Voice editing blog

 Today I recorded the voiceover for my film. I had scenes in my film where the main character Myles had internal dialogue. The first step was to decide what I wanted each character to say. I did this by reviewing the clips before and after where the dialogue would be. I also referenced my storyboard. I then recorded each section of dialogue and uploaded them to my computer. I played them back and listened to them while watching the scene they were supposed to be with. I realized I had a monotone voice and did not capture the proper emotion Myles would have while thinking to himself in the stressful situations he was in. I rerecorded everything for the second time and had a lot better of a result. I then Began combining the internal dialogue audio with the scenes it corresponded with on my computer. This was very challenging considering I was trying to embed audio on a video file. I had to phone a friend who had an internal dialogue in his film and ask him what he did to combine them. He showed me how with a website specifically designed for this, and it worked. I then took the new clips with the internal dialogue attached to the video and put it in “iMovie”. After cutting the edges of the clips adding clean-cut transitions and the proper filter, I got to watch my almost completed film for the first time. I still need to reshoot my ending scenes with the original plan. I am a lot happier being able to use the outdoor balcony instead of the indoor one. It fits the plot much better and keeps the suspense of bringing the story to the outdoors. My next step is to add the sound from the keyboard for any sound effects I wanted to add.

 

Re-Shooting blog

Today the construction on my balcony was finished. This was sooner than expected and means I can record my original ending for my film. The construction was finished at 2:00 PM today which left a little bit of the afternoon and all the evening for the day. I got off work at 3:30 PM and rushed home to begin the process. I started by getting the same clothes that we have been wearing out of the wash. Getting everybody just and giving my dad his “weapon”. I watched back on the clips that involved the balcony. First off, I reused the old clip of entering the correct bedroom during the day. So that we truly do enter my bedroom. I also deleted the clips involving the indoor balcony and the hallway scene. I restarted recording from the opening of my bedroom door out into the hallway and go into the right instead of the left. I got to include the scene I wanted of Myles tripping over the doorframe leading out to the balcony. Everything was perfect it looked like it was going to rain so I wanted to finish recording before that. I was able to record the dialogue scenes and even the killing on the balcony. I hated using my pillow as a body double for when Myles gets thrown over the balcony. Especially because my pillow landed in the pool and was wet. After doing the bare minimum editing of stitching all the clips together with clean-cut transitions and the proper nighttime filter to match the clips before my film Lux almost exactly how I pictured it in my head. There is still some editing that needs to be done to enhance the sound of my film as well as lighting and reshooting any scenes I am not 100% happy with. I am very happy that the balcony was finished on Saturday, so I was able to have my dad film because he works during the week. Tomorrow I will further edit my film and start working with my friends’ keyboard for sound.

Editing Night blog

Today I did not want to reshoot the scenes I was not happy with because it is a holiday and I want to spend it with my family. I decided to edit the remaining scenes I had already filmed. This consisted of the late-night scenes that began to involve the killer up to the new end of my film. I began by stitching each clip together on iMovie. I did this by removing the bit of film at the beginning and end of each clip and adding a simple transition. For a lot of these scenes, I filmed the lighting was not what I wanted. I found an option on iMovie that allows a light filter over clips which I liked. It added the slightly gloomy and mysterious feeling I wanted in my film. I was not sure if I can have filters over my clips, so I asked my teacher hoping they will get back to me after the break. I am keeping the original clips just in case I cannot use the filter.  I only found one scene I was not happy with, in the nighttime. So, on the day that I decide to re-film the daytime clips, I will also wait till nighttime and re-film what is necessary. I spoke to one of my friends and asked if I could use his keyboard for my film. I told him that he would get credit both on my social media pages as well as in the credits of my movie. His keyboard has custom sounds that he made up himself. I am very pleased with how my film is turning out so far. Aside from the few re-shoots, I need to do, and the construction obstacles everything has come out smoothly. I hope that my outdoor balcony will be finished soon so I can we filmed the last couple of scenes where I originally planned them. But if not, I am still happy with how Plan B turned out. This process has given me an insight into how setbacks affect filming, and how difficult they can be to get over.

 

 

Editing Blog

I edited the scenes of my film on my phone because my PC was offline today. This will be the initial step of editing on my phone utilizing these editing programs. I chose to utilize two different programs, which were free and accessible on my phone as well as my PC. These two editing programs are, "Imovie", and "FilmoraGo". I used Imovie mostly because I was somewhat familiar with it. I chose to go with these two since they were free, and both had the option to create editing programs. I might switch editing programs later if I find one that works better. I like these editing programs because they are straightforward and take cuts and do what is necessary by cutting them and embeddings transitions for each scene. I kept Imovie since my phone could open the application and transport over the edited clips. I began by starting on the editing of my first scenes during the daytime. There were about 10 scenes edited. I started to take each scene from my camera roll and uploaded them all on Imovie. I cut them down and took parts out of the clips that were not supposed to be there. Every scene had something that needed to be edited, but most just needed to have the time from when the record button was pushed, and the actual film began to be cut out. Doing all of this took about two hours of editing. I felt more comfortable with the editing software afterward. I noticed that I had to reshoot some of my clips because I did not like how they came out. At the end of every clip, I needed to add a transition, I used the “clean-cut” that Imovie offers. A clean-cut has nothing fancy just a simple jump from the end of one scene to the beginning of the next one. What I will work on tomorrow is editing the scenes that take place during the nighttime and hopefully reshoot the scenes I need to fix.

Social media/website changes blog

As I was taking a break from filming, I checked up on my classmate's WIX websites for their films. I noticed that mine was looking a little bland in comparison, so I made my website a bit more personal and pretty. I added a film-related background theme as well as a better spot for my social media website links. I also looked at their social media accounts and realize that I had not been posting enough. I had pictures saved in a file on my phone that I wanted to post on my social media websites. I was taking the pictures and writing captions for them on my phone but forgot to post them. I decided to start releasing a few, but not all the posts I had on my phone, and I spent a while coming up with ideas of what to post about next. I spent a lot of time specifically playing with Facebook as I was new to the website and did not know much about it. I compared it to some of my classmates and asked them how they did some of the features on their pages. I was happy with the overall current state of my Instagram and Twitter accounts. And like Facebook, I was new to YouTube. I learned how to upload a video and correctly mark it for the right audience. I also found out that I can organize my YouTube channel, so it is easier for viewers to maneuver through my YouTube page. I plan on periodically going back to my social media pages and updating them as I go. I do not want to post every day because I would feel that each post has less meaning if there is a lot of them. I am very hopeful that my pages will grow in popularity. It would be amazing if people had an interest in my film and ask questions about it or left comments on some of my posts. I would also like to see my view count on YouTube go up even though there is only one post. I also cannot wait to be able to screenshot my editing progress and post that on my social media. I feel that those who see it would be very interested in the technology behind the scenes.

 

 

Late Night Filming blog

Tonight, I began to film the second portion of my movie. We started with the scene of Myles being knocked out at his computer by the intruder (my dad). It was hard to get it just right so that my dad did not hit me, but it will look too real on camera. It took about 4 tries to get the angle just right. It was fun being dragged by my dad from my computer to my shower, but it was a little awkward. It was difficult to have my dad toss me in the shower in a way that I will be able to come back to for the next scene. I wanted to have my arm up on the shower bench like I had been thrown there. But he had to go in the shower to do that, so it did not work. We ended up having my legs stick out of the shower and the rest of my body on the floor. The scenes following these struggles to open the door and find a light switch Came out perfectly. They were even better than I imagined, it did not seem unnatural when we watched it back. After the entire chase section of my film, I had to do the scene where Myles gets pushed off the balcony. It was frustrating not to have my original plan. But I tried my best to work around this inconvenience. I was able to use the plant and the picture frame like I originally wanted to in my script. And switching rooms during the hallway chase worked but I realized that I had to redo one of my earlier takes because when I originally walked into my room it's a different room than I would have come out of. I finished filming the ending and went back to film the entrance into my room. I realized that it wasn't daytime so I would have to wait until tomorrow to read the film that scene. I uploaded all of my clips from my mother's phone to my computer. This was especially challenging because I couldn't email the files they were “too big”. So instead I texted them to my friend with a MacBook, and he was able to open our texts on his computer. He was then able to email them from his MacBook to my PC without a problem. They did not read that the files were too big. I began looking around for editing software to use for my film. I'm very excited to start that next step in my project.

 

Rethinking my storyboard blog

 Without my balcony available to me and no clue when it will be finished, I had to adapt to this obstacle. My first attempt to fix this situation was to find out how long it should take for my balcony to be finished. I asked my father did he said one to two weeks. If it took any longer than that I would not be able to finish my film Before the end of the break. I had to come up with another way to finish filming for my movie without using the outside balcony. I do have an indoor balcony that could have worked except for the fact It would be brightly lit versus the outdoor balcony which would have been dimly lit. Ironically both balconies had a plant that fit the film, everything would have worked I would just need to move a lot of furniture for when miles gets pushed off the edge. As I began setting everything up, I realized that one of my longer scenes where Myles runs to the balcony and trips over the door would have to be removed considering there was no door to this balcony. I felt that taking out that part would take away from Myles's character and from the film itself. With this in mind, I decided to find another way to fix my problem. I have three options, option one would have been to film around the couple scenes and hopefully be able to refilm them if the balcony is done in time. I did not love this option because of how close I would be cutting my film to the deadline. My second option was to change the film’s ending entirely, using different parts of my house. I thought instead of miles being pushed over the balcony he could have been drowned in the pool, but I did not want to risk getting my mom's phone wet or add any Unnecessary safety issues to my film. My third option was to use the indoor balcony and switch the location of my room. I decided to go with the third option because I would just film the exiting of my room a bit further down the Hall in my sister's room and still be able to have the hallway chase. I Would instead have Myles trip over something in the hallway instead of the doorway leading to the balcony. This section of filming was still far away as I had much more to film in between. Hoping that my balcony will be finished before this scene needs to be filmed, if not I will use the indoor balcony, and be creative enough to make it work.   

Official Filming blog

I have had a bunch of setbacks and delays with my filming. Since the beginning of December, I started Studying for and taking my midterms. I have not had the opportunity to film any more of my movie due to school. Come the week before Christmas, my house underwent some construction because of a leak due to a pipe breaking. I have had a very busy house since then and could not get the scenery I wanted with my house half torn apart. They fixed the pipe in patched the wall on December 18th. Over the weekend following, I filmed as much of my movie as I possibly could with the balcony still under construction. I have finished the exterior beginning shots, there was no rain to interrupt. My prop for the film had finally come in the mail. I began filming inside and had to find a time that was convenient for my father considering he still works while my sister and I are on Christmas break. While we were filming my dogs decided they wanted to be on camera an interrupted, I had no problem with this and thought it was very cute. I had a lot of fun doing the scene with my sister of us opening the package which is my guitar. We got distracted from filming at one point in began playing guitar together. I have two guitars and we both have been taking lessons since we were young children. It was enjoyable, and the filming felt natural and I am excited to edit everything together for a final product. I hope I can make the film look as good as I envision it in my head. I am nervous to begin filming with my dad because he is a perfectionist and will probably make us take shots over and over again until he likes it even though it is my movie. I am very grateful my mom let me use her iPhone 11 to film otherwise I would not know what to do for a camera because my phone does not meet the requirements. My next step for this movie is to film Myles getting attacked and the true drama beginning.

 

 

 

Filming Attempt blog

On November 27, I began to film for my short film. Starting filming without some props was going to be a challenge considering I will not be able to get them until early January.  I did however have the package prop I needed for the beginning of the film. I started to set everything up by putting a fake shipping label on my guitar case “package”. Then I had my parents move their cars out of the driveway, so it was empty. I positioned the cameraman “my sister” in the perfect position to capture the pan shot I wanted to start my film. I drove to the end of my road and turned my car around and began to drive down the street and into the driveway. Before I was able to get out of my car, the sky opened, and it began to pour. My sister ran inside and i stayed in my car until the rain stopped. The rain let up during the night when it was too late to film the first half of the movie which is based in the afternoon. My backup plan was to film the nighttime scenes, but I realized I did not have the props to do so. I gave up on filming for the day and just checked the tracking on my other props. On November 28 I was not able to film because I work 10 hours on Saturdays. I finally got the first bit of filming done on Sunday the 29th there was no rain and no work to do. I was able to finish the driveway scene, the yelling about the package scene and the opening of the packaging scene. Next, I must complete the leaving my room scene and the homework scene. Then I get to introduce the slasher. But I still need to wait for his prop to arrive. So, I will just skip it and must come back to it.

Props blog

The props I’m using in my film consist of two Pictures, a PVC pipe, and a package. At the beginning of the film, the main character pulls into his driveway and sees a large package on his doorstep. He has been expecting his new guitar to come and he is overjoyed for it to finally be here. The reason I included the main character receiving mail in my film is to make the entire movie seem real. Most children get distracted when receiving mail due to excitement and might forget to lock the door. The arrogance in this situation is what leads to an unwanted intruder in their house. The PVC pipe is used by the unwanted intruder to bash the main character and knock him unconscious. This causes the main character to lose his memory and wake up confused and afraid. The two pictures are used to bring the main character’s memory back and bring outrage when he sees them damaged. The first picture the main character sees is of him and his sister side by side happy and safe. The second picture is his sister’s face scratched out almost like a target, the main character loses his cool and begins to confront the unwanted intruder. Each prop needs to retain the aspect of horror, for the package its connection is the appeal to a stranger due to the valuable price of the object, being shipped to an open house brings attention to a murderous character. My second prop was a PVC pipe, within my film I wanted to incorporate a horror aspect such as brute violence, hence the pipe as it brings the imagery of brute force being bashed onto our weaponless survivor. It's a handy prop to use on set, as it’s a simple hand carrying light weapon shown in multiple scenes. “Two pictures”, those were props that I used both in scene separate, the first scene being a happy memory of the survivor and his sister, being a haunting trigger of memory as he awakes to sense truth, as the other being a horrific crossed-out picture of his sister, expressing that something has happened to her, something unspoken. Bringing these aspects into the film using these props is what I intended to reach maximum audience reactions. When this film process shall begin, I will make sure that each scene with the props is shot accordingly to how I want it pictured. Each prop plays a special role and my image is set in stone for my horror-based film. The next step is to film, and gather these props in case I don’t have any around my house and either edit them for more horror appeal or keep them the way they are.

Social Media blog

 One of the requirements for A level Media Studies is to have multiple social media platforms for my film. I created an account under the name of my main protagonists (Myles) to keep anybody who finds these accounts up to date on the film. We linked all the social media platforms for our film on a Wix website. The links on the website lead to Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. Accompanying the name of the protagonist on the social media websites is the name of the film. I had to come up with a name I thought suited my film. I decided on the name “Doors”. I chose this name because in the film a lot of the activity is regarding unlocked, locked, slammed doors, and open doors. The username for all the accounts had the word “Doors” in it, to make sure anybody who looks at the account knows that it is for that film. Each media platform required a bio, a bio being a short description of what to expect to be on the social media page. This includes posts, other tagged accounts, and any dates involving the short film. In the bio, I have the name “Myles from the short film Doors.” I also included the words coming to theaters soon. This was to establish that the film is still in progress, that Myles is involved in the film, and it coming to theaters soon is a marketing statement. I try to keep the usernames consistent, but a problem occurred with Facebook where I could only put the name of the person who owns the account as the username. So, I decided to call the account “Myles Doors” almost like doors is his last name, this began to grow on me. I worked with some websites that I was not familiar with, such as Wix and Facebook. I struggled with publishing the links from each social media platform onto my Wix homepage, as well as Using Facebook for the first time. I am excited to post on these accounts and receive feedback from their followers.

Storyboard blog

Making my storyboards was a lot of fun I really felt like I was in the production portion of a movie. I wish I had the input of another person like in the other group projects I have worked on, but I think it turned out pretty good. I enjoyed getting to make each scene feel as close to real as I can for now. It was difficult for me to draw the images for each scene as I am not a talented artist in the slightest. It didn't help that I fractured my wrist and had a cast on while handwriting everything. I still tried my best and I am ok with my stick figures. I would go and picture every scene in my head and think of what works best as I stood there. I like the use of long shots to full body shots for a lot of my scenes. I feel as tho it is very useful for the type of short film I am making. It was really easy to imagine how each scene would look like considering I live in the location my film will be taking place. I found out that my outside balcony is going to be under construction for a while and might inter fear with my filming. I hope it will be finished on time. If not I do have a backup plan. Inside my house, I have a railing that overlooks the staircase leading upstairs. I think it will do the job of completing my film. I am sad that it isn't outside and captures the same mood my original plan did.  I am still very excited about filming this year. I have never included my family in any of my works from the previous years. I'm sure they will be great and have just as much fun as me with this film.

Planning for short film blog

The filming for my short film has not been started, I am beginning to prepare for the filming process. The first step to filming is working out my schedule. This is going to be tough considering I have to work around my school work, girlfriend, homework, and my job to have time to film. One of the best things about my film is that most of it takes place at night, this is extremely helpful. Considering the I am least busy towards the evenings. I will have to do most of my filming at night time anyway so it works out perfectly. The location of my film also is extremely lucky. Considering the global pandemic I wasn't able to include any of my friends in my film like I originally wanted to. But as luck would have it this means that everyone I'm going to need is at home, in the same place my film takes place. The filming will happen in my room and the only two people I need are my father and sister. My dad gets home from work around 7:00 so I can film with him at night and my sister goes to school with me and has the same hours of free time and work. Some of the health safety precautions I am taking is not seeing any people outside of my immediate family and not leaving the safety of my house for any unnecessary reason. I am making sure that all the props used in my SLASHER film are fake so no one gets hurt. Other precautions we are taking are that during the balcony scene we don't get close enough so that some could fall over. The props for my film were originally going to be fake blades but to be even safer I decided to change it to PVC. I won't have a hard time getting some as I work at a hardware store that sells it. Other props will be typical house supplies like a photograph and door locks. Lastly, the costumes aren't too out of the ordinary, the victims Myles and Sydney will be in typical street attire as they have been to school and are just at home. The masked slasher is going to be wearing a dark black hoodie black pants and a mask to cover his entire body. I am very excited to begin filming and can not wait to see how everything comes out.

Short Film vs. Feature Length Film

The biggest thing I noticed in the short film that was not in the full film, was the sound. In the short film, the only audio was motion. For example, footsteps, floors squeaking, fighting, and metal hitting each other. While in the full-length film there was a lot of audio including sound, dialogue, and motion. The voices played an important role in developing the emotions and personalities of the characters. The music did its job and made each scene feel more intense accordingly. Another difference between the short film and the full film was the characters themselves. In the short film, the only characters we met were numbers 9 and 5, 9 being the main character, but in the full film, we meet all nine of the puppets. Each puppet has their personality, such as the rude ruler(1), old man/ inventor(2), shy Twins(3,4), scared but helpful (5), crazy one (6), fighter/protector (7), dumb bodyguard (8), and the main character (9). Each brought their own to the full film making it a lot more enjoyable. The villains were different in the full film versus the short film, for example in the short film the only villain was the dog like Hunter, whereas in the full movie they had a dog, pterodactyl, spiders, snake, war balloons, and even a giant evil computer. The villains caused many more problems in the full-length film than the short film because of the quantity of them the characters in the full-length movie were never safe. Another big difference between the short film and the full-length film was the scenery, this is probably due to the amount of time in the short film. In the full-length film, there was a plethora of scene locations, such as a bedroom in which #9 woke up, scrap graveyard, tunnels, desert, cemeteries, library, and a church. Each of these locations was very crucial to the story. I feel as though the special stone played a much more important part in the full dash length film than in the short film, it had a lot more meaning and wasn't as confusing as it was in the short film.  The full-length film included a plot with a beginning, the build-up to the main action, and an end, which I was very happy with. The ending of any full-length film was very different from the short film. In the full-length film, the ending consisted of numbers 9 and 7 holding hands almost like a couple, and the Twins numbers 3 and 4 acting as their children. I enjoyed the full-length film more than I did the short film. The sound made the movie a lot more intriguing and made me feel more involved. I also really liked the characters and their differences in the movie, then just the two characters in the short film.

Research 9, the feature film

This film was so persuasive, it was a pinnacle feature in movie activity movie. The recent transformation of the film was extra to the short film, it conveyed a couple of perspectives to the film with the completion just as a portion of the characters. My by and by inclination was simply to buy and by saying this was an astounding film, loaded up with great altering and movement catching just as plot/character advancement communicated further on. The primary plot/rundown to this film was about this world after an enormous assault by machines which had adjusted to learn and zero in on people, these last soul survivors were puppets which each had a few soul parts of the researcher who made them. Every one of them was numbered 1-9, each character will be diving further into, anyway, the story proceeded as the quest for personality came, where these puppets were, who was assaulting them, and what number of more were there? Nine which was the primary rival had wandered out and found different numbers en route, and chose to sort out the wellspring of this frenzy, after finding that these machines take the spirits of the puppets away, nine and the rest chose to discover and end what has made this occur. Various passing’s lie simultaneously anyway toward the end the entire gathering sorts out the reality behind their creation just as the best approach to overcome the machine, in the end, all the rest of the spirits carry on to proceed to live free, as the spirit survivors start another excursion. The character appeared in the film were puppets with numbers who all had their own story. The principle opponent was number nine who was the most up to date expansion or in words the last to be made, who was the one which needed to look for information, conceived without the capacity to talk anyway picked up that through number two, also that his character advancement originated from him depicting authority among the rest. Number two was an old puppet, normally conceived for his insight and manifestations, he wound up being the first to meet nine and the first to kick the bucket by the machines, he was known by the associations given, an aspect of the gathering which was led by number one. A ruler of the sort who administered and thought he knew all, number one was an avaricious, terrified little man who needed uniquely to control power and never offer it to the puppets who served him. His character advancement possibly stemmed toward the end when he had yielded his own life to spare nine, anyway all through the film he was narrow-minded and unfit to confide in anybody. Number's three and four, basic twins inside the story who learned and utilized this type of smelling which was seen through the eyes. They caught messages and sound for the characters to see, for the most part, heroes who helped when they could. Number eight, he was the muscle the force, as well as the body gatekeeper to number one. His essence was to guarantee wellbeing and go about as the durability that main need. All through the film he appeared to mind and follow the requests given by number one until a little measure of trust went towards number nine. Number seven, the most boss protector and plot expander. She has appeared in a backstory as a lady who minded and needed to secure all souls. Inside the film she did precisely that, she secured she picked up her spotlight by being dauntless and rising to ensure and guarantee wellbeing. Presently number six, one of the frightening and at this point unclear characters to me actually, all I had gotten from him was that he may have been intellectually crazy with his drawings about the force instrument, and the source. Very little is said about him anyway in the end he built up a comprehension for number nine about the consummation. Ultimately the last character is number 5, a basic kind one looked at terrified adventurer, reliability to the lord and a companion to number nine, he increased a fellowship to number nine and had his back the whole film. Tallying the machines, the couple of machines which were depicted in the film were a tracker canine, a fowl, and an unpleasant looking snake all made and constrained by "the mind", or mother machine, made by the researcher to better humankind anyway that wasn't the situation. Enhancements inside this film are a ton to unload as this entire film was a movement film, a couple of parts which I had the option to nail down in the film as exceptional influences were three things; The lightning of the machine driving up, which happened when the machine chose to control up in the film, it had this lightning impact to it which to me by and by appeared to be a pleasant touch, the blasts and fire angle depicted in the film where embellishments used to keep the authenticity of the world, the consuming of the congregation wherein number one guaranteed had torched just as the underground base camp which burned to the ground and detonated to make a gigantic searing blast. The last embellishment I included discovered inside the film was the green influence when the machines had taken the spirits of the puppets, it had a sound and a full body angle to it to make a dynamic envision for the watcher's eyes to catch. The directional style of the film was principally a liveliness film with sound and embellishments, given to an examination of the short movie, this one had an enormous hole in a variety of value and time. By and large, I appreciated this film and plan to have others watch this splendidly made film.

Research 9, the short

This short film was very creative. I loved watching every second of it. I interpreted this movie in the way that there are puppets each labeled with a number. They were trapped in a destroyed, apocalyptic world with a wolf-like creature Made of metal hunting them. the two characters we meet our numbers (9) and (5). They have this glowing bottle cap-shaped machine with alien markings on it, that goes off whenever danger is near. One-piece was had by number 9 and the other was attached to the dog. as the short continues one of the puppets die and the other must run away, in a very creative chasing scene the puppet had a trap ready for the monster to make more time, he ends up with his back against a cliff. Once the monster dog got to puppet 9, he was pushed off the Cliff and killed. After 9 lost his friend (5) He figured out the two pieces of the machine went together, and it created a holographic showing off his friend as this machine captures souls. In conclusion, I loved the short and was super excited about the movie. The intricate details including these sounds captured by the movement fit the scene perfectly. The aesthetics of the short gave off the perfect feeling of scary green for the dog machine as well as Brown and darker colors for the puppets an apocalyptic world. The characters I found were two puppets numbers 9 and 5, as well as a dog-like monster, but when nine was at 5's funeral there were eight other graves as if in the beginning there were nine puppets. The progression for the characters was based on number 9, he watched his friend die, killed a monster-hunting him, Anne laid his last friend to rest with his other dead friends. Number 5 seemed as though he was very helpful to number 9, he helped him discover light by pulling a light bulb out of a broken lamp and using a battery. In my opinion, the plot of this short, is that these puppets failed to work together to survive in this apocalyptic world and as a result, all but number 9 died. In the end number 9 discovers that the machine sucked the soul of number 5. Knowing that 5 has been trapped in a machine he moves on with his life and walks away into the distance. Some amazing special effects I know spotted were the glowing of the hunting machine which accompanied The Dirty Brown look of the puppets, the weapons used by the puppets which were made of small household materials, and the capturing of the soul itself from the puppet which allowed for a soul capturing seen. The color green was very important, as the whole setting who is made up of doll coloring, however, the green drew attention very easily. The staff used by five was very intricately made and must have taken a while to be created, as it collapsed into itself and had a blade attached to the end. The capturing of the soul scene had to have been CGI just like the rest of the movie is, but it's incredible for the full color to shine from a dull object to signify it's important of a soul present. some other details stuck out at me; one was how small the characters were compared to normal items gave off a cramped feeling. The puppet sat on a doll's leg about double the size of him. More details I noticed was the sound used, it only played with movements, there was no talking, no sound, just movement. Overall, I enjoy the short film and was able to see the hard work and dedication put into it.

Genre Choice for Film

I decided to make my film in the horror genre. My favorite genre of movies to watch horror films. The reason I love horror is the feeling of an adrenaline rush I get during jump scares. I wanted to try and recreate the feeling I get while watching horror movies in my own film. My favorite scene from the movie A Quiet Place was when the son dropped his toy and it made a big noise, which in turn caused fear in everyone because the creatures hunting them would be there soon. This scene is my favorite because of the immediate reaction I got while watching it. I wanted to be able to recreate that feeling through my own film by having a presence that you don't want to upset. The premise in this scene, giving off sound within a noiseless trail, is something I'd wish to input/connect within my film. My film is going to be about a character named Myles waking up in a locked bathroom with no memory and a glowing tattoo on the back of his hand. I am going to have the bathroom guarded by a mysterious figure with a blood-stained blade. The horror aspect comes from the character's fear for his life. This is similar to A Quiet Place because both characters are in fear of their life and don’t want to anger something who is more powerful than them. Comparing all three genres to my own film the aspect of horror is most efficient. In the sense that having a situation of life or death for a character to challenge wouldn't be as effective in the action or mystery genre. This genre clicked for me as being alone in society for a few months made me feel trapped and alone. Expressing my surroundings in my life could give off the most surreal effect to my film. I don't feel I need to tweak my pitch. I am very happy with the decision to have my film be this way. I am very confident that I am going to enjoy filming this movie. 

 

Genre Research Horror

A commonly used camera angle in the horror genre is the Dutch angle. This angle is used when the character would see something disturbing. Something like a monster or a dead body that would have them in shock. A pan movement Is used in a chase when the person being chased is at a Cliff and has nowhere to go. Aerial shots occur when a monster is shown for the first time. Another common camera shot in horror films is the POV shot, this is used when any action is going on.

Commonly used sounds in horror films are diegetic and ambient sounds. These are used for any movement by a character and to give off a creepy feeling while watching. A specific sound is used in a lot of horror films. There will be a normal song playing for example: Ring Around the Rosie but played slowed down and most of the time sung by a little girl, giving off a very uneasy feeling. Horror movies are quiet most of the time, then followed by very loud actions.

the costumes used in horror films are always very dirty cut up and covered in blood. Only at the beginning of a movie would people have clothes that are not completely ruined. The lighting in horror films is dark, hard to see in, and gloomy to give off an uneasy feeling to the watcher of confusion and fear. The actors are normally not able to take care of themselves, they need to be protected by one person who normally dies in the movie. The makeup in horror films is always dirty, showing scars, scratches, and blood. The setting of horror films is in abandoned places, for example, the Woods an abandoned hotel, or even a basement with no other people other than those being attacked and the attacker.

Commonly used editing in horror films consist of shot-reverse-shot, this happens when people just realized or discovered something, and the camera wants to show off their emotions. A graphic match is used when a dead body is found, it hovers over the body zooming out. Jump cuts happen when the group of people split up and not much action is going on, the camera is following the characters.

My personal favorite horror films are a Quiet Place, the Scream franchise, and a haunting in Connecticut.

I love everything about the horror film genre, I enjoy the feeling of being on the edge of my seat, jump scares are always fun. I also like the creepiness at the beginning of the horror films.

Genre Research Mystery

    A common camera angle used in mystery films is the dutch angle. I see this angle a lot paired with a zoom movement when the character is stunned after seeing something traumatizing. Used an awful lot in the mystery genre is the point of view shot. This is commonly used when something interesting is in front of a character, a monster, or a dead body.

    The most commonly used sound in the mystery genre is diegetic sound. there is always a lot of talking, dramatic music, and sometimes action. in the movie get out for example the sound of running screaming saws and a lot more were included.

    The actor's costumes normally are not anything crazy. Most mystery movies revolve around a normal event going wrong, where the people are dressed for a normal outing. The lighting in mystery movies is dark and gloomy to give off a creepy feeling. The actors are normal looking people, in street clothes, not too strong. The makeup in mystery movies makes people look as normal as possible there should be no blood or anything. Props mostly consist of weapons and strange not everyday weapons. The setting of a mystery movie is set in a large area with a select few people (those who are involved), 

    Frequent editing used in the mystery genre is split-screen. This is used when two events occur at the same time, for example: if one party found a dead body and the other found the killer covered in blood.

    Examples of mystery movies are: Get Out and Inheritance. get out is a great example because it uses a lot of editing due to how much is going on at once.

    I like the suspense element of or mystory movies it keeps me engaged and wanting more. I also really like the amount of dramatic irony in the films.

    I dislike the volume in mystery movies, there is a lot of loud music that sometimes cover-ups the dialogue in the film.

Genre Research Action

Two very common camera angle used in action films is the High and low angles. High angles are used mostly in Group scenes when a dramatic event is about to occur. A low angle is mostly used to single out an actor during a scene. A commonly used camera movement is a tracking shot. This movement occurs during a fight scene following the movements of a character. my favorite camera shot in any action film is the POV shot. This is when the camera is showing what the character is seeing. This is used to emphasize the feeling that the character is going through.

Commonly used sounds in the action genre are diegetic sounds, sound effects, and dialogue. In action movies, there is a lot of movement and fighting. During fights scenes, the sound of fists hitting each other armor clanking together and people running are all examples of diegetic sound. Examples of sound effects are explosions and laser beams, which orange recorded they are created sound.

The costumes used in action movies are mostly loose fighting so the actors can move freely in a fight and other stunts. The lighting in action movies is always very bright or very dark, there is no in-between. This is to either vividly highlight a fight or to keep viewers guessing. The actors in action movies are always toned and powerful looking to give off an extreme feeling. Makeup is used to alter people’s appearance for example if they need to look older or younger. Common props in action movies consist of weapons vehicles and advanced technology. The setting is used to set the tone, for example, a dramatic setting could mean a final fight.

An extremely common use of editing in action films is cutaways, for example when multiple fights are happening in different places. Eye Line Match is another common editing term were the camera shows each person’s eyes on the same spot on the screen.

Three well-known examples of action films are Marvels Endgame, Terminator, and Any Fast and Furious movie. Both Endgame and Terminator are known for their amazing CGI. Fast and Furious is best known for its Cars and fight scenes.

 I like the fight scenes in action movies, they are always entertaining because of how much is going on at once. I enjoy watching films with explosions it gives off an adrenalin rush to the viewer, and car chases always keep us on the edge of our seats.

            An unappealing element of the action genre to me is the blood, I feel there is too much in some films and it feels too much like a horror film.

 

 

Genres I Would Like To Research

When I started my project, I was inspired by horror films. I had recently watched A Quiet Place and I loved it. I have always loved horror films and I am a big fan. The three genres I am choosing to research are Horror, Mystery, and Action. Mystery and horror can be closely related as one category can have aspects of the other, however, I am choosing these genres because I feel they relate to my film the best. My pitch "Myles wants to gain his memory back in order to find his way home and why he has a glowing tattoo on his hand.", has a large horror aspect to it however it can be viewed multiple ways. If I want to make my film a mystery film, it could still fit the pitch, even if I wanted to do an action genre I could change to make sure the action only occurs during scary scenes. The main genera I want to focus on is horror. The reason I am choosing horror is that I wanted to make a film where someone is scared and helpless. But the aspect of an unknown tattoo does play into the mystery genre. I find it fun to research all types of genres and find out what type of effects they use. For example, horror uses a lot of specific audio to give off a specific feeling of creeped out or scared. Action for example is more fast-paced and violent to give the watcher an adrenaline rush. And the story is based on confusion and cliffhangers making the watcher want more. These are reasons I believe that these three genres are the best they fit in so many more movies than we realize. Horror films are very entertaining as they keep the watchers engaged. I really enjoy watching horror films and I'm very excited to make one of my own. I am very excited to take a swing at different kinds of films than what I did last year.

Pitch Blog

 Myles wants to gain his memory back in order to find his way home and why he has a glowing tattoo on his hand.

Group Blog

This year I am choosing to do my project alone. I never have done a media project alone before, but I do find fun when I am alone on other assignments, so I am not too hesitant about doing this alone. What is going to be challenging about not having group mates is the amount of work I am going to have to do instead of spreading some of it out. But I know I can do it as I do not find it difficult to do the work, but to find the time between my job and other classes. The conditions we are in right now is an obstacle to getting my work done. I had plans to work with a classmate of mine on this project but due to the pandemic, I cannot work with him. I came to this decision because I was concerned about my parent's health. I do not want to risk getting of them sick with the COVID-19 virus, and as of a result of this, I am working alone this year. Despite all this, I am not upset that I am working alone as it is just more on my plate. Without a group, I get to choose everything about how my project goes. I do not have to worry about who does what during filming or which props to use. I get to choose the fine details. Last year in Media AS level I work in a group of 3 (me and two others). While I swan in this group I felt as if my voice was not heard on the Music video. I did agree on the song and the actors but the location of the video I felt should have been different than what they chose. They wanted it on the beach, and I preferred under the pier. Once we go there, we agreed that the pier was the better option, but we had to redo the storyboard. While I do this project alone, I get to fully put all my ideas onto paper. This year I am planning on having a good time with our without a group. I am nervous and very excited to see what I am capable of doing this year.

 

Welcome Back Blog

Welcome back to Aice Media Studies Part 2 (A level). I am so excited for this upcoming year. I have a ton of ideas planned to make great films out of. I know that you will enjoy following me on my journey. The reason I am taking media again is to further my knowledge in the film world. Also, to create amazing films. And to relive the fun I had last year in this class. I really enjoy the process of making films and getting my ideas turned into movies. Planning and storyboarding are my favorite. I really enjoy the satisfaction I get from watching an idea from my head come to life. I know this year will be difficult due to covid-19, but I hope to prevail and make the best out of my situation. I do not believe this pandemic will affect anything but the people I work with. I will still be making my films incredibly enjoyable. We will be going a lot more in-depth then we did last year. I will be picking up tips and tricks to bring my films to the next level that I did not know last year. This will include different ways of editing, filming, and even planning out my movies. So get ready for an amazing year through Aice Media A level!

 

 

 

Audience and Institution Practice Essay

          Assess the importance of marketing in the media area you have studied.

         

          When producing a film, the marketing aspect can include magazines, commercials, billboards, merchandise, brand deals, and more. Without marketing, a film will not be able to gain a following, determine profitability, or decide the most successful time to release the film and where. The importance of marketing can be seen specifically in these several successful films: Beauty and the Beast, Black Panther, Furious 7, and spider-man homecoming. Marketing is a key component, as without an audience a film will not be able to profit.

          In 2017, Disney produced a live-action Beauty and the Beast and although this classic Disney tale was already a staple in cinema, Disney needed to gain a following and get fans excited for the film. As a Disney movie, they could take advantage of the large child following by producing Belle dolls, dresses, and other toys to get the kids excited for the movie to come out, this would be an example of merchandising. Additionally, they used cross-promotion of the film with a special edition on ‘The Bachelor’ hosted by the stars, an example of corporate synergy as Disney owns ABC. This increased the reach of the film to a wider audience of adults and teens who would be watching the bachelor and possibly reminiscing on the Disney tale they watched as a child. By utilizing these different marketing strategies Disney was able to create a wide following for the film, ensuring theatres would be full-on opening day, and that the movie would profit. This marketing was essential to the film's success as it worldwide made $1,263,521,126 (1.3 billion) from the merchandise from the ticket sales alone not incorporating the profit from the merchandise.

          Even in the increasingly popular world of marvel, the film produced in 2017, Spider-Man Homecoming needed to be marketed to profit and fill theatres come release day. With a mission to gain a following for this upcoming movie, one tactic was a partnership with the popular cereal brand cinnamon toast crunch. By cooperating with a different organization marvel was able to get fans excited for the movie and let them know it would be coming out soon. The release of merchandise was also a major way that this film ensured a fan base for when it did release. One example of merchandising was the release of a new Spiderman game for the ps4, by releasing this game before the movie came out, fans from the marvel universe were able to excitedly anticipate the release of the movie. Cross-promotion was also used in a merchandising collaboration with Target which created a younger kid fan base as well as the teen's video gaming, with children's spiderman toys to excite the younger viewers as well.

In 2018 Disney took a different approach to how they decided to market Black panther. They had decided to market using cross channeling. The object was to get the name everywhere and quickly. Disney used a bunch of different styles such as social media, mobile apps, websites, and word-of-mouth recommendations. Social media picked up the news when during an NBA finals game some of the filmings for the trailer were done. It traveled due to the large audience attending the game. This form of cross platforming got the targeted audience excited for the film's completion and debut. Lexus made a special commercial drawing inspiration from Black Panther to reveal the 2018 Lexus LS 500. The cross between these two companies was an excellent way to market the movie's release. It worked out well because of the same style used in the commercial as in the film. Lexus used a car chase to keep the same action aspect as the movie is. 

At the trailer launch event (Road to Furious 7) a red-carpet event was held to spur excitement for the franchise's 7th film. The objective of this was to give the fans a chance to ask the cast any questions they had about the movie to increase their enthusiasm for the film's opening. The main character's motto is heavily based on family, and it stays the same throughout the previous 6 movies, so long-term fans of the franchise will feel welcomed with the interactive Q&A at the event. Universal Studios also marketed the movie with a video game cross-promotion; the company Forza Horizon created a special edition game called “Forza Horizon 2 presents Fast and Furious 7.” I am a long-time fan of the movies and the video game promotion raised my eagerness for the film's release even more. 

When looking into the marketing strategies used for high grossing films like Beauty and the Beast, Spiderman Homecoming, Black Panther, and Fast 7 they utilize a lot of the same tactics. By creating merchandise and cooperating with several different organizations these films were able to build a large following leading up to the release dates. Even these film concepts that undoubtedly would be popular with fans of the marvel universe, Disney princesses and the Fast and Furious franchise had to be presented to fans to get them excited for the release and to show them that the movie is being released. After analyzing the marketing strategies of these wildly successful films, it is seen how essential the marketing process is for all films big or small, and new concepts or old. Personally, part of the excitement for a new film is the anticipation for its release and the associated merchandise that comes with it.

x

Practice Extract Essay

The author's vision was to give off a suspicious style. The author was trying to convey a sense of importance or value towards the girl, and a sense of urgency in the scene as if they are running out of time. There was a clear lack of trust between the man and the woman.

In the first scene, a man enters a dark and empty room to a woman who is chained to a metal chair. The room had nothing in it but a desk and a person gives away that the room isn’t designed for comfort and something important is going to occur in it. The chains binding the woman to the chair indicates that she is being held against her will most likely for something dad she has done. The Erie music that kicks in once the man enters the room shows that whatever events that are about to occur are going to be serious. There is dim lighting in the room giving off a scared tone. the man paces back and forth by the desk showing his impatience and frustration with the events that are occurring. they seem clips away to two people in a room filled with TV's displaying the events occurring in the room with the man and woman showing that someone is watching in case of an aggressive event.

In the second scene, the man and woman catch eye contact and it is immediately broken to display their hatred for each other. This emphasizes this suspicious tone of duck clip do too be clear tension in the room. The woman glances at the Clock as it ticks loudly displaying The urgency in the entire clip. Dim lights are seen throughout the room's walls to give a very depressing feel to emphasize how important the current events are. The man flips a table after not receiving the information he's trying to get demonstrating his lack of patience and anger towards this woman. He then continues to yell at her in an attempt to scare the information out of her. The scene then cuts away to the two people watching the events in a different room. The man is stressed and worried as he's rubbing his forehead with his eyes glued to the screen, demonstrating its importance.

in the third and final scene, the woman uses threats and blackmail against the man knowing that he isn't able to harm her raising further suspicion on why she knows what position he's in. The man sits in a chair out of frustration and exhales deeply. This is displaying his extreme anger with this woman and starting to show his patience running out. They make eye contact once again but it doesn't break for a couple of seconds, she has a smug and he's angry raising the tension in the room. In a rage, the man gets up grabbing the woman by the throat dragging her chair across the floor and banging it against the wall. At this point the man has snapped is done playing games. The chair hitting the wall in making a loud sound is to try and emphasize just how much power was in his action due to his anger. The people from the other room start running in screaming to let her go make me clear that she's an asset to these people. The man is told to leave the room he walks out with frustration and a daggering glare towards one of the people who entered the room. the music gets more dramatic giving off the feeling that he is going to do something rash.

With everything going on in this clip the stone of suspense is given off. The man leaves the room angry and it seems to be about to do something rash. There is tension between the man and woman do to the man's ability to get the information out of the woman. With all the glances the Clock it was clear that the scene was to seem urgent. When the man Was choking the woman it seemed that he had intended to kill her but because of her importance, he was told not to and therefore restrained himself.

CCR BLOG

This is my blog containing my CCR. This was one of my favorite projects of the entire year. My CCR was filmed by myself and my Sister (Sydney). I loved the talk show theme we went for. Getting to Choose the title of the show was cute. I also enjoyed getting to wear the bowtie.

Movie Blog

Music Video Blog

Commercial blog

Re editing blog

These past few weeks, things have been extremely different. Due to an increase in COVID-19 cases in our country, a lot of things have changed. A few rules have been put out by the government, including the "social distancing" rule. We are not allowed to leave our homes unless it is for necessities. It all feels unreal and has affected everything. One of those things is our schooling. Our AICE Media Studies class' assignments, along with other classes, are all now completely online. Along with this class' assignments goes our final project. We were not able to finish editing together before the global crisis happened and now we can't see each other. Because of this, our group member who had the software we are editing on has been the only one able to finish.
        Despite the struggles, we have been able to overcome them and conclude working on our 2-minute video product. Before we turn in anything, we have to work on our Creative Critical Reflection or CCR. This is a video presentation answering four questions. The questions are all regarding our final project and the process of creating it. My group and I all decided to each do ours in an interview style. We thought it would be a fun and creative way to go about answering the questions. The video has to be a minimum of 15 minutes, so we have to plan it out perfectly. After we complete that, we will be able to turn everything in. That will be the end of our experience with this class.

Last blog

With the recent outbreak of the COVID-19 virus it's been very hard to get anything done.
Our school has been closed and communications with teachers have been cut off. All we
We have been able to do is our CCR project. We have been getting instructions though
remind and canvas. Those are the applications that we use to keep in touch with our professors.
With this time off, we have been able to discuss future plans for our film. Not being able to
see anyone due to isolation has been trying. We can't get our re-filming done. As a result,
we've been editing what we have. We are trying to make it perfect and add requirements
from our own ends. We plan on adding some shots done without the location being shown
so it matches up. Editing-wise, we have to add key details, like audio. We have to add
non-dietetic sound, among others. Because one of us specializes in editing more than
the other two, they will be working on that while we help him find music and things like that.
We have sent requests to some artists for permission to use their music in our film. We
are still waiting on a response so we have a backup. We are all set with most of our
details and preps other than music. All our edits are done and voice-overs are finished.
It's been a very difficult time but we're pulling through.

Challenges of re-shooting blog

We are facing a lot of trouble with reshooting our video. The COVID-19 virus has put us in a tough spot. Our parents are not letting us leave our homes. Because of this, we are very worried about the progress we can make, if any. Our project needs to be complete. The quality of our video is at stake. Things only continue to get worse for public health. We may be put in a statewide quarantine. There are even rumors of martial law being put into place. It’s extremely troubling. Recently we have been trying to re-shoot. we are aware of the upcoming deadlines. We are nervous that we will not have enough time together as a group. We have been struggling to film. There have been a couple obstacles n our way. The main one has been a risky global epidemic called coronavirus. It is highly contagious and has led to changes in various things worldwide. For example, schools have all been closed for at least two weeks. During that, assignments are still due. Group projects have been difficult because of the fact that we have been told to be “socially distant”.

Peer Review

When doing the peer review we got some helpful critiques. We were told some helpful insights. What needs work is our audio. We devised what we think to be a clever idea. We would have our main actors use Bluetooth earbuds and use them as mics. We will keep them out of sight for immersion purposes. When importing the files into the editing software, some audio files got corrupted. We are going to have to re-shoot some scenes. The audio we are missing is pivotal in communicating the story. It’s very important that we either get those audio files back. We may even have to re-shoot those scenes. Some of our titles are missing. Of course, this is due to time constraints. We will have them completed in time for the submission of our project. I also plan on color correcting the shots and scenes. I’m still considering using fades for scene transitions. I plan on checking out different fonts and maybe alternate colors for the titles. We are very close to having our work done.

Pre Re-Shooting blog

Lately, we haven’t been able to reshoot. We have had struggles finding the right time to. For example, last weekend we wanted to film. Unfortunately, I was out of town. Because there are scenes with two people in it, there had to be three people involved in filming. During the week, it gets even more difficult. We all have after school activities. One of us even has a job. our plan is to film this weekend. Saturday would be difficult, so we think it will be on Sunday. It will be a struggle to get transportation because the shooting location is farther from where we live. Although it will be difficult, this weekend is the most convenient one. Aside from school, spring break is coming up and so is the due date. We have to reshoot because we were missing some angles during the peer review. One important one is a low angle. We also wanted to provide a better variation of filming techniques. We feel that it will make our film more appealing to the audience. We also have to focus on editing after this weekend. We need to add some important details. Things like music and subtitles are missing.

Re-shooting planning blog

After receiving our constructive criticism from our peer review we now know what we need to accomplish during our re-shoot. A few points we need to address are our camera angles, audio, time and plot development. It is in our best interest to fix our errors, so we can knock this out of the park. We need to add more scenes establishing the story/plot. we will do this by making any confusing spots better explained.We also need to shorten the film to meet the two minute mark. Some specific camera angles need to be added as well. This is to give an all inclusive felling of our film. Some of the audio hadn't come trough therefore making it difficult to hear any dialogue and understand our plot. The fine details of our project need to be tweaked so there is nothing left to chance. We all agreed to meet on Sunday, a bit earlier than our last meeting . This worked out due to our schedules lining up. Thanks to our director (Ben) getting a new phone our filing should go much smoother. this is because there will be less of a chance of hiccups such as phones loosing battery or filling up on storage. We hope to have everything perfect by Sunday so we can really focus our efforts on editing. We will make sure our tittles are done ans spread out evenly. We are really in our home stretch of this project. Thanks to us planning every little step out. We hope it come through that our best efforts have gone into this film. the experience was really enjoyable and exciting.