Title Research: Get Out (2017)

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? 

Thirty. 

What images are prioritized in the opening sequence? 

We first see a man getting into a car and driving off. We then see a view of a forest as a car speeds by. We then see a few black and white photographs and the interior of the main character's apartment. The clips cut between the man in his apartment and a woman in a bakery. The last image we see is the woman showing up to the man's apartment and we see that they are love interests. 

What connotations do the images carry? 
When we see the first scene, we are left to wonder about the context of it, as it seems random and isolated from the rest of the scenes. We do not know yet what this means. The forest shot leads us to believe that a lot of the story takes place there. The two characters we see are clearly love interests. 

How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? 
In the outset, there is not much to link it back to the horror genre. The only thing that can come close is the opening car scene and the view of the forest, as the forest is often a setting in horror movies. 

How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
We wonder what the car scene means. We also wonder what takes place in the forest in the second shot. 

What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience? 

We see a couple who seem very happy, but since we know this is a horror movie, it is apparent that one or both will die. This makes the viewer interested in who dies, how they die, and what else happens. 

How has technology been used effectively? You want to consider camera angles, transitions, and editing techniques. 
Because this was an opening sequence with the titles playing over the clips, there was more attention paid to the clips themselves and their actors. The transitions between clips were blunt, except for from the car scene to the forest. The transition between the titles were fades. There was cross-cutting when it went between the bakery and the lead's apartment. 

Title Research: Split (2017)

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? 

Twenty four. 

What images are prioritized in the opening sequence? 

The opening image shows a man in a car with a gas mask on attacking someone. The images that follow show air vents and a girl being dragged to a room, coming in and out of consciousness. The last image after the titles shows the girl waking up on a bed of hay. 

What connotations do the images carry? 
The opening image creates the idea that someone is being attacked in their car. The images afterwards show that the girl being dragged is the man's victim and that she had been drugged and brought to a secondary location. 

How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? 
The genre is reinforced through editing, colors, fonts, sounds, and images. The title sequence is very creative. Some titles  come one after the other, the screen looks as if it is glitching when it changes to a new title. The other come right after the appearance of a clip from the kidnapping scene. The titles are only in black and white, the font is large for the names, small for the descriptions, and in all capitals. The sound is very sinister, making the viewers feel anxious and empathetic. The same aspects for the clips matter as well. We see a dimly-lit hallway with filthy walls and flickering lights, as well as a room with a bed of hay. 

How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
The viewer wonders who the man is, who the victim is, and how they know each other. They then ask themselves where he is taking her, how did they get there unnoticed, and what is going to happen now that she is awake. 

What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience? 

The creepy music draws people in, but the part I believe appears the most is the insertion of clips through the title sequence. People want instant gratification, and they receive it when the title and opening scene of the film are going on at the same time, intertwining and creating a story. This makes the viewer want to watch the film more, as they do not have to wait for the title sequence to be over to begin the film. 

How has technology been used effectively? You want to consider camera angles, transitions, and editing techniques. 
The angles are used to show the perspective of the victim for the most part. We see first the man attacking her in a point of view shot. We then see a low angle shot showing the flickering lights and the room she is moved into. The transitions between the clips is very harsh and sharp, no fades or dissolves, just one clip to the next. However, the editing for the titles has a glitching effect which is very interesting and appealing to viewers. 

Title Research: Halloween (2018)

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? 

Thirty one. 

What images are prioritized in the opening sequence? 

The only image in the entire sequence is a jack-o-lantern. While the titles are going by, the jack-o-lamtern is slowly inflating, coming back to life from being squished. 

What connotations do the images carry? 
There are 13 films, to date, in the Halloween film franchise. This specific one is a direct "sequel" to the original 1978 film, even though there had been 10 films made in between the two. The connotation of the pumpkin in this 2018 film is that Michael Myers has returned, and will continue to, no matter what. 

How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? 
The genre is reinforced through the use of color and font. All of the titles are in capital letters, but only the name of the movie and names of the actors, not the descriptions. The colors orange, red, and black are used throughout the sequence as well. 

How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
The film creates an enigma by asking making viewers question what is so important about Halloween? Why does he choose to kill on that day specifically? 

What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience? 
The iconic Halloween theme song is played during the title sequence. This draws viewers in because it is a part of pop-culture, the sound is very well known. The slow resurrection of the pumpkin also appeals to audiences by creating confusion and interest in its symbolism. 

How has technology been used effectively? You want to consider camera angles, transitions, and editing techniques.

The transitions between the titles were used effectively. The titles appeared as red, then changed to orange, then changed back to red, and finally turned into the next title. The animation of the pumpkin also attracts viewers and keeps the attention pointed there. 

Title Research: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?

Twenty nine. 

What images are prioritized in the opening sequence? 

There are no specific images per se, there are more graphics than images. For the first minute and a half, it is primarily a black screen with red, dripping details. Some of the details look like grass or a forest. In the last 40 seconds, there are faces made out of the red detail and well as a clearer forest view. 

What connotations do the images carry? 

The abundance of grass and trees shows the viewers that the movie may take place in a forest or that forests play a large role in the film. 

How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? 

The genre is enforced through codes through the use of color, sound, and imagery. The opening title with the name of the film has creepy, suspenseful music, but the rest of the sequence has a calm, pop-sounding but still menacing song. The colors are solely black red, colors always used in horror movies. The font also reflects horror technical codes by being in all capitals and "scary" font. The graphics are creepy, and dripping with blood. 

How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?

By showing characteristics of a forest, the viewers are lead to ask certain questions: What importance does the forest have? Is the movie set in the forest or a graveyard? What are the characters' connections? 

What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience? 

The menacing music entices people. The forestry theme prompts the audience to question things, making them want to watch more. The use of "scary" and "dark" implies that the movie will in fact be scary and dark, pulling people in. 

How has technology been used effectively? You want to consider camera angles, transitions, and editing techniques.

The transitions are fade and dissolves. The titles dissolve into one another, one name transforming into another. The graphics are the most important part, again with the forestry and blood dripping details. 

Title Research: Watch the Titles Website

This is the second site I am looking at. This one is called Watch the Titles. This website is basically the same as the other one about titles. I feel like this one was much easier to navigate and find information from. I saw the same exact things as I did on the last website. I noticed that the set up of how the titles were arranged was much easier to interpret. I again noticed that the color schemes for horror movies consisted of black, red, and gray. The video lengths vary based on the films. Some may be only 42 seconds with others going up to 4 minutes. The titles must always include the name of the film, actors, production studio, director, and more. The fonts and styles of the movies also vary. Horror movies will typically be in all capital letters, large font, and some sort of creepy effect. For other genres the fonts may be small and simplistic or large and loud. Based on my research, I have found that title sequences are shorter now than movies in the past. This may be to the impatience of our society, the need for instant gratification.

Title Research: Art of the Title Website

For the title research portion of my final project, I will be looking at two different websites. The first website I am looking at is Art of the Title. I am looking at this website in order to find conventions for titles of horror/thriller movies. Through researching this site, I will learn about title sequence designs and how they work based on different mediums of film, television, and video games. For my final task, I will have to correctly input the titles for my film. This includes the title the film, actors, production studio, director, and more. I noticed that each film designs its title through font, editing, and color to match the theme of the film. Colors play a part in setting the theme of a movie, and are based off of their genres. A horror movie will include a lot of red, black, and gray while an action movie might include blue, white, and yellow. When it comes to font, it also depends on the genre. If it is a horror movie, the font will be red or gray and may have some sort of dripping effect or have the letters spread out. If it is a romantic movie, the font will be soft, small, and white with some sort of establishing shot as the background or right before. This site has showed me that a lot of times, the titles also reflect the time period from which the film is set in. Also, a lot of films in the past decade or two tend to be shorter, one to three words. While these conventions are not true for all, they are very common.

Genre Research: Past Horror Movies - The Belko Experiment

The Belko Experiment is a 2016 film about a social experiment done on an office building starting with 80 employees and ending with 1. A man called "The Voice" locked down the building and forced them to kill each other in a last man standing type battle. Camera angles I noticed were eye level, low, and high. I noticed eye level the most of the three. A few movements I saw were pan, tilt, tracking, and zoom. What was different about this movie from the others I've researched, other than Creep, was the use of a zoom movement. The others did use this feature but not as much as this film or Creep. I think zoom is a great addition because it shows that whatever the camera is zooming in on clearly has some importance or meaning. Per usual, pan was used the most. As for shots, establishing, wide, long, two, one, medium, and close up shots. The establishing shot was very important because it showed the viewers the isolated Belko Industries building in the middle of Colombia. The wide shot is also used to show the slow diffusion of people as the movie goes on. The costumes were modern, office apparel. This consisted of suits, dresses, pantsuits, ties, and dress shoes. The costumes stayed the same throughout because they were trapped. The lighting changed depending on the scene. In the basement it was dark and cloudy but upstairs it was fluorescent, office lighting. There were around 80 men and women in the building when the movie first began. They were between the ages of 25-65 and they were all English-speakers from America, but with different cultural backgrounds. The only makeup would be anything the women had on and special effects makeup for blood. Some props included guns, office supplies, knives, kitchen supplies, mini bombs, and phones. The whole film is done in the Belko building in Bogota, Colombia. The editing I noticed was shot-reverse-shot, cutaways, and cross-cutting. There were scenes where there were different main characters in different areas of the building simultaneously. The cutaways and shot-reverse-shots were used when someone was killed or during conversation. There was diegetic sound as well as ambient sound. The non-diegetic sound would be the score, which was suspenseful and fear-inducing. At some points during massacres or kill scenes, the score would change to classical or pop music in an attempt to make the killing less extreme. There is also quite a bit of dialogue between many different characters. This film incorporated foreshadowing, mystery, and imagination very well. We could see foreshadowing when the character who survived managed to retrieve the mini bombs from his peers and pocket them; he later used them to kill "The Voice" and his henchmen at the end of the film. The mystery element comes in to play when the audience has to figure out who "The Voice" is. Having a deep-toned, ominous voice giving orders creates an image in the viewers minds of who they want the antagonist to be. I really like these two aspects because they require a deep thinking process; Who is the villain? Why is he doing this? What next? It keeps the viewer excited. I did not like how graphic the film was. Just like Jigsaw, there were severed heads and blood splattered on the walls, this was a lot to watch.

Genre Research: Past Horror Movies - Jigsaw

Jigsaw is a 2017 film that is the 8th in the Saw series, which have been around since 2004. Typical camera angles included aerial, high, and eye level. I believe that the majority of the angles were eye level on purpose so that the viewers could feel as if they are there in the movie. Some common movements were tracking, tilt, flash pan, and most of all, pan. Pan movements are extremely common in horror movies because they are great reveals. Tracking shots are also abundant in horror for chase scenes, car scenes, walked, anything really. Shots that I noticed a lot were wide, long, two-shots, medium, over the shoulder, and close up. Close up shots are great for conveying emotion, which plays a huge part in Jigsaw. The captives had to go through mentally draining games and witnessed their peers murdered right in front of their eyes. There were also a lot of wide shots to show the full range of the barn the victims were held in, with all of the contraptions and people. The costumes are very modern and up to date. The victims' costumes stay the same as they are being held captive, they just progressively get dirtier. The doctors and police men wear their uniforms, and the detectives and regular people do the same. Jigsaw has his mask, wig, and outfit. The lighting varied depending on which story was being followed. The captives in the barn had natural light pouring in during the day and darkness at night. The regular people (extras, police, doctors, detectives) had outside lighting and lighting from offices, hospitals, and homes. The actors consisted of 5 people being held captive, the villain playing Jigsaw, the doctors and police, and the extras. As the movie went on, more people died and there ended up being no more captives. As for makeup, the captives wore none unless some of the girls had excess from earlier in the day. They also had special effects makeup such as dirt, blood, scars, scratches, etc. Jigsaw wore his mask which could have consisted of some makeup. The rest of the actors were playing every-day people, so they only wore the bare minimum or what its typical of people in this time. The most obvious props would be Jigsaw's tricycle, his mask, chains, the recording stored in the victims, a tape recorder, big contraptions he used to kill, captives items, and cars. There were a few different settings: the barn where the victims were held, the hospital, the police station, and various outdoor scenes. The editing consisted primarily of cross cutting. The film had two different storylines: the people outside trying to solve the crimes and the victims trying to win or escape. This meant that it flipped back and forth between the two stories, often with them happening at the same time. There were also a few cutaways and jumpsuits included. There was plenty of diegetic sound, such as the recordings, the sound of the tricycle, everything. Non-diegetic sound consisted of score, which was suspenseful and ominous, excited at times. There was also plenty of dialogue between victims, officers, doctors, and the villain. This movie was really good at inciting fear, suspense, and mystery. They kept the villain's identity a secret, pointing to a few scapegoats before revealing the truth. This keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat. Suspense really excites me because it keeps me interested, so I don't get bored. The movie was very graphic. There were a lot of scenes where people were hung, decapitated, and cut open. This is something that does not appeal to me as I am very squeamish and sensitive to blood.

Genre Research: Past Horror Movies - A Quiet Place

A Quiet Place is a 2018 psychological thriller/horror movie. The story follows a family in a post-apocalyptic world where monsters who survive off of sound only hunt people down for food. Camera angles that were seen a lot include eye level, low angle, high angle, and aerial. Eye and high angle were of the most abundant. The low and high angles were mostly viewed when the camera was trying to show the kids' or parents' perspectives. The aerial angle could be seen mostly when the family was traveling. The most common camera movements were tracking and pan. These are also the most typical movements for horror movies in general. Occasionally, you can see some tilt movements, for example when looking the monster up and down, but these were not nearly as common. The camera shots I noticed the most were wide, medium, close up, establishing, long, over the shoulder, two-shots, and one-shots. These also fit very well with the conventions for a horror film. The costumes here are very simplistic, but with one stand out difference. They wear normal clothes, most are old and they wear long pants and sweaters and hats, but they do not wear shoes. They do this in order to stay as quiet as possible. The lighting is fairly bright and natural, they have lanterns for the nighttime but the majority of the time, there is outside light shining in. There is also a lighting they put on the monsters to make them more distorted. The actors/characters consist of a husband and wife and their children. There are two sons and one daughter, but unfortunately the youngest son dies after getting attacked by one of the monsters. Later on the wife ends up having another son. Makeup in this movie is little to none, there is some on the wife, but the only other time would be if they had dirt or bruises.  The various props here are the toy airplane, guns, stuffed animals, and the bathtub, to name a few. The story begins in a deserted town in a grocery store. When they cross the bridge, a prominent place in the story, is when the youngest son dies. They then move on to the house they decide to move into where they create an underground sound-proof safe house.  There is also a large field right outside of the house. The editing here is very simple. There are many cross cuts, jumpcuts, cutaways, and eye-line matches. We see the jumpcuts when they go from 89 days to 173 days to 439 days. This way we see the passage of time even without watching what happens during the time. There is also a lot of cross-cutting so we can see what the different characters are doing all at the same time, but in different places. The sound is the most important part of the movie. It is famous for its lack of sound. It is quiet until some sort of loud noise comes in, like a picture dropping or fireworks. There is a lot of diegetic sound in this film. From the monsters to the toy airplane to the birds, everything. The non-diegetic sounds include incidental music, sound motif, and score. There is always some sort of suspenseful, intense instrumental playing when something important is happening. Other than that, we do not see much score. As for the sound motif, every time a monster approaches we hear a certain clicking sound. This is how we know they are nearby. There is some dialogue in the movie. When the dad and son are at the waterfall and right after the baby is born in the safe house. They use sign language most of the time. There is definitely a lot of foreshadowing here. The 4 year old boy is seen playing with a toy airplane that makes noise, and he is later killed when it draws a nearby monster's attention. Also, there is a nail in the basement stairs that gets caught on the laundry bag that later goes into the wife's foot when she goes into labor, also drawing the attention of the monster. This movie builds suspense in that there is no sound until a loud one appears for a jump scare. I really like these two elements because they create meanings that the viewer creates a story around. We know when something has meaning, but what really is the meaning? There is also a fear aspect. We see this when the monster creeps up on the characters and they have to stare right at it while being perfectly silent. I do not like this aspect because of how it builds in my mind and becomes a real, scary thing.

Genre Research: Past Horror Movies - Creep

Creep is a movie that came out in 2014 and is called an independent found-footage psychological thriller. Because it is a found-footage film, the majority of the movie is filmed hand held. This includes awkward camera angles such as a low angle when the main character, Aaron, turns the camera towards himself. The film is also heavy on eye level angles, which makes sense as the camera is being held by Aaron next to his face. Also abundant are dutch angles, which are done to disorient the viewer. There are a lot of zoom movements as well. For example, Aaron zooms in on an axe stuck in a tree stump, this also ends up being the axe he is killed with. There are also examples of pan movements. The first example being when Aaron is in his car waiting for Josef, the man who employed him, and he pans the camera to the window where Josef is waiting for him. In the first few minutes, there is an establishing shot of a "Crestline Mountain" sign as well as the name of the lake where the main character ends up dying. The whole film is basically a POV shot, except for when the camera is lying somewhere (like a table or a rock) or turned around to face Aaron. There are also a lot of close up shots of the two guys. There are a lot of wide shots with one of the two guys in the middle of the frame surrounded by trees or the lake, the house. An example of a two-shot is when Aaron and Josef are swimming in the water in the forest. As for costumes, the characters are dressed very contemporarily. They wear long pants, casual shirts, and jackets because it is supposed to be cold. One odd addition to these costumes is the wolf mask that Josef wears when he attacks Aaron and ultimately kills him. The lighting here differs. There are a lot of outside scenes with bright, natural light. However, there are also scenes during the nighttime where it is pitch black at the only source of light is the flashlight attached to Aaron's camera. The actors are two men in their late 30s. Josef is a stalker who pretends to have terminal cancer in order to trick Aaron into filming a documentary about him. Aaron is a videographer who takes up the job Josef posted on Craigslist because he is strapped for money. These two are the only people who physically appear in the film, other than the few phones calls made by Aaron. Since the only people in the movie are Josef and Aaron, there is not a lot of makeup to be done, just a few touch ups. Some of the bigger props include the axe, the wolf mask, a shovel, Aaron's camera, and a box of creepy things Josef sent Aaron. The setting consists of the mountains where they go into the water, Josef's family vacation home, Aaron's home, and the lake in the last scene. The editing is very choppy. This is purposely done to make the footage seem more realistic. There are no special effects like jumpsuits, crosscuts, inserts, etc. The only ones really discernible are cutaways, shot-reverse-shot, and the occasional eye-line match. As far as sound goes, there is not much more than diegetic and dialogue. We hear everything the actors hear because we are supposed to feel as if we are in the film. There is no score or soundtrack. There are also a lot of moments where there will be no sound and then some sort of crash or noise to make the viewers jump. This film definitely touches on the 5 main elements of horror films: foreshadowing, fear, suspense, mystery, and imagination. The biggest examples of foreshadowing is in the first 10 minutes where we see the lake the Josef kills Aaron, and almost immediately after we see the axe Josef uses. There is definitely a lot of suspense, especially in the cases where there is no sound, followed by a loud noise. The film does a great job at pulling on our emotions and making us use our imagination by using a very real-looking filming process, the video footage. Because of all of the jump scares in this film, this film definitely instills fear in the viewers. Our hands are shaking, we are sweating, and our hearts are beating profusely. The foreshadowing aspect is very interesting to me. I find that foreshadowing in any type of movie or book is a great way to keep the viewer scared at the end. When they see the victim killed by the same axe from the first minute of the movie, it gives a sense of closure but also immense fear. I really do not like the fearful aspect. This movie is great is instilling fear and keeping it there throughout the movie. However, I get scared very easily and this causes my imagination to wander and create scenarios that aren't necessarily true, which, in fairness, is the point of a psychological thriller.

Genre Research: Finalizing the Genre

After researching, I decided on the horror genre. It fits the best with my pitch. To restate, my final pitch is the thriller about a boy being tricked online. An ex-girlfriend of his is still upset about their breakup and poses as a college girl online in order to trick him into falling in love with her again. She makes a plan to meet him at her "house" but ends up knocking him out and drugging him, taking him to her real house. This could fit into the horror genre because I plan on using all of the elements of a horror film: creepy sounds, dark lighting, suspense. I think this will not only be fun to film but a good amount of difficulty, not too easy and not too hard. Acquiring the actors, props, and setting should be pretty easy considering there are only two characters and a few locations.

Genre Research: Additional Genres

There are many different genres within the subject of film. Two that I will focus on are romantic comedy and action. I will be evaluating each genre's camera angles, movement, and shots as well as costumes, lighting, actors, makeup, props, and setting. I will also be looking at editing, sound, elements, and my likes and dislikes.

Romantic comedies are staples of American culture. They have a very basic guideline: two people fall in love and must overcome a few obstacles before their inevitable reconciliation. One typical camera shot is the over-the-shoulder shot, used to show a conversation between two people as well as their facial expressions and body language. Two-shots are also common. They show a relationship between two characters whether they are relaxed and in love or shy and platonic. Also common are the close-up, mid-shot, long shot, and establishing shot. An angle you will likely see in this genre is a low angle. You can see this when the two love interests finally kiss and the camera is pointing up at them and spinning to get the full effect. Another angle is an eye level angle, this shows the love interests straight on, giving the effect that we are in the story with them. A typical camera movement would be a tracking shot. The camera must follow the guy as he chases through the busy street to catch the girl he let go. Another movement would be a pan revealing something in the story that causes tension, like an ex-girlfriend/boyfriend. Costumes in this genre really depend on the time period, they should be whatever is considered contemporary or popular in the time the movie is being shot in. Lighting in romantic comedies will typically be very bright and cheery. When watching a movie like this, viewers want to feel light and fun, otherwise the movie will not feel romantic or comedic. Certain colors denote certain emotions. Red shows passion and lust while white shows purity and yellow shows happiness. As for actors, in the past it is usually one male love interest and one female love interest. However, as our society has become more accepting to the LGBTQ+ community, the love interests may come in any gender, sexuality, etc. The makeup should be natural but noticeable. If the scene permits, we can always add heavy makeup (a night out) or very little (a night in). Props used in romantic comedies will vary based on the locations of the scenes. For example, a restaurant scene will have different props than a scene in a home. It will have tables, candles, other people, and a waiter. The setting is usually a big city like Los Angeles, New York City, Miami, etc. Typical sounds in romantic comedies will be romantic sounds, lots of swells, violins, piano. It will usually start with a non-diegetic score. It will usually be pop or jazz, as long as it is upbeat and light. Then, a voiceover may begin, talking about who the main character is and how they got to where they are. Editing in romantic comedies is typically very simplistic. Mostly used are straight cuts and cross cuts. Straight cuts are used to show continuity in the story, to move the story along. Cross cuts are used to establish that a story is taking place in two different spots at the same time. The pace will change as the story moves on and important events take place. Typical elements or characteristics of this genre are: contrived meetings, polar opposites, ordinary problems, comic friends, some sort of climax/breaking point, and a happy ending. I really like romantic comedies because they tug on the viewer's heartstrings, but also provide comedic relief. This makes it so that they aren't the most serious and they are easier to watch in one sitting. Also, the music is always good in romantic comedies, they tend to be modern and upbeat. What I do not like about romantic comedies is that sometimes they can be predictable. When a movie has to stick to a specific formula, it can become overdone and boring for viewers.

Action movies are also extremely popular. Commonly used shots in action films are establishing shots, close ups, and aerial shots. Establishing shots are important because they let the viewers know where the majority of the film will be taking place, as well as the time period. Close ups show emotion, so these are incorporated a lot, especially if a character dies and the tone of how the other characters feel needs to be set. Aerial shots can be used in a superhero movie to show the hero flying. Camera angles in action are usually high angles, low angles, and dutch angles. High angles are used to show a fuller, wider view from a high angle like the side of a building or a roof. Low angles create an effect of courage and dauntlessness. Dutch angles are used to confuse the audience, these can be used if someone is getting knocked out or drugged. Camera movements used are usually tracking shots, tilts, and pans. Tracking shots are used a lot in chase scenes to make the viewers feel like part of the film. Tilts can be used when looking a person up and down or as a POV. Pan shots are great for action films because they are typically used for dramatic reveals, an important element in these films. Costumes in action movies depend on what kind of action movie. If it is a superhero movie, the costumes will be boring and unassuming until the hero changes into their superhero costume. This usually includes tight pants and shirts, along with a cape and mask. If the movie is more of a James Bond type, the costumes will be quiet and expensive. This consists of suits and "normal" everyday clothing. Lighting consists of mostly daylight, searchlights, and street lamps. It really depends on the specific scene of the movie. Dark colors like black and brown are put on the villains to make them seem more intimidating while the hero typically wears blue or white to make them stand out. Actors playing the hero in action films have predominantly been male. A female would play a sidekick or companion, some sort of supporting role. The makeup in action films is a little more difficult. Not only is there normal makeup, but also special effects makeup. Some props that would be included are cars, planes, capes, guns, and more. These movies usually take place in cities as well. Specific places like buildings, skyscrapers, warehouses, casinos, banks, police stations, offices, and roads. There is a lot of editing in action movies. Between sound effects, explosions, making people fly, and cgi action films rake up a lot of costly editing. Speaking of sound, action films depend on it a lot. Sound effects such as explosions, gun shots, running, screaming, and car engines are the most common. Soundtracks are usually pop music, intense music, drum beats, etc. A few common themes/elements of action movies are good vs. evil, family issues, revenge, death, car chases, and gun fights. I like action movies because they keep you on the edge of your seat. There is always a conflict that needs to be overcome and a team of experts is contrived to save the world. An aspect of action movies I don't like is that some have too many fight scenes or a series becomes very predictable.

Genre Research: Horror (previous)

This is a project that I did last September. This project was actually very fun to do because I learned the conventions for the horror genre. I personally find some horror films way too scary to watch, but the genre has always appealed to me. Our directions for this project were to choose a genre and evaluate it based on the following: common lighting, common angles, common movements, elements of our genre, common sounds, mis-en-scene, examples of films, and which elements appealed or did not appeal to us. This project took us a few days because we had to hit every element of this genre, and there are many. We had to make a creative powerpoint all the elements, one slide for each. We also had to add videos and sounds which cannot be heard here because they are saved as png files, not ppt files. Researching genres is actually very interesting and I am excited for the next few. 

Narrowing Down the Pitches

I am going to narrow down my pitches from 3 to 2 today. My first pitch was about an 18-year-old boy moving from small-town Tennessee to sunny Florida, but he must first tell his childhood best friend he loves her, messing up their futures. The second pitch is about a quiet science major who is called by the special forces in order to help save the country from a biological weapon used by terrorists. A high-school jock is put in a scary situation when his crazy ex-girlfriend kidnaps him in order to save their relationship. I've decided to remove the second pitch, the action movie with the science major. I feel like filming this would be a little bit out of my capabilities, seeing as I would not have access to the props I would probably need. Also, the other pitches I think are more my speed, meaning I'll enjoy making it more.

I think that pitch 1, the romantic comedy, would be a good film because those are popular in today's culture. I feel like this kind of story has been done before, but not as much as we think. I have definitely taken inspiration from previous romantic comedies. This is one of my favorite genres so I think I will enjoy making this. An issue I might run into is the filming in a place that looks like Tennessee. I obviously cannot fly to Tennessee to film, so I must find a place in South Florida that looks like small-town Tennessee. My idea for this pitch is to have a boy who gets into college in Florida on a soccer scholarship and has to move from Tennessee. He first has to tell his childhood best friend that he loves her. This causes them both to rethink their futures and where they will go. I think this would be fun to film. 

The second pitch I narrowed down is a thriller about a guy being cat-fished. This is something I have not really seen before, maybe only a few times. I feel like this will be fun to film because I have to pay more attention to detail. By this I mean lighting, costumes, setting, props, etc. An issue with filming this is the details. It might be hard to find the right setting and props to film a horror movie. My idea for this pitch is to have a boy meet a girl online and they plan to meet up. However, when they do meet, he finds that the girl is actually his ex-girlfriend who tricked him with a fake profile. She drugs him and tries to get him to fall back in love with her. I think this would be very gravitating for audiences. 

My final decision is to do the second pitch, the horror-thriller. I feel like while this will be harder to film, if I can get it right it can be really good. It also is much more original than the first pitch, making it more interesting to audiences; people would rather watch something new and innovative than something old and predictable. 

Starting the Final Task

My name is Maya. I am 16 years old and live in South Florida. I am now in 11th grade at Fort Lauderdale High School. I moved to this school from David Posnack Jewish Day School as a 10th grader. My favorite classes are AICE Sociology, Theater, and English. Soon I will be taking the ACT and applying to colleges, a process I am so excited to begin. Some of my favorite hobbies include theater arts and cooking. Ever since I was young, I have always loved music. Watching musicals, listening to musicals and music in general, and performing. I have also always loved cooking and baking as well as watching cooking shows. I would love to continue performing for as long as I can, even if not professionally.

Since August, I have learned a lot about the media world. Before this class I was not very good at using software to edit and create movies. While I am definitely not a professional now, I have definitely improved. I also learned how to operate cameras. I have a camera on my own at home, but I only knew how to take pictures on it, not videos. Now that I know how to maneuver that kind of hardware, I can create more projects at home. I am really excited to learn more about editing videos. During this final task we will be learning how to insert titles, something I do not know how to do. I hope that after this I will have a new knowledge on how to use certain softwares to get better at making videos. Hopefully in the future I will be able to edit faster and more efficiently.

Today I am pitching three different film ideas. I will be using the elevator pitch technique, meaning I will give a concise overview of each pitch in 25 words. Each pitch is of a different genre: romantic comedy, action, and horror.

Pitch 1: An 18-year-old boy moves from small-town Tennessee to sunny Florida, but he must tell his childhood friend he loves her, halting their futures.

Pitch 2: A quiet computer science major is called up by the special forces in an attempt to prevent biological warfare from being used by resilient terrorists.

Pitch 3: A high-school jock finds himself in a terrorizing situation after being catfished online by an ex-girlfriend as a college sorority girl wanting to meet.