Audience and Institutions Practice Essay

Danielle Sidweber
Audience and Institutions Essay
To what extent is digital distribution vital to the media area you have studied?
           In relation to film, digital distribution is vital to achieve success. Digital technology is constantly evolving, and shaping our world in a new way that film was not able to achieve before. New technologies are allowing filming companies to distribute their films in ways that would not have been possible many years ago. Overall, digital distribution of film is crucial to evolving and shaping the filming industry that we know today.
          Digital distribution in the filming industry is only possible with the assistance of new technologies. According to the case study entitled, “How is Digital Technology Reshaping the Film Industry?” they provide us with 5 different technologies that are the “forefront” of the evolving industry. These 5 technologies are: Autonomous Drone Cameras, 3D Printing, 4K 3D Cameras, Algorithmic Video Editing, and Cloud Based technologies. All 5 of these new technologies are the key to success for digital distribution in the filming area of study. However, there are one of these technologies that have made a noticeable change in the industry, Cloud Based technologies. Since Cloud Based technologies make it possible for citizens to view at home, this has, “reduced in-house costs.” Therefore, many more people are able to view all of these films at home for a lower cost, giving the production company more business and attraction. This is just one of the many assistants of digital distribution in filmmaking that has changed the industry as we know it.
             One example of a film that flourished from digital distribution is Beauty and the Beast. This film was released on March 17 of 2017 in theatres, but it did not fully flourish until it hit its digital distribution phase. According to the Beauty and the Beast case study we were given, this film took 3 major steps in digital distribution. First, on June 6th of 2017 (shortly after it was first released,) this film was also released on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital HD. Then, it was released on ‘Netflix’ thereafter, finalizing with its release on ‘On Demand’ in 2017 as well. This film is well-known all around the world and this is partially due to the digital distribution that this film participated in. Placing 76th worldwide and making 1.3 billion dollars, it is clear that digital distribution was a crucial step to this film’s success. However, Beauty and the Beast is not just the only film example of benefiting from digital distribution.
             Another film in which digital distribution was vital to its success was Black Panther. Released on February 16th of 2018, this movie has become one of the most popular films in all the industry, profiting 361 million dollars in its first week of release alone. However, this success could not have been possible without the process of digital distribution. This film chose to take a different route and take a creative stance by making a website for the film. This website was created by Marvel, and it was used as a form of digital distribution to make the film more popular, and more accessible for the general public. According to the Black Panther Case study we were given, this website includes: “movie tickets, an online shop to buy merchandise from, a photo gallery, the cast, and more.” This was a unique aspect that Marvel took to produce their movie successfully, and this process was vital to the popularity that this film has gained globally.
              Another aspect to digital distribution that has greatly affected the filming industry is the major decrease in costs that comes alongside it. There are many downsides to producing a film, and one major aspect is the cost. Sometimes, this can be so detrimental to a filmmaking process that it is forced to be shut down. However, with the process of digital distribution, most of this problem disappears. Yes, there are still major costs that come with producing a film and distributing it digitally, but nothing in comparison to the normal filmmaking process. According to the case study entitled, “How Tech Has Shaped Film Making,” it states that Going digital largely means foregoing the large canisters of film that used to be synonymous with filmmaking.” Simply by eliminating the usage of large canisters of film, the overall cost of production greatly decreases, leaving the company with more profit, therefore making the film more successful overall. Additionally, this means that they complete their “film schedules with less waste,” therefore keeping the cost of production much lower than the original process. As you can see, the digital distribution process is crucial to a film's success, especially in lowering the costs.
                Overall, the filming industry can not succeed alone. With the assistance of digital distribution, a film can flourish, and become well-known globally. Just like Beauty and the Beast and Black Panther, many other movies have followed in these footsteps and have only seen major success. Many companies use this strategy for many reasons, one of which is the drastic decrease in cost. Another aspect that has really assisted the digital distribution process is the Cloud Based technologies, as mentioned before. All of these aspects to digital distribution are what really makes a film flourish, as these are vital to any film's success.

Practice Extract 24

Danielle Sidweber

P.2 Media Practice Extract

24

The extract that I chose to watch was from the TV series, “24.” From the small extract we were given, I can conclude that this series could potentially fall under the action or mystery genre. Overall, I believe that the theme of this extract would be to not keep any secrets, as this is hidden throughout the extract. The characters are discussing the actions of others in relation to a bomb going off, and their flight to Visalia. There is conflict between the two characters, and this is shown through all aspects of the film. These aspects include camera movements and angles, the editing, the sound, and the Mis en Scene. All of these aspects are very prominent when determining the deeper meaning of the film, and how the filmmakers decided to portray emotions, conflict and more. 

  One of the main aspects when determining the meaning of this extract was within the camera angles and movements. The first shot that I extracted of the film was the close ups. A close up is a shot of a singular character of just their face, or particular body part, or item. There are many examples of close ups in this extract, however there is one in particular that I found to really advance the plot. This close up is the very first shot of the extract, of the main female character. It shows her from her shoulders and up, in which the audience can clearly determine her emotion. She looks as if she is conflicted, which is clearly shown throughout the rest of the extract. This close-up establishes her emotions for the rest of this extract. As this shot shows that she is conflicted, this is prominent when she is being interrogated by the other character and does not know what to say. This further contributes to the theme of the text; to keep no secrets. This correlates back to this close up because she is clearly hiding something, and is conflicted about whether she should share it or not. Another example of camera movements in this extract are the zoom shots. A zoom shot is when the camera zooms into one specific image, or thing. There are a few in this extract, but the main one that I picked out was the zoom shot when the man is closely interrogating the woman, and it zooms into both of their faces. As well as the close up shot, this shows further confliction in their faces. Additionally, it shows both characters' personalities. It shows how the man is very harsh and straight-foward, and how the woman is very conflicted and secretive. This contributes to the plot of keeping secrets, because it can clearly show the emotions of the characters when deciding what to say, specifically when pressure is being put on the girl. Both of these examples contribute to the plot, specifically showing the characters emotions. 

Another aspect of film that advances the plot of this extract is within the editing. One of the editing techniques of this extract that is shown is the split screen. A split screen is when there is a clear split of the screen showing two separate shots at the same time. This technique is used in this extract when the man is attacking the woman, and asking her to tell him the truth. The other half of the screen is showing multiple people of the woman's past, and this is what she is thinking as she is being attacked. This intensifies the plot of keeping secrets, because she is hiding something from him and the split screen shows  what she could potentially be hiding from this man attacking her. Another example of developmental editing in this extract is the eye-line match. An eye-line match shows a character looking at a specific thing, then it would show what they are looking at. This is shown in the extract when the characters are discussing the timing of a bomb going off and they look at the clock, then the clock is shown. This intensifies the conflict within the woman's thoughts of telling the truth. It is showing that their time is running out, further putting pressure on the characters and the plot.

Sound is also a very crucial aspect of film making in relationship to the deeper meaning. One of the main aspects of sound in this extract was the dialogue. Dialogue is simply the words of the characters being said. Clearly, this is what mainly advances the film and gives the audience a clue as to what is going on. This is one of the most important parts of every film. The dialogue in this extract accentuates all of the shots and the overall intensity of the film. For example, the characters are discussing the timing of the bomb going off, and their flight to Visalia. After they are shown discussing this, they then show the clock. This dialogue really brings out the importance of time in this film, and how it relates to the inner conflict of the characters themselves. Another aspect of sound in this extract was the diegetic sound. Diegetic sound is the natural sounds that come from the film, like a door slam, a foot stomp, or a clock tick. Even though diegetic is shown throughout this entire extract, I noticed it mostly when the clock was ticking. In the same scene mentioned previously, the characters are deciding what their next move will be, and if the girl will tell her secrets. To add additional pressure on their decision making, there is the diegetic sound of the clock ticking. Not only does this add pressure, but it shows the inner conflict of each character and it keeps the audience interested in the film. 

Along with camera angles and movements, editing and shots, Mis en Scene is crucial to the development within the film. Mis en Scene are controlled aspects of the film that can be categorized into 6 different categories: Costumes, Lighting, Actors, Makeup, Props and Setting. Even though all of these are prominent in this extract, there are 2 that specifically stood out. One of which is the lighting. The lighting in this mysterious room that they are in is very dim, further letting the audience know that something is going to happen. Dim lighting is normally an indicator of a mystery film, and it is used to intrigue the audience. This specific lighting is shown throughout the entire extract, giving off a certain vibe that intensifies the film. The other aspect of Mis en Scene that is prominent in this extract is the props. Props are certain objects that are significant in the film. There is one prop that caught my eye in the extract, and these are the papers that were being handed to the woman in the beginning. The audience does not know what these papers are, but since they are being so clearly shown, they must be important to the overall plot. There are other props in this extract, like the chair that the man threw, however the papers stood out the most. This prop adds to the mysterious aspect of the film, leaving the audience to infer what these papers are, and what they mean to the plot. Mis en Scene is a very important aspect in filmmaking, especially in relation to the overall plot. 

All of these aspects of the film mentioned above are crucial to the development of its plot. Camera angles, shots, movements, editing, sound, and Mis en Scene all intensify a film. They also engage the audience, and keep them on the edge of their seat when watching films like this one. Whether it was the shot-reverse-shot, dialogue, or even as simple as the lighting, all of these advance the deeper meaning of this extract. Overall, the theme was to show the consequences of keeping secrets, and this is shown in a very mysterious way that keeps the audience engaged. This extract was designed to show emotion and plot advancement through these filming aspects listed above.

Final Movie

Attached below is a copy of our final movie, however it remains unfinished due to this national pandemic. Due to the stay at home orders, we were not able to properly finish it.

CCR for Movie

Attached above is my CCR for my movie, although it is split in half because it was too large of an attachment to insert combined. 

Editing- Struggles with COVD-19

As we are informed, the virus that has been spread around is a clear struggle for our film. Schools are closed, all public gatherings are banned, and more. This is making filming and editing for my group mate and I very difficult. If schools were still opened and we did not need to follow social distancing, we would be able to continue on perfecting our movie. However, due to social distancing, we are not allowed to meet and film. We are both quarantined in our homes, which is not enabling us to film and edit. This is a major inconvenience, which we are both very upset about. We will need to find time to film soon when everything is safe. Until then, we must follow the rules and suggestions from the government. It is for this reason that we have not been able to edit or even film for our movie.
As previously stated, we are currently putting our movie production on hold. Knowing this, we must find other things and ways to work on our movie. Not only must we focus on our movie, but also our final exam for Cambridge, as it is coming up soon. We want to have everything completed soon, so that we will not need to stress and rush into our work when the deadline approaches. Next week is spring break, so we will need to make sure to work before or even after this. Oe project that we must start to work on is our CCR. Our CCR will be in the format of a video interview. This will take a long time to plan and make, so we will begin soon. This is something we can work on while quarantined in our homes, due to the virus. Below is a picture, showing us working from home, because we cannot be at school.

Re-Edit

As I have previously explained, we have done a peer-review. We took the advice given to us and we did more filming. We added new clips that we did not have before. Additionally, we made sure to include most of the different types of shots into our film. However, now we had to actually edit each clip into our already existing film. This was slightly challenging for me, but it turned out okay in the end. As previously mentioned, we filmed a pan and a tilt that needed to be included into the new film. The process of re-editing is a little more complicated than I had previously thought. Since we are using iMovie, it is much easier since we can just insert the clips from our phone into our already saved movie. However, we did run into some complications that made this a little bit more challenging.
One of the challenges that I faced were the transitions. When using iMovie, each way you choose to insert a clip restricts you to certain transitions only. I was having some trouble inserting them in the same way, so that I could use the same transitions for all of them. It was further even more complicated when I had to individually fix each clip and transition in. I could not insert them in at the same time, so I needed to insert each individually and then make sure they transition was right. This process was very tedious for me. Another complication that we faced was the music. In order to avoid any form of copyright, we made a voiceover of a song and placed it to the background of the movie. This made the whole process much easier, as we did not have to find a way to use a song without copyright. Since we only recorded a certain length of song, when we added in the new clips, it misplaced the rest of the film and sound. We figured it out, by just recording the voice over again, even though this took longer than expected. Overall, even though this re-editing process was slightly tedious; I think that it was very beneficial to the movie. Below is a screenshot from one of our new clips that we edited into our new movie.

Re-Shooting

This past weekend, we began to re-shoot. Since we did the peer review, we knew what we needed to re-shoot. Before the peer review, we thought that our film was good and that nothing needed to be fixed. We decided to take their advice and re-shoot a few scenes, and add some extras that we were missing. One thing that we were missing was a shot-reverse-shot. This is a shot that shows one person, then switches to what they are looking at or talking to, and then switches back to them. This is an important shot to include for Cambridge and we need to ensure that it is in our movie. We did create this shot when the main girl gets in the car. It shows her friend saying hi, then the main girl saying hi back, and then the other girl telling her to get in the car with them. This is just one example of our shot-reverse shot.
Something else that we fixed in our re-shoot was adding a tilt. Originally, we did not have this in our film. A tilt is when you show the surroundings from the ground moving upwards. This is also a crucial shot to include in our film for Cambridge. We were deciding where to add this in, and it was slightly challenging. I thought to add it in when we first got to the restaurant and we can show the actual diner in a tilt. My group mate suggested that we insert it in the end, but after consideration we both decided to show the diner in a tilt. Another shot we were missing was a pan. A pan is the same thing as a tilt, just from side to side and not up and down. We decided that we needed to add this in as well. We included our pan into the portion of the film when they are in the car. We created a pan of the surroundings outside of the car, to show that it is at night and we are on the way to the restaurant. Overall, re-shooting was necessary for our film, as we realized that we have many shots missing. Below is a screenshot from our new film.

Pier Review

This week, we completed the pier review process. Overall, I believe that this process is very helpful in assisting the quality of our movie. Hearing advice from another group just like us helps us to realize what we really need to fix. We were assigned a group of 3 girls, whose movie we were reviewing. We were given a piece of paper to take down guided notes about their film. Even though we were reviewing their movie, they were not reviewing ours. Another group reviewed ours, and we read about our feedback. When we reviewed the other group, we realized a few things that were wrong. Even though we wanted to not criticize their movie, we wanted to give them helpful advice so their final grade will be really good. We watched their movie a few times before beginning to edit.

One thing that we noticed that needs to be fixed within their movie was the titles. They did not have any titles yet, but they were planning on adding them. Another thing that we suggested to them was to add some back ground music, or non-diegetic sound. Their whole film consists of diegetic sound, and at some points it can be slightly too quiet. I believe that this will make their film more interesting and easier to stay intrigued. In our film, we added quiet background music to keep the audience interested. Additionally, this music adds suspense to the film. When the car honks outside, the music stops and the movie switches locations. I believe that if this group strategically added music in a format like this, it could really help keep their movie interesting. Below is a picture of their pier review sheet that we filled out for them.

Editing- Beginning of Editing

This past weekend we began our editing process. As previously mentioned, my group mate and I decided to film with our iPhones. This way it is much easier to transport the clips when we edit. Additionally, we agree that the camera quality is better than the school's cameras, leading us to choosing our iPhones over them. We are editing on iMovie, which will take time. When using iMovie, I needed to ensure that all of my clips were inserted in the right order, properly. If they were not inserted in a specific way, then I was not able to utilize the transitions I wanted. When we finished filming, we did encounter a mistake that we made. Some of the film was not facing the correct way, which messed up our editing and final product. We then needed to re-shoot these certain clips.

Besides this mistake that we made, I did not really encounter many other errors when editing. My main challenge that I faced when editing was the creativity of the movie. I do not want to just insert a lot of clips together and have that be our final product. I envision for our movie to be interesting, innovating, inspiring and creative. In order to achieve this, I needed to rearrange, add, delete, and edit some things in our film. For example, I began the movie with an extreme close-up of the girl's eyes. This was too boring so I made it black and white. Also, I added some sound effects, like a text message sound, or the sound of keys, or even the turning of the lock on the door. We also made sure to include all of our titles in the correct and proper order. We are now preparing to evaluate our pier-editing session and listen to the feedback that we were given. Below is a picture of how far we have gotten in our editing process so far.

Filming- Successfully Filmed

Yesterday, my group mate and I finally begun our filming process. Even though it took a few attempts, we got the final product that we had intended to. We changed a few things from last time, when our film did not turn out as planned. We filmed during the day, and the lighting was a lot better. Everything was visible and the film was not blurry. The lighting from outside accompanied the artificial lighting from the inside, which created good ambiance for the beginning of our film. It also was not raining this time. This helped our film a lot because there was no background sound that was distracting to the final product. So far, we have only filmed our first scene. We plan on separating the filming process into separate days. This way the film is quality and we are not rushed each time we film.
When I first arrived to my group mate’s house, we sat down and decided what we will film and how we will do it. We agreed that we would only film the first scene, so we can film properly and not rushed. We also decided when we would film next, which will be this upcoming weekend. The first clip that we filmed was her looking in the mirror and putting on makeup. This is what we had originally planned out in our script and it turned out the way we had planned. We then filmed her picking out her outfit and making sure it looked good. This will then continue into the next scene, where she will finish getting ready and then leave the house. This process will be long, but as long as we take our time it will turn out right. We are content with the product so far, as it has turned out much better than the first time. In a few days, we will begin to edit. Below is a screenshot from a clip that we filmed yesterday.

Filming- Attempt to Film

This past weekend, we begun our filming process. First of all, we have decided that we will not be checking out a camera from our media classroom. We agree that the iPhone is both easier to manipulate with, and has much better quality than the cameras provided to us by the school. Because we will be using our iPhones to film, we are also going to be using iMovie to film. An alternative option to this would be to use Pinnacle studios as our editing platform. This is too complicated for both my partner and I, and it is much easier to edit on our phones. Our plan for this weekend was to begin filming the first and second scene of our movie. I went to my group mate's house to begin the filming process. We chose to begin filming at her house because the first scene is created in a room, which makes most sense to start filming in a house. This process did not go as planed.
At first, both my group mate and I agreed that this was the perfect idea and everything would work out. However, we faced a few obstacles. Our first was the lighting since we began to film at night, the lighting inside her room was not ideal. Even with the lights on, the film appeared fuzzy, and definitely not the best quality we could have gotten. We intend to fix this by filming during the daytime instead. Another obstacle that we faced were the background noises. As her family was cooking dinner in the kitchen, we both found it very difficult to make sure these noses were not heard. Next time, we will make sure that no other loud activities will be going on in the house. Overall, the film that we created did not go as planned, so we decided to delete this film and complete restart. We will begin this process over again next weekend, or after-school during the week. Below is a picture of our iMovie ready to edit our film.

Filming- Did Not Get to Film

This past weekend, we planned to begin our filming journey. We were supposed to film the first 1-2 scenes of our movie. However, this did not go exactly as planned. There were multiple obstacles in our way of filming. One of our main challenges was the rain. Since we are in Florida, the rain is very unpredictable and constant. Even though our first 1-2 scenes are indoors, the rain makes transportation very challenging. It is difficult to ensure that all of our participants can safely arrive to our filming destination. We did not want to risk any chance where safety is a concern, so we decided it was not a good weekend to begin filming. The rain would also create unnecessary background noises to our film. We did not plan on having this dietetic sound in our film, which is also another reason that we could not film this weekend.
Another obstacle in our way of filming was the 4-day weekend. Since it was a 4-day weekend, my group mate took the opportunity to visit family out of town. Potentially, we could film the first few scenes alone. However, we really would rather not do this. Since it's the beginning of the film, we want to work together and film everything as a group. This way we both have the same visions for the rest of the film and we can create it together. Overall, it was a very complicated weekend and it was not possible to film. We are planning on filming sometime this week or next weekend. Even though we have not begun the filming process yet, we are still blogging and will begin our filming process very soon. Below is a picture of us working on our blogs.

Planning- Story Boarding

Displayed above is our storyboard template. This portrays what is going to happen every scene. It is split up into 6 seconds for every little box on the paper. There are also 6 boxes per paper. There is a small picture and description for what happens exactly in each scene.  Storyboarding is very helpful because it forces us to know what is happening each second in the film. We are planning on following this template as much as we can. Nothing should effect our filming too much so we are counting on this. This also helps us a lot with hitting the right time for the video. Now that we have all our information we will need to start filming soon.

Planning- Location, Health and Safety, Participants and Schedule

Attached above is our planning Google slide. Incorporated is the exact details that we need for our film. For example, we wrote about the filming location and even included pictures. While filming, we are involving many of our friends as participants. This will be a huge help because we need more actors and actresses than just my group member and I. Having this information will assist us in being prepared prior to filming. This will further save us a lot of time. We are planning to film throughout the period of two weeks. This gives enough time to make changes and to make sure everything is perfect like we planned. By the end of March, filming should be done and editing will begin.

Planning- Title Design

Attached above is our title design Google Slide. Included is all of the different fonts and titles used in the film. We will be using the font, "Baskerville Old Face." The reason for this font choice is that it will give off a mysterious vibe. This will set the tone for the film and make it more interesting. My group member and I would like to keep the font consistent, because we do not want it to look messy. An example of helping the title or font stick our would be using a black screen with white text. This grabs the attention of the audience. The main title will be "Girls Night Out." This was selected because it does not give away the film, but still gives the audience a little clue of what this film is about.

Planning- Sound Script

Attached above is our sound script. Included are multiple slides explaining and planning the sound in our scenes. There are diegetic and non-diegetic sounds listed, as well as every other music or sound that we intend to include. We are focusing on strictly following this plan. We hope to keep it consistent with this, aiming for 90% similarity. The sound is broken up into each scene, as each scene has different sounds. We created this document so assist us with filming, as we have already created our shooting script. We decided to divide up our shooting script into sound and planning, instead of creating it all together. Each sound that we intend to use is listed, including sounds like footsteps, or a car door closing, or the sound of a car moving. Since we do not know exactly what music we are including yet, it is hard to state what music we intend to use so this is just a basic idea of what we will use. All of the rest of our sounds are exactly what will be happening in the movie.

Planning- Shooting Script

This is a shooting script about what is shown in each scene. Each scene is portrayed on a different slide. Included in the document are the different camera angles, lighting and setting. We went into as much detail as possible. The purpose of this google slide is to explain exactly what is going to happen during every scene. Instead of putting our shooting and sound scripts together, we decided to divide them up. We are planning on following this script as throughly as we can. There will most likely be a 90% similarity between the script and the film. Things might change as to when the diner will be open and if everyone is able to get together to film. Following this script will help us be prepared to film.

Title Research (Dark)

How may titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?
There are 9 titles displayed during the opening sequences to the film.
What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?
The images that are prioritized during the opening sequence are images that depict certain aspects of the film. There are mainly images of hands and eyes in a kaleidoscope view.
What connotations do the images carry?
These images all carry an ominous connotation, as these hands and eyes are clearly valuable evidence to the mystery in the film. Additionally, the fact that they are  shown with the kaleidoscope effect might be crucial to the plot as well.
How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
The genre is reinforced through the actual images themselves, their effects, and the song that is placed in the titles. These images of hands and eyes are being repeated throughout the titles, reinforcing the key aspects to the mystery. The effect placed on them must have a significant meaning as well, as it is enforced on every image in the opening titles. Additionally, the music adds an extra effect of curiosity that engages the reader even more.
How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
The film establishes an enigma through mainly the effect. Any romance movie, comedy movie, or any other movie besides mystery would not generally use this effect. The kaleidoscope effect is placed to purposefully confuse the readers about the plot of the mystery, and furthermore obtaining a specific meaning within the film itself.
What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?
For this film specifically, the director is aiming for the audience to have an emotional appeal to these titles, and more specifically the film itself. The images of hands and eyes in creepy surroundings shown with an effect is purposefully designed to engage the audience in this film, by having them wonder why these images are so important.
How has technology been used effectively?
Technology is being used effectively through the connection of the music and the effects of these titles. Between the mysterious music and the confusing effect of the images, this effectively achieves the curiosity of a mystery film.

Title Research (Lost Highway)

How may titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?
There are 9 titles displayed during the opening sequences to the film.
What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?
The images that are prioritized during the opening sequence are images of a single road in the dark. This is sown clearly in relation to the title, "Lost Highway", as it is the only highway shown in the picture.
What connotations do the images carry?
These images all carry a mysterious connotation, because the audience doesn't know what this road symbolizes, or what is going to happen.
How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
The genre is reinforced through the simplicity and question depicted within these images. All the director shows is this single highway from the beginning, leading the audience to be curious about what this highway is all about.
How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
Just from looking at the first few titles, you can tell that this film is a mystery solely from the single image that is being shown. A lone highway with no other context would leads the audience to believe that they are expected to make a n inference about what will happen, which is the goal within mystery movies.
What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?
For this film specifically, the directer uses the strategy of simplicity. These titles are so simple, leaving the audience curious as to what will happen. The audience will be curious and they will be drawn into the significance of this road.
How has technology been used effectively?
Technology is being used effectively through the connection of the highway and the sound that corresponds with it. The sound that is playing is the sound of a car driving down the highway, while the highway is being shown. This makes the audience feel as if they are driving on his lonely, mysterious highway.

Title Research (Casino Royal)

How may titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?
There are 9 titles displayed during the opening sequences to the film.
What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?
Since the movie is created around a casino and the dilemmas that occur there, the images that are prioritized are all different elements to a royal casino. Even the font that is used is somewhat royal, against relating back to the title, "Casino Royale."
What connotations do the images carry?
These images all carry a mysterious connotation, relating to the theme of the movie. For example, at one point in the titles, they show an image of eyes looking around inside of the royal font. This is typically an element used in mystery movies, as these eyes show that something myserteous is about to happen.
How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
The genre is mainly shown through the sound, and font of the titles. The sound that is placed behind the titles is very mysterious, and a sound that you typically would not expect to hear during a comedy, or a romance film, for example. Additionally, the font is very appropriate to the title of the movie.
How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
Just from looking at the first few titles, you can tell that this film is ominous from the font, the colored images and more. It also does not give the entire plot away, leaving the audience interested in what is going to occur later in the film.
What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?
For this film specifically, the author really focuses on the visual appeal of the titles. He adds color to every image, even if it is just eyes that are looking around. This gives an eerie aspects that appeals to all audiences.
How has technology been used effectively?
Technology is being used effectively through the font. Not only is the font in royal print, but there are also images that are moving and coming out of the font at the same time. They are using special effects to enhance the visual appeal of the titles.

Title Research (Murder By Death)

How may titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?
There are 9 titles;es displayed during the opening sequences to the film. These titles include a combination of the major company in which the movie is being created from, the director, the writer, the main characters, copyrights and more.
What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?
The images prioritized in the opening scene are main characters, and the main props shown in the film.
What connotations do the images carry?
These images are depicting the main pieces of evidence, and main characters in the movie. During a mystery movie, any piece of evidence is important, wether it is the people or props.
How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
The genre is portrayed through the music. This music is mysterious and ominous, leading the audience4 to believe that something is going to happen soon. The music is crucial in the mystery genre, because it adds to the effect of the audience not knowing what is going to happen.
How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
Right from the beginning of the opening titles, I can sense the feel of the mystery genre between the music and the pictures itself. For example, it shows a chest. This chest is a prop in the movie that is crucial to solving the mystery.
What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?
The strategy that is being used to ensure that the right audience is being appealed is that they are not giving the plot of the movie right away. This is effective in interesting the audience to become mentally involved with the movie and become curious of what will happen. For example, they do not give away what will happen or who committed the crime. Instead, the just include certain aspects of the plot, like the chest, or the main characters.
How has technology been used effectively?
Technology is being used effectively through the sound, pictures and transitions between them. Between every image, there is a smooth transition between every picture, showing proper use of technology. Additionally, they include mysterious sound to correspond with the genre, and images that directly correspond as well.

Title Research www.watchthetitles.com

Previously, we conducted research on a website called www.artofthetitle.com and we learned the basics of creating a title sequence; specifically for the mystery genre. Before starting our own, we need to conduct more research first. Once again, we typed into google "title sequences" and a different website appeared, which we think can be useful to enhance our current knowledge. This website is called www.watchthetitles.com. Once we arrived at the website, we searched mystery again. However, this time no results came up. Therefore, we clicked on the movies section, and investigated how these titles were formatted. These results were very similar to the last website's. I realized that it is crucial to have all of our information together beforehand. This will make this process much easier, so that we can have all of our information together before we begin to format properly. If we don't, then it will make the process much more difficult and we might even need to restart multiple times to ensure that everything is included properly. Just as the other website stated as well, we will need to put our titles in front of different pictures. These pictures will be relevant to our mystery. Specifically, certain elements that contribute to the plot like characters, props and more. After conducting this research, we have a much better understanding of what we need to do now.

Title Research www.artofthetitle.com

To begin our title research, we came across this website called www.artofthetitle.com. First, we googled title sequences, and we arrived at this website. This website is designed to explain to the readers the most popular title sequences, and how they are formatted. We researched this in the first place so we know how to properly create a title sequence for our movie. Currently, both of us do not know how to format this, so this website will assist with this. From exploring this website, I learned many things. Once we arrived at this website, we immediately typed into the search bar, "mystery." In order how to learn how to create a title sequence, we need to research information directly relating to our genre first. I arrived at an article that provides an example of a title sequence from a mystery movie entitled, "Murder by Death." This article shows us how to correctly format a title sequence for a mystery movie, just like this one. I observed that each title was placed in front of a picture relating to the movie. These pictures are all different, including different clues that are relevant to this movie. If we follow these instructions, our title sequence will be properly formatted. From this website, we have a better idea of ow to create our own title sequence, for this specific genre. However, we need to be sure to include all titles necessary, or else it will not be correct.

Mystery Film Analyzing- Game Night

The movie Game night recently came out in 2018. The setting first takes place in a bar. A group of friends are playing a game against each other. This women and men find each other while playing the game and they fall in love. Lots of medium shots are incorporated into the movie. Then Max and Annie's weekly game night gets switches up one night. That's when Max's brother Brooks arranges a murder mystery party. This includes fake thugs and federal agents. So when Brooks gets kidnapped, it's all supposed to be part of the game. As the competitors set out to solve the case, they start to learn that neither the game nor Brooks know what is about to happen.
   The friends soon find themselves confused and scared. Each twist leads to another unexpected turn over the course of one night. This is when the setting changes to the house. The actors are all dressed in normal clothes. I noticed some pan and over the shoulder shots. Something I liked about the movie is that it was also funny. Something I didn't like to much was it wasn't too much mystery. The actors were pretty good. A huge prop would be the board games. The editing was clear with good transitions.
  This simple game turns into much more than everyone expected. I like that it took me by surprise. Just like many films there was mediums and medium close ups. the movie ends with Them playing Pictionary. Annie uses it to announce to Max that she is pregnant. The two of them embrace while their friends congratulate them. While all this is happening there is two guys in masks with guns preparing to go into the house. It keeps you guessing. In my opinion it was a good movie and I enjoyed it. The lighting varied from being inside with artificial lights to being outside in daylight. For the most part the setting didn't change to much. This movie will definitely help me and my group member with ideas while making our video.

Mystery Film Analyzing- Us

    This movie falls into the mystery/thriller category. The beginning of the movie starts of with a flashback to 1986. It first begins with an establishing shot, which then leads into a few panning shots which show a family at a festival with rides. The setting takes place at this amusement park. It also night time so the lighting is dark. The little girl wonders away from her parents and she gets lost. She walks around exploring but that's when it starts to get creepy. This lighting is still normal lighting, as it is dark outside. She goes into this hall of mirrors and sees a replica of herself. After this small beginning it goes back to present day. This little girl is grown up now with a husband and kids.
    Haunted by a traumatic experience from the past, Adelaide grows increasingly concerned that something bad is going to happen. Everyone is dressed in normal clothing. This includes shorts and t-shirts. I noticed many tracking shots and medium shots. there was also some eye level shots. This family decides to take a trip to the same beach where the assessment park is.Her worst fears soon become a reality when four masked strangers descend upon the house, forcing the Wilson into a fight for survival. The masked strangers look identical to the family. The bad family wont stop until they get what they want. The actors did an amazing job in my opinion.

    They genuinely looked scared which really made it seem like they weren't acting. The sound was very precise and detailed. P.O.V shots were included because it helped the watchers see what the actors were doing. A suspenseful story and marvelous cast I would say. I really think there was so much talent between the actors because you could really see the pain in there eyes. I enjoyed that there was lots of suspense during the movie. The close up shots made all the details clear.The costumes also consisted of the Bad family wearing red jumpsuits. While the Regular family was dressed in normal clothing. I believe the movie was directed very well and the actors were amazing.

Mystery Film Analyzing- Get Out

   The award winning movie Get out is filled with lots of mystery and thriller. The movie begins with a man walked down the street late at night and notices a car following him. The setting is very dark and creepy. The actors are all dressed in causal clothing nothing out of the ordinary. For a portion of the time the camera tends to film his body and not face. A lot of wide and long shots are included. This movie is a great example of mystery because for a big portion of the movie everything is okay. The main actors in the beginning of the movie is a young relationship between a Caucasian female and African american male. This couple decides to drive up and met the girls parents. The setting switches from their house, to the car, to the parents house.

    The makeup/hair is pretty basic because they are just regular humans. Once you get to the middle of the movie things start to get very weird. He realizes there is something wrong with the workers in the house. The boyfriend is starting to freak out because hes surrounded by all these white people and everyone's acting different. The movie includes many close up shots. They also like to add in Medium-closeups, high angles and long shots. The directors made such that there was a lot of eye-level shots which helped the watches connect to the actors. One thing I don't like too much about the movie is that it takes a lot time for something to happen. Its a little boring before it reaches the climax. Something I did like was that towards the end the movie really surprised you.

    I enjoyed that it kept me guessing the whole time. The story line was filled with mystery and keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole movie. The ending also took me by surprise. The girls family tricked him so now hes trying to escape. I believe the editing was done really well because there are smooth transitions. The sounds that was included were great because it was very detailed. I could hear the foot steps, breathing, and the door cracking. Most of the lighting took place inside with artificial lighting. I also noticed some tracking shots. I personally find mystery/thriller very interesting so this was a great movie for me.

Mystery Film Analyzing -Murder Mystery

In order to create our film, we need to research actual films that have been created within this genre. To start off with, we watched the movie, "Murder Mystery" by Kyle Newacheck starring Adam Sandler, Jenifer Aniston and Luke Evans. The movie begins with an ariel shot of the city to establish the setting for the movie. This could be considered the establishing shot, as most mystery movies include. Following this, they incorporate a tilt shot, which leads down to two characters talking. Once they have established the characters and setting involved in the film, they use a handheld shot of the two characters talking. This technique is placed here to make the audience feel as if they are involved within the movie as well. There are no extravagant examples of make-up, props or costumes yet. Since the characters are living in a city, they are wearing normal clothes and makeup. When researching this genre previously, it stated that this would occur, as mystery is more natural; not needing to incorporate these aspects a lot. As for sound, the beginning of this movie is using dietetic sound. You can hear the wind blowing, the people talking, cars honking and people talking in the background.

Now, we have reached the middle of the movie. So far, they have established all the characters, the setting and the problem. The problem is occurring when all of the characters are on a boat and different characters keep getting killed, but nobody knows who is committing his crime. In the middle of the movie, (and beginning) the lighting throughout has been normal, either sunlight, or common room lighting. As for camera movements, we are beginning to notice a lot more instances of zooming in and out. This is used when a character says something important, most likely pertaining to the crime. Furthermore, there are many instances of cutaway shots. These are used throughout conversations, especially important ones where both sides of the conversation have important things to say. There are many two-shots, as the two main characters are a couple exploring together. As we have now reached the middle of the movie, more characters are being introduced that are wearing different costumes from the rest of the cast. 

Now that we have reached the end of the movie, the character that committed the crime has been revealed, and the mystery is solved. Throughout the film, the director incorporates hidden clues to make the audience guess who was the culprit. The way that he accomplishes this is through certain camera angles, shots and movements listed above. Specifically in there end, there are many examples of tracking shots. Since the characters are involved in a car chase, the camera is following the cars on a track so that the camera stays steady, and that the audience can feel as if they're involved in it too. As stated before, there are many zoom shots. Since the characters are in a crisis, they want to show the audience each of their emotions up close, by using the zooming technique. The new aspect that is incorporated into the end of the film is that they are using makeup to represent blood from the mystery. Once the movie is over, they run the credits at the end with a song playing in the background (non-dietetic sound). Overall, we realized that there are many specific aspects that are used in this genre in order to be successful

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Deciding Genre- Mystery

After conducting research on the two genres that we were debating between, we finally decided to make our movie fall under the mystery genre. We decided that horror was too basic, and too hard to make our movie different from the rest. A lot of horror movies follow the same plot, and we do not want to copy any ideas unintentionally, as our idea is original. Since we decided on mystery, we have more freedom to stretch our plot and make it more original. Additionally, with horror, most of the time extravagant costumes, makeup and props are included for that. Since we are young and not experienced enough to incorporate these aspects, mystery is a better choice. Furthermore, our idea just overall aligns better with the aspects of mystery. We are excited to experiment with different camera angles, lighting and movement particular to this genre.

Genre Research- Horror and Mystery

For our film, we are now conducting research on other genres. We are currently debating between horror and mystery because each of these could fall under the category of our film. This powerpoint attached below, is our research for the horror genre. We conducted research about the CLAMPS, CAMS and overall elements of genre. Additionally, we included the elements of comedy that appealed to us, and those that didn’t appeal to us. I learned that in horror, there are many different camera angles being used, many of which are high angles. High angles in horror are used to show weakness of a character, or portraying the victim of the plot. Also, there are many close ups, and extreme close ups. These are used to show very specific aspects of emotion, like extreme fear that can be clearly seen up close. Overall, there are many specific aspects to horror that stand out from the rest of the genres. Below is a powerpoint with all of our research that we conducted particular to this genre.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1XeFHPDCEAS5GLX3yJztfkkdLi8lRJbOrf7FS7MYi4X4
Overall, we are debating for our movie to fall under either the horror, or mystery genre. Since we already conducted research for horror, we decided to conduct research about the mystery genre. Mystery is also a very specific genre, that includes many elements specific to this genre. We included information about the CLAMPS, CAMS, and the elements of drama, along with the elements that appealed to us and did not appeal to us. Some elements of mystery that appeal to me are the overall curiosity that lies within the plot, and the hidden clues that are placed within the film. I enjoy, as the audience, watching a mystery movie and attempting to predict who is the culprit, and who assisted in the mystery. This is appealing to many audiences, as they can become emotionally involved into the plot itself. One element that does not appeal to me is if the mystery is poorly constructed, and not leaving the audience with enough clues to predict the ending. This can lead to confusion, and overall dislike of the movie. Below, is a powerpoint with all of our research conducted on this specific genre, mystery.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1QNAZkRVF1YYnvQr0ErkltneH7psZfYqzk7nulGnTG60

Genre Research- Comedy

This powerpoint, attached below, is research for a genre of film. This is a project that we have completed this year, in which we were randomly assigned a certain genre. The instructions said that we needed to research this genre, specifically the CLAMPS, CAMS and more. My group was assigned comedy, which was helpful to learn even though that our movie does not fall under this category. I learned many different things about this genre, of which I would not have known if i did not conduct this research. Specifically, I did not know about the certain camera angles being used. For example, I never realized that most comedy is filmed at eye level, as most comedy is shot in real life situations. Additionally, I didn’t realize that there are a lot of zooming in and out shots, until after I conducted this research. Overall, this project was helpful for our movie, in the way that we can now eliminate comedy as one of the options for the genre of our film. The research we conducted does not match up with the description of the thoughts for our pitch.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1VDqgqkRIPMCkwmtJVh_fVPPv5Ppyww7XSZMs6vDYqi0

Narrowing Pitches Down

Today, 1/16/2020, my group decided on our 3 pitch ideas (as listed in the previous blog). Upon debating between them, we realized that there are many pros and cons to both. We based our decision mainly on two different factors: originality and drama. Accounting for this, we decided to narrow out our first pitch. This pitch was described as a horror, kidnapping film. This pitch is much different from the others, as the others are mystery and this one is horror. We are aiming to stick with mystery, so automatically we decided to narrow out this pitch. Additionally, we determined that this pitch was not very original. There are many movies that have been created involving kidnapping. We created this idea originally because we thought that it would be easy to work with. After long consideration, we decided that it is not original and not within the right drama that we had envisioned doing.
Now, we narrowed our options down to our last two pitches. One being the pitch involving an abandoned house, and the other being about the restaurant poisoning. After discussing each one in depth, we decided to then rule out our abandoned house pitch. Even though it does fall in the right category, it would overall be too complicated to film. I believe that we would have trouble securing the location because we would have to find an abandoned home. Along with finding a good place, there is also a major safety issue involved. Abandoned houses are not safe, and we would be trespassing on private property. This situation is not ideal for the filming of our movie. Even though it would be a fun movie to film, it is not ideal conditions that can guarantee success of our final project. Accounting for this, we decided that this pitch would not be a good fit for our movie.
On the other hand, we decided that the pitch about the restaurant poisoning is most likely the best idea that we have thought about so far. We believe that this idea fits all of our requirements and in the end, will hopefully turn out the best. Beginning with the genre, we believe that mystery is going to be the easiest and most interesting to film. As this film is involving the poisoning of ones drink, this causes it to fall under mystery because the goal is to figure out who did it. Additionally, we believe that our idea is very original. We intend for the movie to begin with a normal group of friends casually going out for dinner. Following this, they all order their dinners and drinks, and the waiter comes back to deliver them. However, when she hands back the drinks, she makes sure to give one of the girls a certain drink, even though they all order the same thing. Shortly after, the girl that was given the certain drink falls ill. The rest of the movie will show the characters trying to determine who poisoned the drink. This idea was envisioned by us, and not based off of any other movie. Therefore, it is original, and the perfect fit for our movie.

Start of Final Task

My name is Danielle and I am a student at Fort Lauderdale High in Florida. I am in 10th grade and I am currently 16 years old. I am currently taking 4 AICE classes, including this class. The AICE classes that I am taking are Thinking Skills, Media Studies, English Language and European history. This is a big challenge to take on as a 10th grader, but it is very important in order to achieve my AICE diploma. I am looking forward to graduating with this extra diploma, with hopes that I can get into a prestigious college that I wish to attend in the future. I am aspiring to get accepted into University of Florida, and I strongly believe that my AICE diploma will be a prominent feature in this journey. In my free time, I go to dance every day after school. I have been dancing since I was very young and I hope to continue my journey throughout college. I aspire to dance in college as well, to keep me busy and in shape.
Before taking this class, I did not know much about editing and filming. After filming our commercial and music video, I have learned many different ways to film, plan and edit a video successfully. In our first project, our commercial, we used pinnacle studios to edit. However, using the school computers for this combined with this application, did not result so well. Our final project was successful, but there were many malfunctions along the way dealing with the computers. On the other hand, our music video that we created turned out just the way we had planned. We decided to film with our iPhones and edit on iMovie instead of using pinnacle studios on the school computers. It was much easier to edit and manipulate. For this project, I am working with Julia and we are very excited to begin. We are planning on using iMovie this time, as it was the most successful application to use.
To begin working on our project, the first step that we need to approach is creating our pitch. A pitch is a hollywood term to describe an idea where a film is encapsulated in 25 words or less. It took us a while to think about, but after long discussion we finally narrowed it down to 3 ideas. Our first idea is, “As normal, a mom comes home from work, excited to see her daughter. However she is not there... where did she go?” This idea is inspired from our idea to create a horror movie involving kidnapping. Our second pitch idea is, “Its Halloween and as a tradition, a group of friends explores an abandoned house. However this year turns out different... what do they find?” This idea is a mystery movie involving a group of kids finding a bottle with a note in it that takes them for a journey. Our last idea is, “A girls night out goes wrong and someone ends up with a poisoned drink. Who poisoned them?” This idea is also a mystery movie, involving a group of girls who go out for a normal night. They are all given waters, and the waiter gives them the drinks in a weird way, causing them to suspect something. One girl falls ill, leading them to believe that someone poisoned their drinks. So far, we are leaning towards this idea because we believe it is the most original and creative. Below, are pictures of us working on our blogs and pitch ideas today, 1/16/2020.