Audiences and Institutions Essay

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

Gavin Orefice Period 5

When it comes to the media area, “film,” marketing is a very essential element to any film's production process. Without marketing, there would be no possible way for the outside world to be informed about a movie being released. Therefore, marketing is more beneficial to the film area of media because it allows movie corporations/companies to promote their media ideas in several ways before officially releasing movies and it allows them to get an idea of how successful their movie will be and how much money it will possibly make them. 

    To begin, marketing is extremely essential to media corporations/companies because it helps them draw attention to their film through promotion and publicity. Considering that technology has evolved drastically, it has ultimately become easier for movie companies to promote their films. For example, a mobile game for the movie, "Black Panther," which included its main actor, Chadwick Boseman, was created  by Marvel Studios in order to help promote the movie. Although this form of digital marketing may not have been as effective as Black Panther's "fashion week"(which exposed some of the costumes that some of the actors would be wearing in the film), promoting a huge franchise through a mobile app shows the several ways movie corporations can market their movies.  To go further, "Jurassic World" primarily promoted their film through posters, some deemed "limited edition." This allowed their audiences  to grasp a feel of how the movie would be, as well as allow the internet to spread their opinions about their first glimpses of the movie. Even though this form of marketing may have had a different approach, all film corporations and companies all have the same goal: providing their audiences with an intriguing view of their film. 

    Marketing is also essential to the success of movie corporations/companies because it provides them with a view of how the movie will end up doing online, in movies, etc. when officially distributed. This is important when it comes to the production process because it determines the profit/income that will totally accumulate. For example, before the movie was officially released in theaters, “Guardians of the Galaxy” cross promoted/partnered with the “Monopoly” to create a Marvel themed board game. This allowed Marvel to easily promote the ideas of their movie as well as sell merchandise. In fact, the movie ended up being ranked #1 in theaters, accumulating only a domestic income of 389,813,101 US dollars, 146, 510,104 US dollars on just its opening weekend. This proves how marketing can shape the future success of a simple media idea. Marketing also played a key role in the conclusion of the movie, “Fast & Furious 7.” Because one of their main actors, Paul Walker, died in the middle of their film-making in a car crash, their production process was delayed and the release of the movie was questionable. They therefore had to find ways to create a Paul Walker that their audiences could entirely feel/imagine. A song by Charlie Puth and Wiz Khalifa was created for Paul Walker and in fact helped draw a lot of attention to the movie when it was finally released in theaters and distributed on DVD and blu ray. These are prime examples of how important marketing is when it comes to the success of a movie, or if the movie company or corporation should release it. 

    To recapitulate, marketing is very beneficial to the success of movie companies because it allows them to promote their film before its release and provides them feedback on how their movie will do when it's distributed. Whether it be done through cross promotion, on social media, through merchandise, or directly through the internet, all movie companies are using marketing in very similar ways. Although they may not be the exact same, they are proven to be ultimately effective as they have made several different movie corporations billions of dollars. 

Extract Essay: 24

Title of Extract: 24                                                                                               Gavin Orefice Period 5

This extract of the TV show, 24, revolves around the interrogation of the criminal, Nina. Considering she is a female and her interrogator is a male, an ironic, but intense mood is created within the audience. As the man tries to get the woman to reveal information, he grows angry as she continues to try and manipulate him. Knowing that there is a time bomb in play, he acts unprofessionally out of emotion and attacks the criminal. Thus, the director was trying to show the audience that patience and professionalism can be hard to maintain in tight and stressful situations. He uses several different editing techniques, non-diegetic sounds, and a variety of different shots to do this. 

In the beginning of the extract, the director mainly focuses on establishing the situation of the scene. As the male interrogator opens the door, close ups of both characters are used to not only reveal them but to establish the situation's intensity. While the male looks angry and serious, the female criminal looks rather comfortable and relaxed. This helps to create a noticeable contrast between both characters as well as evoke uncertainty within the audience (as it is unusual that there is a female criminal). Before any words are spoken, a zoom in is used to capture a shot of a camera in the back of the interrogation room. Not only does this also help to establish the situation of the scene, it lets the audience know that the interrogation is being supervised. A jump cut that reveals an office scene and the interrogators fellow crew members (who look rather worried) lets the audience know that the investigation is quite serious. After the characters were done giving one another mean stares, words were finally spoken. The sound of the female criminal's voice helped to create a shift in the audience's view of the scene because it confirms that the mastermind is a girl; her words reveal that she has planted a bomb somewhere which adds to the intensity of the situation and the suspense in the audience. An eye-line match between the female criminal and a ticking clock (the sound is non-diegetic) helps  build the suspense and intensity by showing the audience that the interrogators are pressed for time and that their patience is running out. 

As the extract moves along, dialogue, followed by over the shoulder shots are used to reveal the character's conversation as well as their moods. The female criminal does not want to give the interrogator anything she knows. Instead, she tries to take control of the situation by telling the interrogator that she will help stop the timebomb if the investigation team can fly her to Vecilia. The interrogator doesn't buy into it, so she tries to convince him by implying that it is of her best interest to stop the bomb. This seems to make the interrogator even more angry, and a close up of his angry face followed by a series of jump cuts of the interrogator flipping the desk in the room are used to intensify the situation. The interrogator gets up in the female criminal's face and as soon as this happens, the extract turns to the office, where close ups of two characters in professional/formal attire reveal that they are worried that the interrogation may grow out of hand. An eerie, rather uncertain score is also made present when the scene shifts to the office, contributing to the suspense of this part of the extract as well as the undergoing idea that time is running out. 

After the extract shifts back to the interrogation room, the score begins to grow deeper and louder, intensifying the situation as the two characters continue to stare at one another and exchange small words. As the score begins to create more suspense, a close up of the male interrogator reveals that he is far from happy and a close up of the female criminal reveals her lack of seriousness. The female says: "I guess you'll just have to follow my lead." This set of words/dialogue helped to create a major shift in the extract. The suspense that was building finally broke through. The male interrogator had had enough and started choking the female criminal. The chains she is wearing helps to show that she is helpless in the situation. As soon as this happens, a split screen is used by the director to show the audience the office and the interrogation room at the same time. The investigation team is running down the halls of the office, revealing that they are going to separate the two characters and terminate the tension. Once the team appears, the split screen fades and the interrogator, Jack lets the criminal go. A deep, rather defeated score followed by a long shot of the female criminal (the first in the whole extract, the rest were close ups and mid shots) are used to suggest that the tables have flipped/turned. The interrogators' unprofessionalism and lack of patience with the criminal help to close out the extract by peaking its suspense and by consolidating the idea that the investigation is serious. 

To recapitulate, the director of this extract was trying to convey that professionalism and patience can be hard to maintain during stressful and tight situations. Considering that this episode revolves around getting the answer to the location of a timebomb, patience is a major theme. The intensity and suspense of this extract are made clear through the actions and expressions of the characters. The dark lighting and setting of the extract help build upon these themes by evoking emotions such as uncertainty into the audience. 

Video for Commercial (Project 1)

Music Video (Project 2)

Video for Final Task (Project 3)

CCR Part 4

CCR Part 3

CCR Part 2

CCR Part 1

Re-Filming Blog: Final Scene

     To start, it was extremely hard to get all my group members to come out to film the last scene of our film. We also had some things to re film but thats besides the point. Everyone’s parents are getting worried about the spread of the coronavirus so we had to agree on a specific date in which all of our parents would let us out. This date was April 1st. We all went over to my house to fix up some angles and shots that we could of did better on then headed to the cemetery for the final scene. To be honest, it wasn't necessary to bring have everyone present, but the group effort is what counts. I am the main actor, so I played my role while Maya and Thomas switched off filming. This scene was probably the easiest for me. All I had to do was act surprised and emotional. This was easy because I have lost someone I loved in the past so I could easily relate to this scene.
     After we finished filming, I suggested we film the same scene a couple more times. This was just in case we had to do this same thing again: re-film. In this way, we have several cuts and shots to choose from. More options allows for less mistakes. Although they did not want to film again initially, I convinced them. They agreed that it was smarter and safer to do so. Realistically, it will also save us more time. We only have a week until our final product is due and we cannot afford anymore re-film or re-edit meetings. This will only impede on how productive my group can be and can result in not only a bad grade from our teachers, but a bad score from Cambridge. I wanted to make it easier for all of us. Even though we stayed at the cemetery for another 20 minutes, it was ultimately worth it because it will make it easier for us to edit.

Re-Editing Blog

     Unfortunately, my group and I were unable to meet because of the coronavirus pandemic. Even though I’m allowed to leave the house, the rest of my group mates aren’t. Because of this obstacle, we had to resort to technology. Me and my group members had to hop on FaceTime to complete our re-edits together. Even though it seemed a little difficult at first, it went pretty smoothly. Everyone had an idea of what edits and sounds they wanted to include and it was not hard to compromise. After talking about it for about five minutes, we agreed that their should be a suspenseful soundtrack playing behind the scene where our main character is introduced. This will help to set the tone for out thriller. Once our main character goes to knock on the door, however, we all agreed that their should be a sudden silence. This will evoke q sense of uncertainty within the audience.
     To go further, we also agreed that our cuts should be similar and not too fancy. This will make our opening seem more movie-like. Although it would be cool to add some extra transitions, we agreed that it would be better to make our film seem more realistic. Considering it is about an important issue, we wouldn’t want to make it seem as if we were making fun of it. It would be best if we kept everything rather basic. To state something that I should have before, Amelia is the one editing our film. Therefore, all of the information I have listed here, I have told to Amelia. She continued the editing for our film with iMovie, and I trust her because she has lots of experience with technology. Overall, our re-editing “meeting” was a success. We didn’t argue, we finished quickly, and we didn’t really change much.

Editing Blog

          Although I was not physically present with Amelia and to edit our footage, I stayed on FaceTime with both her and Maya the entire time. Amelia was editing our film on iMovie, which was ultimately beneficial. We all have edited on iMovie before so we were relatively familiar with the editing software. i Movie also gives us access to a lot more transition and image effects that Pinnacle Studios does not have. This will give us the opportunity to spice up our film and make it more appealing to future audiences. When it came the time to actually hop on the phone and edit together, we realized we needed more footage. Our transitions weren't flowing smoothly, neither were they coming together the way we imagined. Originally, I imagined our film to virtually be movie-like, with several cuts and effects in between scenes. However, it wasn't quite coming out this way. There were long pauses and we didn't really have a lot to choose from in order to at least try and fix it.
          Because we realized a re-film date, I am going to dedicate this paragraph to our re-filming ideas and how we are going to incorporate them into the final product of our film (meaning fully shot and edited). Firstly, the scenes we feel like we need the most work for are scenes 3, 4, and 5. This is because this is where the first suspenseful part of our film emerges. This is also where a tonal shift in our film is created. We need to make sure we choose the right music to effectively create this shift. We also need to make sure that we make the tonal shift in our film clear. We can do this by putting more emphasis on a certain sound when its time for the shift to take place. In order to effectively create more transition effects, we have to make sure we have a large selection of footage. This will make it easier for us to have more cuts in our film as well as make less room for mistakes. It will also shorten the time needed to finalize our project because we will have to do less re-filming.

         
       

Peer Review

         
          Today, my group I started and finished peer reviewing another group's footage. This was quite helpful and insightful because it gave us something to compare our film to. This comparison gave us room for lots of improvement. For example, the transitioning presented in our peer's film was extremely smooth and realistic. We wanted to mimic these transitions and cuts in our film. We believe it will not only make our film run smoother, but it will make it more tolerable to fully watch. From watching our peer's film, we also concluded that we need to make the shots we are trying to include more clear. To be more specific, in the film we were reviewing tried to incorporate an eye-line match but it wasn't really made effective because the transitions were so fast. In order to fully emphasize what was being revealed, they could have zoomed in on it or let the shot run a little longer. This would have ensured that the audience was fully engaged in their film (this goes the other way too, meaning it applies to our group's film as well).
          From peer reviewing, I also learned that a strong and suitable introductory sound track is very important to an audience's perception of your film. In my peer's film, they introduced the characters in the beginning with this soothing music in the background. This made the beginning of the film appealing and therefore also made my group and I want to keep watching it. In order to make sure this same effect is created in our film, we have to decide upon a strong sound track. Since our film is thriller, we want to make sure the music we embed in our film evokes the fear and suspense that most thrillers create. Not only this but, our film starts off with a boy who is more than excited to see his biological mom (after 15 years). If we make a contrast between the music in the beginning of the film to when he finds out his mom is "dead", this could effectively create a tonal shift in our film. This will help build upon our genre because it will intensify our film's suspense. This contrast in music will also create two different feels to the movie. We want our audience to actually be engaged in our film (we don't want them watching it because they are simply forced to). Therefore, we will make sure we use these reflections to better improve our overall film.

Filming Blog: A Change in Plans

          Our plans to film on Wednesday were followed through. Every member of our group, including my neighbor, Nick, was able to show up and participate. We all went to my house together straight after school so it was extremely convenient. Upon entering my house, we realized that we didn't have someone to play the role of the old lady in our film. So, we started brainstorming a way to maintain the same conventions included in our genre with only two actors. We also changed the setting of our film. Instead of filming at my house, we are now filming at Nick's. We believed this will be easier for us since his house is bigger and is always illuminated by natural light. Although this meant that we had to re-film our first two scenes, it was ultimately worth it. This is because it would make our film better in the long run.
          Overall, we filmed about six scenes. Although they weren't all done chronologically, we made sure they were shot well enough to edit them together. Some shots we made sure we included were over the shoulder shots, a two-shot, a couple close ups, and a point of view shot. The over the shoulder shots and the the two shot were mainly used to illustrate conversation between Nick and I. The close ups and point of view shots were used to reveal specific characters as well as the setting of the film (Nick's house). Some shots and editing features that we need to include are an action match and an establishing shot. We plan to make the establishing shot at Nick's house. We also planned to create our action match in another way. Instead of pursuing the cup to knock idea, we decided to slightly change the ending of our film. Instead of the mom being dead, she is still alive which intensifies the dramatic irony asserted in our movie. We are going to use the action match to transition into the scene where we tell the audience she is still alive.

Filming Blog: Opening Scene

          Unfortunately, Amelia was unable to attend our first filming meeting as a group. This hindered how many scenes we could actually film (because we didn't have enough actors) and forced us to only be able to film the opening scene of our movie. Because we are now on a time crunch, we are planning to meet after school on Wednesday to finish filming. Hopefully all group members will be able to attend. Not only this, but we did not have a tripod or camera when we filmed on Saturday. This made it harder to incorporate some of the shots we wanted. However, we still made progress. For example, to film the point of view shot of our main character walking up to his grandmother's house, we wrapped two rubber bands around Thomas' phone and my head. Even though it was slightly difficult to get the phone situated at first, we were able to get the shots we needed. This was probably the hardest thing we did that day.
          To go more in depth about what happened on Saturday, it is important to note that Maya and Thomas were helping one another film while I was acting. I played the role of our movie's main character, Alex. Unfortunately, there were only two scenes that Alex played by himself in. Therefore, we were only able to complete a couple of scenes. In fact, because Amelia was not there, we asked my neighbor to take her place and play the uncle (instead of the aunt) of Alex. Considering these accommodations we made, I believe we were quite productive. We will also still be using my neighbor as an actor in our film. All we need to figure out now is who will be playing the grandma/old lady in our film. We are considering using my neighbor's mom or Thomas' grandma. We will have to further discuss this collectively to agree upon a median.

Filming Blog: My House

          Unfortunately, my group and I have yet to film. However, we are planning to film on Saturday at my house. Therefore, I am going to dedicate this blog to what my group and I are planning to do that day. This will include angles we would like to incorporate, back-up plans, and most importantly, the shots for specific scenes. I believe that even though we haven’t started filming, our final product will still come out how we want it. This is because I think we have prepared ourselves enough for this moment. I also think that we all have a good, general grasp of what we want our movie to look like. This is good because it will allow us to critique each other during the filming process. This will thus make less room for silly errors or mistakes in our final product. It will also speed up our re-filming process because we will already know what we need to make better or improve.
          To start, my and group and I will be splitting up our filming times. This is significant because this means we will not be filming everything this Saturday. We will only be filming the first five scenes. These five scene require all of us to be there. While Maya is going to be directing, Thomas, Amelia, and I will play the roles of the characters in our movie. To be honest, we don’t really have set acting roles because we made out actors flexible (based on gender, race, etc). Therefore, it doesn’t matter who plays who because we all know what is required of us if we are forced to play a character we don’t necessarily like or enjoy being. On the other hand, we don’t really have to worry about a set mis-en-scene or any unexpected obstacles. This is because we are filming at my house which will provide us with all the props, costumes, and lighting needed to effectively create our film. This in-house setting will also prevent any unplanned weather patterns to get in the way of our filming time.  I strongly believe our filming process with go smoothly because of all these factors.

Even if the weather channel is right and it rains on Saturday, this will not effect us because we will be filming inside anyway.

Planning: Storyboard

This is our storyboard for our final project. This year in AICE media studies was the first time our group was introduced to storyboarding. We have learned all about why they are important to a film. Storyboards help us plan our film ahead of time. Not only does it help with the planing aspect but the visual too. By having to draw every scene we think ahead. This helps us eliminate any issues we might run into for filming. This also helps our group work together. If one person visualizes a scene one way and everyone else is thinking something different then it could cause issues during filming. This way all of our group members are on the same page and we are ready to film.

Planning: Title Design

This is our title design for our final project. We decided to make a powerpoint and break up different aspect of our title design sequence to make it more organized. While allowing us to be more organized this also helps us plan ahead. By planning ahead we eliminate any mistakes we could have at the last minute and not be able to fix. We separated our design into font, color, spacing, and transitions. Using google slides also allows our plan to be easily shared with our group members. By using google slides we can also easily embed our slide into our blogs. We have easy access to our information and won’t lose our hard work. We did run into some problems while doing our title design powerpoint. But now those problems are resolved and my group has an idea and plan for what we will be doing for our final task.

Planning

This is the planning for the final project. In this power point my group and I go over the planning aspect to our final project. The power-point goes over; the locations that we will use. The music that will be playing and making sure that it cannot be copyrighted. The participants are labeled, positions such as the director, actors, filmer, and editors. It also covers health and safety in the film. Things such as how to prevent injuries and in the event of an injury what we should do. Our schedule is also detailed in the power-point. It is important for a schedule because of all the extra curricular that my group is involved in we need to organizer. That is what we discussed in the power-point.

Planning Blog: Sound Script

This is the sound script for final project.We separated our opening sequence by scene and indicated exactly what the audience will be hearing in each scene. We included the dialogue, voice over, any diegetic or non diegetic sound and the music heard in each scene. The importance of making a sound script is to ensure a smooth filming and editing experience. If we neglected this step in the planning process it would almost certainly result in error and many circumstances in which we would need to reshoot or re-edit. Due to a short time frame and a busy schedule we do not have the luxury of filming an abundance of reshoots or much time to re-edit. Another reason we do this is to organize our thoughts. Writing out the script for our opening sequence allows us to discuss wether we feel these sounds make sense in our movie and if the dialogue is clear and understandable for the audience. The sound is a major component in guiding the viewer in how to feel and portraying the emotions of the characters. For these reasons we found it necessary to write out our sound script before starting the filming process.

Planning Blog: Shooting Script

This is the shooting script for our project. This can also be used as the “directors script”. We created the shooting script as somewhat of a written form of our storyboard. We separated our opening sequence by scene and did a breakdown of what we will film. We included the camera angles, camera movement, shots, and a brief description of what the characters will be doing in each scene. The importance of making a shooting script is to ensure a smooth filming experience. If we neglected this step in the planning process it would almost certainly result in error and many circumstances in which we would need to reshoot. Due to a short time frame and a busy schedule we do not have the luxury of filming an abundance of reshoots. Another reason we do this is to organize our thoughts. Writing out the script for our opening sequence allows us to visualize what the opening sequence and make edits if we feel necessary.

Title Research: Trapped (Thriller)

Finally, I watched the opening sequence off Trapped from artofthetitle.com
How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? In the opening sequence, a total of 31 titles are shown. It ends with the creator of the movie and the title of the movie. Its duration is one minute

What images are prioritized in the opening sequence? The pictures in the title sequence are close-ups of dead bodies and the lethal wounds that led them to death. It also shows the location of the movie which is in the ocean due to the fact that the movie's setting is on a boat in the middle of nowhere.

What connotations do the images carry? The pictures are shown to tell the viewer how the movie is going to go. It does this by displaying these images that consist of foreshadowing and setting. It uses graphic and action matches to switch between the 2 types of images, in turn, making the titles more exciting.

How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? The thriller genre is reinforced here by the suspense within the images. It also alludes to the genre being a thriller by showing a dead body but not the killer leading the viewer to create suspense in the story and make it more exciting.

How does the film establish an enigma from the outset? The outset in the film is used to set up a kind of tension or surprise inside the viewer's mind. As well as giving the target audience these interesting images without rationalization. This tactic makes the viewer need more and end up extra invested in the film.

What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience? What was said previously also applies here. It leaves the viewer with questions that could only be fulfilled in time within the movie. It appeals because the target market would be thriller/mystery fanatics and how they continually want to solve what's happening earlier than the film suggests it. To do this you have to be absolutely attentive towards the movie. This is why the strategy is so effective.

How has technology been used effectively? There were many different technologies used. These consist of low lighting, ominous music, close-ups, establishing shots, action matches, and graphic matches. The low lighting and ominous music add to the mysterious tone of the movie which also helps the thrilling side. It makes use of close-ups when it is displaying the body parts of the dead body. It makes use of establishing shots to expose that the setting is in the ocean. It uses the graphic/action matches to interchange between the establishing shots and close-ups.

Title Research: Skyfall (Thriller)

With the intentions of learning more about the genre we will be filming about I decided to to watch and study another film. The film I have chosen is Skyfall. I chose this film because of its unique filming techniques that really grasp the audience. I'm using www.artofthetitle.com. to help research the film.
How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?
32 titles were displayed in the opening sequence.
What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?
The images displayed in the opening sequence are clips of the main character drowning.
What connotations do the images carry?
These images in the opening sequence connote that maybe the main character has lost his touch and is not as good as he was.
How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
The film shows guns and graves which hints towards death in the film which adds to the thriller in the movie.
How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
The film provides the audience with clips of the main character dying which makes the audience question if it is the last movie.
What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?
The directors' used strategies that are dark and gloomy to make the audience have a sense of anticipation.
How has technology been used effectively? (camera angles, transitions editing techniques)
The opening scene is made up of clips of the main character. They have a subtle fade editing from clip to clip which adds to the tone.

Title Research: Godzilla: Final Wars (Thriller)

To further my genre research, I watched another movie opening from my genre. The movie opening was from the movie “Godzilla: Final Wars”. I watched it on the website www.watchthetitles.com.

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?
During the opening sequences of the film 20 titles are displayed.
What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?
Images that are prioritized in the opening sequence is a nuclear blast, Godzilla destroying buildings and things, and Japanese people and police being terrified of this monster.
What connotations do the images carry?
These images connote Godzilla’s metaphorical significance. The first image of a nuclear blast represents how the Japanese are as scared of a large dragon with atomic breath and they are of an atomic bomb.
How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
The genre is reinforced because the outset establishes tones that are found in the thriller genre. By seeing images of people running scared, we know the movie is a thriller filled with suspension and action.
How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
The outset establishes and enigma by using jump cuts and showing partial clips. In the outset we only see people running and screaming. We know it is from Godzilla but it leaves the audience with an enigma of “how did Godzilla escape?” “is Godzilla defeated?”
What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?
Strategies the film uses to appeal to its target audience is keeping main characters, having the same score/theme song, and franchising. This movie is one of the Godzilla franchise which means that they kept their target audience by franchising and giving the audience the same content just in continued movies.
How has technology been used effectively? (camera angles, transitions editing techniques)
Technology has been used effectively throughout this entire film. It is mostly used through editing. Godzilla doesn’t exist and they edited a big monster which is the antagonist of the film. The editors edit buildings being destroyed and fire coming out of its mouth.

Title Research: Code 8 (Thriller)

To further my genre research, I watched some movie openings from my genre. I watched the opening of the movie Code 8 from www.artofthetitle.com.
How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?
32 titles were displayed in the opening sequence.
What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?
The images displayed in the opening sequence are clips from news articles and broadcasts.
What connotations do the images carry?
These images in the opening sequence connote wicked and powerful effects of science and technology on society.
How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
The opening of this film shows very alarming media broadcasts this allows the viewer to pick up on the thrilling aspect of the movie. Also, the way the media broadcasts are displayed as glitchy contributes to the suspense of the opening scene.
How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
The film provides the audience with small clips of the main conflict in the movie but cuts to the next clip before the viewer can discover the cause or outcome.
What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?
The directors' used strategies such as a feeling of suspense and the use of social media to draw in younger audiences.
How has technology been used effectively? (camera angles, transitions editing techniques)
The opening scene is made up of clips so the director used technology to ensure the clips were properly edited together and in a way that would provide a feeling of suspense. In addition, the clips were edited to have a glitch effect which would also help the viewer feel on edge which is the effect the director is going for.

Title Research: artofthetitle.com

In order to understand more about our genre and films in general our teachers assigned us a task. To research the titles used in films of our genre. In order to do this my group and I will be using a website call www.artofthetitle.com. What this website does is takes a movie that you searched and shows you the titles.
The reason our teachers have assigned us to do this is for our benefit. In researching titles we further understand the elements that go into our genre, thriller. My group and I now understands the components needed to a good title transition in a movie. For a typical thriller movie, the titles will happen just before something extremely important. The reason for this is to leave the audience on a cliff hanger so that they stay engaged even though they now have to go through the not so engaging titles.
However, having said that the titles are boring, film producers are constantly trying to make the titles more engaging. They are accomplishing this by having titles that have a meaning to the movie. In many thriller titles the film will show something of significance in the background. Whether that be the main character of the antagonist it keeps the audience guessing and engaged even though titles are going on.
So overall, the title slides are very important because they give credit and also illude to the theme of the film. That is why it is important that we research them and use the tricks the pros use when we film our short movie.

Title Research: watch the titles.com

To further research movie openings related to our genre, we took the time to look through the webiste, "www.watchthetitles.com." Our teachers told us that this website consists of several movie openings from a variety of genres. They said hat it would give us a great idea of how we want to begin our final project.
          Our main goal in researching is to end up resembling one of these famous movies' openings into our final product. If we take the time to assess both the pros and cons of each film's openings, we can definitely find a way to incorporate these movies'  best features into our project. This will not only help us perfect our final project, but it will make our movie opening more appealing to those who view it.
          After watching a few openings from the thriller genre (our genre), I realized that both title fonts and music help set the mood for the movie depending on what genre its categorized in and what its theme/message is. In fact, because of genre is thriller, we want the components of our opening o resemble the elements of our genre. This includes suspense, tension, and excitement.
          Special effects are also important in a movies' opening, especially one associated with the thriller genre. After watching more thriller openings, we realized that effects play a big part in making openings more appealing/attractive. Openings that incorporated more editing seemed to look like they would be better than those who didn't at all or not as much. It would not only help us set the mood for our opening but to attract larger, more diverse audiences.
          Overall, this website gave us a general idea of how we should structure our opening and what elements we should focus on. Surprisingly, it also reminded us that the credits are also a major part of properly/professionally ending an

opening/trailer.

Genre Research: Split

The next movie I watched was Split. Split is a psychological thriller that is about three teenage girls who get kidnapped by a man with Dissociative Identity Disorder. This means he has 23 different personalities and the viewer is constantly in suspense of who he is and what he is going to do. Some common camera angles are the low angle, high angle, close ups, long shots, and establishing shots. The low angles are used when looking at the kidnapped girls. The high angles are used when looking up at the antagonist named Kevin. This establishes a sense of dominance. The establishing shot isn’t until the end of this movie. When one of the girls is rescued the shot shows her walking out and being surrounded by animals. This establishes that she was being held captive in the maintenance area of a Zoo for the entire movie.
Common camera movements in this film are zoom, fade in, tracking shots, and jump cuts. When the girls are first abducted it fades in into a shot where it shows the room they are being kept in. The tracking shots and zoom are used in action scenes where they are trying to escape. Jump cuts are used throughout the film. The sharp jump cuts add to the suspense of the movie. Common sounds in this movie are non diegetic sound, sound bridge, incidental music, and dialogue. Non diegetic sound is used a lot in this film. It is used when the are kidnapped and they scream for help. A sound bridge is used when one girl finally escapes and the music gets louder and she nears freedom. Incidental music is used for many scenes in the film where the beat and music matches whats happening and increases anticipation and tension.
The Mis en Scene in this film helps make it more enjoyable for the reader and adds to the authenticity. The costumes are regular modern street wear. As the film progresses the customers get dirtier; one example of this is when one girl pees herself. The costumes also change as Kevin changes personalities. The lighting in this film is low when they are in captivity but get brighter when they are saved and outside. The actors are young teenagers who are abducted by one man who plays 23 different personalities. The makeup starts off minimal but towards the end of the movie it turns into special effects makeup as some of the girls are killed. The props include murder weapons like knives that are commonly found in thriller movies. Elements of a thriller movie include suspense, tension, anticipation, surprise, anxiety, terror, drama, and action. I enjoy the drama, suspense, and anticipation of the girls being rescued. I didn’t like the suspense, tension, or action that the movie had throughout.

Final Task Genre

We finally narrowed down our choices to one genre for our film; we chose the thriller genre. We chose this genre for many different reasons. One of them being we think our audience will like it more. When looking at audience sizes from different genres thriller has the biggest. Genres like horror might be much for certain viewers. Genres like animated have younger audiences. The thriller genre however, engages audiences from all ages and keeps the film suspenseful and action filled.

Genre Research: Get Out

The second movie that I chose to study is "Get Out". I Chose get out because of its unique aspect on a thriller. To further inspect how it uses the thriller genre I decided to research the movie using CLAMPS. CLAMPS stands for camera angles, lighting, actors, makeup, props, and setting.

Camera angles- In "Get Out", there are a variety of types of camera angles. However, the most commonly used camera angles are a lot of close up shots. The reason for these close up shots is to limit the audiences perspective. This leaves more unknown areas making the movie more scary.
Lighting- The lighting in this film was bright. But it was bight with a strong dark contrast. That makes the movie more eerie. Which in turn makes the movie more like a thriller because the audience gets the sense that something is not right.
Actors- The actors in "Get Out" were majority white except for the main character who was black. The difference in skin color gives an intruding feeling. That feeling again hints to something being off in the film. Which further adds to the scare factor.
Makeup- The makeup is not that noticeable in the movie. Leading me to believe that they didn't use any that is out of the ordinary. That makes unorthodox compared to a typical horror film which normally uses a lot of makeup.
Props- The props in this film are everyday house hold items. Which allows the movie to hit close to home. Making it even more scary.  The costumes in "Get Out" are average white clothing. This helps power one of the underlining themes of racism because the main character who is black seems out of place.
Setting- The setting in this movie is in an average white suburban neighborhood. This also gives an intruding feeling being that the main character is black.

Genre Research: Bird Box

To get a more in-depth understanding of the genre of my film, I decided to watch some movies that fall under this genre. The first movie is Bird Box.
Throughout the film, the director used a variety of camera angles most common were a high angle, close up and long shot. As far as camera movement the film included an abundance of pans, tracking shots and zooms. The mis en scene in this movie is what really ties it all together.
Costumes - The costumes of this movie start off as normal everyday clothes, however as time goes on in the “post apocalyptic” world their clothing becomes tattered, worn and dirty.
Lighting - The lighting of this film was mostly dim throughout the film, this is partially due to the fact that the plot of the film is not being able to see. However, the dim lighting adds to the eerie feeling the viewer gets throughout the movie.
Actors - The actors were in my opinion the most important part of this movie, because we never directly saw the monster of this movie we had to rely on the emotion displayed by the actors so get a sense of the affect this monster had on people. The feeling the viewer gets from this movie would not be the same if the actors could not portray this emotion efficiently.
Makeup - Similar to the costumes the makeup is very basic and natural, however as the movie goes on and the characters obtain wounds and are deprived of showers the makeup changes from everyday to dirty and special effect wound makeup.
Props - The most recognizable prop from this film is the blindfolds used by the characters to protect them from the monster. In addition to blindfolds the characters utilize basic survival props while occasionally yielding weapons.
Setting - The setting of the movie changed throughout however the characters were always in a dimly lit sheltered areas whether is was the house in the beginning or the shed in the woods towards the end.
The sound of this movie was very similar to what you would find in a horror movie. For example indistinct whispers and eerie music. Additionally, the dialogue is limited and when they do speak it is low to avoid exposure. What I liked about the film is how well the actors could portray the fear and the effect of the monster, without this component I do not think this movie would have been so successful in impacting my emotions. What I disliked about this film is the “incomplete” story line, while I know this is not directly connected to the way the movie was filmed it was something I found unfulfilling. Although the idea of the movie was intriguing the plot holes (for example the outcome of all the other characters) left me unsatisfied. Overall, this movie gave me a good idea of what to expect in this genre.

Genre Research: Thriller and Horror

Thrillers are a common used genre in the modern filming industry. That is because of the suspense that they generate grasping the audiences attention. So, this blog will be about what common editing techniques and mis en sene is used to generate a good thriller. First off, thrillers are usually long clips and don’t have many cuts in them. The purpose of that is to captivate the audience’s attention and draw suspense. A prime example of this would be the new thriller “1917”. In this movie there is only one jump cut used. The purpose of this is to bring the audience into the main characters point of view making all of the horrors and heroics that happen in the movie seem more understandable and real-life. Thriller films also have specific mis en sene. In thrillers, most of the props and costumes worn are every day materials. The purpose of that is to make the movie seem more real life. So by using everyday clothing and props the thriller genre becomes more interesting because the audience can relate to the main character. So, that is overall what makes a thriller a good movie Because horror films are very popular amongst our age group, we decided to research this genre first. In literature, horror is one of the many fictitious genres whose purpose is to create feelings of fear, dread, repulsion, and terror in the audience. Horror feeds on the audience’s deepest terrors by putting life’s most frightening and perplexing things (death, evil, supernatural powers or creatures, the afterlife, witchcraft) at the center of attention.
           To go further, there are five key elements in the horror genre. The first is foreshadowing. It is what build up anticipation for the viewer. The second is fear. There is nothing more to say other than it is the driving force behind the story/ purpose of the film. The third is suspense. It builds upon the fear elements with the constant unknowingness of what is going to happen. The fourth is mystery. This is important because it leaves the viewer thinking about what they just saw. The last, but not least important element is imagination. This intensifies the terror associated in horror films by making the audience used their heads.
          To be completely honest, I don’t have a problem with horror movies. The “scary” aspect doesn’t really affect me at all. However, sometimes horror films are a little much. The unrealistically of some horror movies makes them less enjoyable to watch, for me at least. Here are some camera angles, movements, and shots that are typically used in the making of horror films:
High angle: these kinds of shots are used in horror movies to make the figure or object that is being looked down upon seem completely powerless or vulnerable.
Close ups in horror films are mainly used to reveal certain characters emotions in important scenes.
Tracking shot/ pan: used very effectively in horror films to establish a scenario where a character that is being followed or watched.
Titled Angle/ Candid/ Dutch: add dramatic tension to shots as well as signify the presence of a supernatural being.
Long Shots: used in many horror films, typically to establish the movie’s setting (where everything “scary” is going to happen).
Low angle: effective in horror films because they emphasize how intimidating or scary a villain is.
Zoom: adds dramatic effect to horror films by intensifying the genre’s elements of fear and suspense. This is because you don’t know what u might see next.
          Here is mis-en-scene that is usually associated with the horror genre:
Costumes: The costumes associated with a horror film determine it’s style. The also help to  identify the antagonist of the movie.
Lighting: The lighting in horror movies is usually dark and atmospheric. This is used to create an effective setting and surrounding for a common jumping scare. d
Actors: Just like costumes, the actors in horror films helps the audience remember the name of movie by the face of that specific character.
Make-Up: In some cases, the make-up of horror characters help to make them look more scary/intimidating.
Props: These can range in horror films, based on its style. Common props are weapons (like knives, machetes, etc) and spiritual artifacts.
Setting: The setting of a horror film is usually made to be isolated to make for its tense, fearful, and suspenseful atmosphere.
Common editing found in horror films:
Cutaway: shows character’s reactions to the situations they are facing.
Jump cut: allowing the passage of time to show whilst also sometimes using it to scare the audience.
Fade to black: gives off a mysterious and intense feeling.
Elliptical editing: cuts out the unnecessary parts of journeys or actions to keep the audience gripped and on the edge of their seats.
Common sound found in horror films:
Sound effects are used to build tension. Common sound effects used in horror films are footsteps, doors and floorboards creaking, and wind.
Loud, slow building music can help to keep the audience on their seats.
Loud fast music can help to scare the audience.
Lack of sound/ music can help to create an uneasy feeling amongst the audience.