing the project with my group my teacher assigned the class in groups of five people. She did this so we can get different perspectives on our project and to get feedback on our blog posts. This was very helpful as I got a lot of different critiques and saw the flaws with my project. 

    A member in my assigned group told me something that can be really helpful to me and to Hayden and Abhiram. She saw my blogpost that focused on the technical elements and she recommended me a location in Davie called Broward Education Communications Network. Basically, if we contact their Instagram and tell them that we are working on our AICE media studies portfolio project we can obtain very high quality pieces of equipment such as cameras, tripods, microphones. (etc.)  

https://www.browardschools.com/Page/36124

    Some other feedback I got was to further develop the characters. This is something that is crucial because otherwise the graders will be very confused about the characters in the film. They also told me to completely do the storyboard before I start filming because this will greatly facilitate the filming process.

Characters and Plot Aspects

     Characters

    Our film opening will consist of two characters. The protagonist will be a normal person and the antagonist will be the murderer. (doppelganger) 

    Plot

    The normal person is about to go to sleep when suddenly he has a feeling that he is being stalked. Obviously, the murderer is doing the stalking. However, as of right now, the audience doesn't know what the doppelganger is up to. 

    We have an idea that during the last fifteen seconds of the film or so we can include police cars outside the normal person's house to represent the murderer but we will further discuss this next week.

    There will be very little amounts of dialogue to completely immerse the viewer into the story and to keep them wondering about what is about to happen. We still have to adjust the plot when we create the storyboard.

Technology/Technical elements

     When we get to the actual filming of the project, we will need good and efficient equipment to make the highest quality film we can make. That is why Hayden bought an accessory for his camera that is called a gimbal. 

    What this piece of equipment does is stabilizes the camera to produce more stable shots. This will come in handy because none of us have much experience filming with a professional camera and this will aid us in the process. All we need to do is learn how to use it adequately and we can start using it.

    We will also be using a professional camera that Hayden recently bought(thank you) to make the film more realistic. A big advantage of this is that the camera has a function to change the intensity of the lighting. For example, for our horror film, we will set the lighting to a low level to truly represent the feel of a horror film. Since we want our audience immersed and thinking about what is going to happen during the film the dark atmosphere provided by the camera will be very helpful.

    As for our shots in the film, we won't be using too many different shots. What we will do is use many close-ups and still shots so the viewer has more time to digest each shot. Another technical idea we have in mind is using many shadows throughout the film. The purpose of shadows is to evoke fear in the viewers and to create a sense of mystery. If we used lights instead of shadows then the viewer would be aware of what is happening and we don't want that, we want the viewer to ponder upon what is happening.

    Overall, we're going to have a dark atmosphere and not too many different shots in order to keep the viewer thinking about the film.

Planning

     Planning is an important part of our project so that we stay on track and know what to do. Something that required planning was the genre of the film. As said in a previous blog post, we thought about the pros and cons of different movie genres and weighed them. We ended up choosing horror/crime because we thought it was the easiest to do. 

    PROJECT SCHEDULE

    Abhiram made a very useful time schedule for the project. With this, we will be able to stay on track and be prepared for when we have to do something.

The schedule is planned weekly to make it easier for us to keep track of time. By having a weekly planner, we know what we have to do for a specific time period. However, our group also has to be flexible because if one of the days we planned to film of us isn't available, we will have to push that back hence changing the entire schedule. 

       Another aspect of the project we had to plan is assigning the work to the different group members. We did this by noticing our strengths and using them to overcome those tasks. We unanimously decided that Abhriam will be the one who will edit the film since he is clearly the most proficient in this area. However, we will give him ideas and feedback while he is editing. Hayden will create the storyboard because he is very creative when it comes to coming up with how the film will look. As for the filming and choosing which shots to use when filming will be done by all of us since we want as much creativity as possible in this area.

I am much looking forward to how this project will turn out and excited to start really working on it.

Genre Research

 

        In this blog post, I will reflect upon my research on the genre for our portfolio project, which is the horror and crime genre.

        HORROR

        This genre has the intent of giving the viewer a thrilling and suspenseful viewing experience. Since many people love this intense feeling, this makes horror films one of the most popular movie genres ever. Horror films are more popular with younger audiences since they love the thrilling feeling of these movies. The age range is common from people in their teens to their early thirties but many older people enjoy watching horror movies. This genre predominantly has male viewers, but a lot of female viewers partake in the consumption of horror films. 

        

        One common technique used in the horror genre is dark lighting. The dark atmosphere creates a sense of mystery and tension because something sinister could be lurking just around the corner. Another technique is using eerie music, and when combined with dark lighting the viewer has a feeling of dread and feels uneasy. Close-up shots of characters are commonly used to express the emotions of the characters. This is mostly done when the protagonist has realized something or when the antagonist has something in mind. 

        Something we have in mind for our project is to not include too much if any dialogue. We want to captivate the viewer into the film itself, not the characters per se. A horror film that doesn't have much dialogue is "A Quiet Place." In this film, there are monsters that are very sensitive to noise and they turn aggressive when they hear anything. The characters in this film must live their lives without making any noise which is very challenging for them. We don't want to use dialogue in our intro because we want to make our film more compelling.

        CRIME

        This genre is new to all of our group members so it will be exciting to try different things out here. The crime genre itself almost always pairs itself with other genres like drama, mystery, and mafia films. Additionally, this genre routinely features the death of someone and the characters in the movie are trying to figure out who is responsible for the murder. 

        The crime genre varies across many different age ranges because these movies have been created since the thirties as western films. 

        

        Low-angle shots are typically used in these films to establish groups of people such as a mafia family. The low angle represents that they are powerful and important people. Handheld camera movement is used in this genre to create a spontaneous moment that takes the audience away. 

        In our film introduction, we will have to resort to the subgenre crime thriller. We don't want to make a typical horror or crime film, but instead, combine the two in order to make a unique film.

First Portfolio Entry

      This is the first entry to an exciting beginning in my AICE media studies portfolio project. I will write these posts to the best of my ability to receive the highest marks on my project. I will work with two others throughout this project, Hayden Jalazo and Abhiram Pinnity. 

    The first aspect of the project that was discussed was the genre of our project. We wanted to do something that was relatively easy to edit since only one of our group members is proficient in video editing. The action genre was definitely off the roster since it requires too much editing. We eventually chose to do the horror/crime genre. We also want to create a sense of mystery in our film to have the audience guess the semantics of the film and to keep them hooked. Our plan for shooting the film is to not use too many cuts and to make the film slow-paced so it aligns with the horror genre. We also want to use dark lighting to further enhance the mysterious environment throughout the film. The plot of the film introduction will most likely be about a murder, but we are not wholly affirmative of the plot yet. All of us still need to do more research on the horror/crime genre and educate ourselves more about the genre to create a higher-quality project.

    I am eager to see how the final product will turn out and I look forward to working with Hayden and Abhiram on this.

Music Marketing Blog Post #2

     

                    Now that my group has finally finished the Music Marketing project, I will discuss in detail the process of the project.

                     The first thing our group did was ideate which song we should. We received a list of four songs from our teacher and decided on a song by Maroon 5 called, "She will be Loved." We chose this song because it's an easy song to produce a story-telling music video. After that, the group worked on the research chart. Olivia did the history of the two music companies, while Abhiram and I worked on the two case studies; Megan Trainor and Taylor Swift. We had to research the various marketing, distribution, and target audiences for the case studies. While we three were doing this, Hayden was working on the storyboard for the music video. He is more creative in that aspect which is why he did it. He made sure to include the various shots and angles we would use throughout the film and thought of many different possibilities for the film.

                     Hayden created the music video in a way that portrays the message of the song. The song fits the genre of love; therefore, Hayden created the storyboard in a way that corresponds to the lyrics about love. In the final product, the video focuses on a boy who is sad that the girl he likes is with another boy. The rest of the group reviewed the storyboard to make sure that it fit the theme of the song.

                     In order for the group to stay on track, we made a plan with due dates. This helped a lot, so we could see when we needed to do specific chunks of the project. We also had to decide on a date for the filming of the video. Eventually, we chose to film on Saturday afternoon. Sadly, Abhiram and I were required elsewhere so we could not film. However, Hayden said that the filming process wasn't as tedious as he thought it would be and finished in about three hours.

                    Since Abhriam and I couldn't attend the filming process, we worked on the PowerPoint presentation. We thoroughly reviewed the guidelines and rubric for the presentation to make sure we put in the correct information and met the requirements. We also got on calls to address any doubts we had about each other's work. The presentation took a decent amount of time because we needed to make sure it would be suitable to present in front of the entire class. We included unique and creative ideas in our PowerPoint such as marketing the band with FunkoPops to our presentation would obtrude. Our presentation also had to look professional and Olivia volunteered to design the presentation. Hayden also made a logo for the band. We revised each other's work and critiqued it before submitting it.

                     Another critical part of the project was the editing of the video. Olivia and I don't have much experience with editing videos so Hayden and Abhriam were the ones who edited it so it would look more professional. Hayden arranged the videos in sequential order and sent them to Abhriam who would edit the lighting and add effects. Once the editing was finished, we revised the presentation for one final time.

                    The presentation was complete at this point, but we each had to present a chunk of the project. I presented the most slides since I wasn't able to film or edit the video. I also did this because the slides I presented are the ones I wrote. I would present the first six slides and after that Olivia would follow, after that Hayden, then finally Abhriam. None of us have big issues when it comes to public speaking so we were all calm when going to present.

                    We presented the presentation on Monday, February 6. We only messed up a few words here and there but apart from that the presentation went well. We were all satisfied with our work and thought we performed well.

                    A day after presenting, we realized we could have adjusted some aspects of the presentation to make it seem more appropriate. For example, I could have still read six slides but spaced them out. This was the main issue, and we should have each read one slide only until the group rotated and it was our turn again. This was our main issue, as seen in the critiques made by our other peers. Throughout the project, I learned to notice our group's strengths, and use them to accomplish tasks. For example, since Abhiram is good at editing, he should be in charge of that aspect in future projects. This can also be useful in the Cambridge portfolio project. We each worked on what we're good at then were review each other's work. The main aspect of this project that will be helpful in the portfolio project is the filming of the project. This experience can greatly aide us in creating the two-minute film opening.

Music Marketing Blog Post #1

     Our group music marketing project was planned and brainstormed in order to make a quality project. We also did research based on our song by Maroon 5, "You will be loved." The song has a sad theme so we decided to film the music video using gray lighting to convey the message. We also needed to decide which shots and angles to use. We made a storyboard to visualize how the scenes would look. We planned out how it would look and then settled on the shots. Additionaly, we needed to brainstorm the music video type. We settled on storytelling because it was easier to do than a promotional music video.

    Another aspect we had to plan is our schedule. Our group wanted to have the assignments done before the due dates so we needed to make a planned schedule. The challenges with planning this is that all of our schedules were so different. For example, one day one group member was available but the other wasn't and vise versa. However, we adjusted our schedules a bit so that they corraligned with one anothers.

    Moving forward, we have to finish the Powerpoint presentation. After that, we have to practice it so we don't look clueless and like we practiced for five minutes. The music video also has to be edited in Premier so it looks of higher quality. The video will be shortened a bit so it's not too long and it will also be having many cuts to make it seem like a professional music video.

    

Genre Research Activity

     Horror films have greatly increased in popularity since their debut. The first major horror film was Dracula, made in 1931. The horror genre has gone through drastic changes since then. There are now over one hundred horror films made every year, making it one of the most popular movie genres.

    Who is this for?

    Horror films are typically intended for younger audiences since they enjoy the thrill of these movies. The genre is most popular among people in their teens through early thirties, but anyone above this age range, but many people older than this love to watch horror movies. While women may prefer some aspects of horror more than men, studies have determined that males typically enjoy watching horror movies more than females do. China and Japan are two countries that are not invested in horror movies too much, unlike the USA which tends to watch them more than other countries.

    Marketing

    One form of getting people to watch horror movies is through advertising. Many horror movies are released around Halloween, because it's when people like to watch these types of movies. The trailers for these movies tend to drop before October, to get people excited for "spooky month" and to watch the films. Another way of marketing is by promoting the antagonist from the movie. For example, in the movie "It", the clown Pennywise was so greatly advertised, that people knew who he was even if they had never watched the movie before. Another great illustration of this is from the "Friday the 13th" franchise. The main antagonist, Jason, is recognized by most people just from his mask. With such a popular character, people are bound to watch these movies.

    Genre conventions - content

    Most horror movies have a person or creature trying to harm the main characters. The goal of the antagonists is to kill or cause the characters extreme fear. Speaking of this, fear is the main aspect of horror films. The movie attempts to make the viewers scared throughout and after the movie, making the somewhat paranoid of their surroundings. These movies try to be scary through a variety of techniques. One of the most common ways of doing this are by jumpscares. Jumpscares are a sudden appearance of something or someone unexpected, temporarily startling the viewer. The background of the film is another thing that gives the movie its scariness. One such background, is an old broken down building, in a dangerous location. The building is filled with mysterious objects and noises. This makes the viewer be on the edge of their seat, giving them the "thrilling" experience.  The antagonists make the movie scary as well. For example, Jason from "Friday the 13th" kills people by lurking up behind them and stabbing or decapitating them. In addition, his hockey mask gives him a mysterious personality adding fear. Another main aspect of horror movies is death . Death is one of the most common fears among humans, which is why horror movies use this so much. By giving the characters vulnerability of death, viewers can realte to this and be scared themselves. 

    Genre conventions - production techiniques

     A dominant aspect of horror movies is the dark lighting. The dark atmosphere creates mystery and tension of what could be lurking around the corner. Dark hues can also be used to make the protagonist insecure and vulnerable. Music is another technique used for this genre of filmaking. Typically slow eerie music is used to further create mystery and suspense alongside the dark atmosphere. Shadows are also used in movies. These give the viewer the unneasy feeling that something is behind the protagonist and that they're in danger. As for camera shots, close-ups are used to express the emotion of the character. This is used when the protagonist has just realized something and the camera closes up on her, or when the villain has malicious intent, and smiles in an evil way. All these techniques make a horror movie a horror movie.

    Narrative

     Horror movies follow a fairly simple process. The film starts off either with the protagonist or antagonist doing something. Later on in the film, the protagonist learns about the antagonist and realizes they are dangerous. They then both encounter and the antagonist tries to harm the protagonist while they try to escape or kill it. Then the movie ends with the protagonist escaping, or with them killing the antagonist. However some films have a dark ending such as Midsommar, where the protagonist ends up joining the antagonists. The themes of horror movies are meant to express the negative views of humanity such as torture, murder, and rejection of people.

    IT

    This is the highest-grossing horror movie of all time. It is based on Stephen King's novel of "IT". The movie is about a group of kids trying to find the reason for the mysterious death of the main protagonist's brother, Georgie. They find out that Pennywise the dancing clown is responsible for his death, and they try to hunt him down. The children each face a plethora of fears made by the clown, and are forced to overcome this task in order to kill the clown. The first bit of horror in the movie is in the opening scene, where Pennywise is in the sewers and lures Georgie in there. Pennywise shockingly opens his mouth to reveal tens of teeth and bites Georgie's hand off. The unexpected appearance of seeing a clown in the sewers begins the horror. There are also many jumpscares in the movie to try to startle the viewer. The main way in which this embodies horror is by the clown's motives. He consumes children's fears, the very basis for horror. The film also shows blood, such as when the fat boy is slashed by Pennywise and when Georgie's hand is bitten off. The film also includes child abuse, like when the only girl in the group is physically abused by her father.

    A Quiet Place

    This is a very distinct type of horror movie, and movie as a whole. There is barely any dialogue throughout the film. This is because there are monsters who attack any noise they hear, meaning the characters must be quiet. The main objective of the protagonists is to live without making any noise. The horror starts in the beginning of the movie, when the youngest child steals a toy rocket ship from a store without the parents noticing. He turns it on, and it makes a very high pitched noise which results in a monster appearing and killing the boy. Something else that makes this a horror film are the monsters themselves. They are very abnormal, and their faces open when they scream. This makes the viewer scared, and somewhat paranoid of their surroundings. The main horror aspect of this movie is the fact that the characters can't make any noise. It's almost impossible to live without noise, which makes the struggle of the characters even greater. A suspenseful moment in the film is when the remaining two children are playing Monopoly, and the girld drops a lamp which causes a small fire. The father immediately grabs a blanket to take the fire out and the viewer is left on edge for a few seconds. Overall, this is a very unique type of horror movie.

    Other Productions

    The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

The exorcist

Midsommar

Nope

Halloween Ends

 This blog created by Miguel is to prepare me for the portion of the AICE Media Studies exam in which we have to make a digital portfolio. This is fifty percent of the AICE exam, so it is imperative that I am prepared for this.