AICE Media Studies Blog

Saturday, February 22, 2020

Thinking and more Thinking

As my partner and I further discussed our idea, we found some minor issues in certain parts. The main thing is finding a person to act out a sense of grief in our film opening, and be able to do it well. The people we could probably find to do the job are people who are familiar with acting, such as students in the drama or theatre class. My partner and I would most likely have to scout for this talent through a casting call, or asking certain people who are or may know someone right for the job. This person would have to be able to act this extremely well, or the message will not be completely conveyed, and can be misinterpreted by the viewer, which we do not want to happen. Though, we would still want this idea to work, and are gonna find a way to accomplish it to the best of our abilities.

In our scene, we are planning to use flashbacks into the main characters life to provide a sense of context of the situation that the main character is going through. To do that, we wanted to explore types of editing options that make this possible. My partner had gotten an editing service called Adobe Pro, and we were contemplating on learning how to use it. Though, we quickly realized that learning something like Adobe Pro would be very time consuming, and not completely necessary as both my partner and I are experienced in using WeVideo, through the projects with have done throughout the year in this class. Some of these features we are planning to use are the fade in and out techniques, to transition the shot from a present to a past event. Also, we are planning to use some distinct cuts between scenes of present to past, and back to present, to allude to some of the seriousness and solemn feelings that the main character may be facing due to the loss of her friend. With WeVideo, my partner and I are able to have multiple places to put video and audio, and be able to see both at the same time while editing, to ultimately create a product that portrays the intended message and events the way we wanted too. I will be doing some research on openings that tackle the emotion of grief, to get a better understanding of how it is portrayed through shot composition, lighting, editing, and mise- en- scene. This will help to finalize our idea, and be able to continue with our storyboard.

Thursday, February 20, 2020

Deciding the Idea

In the last couple of days, my partner Colin and I were coming up with a variety of ideas, but today have settled on one. Our film opening idea deals with the loss of a friend. The general outline of the opening would deal with the main character in the deceased friends room, looking at her belongings, which prompts certain flashbacks. Afterwards, the main character begins to feel guilt, with the scene ending with a scream, crash, or loud sound, to symbolize the event that occured that caused the loss of the friend.

Some things to consider first are the set location and the actors. The location would take place in a girls bedroom, with momentos such as numerous photos, jewelry, pictures, and other things to establish who the “friend” was, who I imagine was a typical teenager with things reflecting the trends apparent at the time. Moreover, the set would involve something that both the friend and the main character had, as an example to add to the beginning parts of the film opening. In the case of actors, we were thinking of doing a casting call at our school to find potential actors for the opening. This would happen sometime in the next couple of weeks, but my partner and I are working on a more final schedule to post by the end of the week.

The next posts will involve the storyboard of the opening, and any specific concept in the opening that we want to discuss or portray in a certain way.

Monday, February 17, 2020

Film Openings and Reflection

Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

The opening consists of the main character, Mildred, driving in her car. She sees three billboards, observes all of them, and continues to drive off. The main element of the opening is the sound, which consists of a high operatic sound. The sound in the background sets the scene for the conflict that would happen afterwards. The operatic sound establishes a sense of fantasy, paired with the main characters inquisitiveness of the billboards. The opening provides a sense

12 Angry Men

The plot of the movie involves a jury of 12 men deciding if the 18 year old defendant is guilty of a crime or not. The scene transitions from the courtroom to the deliberation room, where the majority of the movie continues to progress. The opening consists of certain set elements that contribute to the plot and tone of the piece. One of the main ones is the setup of the courtroom, which has the sharp lines and wooden exterior separating all parts of the room. This provides context to the story, and contributes to the feelings of anxiety and seriousness, as the jurors have an important job on their hands.

Jaws

The opening of Jaws involves two people running to the ocean to go for a swim late and night. The girl jumps into the water as the guy is catching up with her. She swims, and suddenly finds herself bit by the shark, and eventually is pulled into the water. This opening scene uses silence as a way to contrast the shark attack from the normal things going on above water. Moreover, it contributes to the feeling of fear, as a potential shark attack can happen at any given moment. The element of surprise of these shark attacks brings anticipation and continued fear in the viewer, as the plot of the story is going to evolve and devolve through the main conflict, the shark. From these film openings, I learned how important sound is to a production. Having the right sound, whether diagetic or non- diagetic, could be the difference from a great drama or a misunderstood story. Moreover, I realized how important set design is, and how it can evoke a certain tone or feeling, just as much as sounds or the acting occuring. Sources Salazar, David. “Opera Meets Film: Renée Fleming's Appearance in 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri' More Than Meets the Eye.” Opera Wire Opera Meets Film Rene Flemings Appearance in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri More Than Meets the Eye Comments, OperaWire, 17 Feb. 2020, operawire.com/opera-meets-film-renee-flemings-appearance-in-three-billboards-outside-ebbing-missouri-more-than-meets-the-eye/. ScreenPrism. “ScreenPrism.” How Does "12 Angry Men" Use Cinematography to Build Tension during the Film, ScreenPrism, LLC, 20 Oct. 2015, screenprism.com/insights/article/how-does-12-angry-men-use-cinematography-to-build-tension-during-the-film. Drama.” The Script Lab, A Red Ampersand Company, 15 Mar. 2011, thescriptlab.com/screenplay/genre/952-drama/. Dirks, Tim. “Drama Films.” Drama Films, AMC Network Entertainment, LLC, 17. Feb. 2020, www.filmsite.org/dramafilms.html.

Saturday, February 15, 2020

Picking our Genre: Drama

After doing some thinking and discussion, my partner Colin and I decided to do a film opening under the genre of drama. We really wanted to explore the processes of developing emotions of a character, and how the excess and lack of sound can contribute to the progression of a certain tone or meaning to our film opening.

By definition, the word drama means an exciting or unsuspecting series of circumstances or events. In the context of film, drama involves characters that go through an evolution of emotion, due to certain events or changes in their life. These certain events can be character driven, like a devastating loss of a person, money, or other types of possession. In other cases, the drama can be at a larger scale, and deal with issues related to the structure of society, political instability, or corruption at all scales. On the other hand, the aspect of nature to evoke drama is another way drama is expressed. Dealing with something that is out of the scope of control of characters is a way to show the emotions of fear and uncertainty, makes this type of drama movie extremely effective.

My partner and I are still working on the main idea for the film opening, but are exploring different avenues through more research of the drama genre. At the moment, our potential plot of the opening involves aspects of life, and the struggles through relationships with people, friends or family.

Monday, February 10, 2020

Music Marketing Blog Post

The genre of music my group researched was the rock genre. Certain trends that were researched came from bands such as the Foo Fighters and Kiss. As older and more established, their marketing trends had evolved from more traditional to innovative routes of marketing.

As a genre, rock has characteristics of being edgy, flamboyant, and containing hard metal sounds. The music in this genre has much use of the electric bass, guitar, and drums, paired with the manipulation of the sound like distortion and increased volume. The theme of the songs deal with the human condition, such as heartbreak, denial, and overall struggle for acceptance.

Bands such as Foo Fighters and Kiss use techniques such as social media, to advertise the new music and events that they were going to do. Moreover, they would have certain events to advertise their music, excluding things such as multiple concerts and a tour. For example, Foo Fighters had a contest for fans, and whoever would win would have a Foo Fighters concert performance in their garage.

As a group in the rock genre, the band is taking a softer approach to their music. It would have the same themes of songs talking about the human condition, but has a more melancholic feel with their music, using less edgy or hard metal sounds.

We chose to develop our brand by using forms of technological convergence. Some examples are using social media,with hashtags, and video games. Social media works hand in hand with the marketing, but it is one of the most productive ways to advertise a new band to a wide group of audience. Moreover, it has the capability to be multiple contributors to the success of the band: Marketing, Audience Interaction, Advertising Events, and much more. The band also had merchandise, with things like t-shirts and a bouquet of roses. The use of a bouquet of roses allows for the band to provide a sentimental gift to their audiences, as a thank you gift for coming to a concert or event of the band.

Video Game

Key chains

Through the production of the music video, the main thing I learned was how important certain angles and shots are in the video, that help to evoke the desired emotion. Even if the actor may not have a certain emotion, having a certain direction of the shot can be essential to have the main purpose of the video known. Moreover, the importance of the tightness of shots can allow for the emotion of claustrophobia and insanity to be shown, which is what my group tried to do in the video. In terms of the marketing campaign, having a music video of the topic of bullying and mental health allowed for the purpose of the band to be more well known. As a band, the message of reliability and progression is something they stand for, and base many of their works and events around that.

All these choices were linked to my knowledge of the music industry as the certain songs that I listened to in the genre of rock had the similar characteristics that were explained in the post. Moreover, most of the music I listen to has a message, and ties into a bigger idea of certain emotions and feelings that people experience. In the context of production, having a story in the music video can help viewers have a better understanding of the message, and not only like the song because of other material aspects. Though, these material aspects can be valuable to how the media represents a certain type of music or video, like certain clothes or different brands of items. Due to this, our merchandise having roses provides a unique sense of the band, influencing the representation that the band would have in certain articles or interviews. This shows that the creation of merchandise, music, purpose, and understanding, makes up a band, and how they would be perceived in traditional media, and the music industry overall.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Representation Analysis

Representation One: Tide

This advertisement involved a mother and her daughter, who were very different from each other. The mother was wearing pink and floral clothing in her living room, which was also the same color and design, showing that this mother is wealthy enough to afford a some decorated clothing and house. On the other hand, her daughter was wearing green and dark colored clothing, which can be most typically associated with being worn by boys. This provides a representation of a gender and look that are opposite, different from what is usually presented of girls. Still, it provides the audience with a varied look of how girls could look at that age, as not every girl is into things such as pink, flowers, skirts, and more. As she explains the uses of the product, Tide, she looks at her daughter, who may be around 7-10 years old, with not the most pleasant look, showing her distaste with what her daughter is doing or how she may be looking. The mothers implicit disliking can be detrimental to audiences who are the little girl or who are the mom of this type of little girl, who may be thinking that who they are is wrong, and the certain treatment of their child like in the advertisement is correct. and cause them to think the way the mother looks is the way that those little girls should look. This advertisement presents a alternate way that a mother and daughter may look, one being more girly than the daughter, but does not provide the validation of their differences as correct, and proceeds to show the daughter in a more unfavorable light than the mother.

Representation Two: Axe

This advertisement involves a mass amount of women on an island, who come from different places on the island like the land, the sea, and other places. At first, it is not noticeable who they are running to, but it is later shown that they are running to a man, who is spraying Axe body spray. From the beginning, the women in the advertisement are expresses as animals, as they are running in a more rough fashion, yelling at certain times when people are in their way, who they even push down. As who their running to is revealed, it can cause for the women to be looked at as people who may only care about men, as the advertisement showed more than hundreds of girl running towards the one man spraying the Axe spray. This can represent the gender of women as limited to talking about men, when women independently have accomplished dreams and goals in life like getting a certain job, living in a certain place of liking, and overall create the best life for themselves, without the help of a man. Moreover, this portrays the man as an alpha figure, or one who has the most power, after spraying the Axe body spray. This can represent and influence either gender to believe than men have the most power in a women's life, and in society in general, causing for men to believe in this "power" and women to conform to that reality, which is most definitely not needed. The advertisement showed the product as one of the most powerful and working, but put forth a flawed notion of women as an example.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

The Genre Database

Mystery Genre The genre mystery is one genre that has been prominent in the movie industry for a long time.

The mystery genre can be defined as a production involving the main character being a detective in a certain crime or murder. The detective can be a professional detective or an ametueur trying to solve the case, that may affect their life personally or the lives of people in their community. The mystery is developed through the plot being in certain phases or steps, with certain surprise events, that can keep the viewer guessing what may happen next. Moreover, the genre emphasises the work of the detective versus the lawmakers in place, and how the work of that detective can be more logical and efficient than what the government officials may do.

In the context of production of the mystery films, they contain a variety of shots. One example is the zoom in or extreme zoom in, which can be used to emphasis a certain object, person, or place that advances the plot in either a positive or negative way. Moreover, the often cutting between shots can show the anticipation of a certain event in the plot, or bring attention to an important “piece of the puzzle” to the case trying to be solved. Lastly, the use of dolly zoom can add the shock factor to a certain scene, when one of the characters has a revelation or is presented with a situation suddenly.

The demographic for mystery movies can range from age 35-50 years old, as many mystery movies contain a complicated plot, that needs some experience and understanding of thinking a step ahead. Moreover, the content of the story can contain crimes involving murder, with characters speaking explicit language. In a recent study, the mystery genre of movies was one of the top 5 most viewed movies, with both men and women watching this genre being statistically equal. In terms of marketing, the use of trailers and common movie advertisement is used, with the use of important scenes in the movie to get the target audience to come and watch.

Embodying the Genre

The movie Zodiac(2007) is a movie about a serial killer, The Zodiac, who is living and rampant in the city of San Francisco. The investigators and reporters, played by Mark Ruffalo, Jake Gyllenhall, and Robert Downey Jr, become invested in the Zodiac and bringing them to justice, and stopping the certain attacks in the city. This movie embodies the mystery genre as the main characters are detectives and related jobs, who embark on the journey to solve a crime or murder that continues to occur, with not an exact reason or logic behind it. Moreover, it contains zoom in shots to emphasize a change in the mood or a distinct change in plot, that can cause an overall shift in the storyline.

The movie Sherlock Holmes (2011) is about a nemesis that is potentially attacking England, and Sherlock Holmes and his partner go on a quest to solve the problem and bring the threat to justice. This movie embodies the genre of mystery because it contains the plot with a detective becoming invested in solving a certain crime in the city. Moreover, it has a more complicated storyline, which works well with the target audience of the genre.

Other Movies in the Genre