Genre research; Hereditary

  In order to get a better understanding of the genre that we chose, my group and I watched and evaluated a couple of horror films. One of movies that my group and I researched for our project was the 2018 horror movie Hereditary. Directed by Ari Aster, Hereditary follows a grieving family being haunted by tragic and disturbing occurrences. The reason we chose this movie was because Hereditary was one of the highest grossing horror movies of 2018 and was one of A24s most successful films. We noticed a variety of camera shots, angles, and movements throughout the film. For angles, there were eye-level angles, low and high angles, and oblique angles. The movie also used a variety of movements such as zooms, tracking shots, tilts and pans. The shots used in the movie were long shots, three shots and medium shots. Many times, throughout the film were close-ups and two shots used. Over the shoulder shots were used quite often during conversation scenes.
Hereditary also had a very interesting mis en scene. The costumes were regular street clothes and didn’t really stand out too much. The lighting in the movie started out bright in the beginning of the movie because many of the scenes were shot in the daytime but by the final act, the lighting was very dark, and it was almost hard to see. The acting was great in the movie. There were some very great and impactful monologues and the actors and actresses did a very good job at showing their grief. The make-up in the film was pretty plain and didn’t make much of an impact unless an injury was shown. The injuries that were created in this film were very bloody and gruesome. The make-up was also very well done and the injuries that were displayed in the film looked very real. There were many props used throughout the movie, the most important props were the dollhouses that the main protagonist creates that help to tell part of the story and a journal that helped to establish a malevolent entity. The settings were pretty basic. The movie took place in a house, a high school, a treehouse, and a couple of other less relevant locations such as a craft store. The main sound used in the film was dialogue but there were also a couple of other sounds. The movie had an amazing original score which made for a more impactful ending. A couple of non-diegetic sounds played throughout the movie such as the quiet mouth clicking noise that would occasionally be played as well as the sound of injuries being created or messed with. There was incidental music and ambient music played and, in some scenes, there was no sound at all which helped to heighten tensions.
The movie followed many of the common horror movie elements but also had a lot of original elements of its own. The movie followed the element of an evil force arriving to a family. The movie also had a fair amount of violence and tension throughout its run-time. Hereditary did an excellent job at provoking fear and creating an unsettling tone. An element of the movie that I did enjoy was the that the film kept a consistent tone throughout its runtime and I really liked that the movie didn’t and rely on jump-scares to create the feeling of fear and relied on the actual plot to create that feeling. The elements that I didn’t like in the movie was the violence. There was a lot of violence in the movie which is okay but a lot of it seemed unnecessary and prolonged. Overall, I think that this was a great horror movie and helped me to understand how to make a movie fall into the horror genre.

Horror and Action Genre Research

    Hello, for the next part of our movie project process is to research two more genres that are different from our first project. Our group decided on Action and Horror.
   Action just like any other genre has common lightnings, camera angles, mis en scenes, editing, and sound. In action films lots of accent lighting is used to enhance certain scenes and the mood intended for that particular scene. Some common situations for the lighting in the beginning of the movie is low lightning with shadowing. Then as the movie picks up to more action packed shots the lightning becomes brighter in cases of victory or back to gloomy in times of loss. Common camera angles in action movies include high angles to show superiority or low angles to show inferiority. Tilts, aerial shots, over the shoulder shot, establishing, and medium close ups are also common. Action genre films also have tend to have common sounds such as ambient background sounds like explosions or lots of digetic and non-digetic sounds. Sounds from vehicles is present in a lot of action movies and of course dialogue. Common Mis En Scene can be shown through the abbreviation C.L.A.M.P.S. C for costumes has a very wide spectrum that could go from gowns and tuxes in a film like James Bond to superhero costumes in the Avengers. L for lightening is usually correlated with tone so it could be bright or low. A for actors is people from all genders, ethnics, and nationality. Makeup usually isn't too dramatic and a lot of times used to show cuts or a rugged look. P for props in action films could be cars, weapons, or practically anything retaining to the plot. Setting is also very vague, they could be shot anywhere but the location is usually established very quickly and states when it changes. Common editing techniques used in the genre Action consist of jump shots, flashbacks, etc. 
   Action is a very big genre in film. Many of the films in this genre have very similar elements. The elements for an action film include high impacts, continuous high energy, lots of physical stunts and activity, and many times there are extended chase scenes, fights, escapes, and races. Action films also have a lot of non-stop motion and great rhythm and pacing in order to keep the audience entertained. Action films also have great potential to cross-over into other genres of film such as: Science fiction, thriller, crime, and westerns. Many times in action films there is usually some type of love interest between the protagonist and another character. Another character element in action films is that the hero seems to always have some dark and depressing backstory. Action films will always have the main protagonist struggling against some kind of life-threatening situation such as facing an evil super villain, trapped in a deadly scenario, or in a dangerous chase but in the end, the hero always wins. A couple examples of action films that display many of these elements are: John Wick (2014), Spectre (2015), Mission Impossible-Fallout (2018), and Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014). Within these elements I really like the overly dramatic fight scenes as well as the prolonged chase sequences. I find these elements to be very entertaining and fun to watch. However, I don’t really like some of the character and plot elements of actions films like the love interest or the dark backstory. I find these elements to be very cliché and overdone.
   The next genre we are going to look at is horror. The horror genre like many others have common camera angles, movements and shots, common lighting, mis en scene, editing and sound. The most common camera angles seen in this genre are high angles to show superiority, dutch angle to give the feeling of tension and to show that somethings wrong, and low angles to show inferiority. Some common camera shots and movements are long shots, close up, zooms, point of view shots, tracking and pan shots, over the shoulder, wide shot, establishing shot just to name a few. For lighting, some common scenes are introduced with dark lighting to emphasize the feeling that something is going to happen, usually something that's not good. As the movie progresses there are usually some scenes that are more brightly lit to break up the feeling of suspense and horror. Which are then followed by the darkened scenes which radiate the feeling of horror. Horror genre film also have common sounds such as non diegetic sound, usually the eerie sounds that the viewers hear when somethings about to happen. Also diegetic sound,dialogue, ambient sounds, incidental sounds and internal diegetic. Common Mis en scene can be shown through the abbreviation C.L.A.M.P.S. C for costumes has a very big spectrum. Usually the costumes can consist of normal clothing normally seen in movies like Annabelle and Scary stories. Along with normal clothing some more obscure costumes can be used for the antagonist of the movie like in movies like the Scream trilogy. L for lighting is usually connected to the tone of the movie usually it’s dark lighting to make the feeling of horror. A for actors  can be anyone, any gender, ethnicity, nationality. M for makeup can be anything. In some movies like  Scary stories  they use effects makeup or normal every day makeup. P for props can be anything from a knife to a stick. S the setting can be anywhere any location. Common editing techniques used in this genre are flashbacks, cut always, fade in/out, shot reverse shot, action match, jump cut etc.
  Horror is a very big genre in film and a lot of the films have very similar elements. The elements in a horror film are designed to frighten and panic, cause dread and alarm, and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale. While captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience. Horror films effectively center on the dark side of life the forbidden, and strange and alarming events. They deal with our most primal nature and it’s fears:our nightmares, our vulnerability, our alienation, our revulsion, our terror of the unknown, our fear of death and dismemberment, or loss of identity. Horror films are often combined with science fiction when the menace or monster is related to a corruption of technology, or when earth is threatened by aliens. A couple examples of horror films that show these elements are: It (2017),  The ring (2002), The Blair Witch Project (1999), The Wolf Man (2010), and Insidious (2010). Within these elements I really like the jump scares they add into these horror films, I also like the monsters they create. However I don’t like it when different horror films have the same story line I think that it’s annoying.

Genre research; IT

  Hello! The next step in my genre research is to watch and breakdown a film in our genre. Since my genre is horror I chose the movie IT which came out in 2017 and is by Stephen King. This film just like any other has it's own conventions, mis en scene, and elements. The elements for this film would include 8 main characters: Richie, It, Bill, Beverly, Eddie, Stanley, and Ben. The main element in this horror film is eliciting fear. The film incorporates suspense and mystery as well. Violence and pop outs as well is pretty common in this film. And at times a moment of silence to signify something is about to happen. I enjoy the pop outs and the mystery because I feel as though it draws me more into the movie. However, the violence is probably one of my least favorite elements of this movie, luckily there wasn't that much. Most of the fear provoking scenes were done through more creepy than violent visuals. Some common camera angles in this film are lots of eye levels, over the shoulder, low angle, and high angle. Some common editing in IT is flashbacks of Georgie, jump cuts from character to character, it has a high pace editing which creates a sense of urgency for the conflict of the killer clown to be resolved. Cut aways were also shown a  lot so that the viewer could see the characters reaction. For sound, the main of course was dialogue but the creators of this piece also put in background music in some parts to help build tension. Digetic sound was shown a lot such as from stepping in nature, rain water, or wind. But non-digetic was common too, particularly from the sounds made from the villain. IT's mis en scene can be organized through the abbreviation C.L.A.M.P.S. C for costumes. The wardrobe in this film is 80s inspired clothing for all of the characters. The clown , IT, costume was a huge white classic circus inspired costume with matching boots. The lightning in this film is overall low and gloomy which helps build the mood of eeriness. The actors are a group of teenagers who all live in the same town and a man who plays the part of the demon clown. Parents of the children are briefly shown as well. Makeup is only dramatic for IT seeing as though he is the monster clown so he needs that extra effect from makeup while the majority of the characters not really. A main prop used in this film and is known as a type of signature is a single red balloon. Finally, this horror is set in Derry, Maine.

We decided!

  Hello! My group and I have confidently made the decision to do our 2 min movie project on the genre Horror! We took time to research 3 different genres. Which were war, action, and horror. We dissected each of them and looked into how each of them are produced and were most drawn to horror. We believe doing horror will allow for us to be most creative. We just overall love watching the genre and want to create something as good as we've seen from other creators. We have a pretty clear set plan of the plot we want to do. I'm very excited to the next stages of this project.

First Genre Project

 

Hello! This is the PowerPoint that me and my group were assigned to do on the genre War. We were not allowed to choose which one we researched however I think I learned a lot about a genre I usually do not watch. We had to research different mis en scenes like common lighting and camera angles, along with common movement. In War movies there is a lot of gloomy lighting and wide shots. Then we researched the different elements of the genre and listed some that we favored and disliked. We also included some example films such as Dunkirk and Pearl Harbor. 

Final Task Pitch

  Hello, these past  past few days me and my group have generated three different pitch ideas for our final task for our media studies class.  Not only did we have to come up with a simple patch but also have a whole plot plan out in our heads for each of them.  We knew we wanted to  work in the horror genre because we thought it would be the most interesting to create and thought we would have the most creative and original ideas for it.  We started off with some basic ideas and each of us chimed in to add in more details to make our pictures better and narrowed it down to two. The first being
about a character who has a dream in a POV perspective of different horrible events  and the last shot being of somebody who killed someone and them with blood all over them and then later after the person has woken up someone such as their mom quotes something exactly from the dream.  Our second option would have been a murder mystery which would be about a group of friends who were all together and realize that a friend was missing and when they went to go find the friend they were murdered and left with a note that had a clue of how it happened and the group of friends go on a journey to figure out what happened and who killed the friend.
   The first pitch is what me and my group decided on. We feel as though this would be the best option and best pitch for this assignment. We think we can incorporate a lot more diverse angle shots through this pitch and also use different editing techniques. We also thought that this idea was more creative and would be a lot more fun to direct and shoot.  Another reason why we thought this would be a good idea is that there aren’t that many movies that have a similar plot so ours would be more original.  There’s a lot of different ways that we can take this pitch and if we were to create the full thing throw in surprises and thrilling moments. Within just two minutes we feel as though we could accomplish in an intriguing piece of film that would want an audience to go out and watch the full movie.
      The second pitch about the murder mystery we believe definitely has a lot of potential and would make for a great and interesting film.  Things like murder mysteries definitely keep the audience super engaged and feel like they’re apart of the movie which is important. We think if we did this one it would be super cool to create. My group and I have many ideas for this pitch that can make it different from the rest We still like the dream pitch a lot, however we think it would be hard for us to create the opening for this pitch without giving too much away. we also think that this movie is a little to similar to some other horror movies that we have scene.
   Overall, my group and I are very excited to begin planning for our first pitch about the horrifying mystery tale about a group of friends.  This pitch opens up many doors for us and gives us many opportunities to throw in whatever we want with different lighting and moods and camera shots and editing and whatever else we want to do.

Starting the Final Task

   Hello I’m Alex and I’m now in my second semester of being in my AICE Media class. My group, which has been consistent of myself, Avalon, Morgan, and Jake have already grown as media students by experiencing working on our past two projects. I’m very excited to now begin the the next one. We have to create the opening of an original movie, which sounds like it’s going to be very fun to create. It’s going to be different than anything I’ve worked on before but I can’t wait to start the first steps of the project. AICE Media is one of three AICE classes that I am taking this year and is by far my favorite. It’s such a creative space where I get to work on really interesting assignments and create pieces of film instead of boring book work. I find the field of Media extremely intriguing and could definitely see myself doing something relating to Media. I’ve was interesting in editing for a while and recently got into videography for concerts. Which if I got serious about, having taken media would be very useful.
   Through the past 18 weeks I’ve learned so much and my knowledge about media in general has expanded a lot. Going into the class I didn’t know much more than the average. I’ve learned lots of important terms used in the business. Such as different type of angles and shots. I learned about mis en scene and how to point the different parts just by watching an extract. I learned about synergy and different techniques media companies use to get their products out and successful. I’ve also learned more about editing effects and how they are achieved. I’m eager to learn more about editing and different ways to edit to make my projects even better. Through being in this class and creating my group’s commercial and music video I also learned a lot about what it means and how it feels to direct. I loved directing and be able to make a vision into a reality. I cant wait to gain more talents in media as the year goes on.
  For this final task, the opening of a movie, my group needs to present a pitch. A pitch is a Hollywood term used to describe an idea where a film is encapsulated in 25 words or less. We came up with three different pitches. Our first pitch is a movie about a women walking out of the mall into the parking garage and walks past a car and sees a girl inside that was kidnapped and gory looking and goes over to see if she’s okay and attempts to call for 911 when the killer comes up behind to take her as well. Our second pitch is about someone who has a horrific dream about bad things happening and wakes up to realize that they will actually begin to start happening. Our third and last pitch is a classic murder mystery about someone who is killed a group of their friends find a clue and begin a journey to figure out who did it. We kept them in same genre of horror because we believed it would be easiest and the most fun.