Genre Research Horror

  • Common CAMS: reverse-shots, close-ups, tracking shots, pans, zoom, wide shot, low angle, hand-held, over the shoulder, cantered, and birds-eye 

• Common Sound: no sound, silence, abrupt noises, echos, footsteps, sound of breath, can all be diegetic or non-diegetic 

• Common Mis-En-Scene (CLAMPS):  

• Costume - casual clothing for protagonista typically, antagonists usually wear masks or dark clothing                                        

• Lighting - low lighting, usually at night in the dark, shadows and shapes to create fear                                        

• Actors - normally required to act fearful or eerie                                                        

• Makeup - bruises, cuts, made to look as if the victim is tortured or in pain, makeup applied to look grimmer                                          

• Props - props are normally weapons such as knives, axes, guns. Other props maybe rocking chairs and creaking doors                                      

• Setting - Typically somewhere isolated, perhaps an abandoned house, the environment is normally abandoned and dark

• Common Editing: cutaways, jump cuts and fade outs

• Example Films: Us, Insidious, The Conjuring, Annabelle, The Nun

• Elements I like: I like the fear and suspense it creates. I enjoy the anticipation it builds up for eerie moments

• Elements not appealing: I feel like they may drag on for too long and are all really similar. The silence and eerie sounds can be disturbing at times 

Genre Research Thriller

 My group and I had to choose three genres to research that we thought our short film would fit into. Some things that we had to research for our genres are common CAMS, common Mis-En-Scene, and common editing. The first research is on the thriller genre. 

• Common CAMS: tracking shots, pans, reverse shots, high angles, over the shoulder shots, point of view shots, tilted shots, and zoom. 

• Common Sound: eerie sounds, sometimes complete silence, footsteps, animal sounds, and even sometimes extraterrestrial sounds. 

• Common Mis-En-Scene (CLAMPS): 

Costume- common costumes in thrillers include masks, ripped clothing, hoodies and jackets, casual clothing that can sometimes be dark or black, and creature-like clothing.

Lighting- common lighting in thrillers are usually dark/low. The lighting is very important because it displays shadows that create tension and suspense in thrillers.

Actors- the actors in thrillers can be anyone. 

Makeup- common makeup in thrillers is usually dark, sometimes scary, and can consist of cuts, bruises, dirt smudges, and can even be smeared as if the actor was crying. 

Props- common props include fake blood, notes/ letters, brief cases, money, phones, and even broken things like glass. Weapons are also common props such as guns, chainsaws, and knives, which add tension to the film.

Setting- the setting in thrillers are usually in spooky places, allies, abounded and haunted locations, and isolated places. Thrillers are also sometimes taken place at night which add onto the suspense. 

• Common Editing: these include jump cuts, flashbacks, action matches, graphic matches, and sometimes slo-mo’s.

• Example Films: A Quiet Place, The Silencing, Ma, Escape Room, and The Invisible Man

• Elements I like: I really enjoy the rush of adrenaline that I get when watching thrillers. As well as being on the edge of my seat waiting to see what will happen next. 

• Elements not appealing: I don’t really like the anxiety and terror that some thrillers make me feel. 

Genres I would Like to research

 Since our pitch is "A person receives threats in the mail and must figure out who is leaving them" I thought these 3 genres are most appropriate; Thriller, horror, and action. 

The first genre we will research is thriller. Thriller could be our genre because since our short film is 5 minutes, creating a thriller is a very efficient way of composing a great movie in a short period of time. My groupmates and I can further execute making a thriller by, while in the editing process we can use non-diegetic sounds to emit suspenseful music. The suspenseful music could play in the background of the main scenes to make audiences truly feel the thriller aspect of the film. We could also film low angles of the mailbox and vertical pans showing empty dark streets. We could further push the thriller genre by never showing the antagonist of the film. The film could end without ever showing the antagonist (That is just an idea though). 

We will research horror more because, horror could also fit our genre. This is because my groupmates and I can implement very little lighting to give the audience a feeling of nervousness and "what's going to happen". Horror could be our genre because we can have whoever is putting notes into the mailbox actually come for the protagonist of the story. Their are many ways we can write our short film to make it into a horror genre. Another reason I want to further research the horror genre is to find out what angles I can use to make the film feel more like a horror. I believe if I used tilts it would make the film feel more like it. 

The last genre we will research is, action. Action could be an option for our short film because, we can make the antagonist and the protagonist try to find each other. That could result in the film becoming an action if there's lots of running away and fighting scenes. We need to research what type of lighting goes with an action movie. We also need to research which angles and sound go with an action. We are looking forward to choosing our genre very soon!

Pitch blog

 My group and I’s pitch for our short film: 

A person receives threats in the mail and must figure out who is leaving them

Group blog

The decision has been made! I am working with 2 people this year, Leonardo H. and Brooke L. 

They will be my groupmates for A level media. This decision had to be examined really closely because working in a group setting can be either amazing or detrimental. Thankfully I'm very close to these two people so I'm already familiar on the ways they work. I am so excited to be working with them because we are all very creative.Creative people always work very well together. I know that we will come up with good ideas for our short film. I also know that we all have very good different skills in media which will benefit the group in the end. I trust my groupmates which makes the project and the class even better because I know we will get everything done!

Furthermore, I am not working with the same people I worked with in AS level because one of them is no longer in media. The other one is still in media but we are working with other people this time. 

I have good relationships with previous group members from AS level, but I'm excited to work with new people from A level. I'm super excited to be taking this class. My Groupmates all have different specialties in media. Leonardo (who we call Leo) is good at editing. Brooke is good at acting. I believe I'm pretty good at ideas and script.  excited to see all of our specialties combine to make a good product.

Thanks!

Intro Blog

 Hello!  Long time no see!!

I am so happy to be in Aice media studies once again, for A Level! So as you know the globe has been affected by a virus called Covid-19. The media industry has been very impacted by Covid.  Everyone is somewhat struggling to sort this new way of life because its all something we are so unfamiliar with.  Masks are now a priority and they will always be a priority when filming unless safe to remove. In result of this virus the way we live and do our daily activities has completely changed.  We are not in school as of right now because the area I live in still has high numbers in this virus.  Even though we are not doing IN school learning we are still learning from the safety and comfort IN our own homes. 

But anyways... I'm extremely excited to be continuing this class. AS level media was so much fun and I'm hoping this year will be too. I know that we have to create a 5 min short film and I'm so excited to see what my group and I will create. I loved the way of learning and the group-oriented work for this class. When working in Aice media, it doesn't even feel like real work because it's so much fun to do. I also am excited to be finishing my Aice diploma this year and I'm happy that this class will help me achieve this diploma.When I received my results for the scoring of AS level I was shocked. I couldn't believe I scored an A! I'm super proud and I hope that this year I can continue to work and strive for another A. 

Thank you for reading and for coming along this journey! 

Audience and Institution Practice Essay.

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

  The importance of marketing in the film industry is, marketing is a necessity for a film to become successful and flourish. They accomplish this in several ways, one being through trailers on television, on social media platforms and using cross-media convergence. Film and movie marketing is happening around us all the time, and we just don’t take it into consideration or notice.           

 Marketing helps inform audiences on certain films that are being made or that have been made. If there were no marketing tactics, then audiences would have no clue that there's even a film. I personally only know a film is out or being made when I see the trailers of it on television or social media. The whole idea and goal for marketing is that it grabs audiences' attentions well enough for them to go purchase tickets to see the film. For Example, In the film Jurassic World the marketing team for that movie did many things to grab the attention of audiences. The film was distributed by universal studios, and Universal is a subsidiary company for Comcast. Since Comcast is the largest cable provider in the united states, they featured many of the Jurassic Park movies before Jurassic world came out. They also aired previews on NBC with the main actors talking about the film and gave a little sneak peek of it. The marketing team made sure to also market to younger children as well, they did this by using synergy to make video games, toys, and candies. My family and I personally went to see this film. Since my father had watched these movies throughout his childhood, he wanted to watch it, and since I was so intrigued about it, we went and saw it. Now I notice that this is also an amazing marketing tactic. They were marketing to different age groups to make everyone go see the film. Jurassic World became the third largest grossing movie of all time dominating the box office and it was nominated for many awards, due to all the marketing tactics.  On the contrary, many will say marketing is important to a film but that it costs too much to do. While marketing big-time movies is expensive, institution's like Disney use Cross-Media convergences to overcome this issue. They will market the release of a new movie on other channels or use subsidiary companies that they also own. Not only does Disney do this they also will use synergy to promote their movies on other products like children's toys. For example, the film Beauty and the Beast was distributed with Walt Disney pictures and Walt Disney is the world's largest media conglomerate. Since Disney owns the channel ABC, they decided to produce a special edition of the show the Bachelor. They had the actors that played in the film host that episode which millions of people watch. The marketing team for Beauty and the Beast were very smart because not only did they save lots of money, but they also aired on a show that is surrounded by a rose, which the movie is the same. The marketing team did not stop there, they released toys at their Disney store and teamed up with companies like Target, Hot topic, and Hallmark to also market their item's.  

      The way institutions promote their films is remarkably flexible. Marketing films are convenient because you can market them in many ways. Marketing is happening all around us. Intuitions will use social media, television, radio/music and many other platforms to market movies. In the 2018 movie Black Panther(s), marketing team had many events for it. They developed a mobile game and along with the mobile game they created an event as a contest to promote the movie. Marvel Studios also had a New York Fashion week event and it showcased different forms of fashion that were in the movie. They launched a website where audiences could go to buy merchandise, look at the cast, and buy movie tickets online. One of the most significant ways they marketed the movie was using cross-promotion and debuting the trailer during an NBA Finals game. This was a very smart tactic because many people were viewing from home and in the stadium. On the Black Panther soundtrack Kendrick Lamar performed at a college playoff game. Not only is Kendrick Lamar very famous, but he also has many fans. Many people were also viewing in the stadium and at home. The advertising for this movie was very smart because, they did market a lot for the movie, but it was in such creative ways that it didn’t seem like it.  On the other side, audiences will say too much marketing is not always intellectually stimulating or impactful. This can be because of numerous reasons. Sometimes I do not want to see a film because I have seen so many ads for a movie, that it just feels like I've already watched it. This is the downside of marketing, if institutions don’t know how to market properly, they will make audiences not want to watch the film. However, there are many things institutions can do to prevent this. The film Furious 7 was distributed by Universal Pictures. Universal happens to also have a chain of theme parks, so a marketing tactic they utilized (which was not overbearing) was they created a new ride at Universal Orlando resort. They had a whole red-carpet event at the theme park. It allowed fans to be involved and ask the actors questions about the movie. The experience was hands on and allowed people to have fun while being interested with the movie. Marketing is very important because it must happen for the film to flourish.  

           With all is said and done, marketing is essential for a film to become successful. Intuitions must be creative in the ways they advertise to audiences so that they do not become overwhelmed. Marketing is also very flexible because you can do it in any way whether it's using, synergy, cross-promotion or more.