Critical Creative Reflection

Final Task Movie

Music Video

Commercial

Planning Blog: Storyboard

Creating the storyboard, was a lot more perplex than we originally thought. Due to us forgetting the amount of clips we needed.  Thus we ending up having to start the entire process over. Therefore, instead of going by seconds we went based on the scene and everything that it acquired.  Breaking down our film in the ways of the storyboard helped us to realize how we wanted to go about the film itself.  It allowed us to really go into details. Thoughts on how we wanted to portray the transitions were one of the major keys when it came to the titles.  We were able to figure out the outfits and which angles were best to use in order to create suspense or capture an emotion.  Story boarding gave us a different perspective to our film as whole.

Planning Blog: Sound Script

With the sound script, we all came to realize that everything has to be in it.  We were unaware of how much sound our film possessed until breaking it down.  Going scene by scene and physically writing out what each scene has was an eye opener.  Due to us doing a  thriller we really had to figure out with non-dietetic sound went with which.  Almost like finding the perfect match, but for a specified scene.  I would say the dialogue was fun because we tried to make it serious but witty.  Giving hints as to what the actresses' personalities were.  We had to keep in mind the audience and what score will keep them interested in the film.  We had to listen to audios of thriller movies to play around with our ideas.

Planning Blog: Shooting Script

The PowerPoint helps to crate a visual of what my group and I and trying to reach.  Throughout each slide you will be able to visualize what we want each scene to capture.  The slides are helping you imagine the passage of time.  As well as to help the audience follow the break down of our script. The team and I will be shooting from a variety of different angles to give off different vibes throughout the film making process.  As you go through the slide you'll begin to sense the build up of the intensification we are trying to get across in our film. With shooting we have to take inconsideration the lighting and timing.  These two are one of the most important for our film. Along with the shooting process we have a bunch of cross cuts as  well as sot reverse shots. Shooting with editing these certain shots we must take our time to make sure everything lines up in theway we would like it to.

Genre Research

Genre Research:A Fall From Grace

CAMS
The premise of this movie is  to get a woman who was viewed as guilty of a crime, with overwhelming evidence against her , to be seen as innocent. So much that the woman who was accused of the crime ,at first, wanted to confess about the crime, and  plea guilty for the deal of a lesser punishment. The camera angles, or rather the camera work in general, isn’t anything special, and the quality of the film could honestly be better. The film looks like, based on the quality, a YouTube video  rather than a film. There are a few establishing shots, eye-line matches though, but overall, one can   see the overwhelming low quality for a film at this caliber.

CLAMPS
The Costumes were basic clothing , normal everyday people would wear; nothing that stood out, same goes for the characters in the film, except for one who seemed to be a little psychotic. The lighting was for the most part the same throughout the movie, even when  there where darker parts, like when it became night time, overall no significant lighting effects, apart from this one scene where fireflies were edited in; which, goes hand in hand with the acting. In this particular scene the second main character, was supposed to act as if the fireflies were around them, and that they were grabbing one which did not look believable. The acting as a whole seemed forced, and unnatural  in some scenes, where you could tell the actors were not good at presenting certain emotions. Also, there was a background character who made their pretend eating to noticeable. Furthermore, there was no makeup that seemed out of the ordinary. the only makeup that was seen was what normal women would wear to “enhance” their looks in the real world, and (in the movie) it was most likely used to make one of the characters look a certain way , as they went from a beautiful woman , to a prisoner. The props in the movie were mainly items one would expect to see in a certain area, or on a person, for example, the 2nd main character wearing handcuffs in jail, and her husband who was a photographer that would have a camera with them. The scenery, was almost  ALWAYS, constricted, and felt as if there was no freedom to roam, like a play. For more than half of the movie, they were always in a small room , or building.

SOUND: The sound in this movie played a big role and eased the lack of essence in the characters/ actors. The non-diegetic sound, which was music, helped set the tone, or mood for certain scenes, and at some points saved certain scenes, like when Shanon/ Maurice acts angrily towards his wife Grace, though he does a good job of acting tender or friendly, which was amplified by the non-diegetic sound. The diegetic sound was incorporated into the non diegetic to TRY and make things suspenseful; which, this movie did not execute well for the first hour.

EDITING: The editing was honestly average to subpar, and looked low quality, along some frequent parts in the movie. The cuts, sound bridges , and things of the like were okay, Though when it came to special effects, like the firefly scene with Grace and Shanon/Maurice, it did not look like professional work, though it could be due to a low budget.

ELEMENTS OF GENRE: Elements of the thriller genre mainly focus on building suspense. The wonder of “what happens next” to a character keeps the audience hooked on the story. To effectively have thriller, the audience must have to know a possible end goal of what the protagonist is journeying up towards. The addition of time sensitivity helps push the pace and anticipation of the film. Finally, the story must progress in difficulty for the protagonist. Increase antagonistic forces must be presented for the audience to stay intrigued in the plot.


Positives:

• The movie’s message resonated with a lot of women, and could be used as a sort of, source of empowerment.

Negatives: 

• The acting felt unnatural at times
• Some effects were low quality
• The scenery changed frequently, though felt like being in a box.
• The plot was predictable.
• This movie takes way too long to get interesting.
• A fall from Grace, did not do a very good job of portraying a Thriller.

Genre Research

Genre Research:Parasite

CAMS: The premise of the movie is to highlight class diversity. The director, Bong Joon-Ho, marvelously uses different camera angles and shots to create a splitting camera composition. The poor Kim family is shown to be consistently lower in camera angles, than the rich Park family. Establishing shots of the Kim family show them living in destitute and the direction further embraces the poverty by showing the Kim family through shaky flash pans and distorted camera compositions.On the other hand, the rich Park family is shown through wide angles, to display their wealth, and elegant transitions whenever their scenes shift. Shot, reverse, shots are also prevalent and used to parallel the two families’ socio-economic class. In dialogue, the Park family is almost always shown in low angle to give the sense of superiority to the audience and other characters in the film.

CLAMPS: The costumes for this movie is fairly basic. The characters wear regular, age appropriate clothing and give off the perfect suburban city vibe. Obviously, the park family dresses in more expensive clothing than the Kim family, whose clothes are slightly ragged. Lighting in this movie is discriminatory, here’s why. The Kim family is portrayed to be living in the slums of South Korea, so the lighting has a hue of mustard yellow to truly encapsulate the dirty and mangy environment they live in. The Park family, however lives in a mansion who lighting directly deifies the Park family. The actors in this movie are all Korean and the movie is subtitled in Korean and directed by a Korean director. All in all, the acting in this movie is pretty spot on as the characters perfectly embody their character’s quirks and social normalities. No absurd amount of makeup is used unless it is used for blood or damage effects. Props in the movie mainly shows the wealth and poverty of the two families. The Park family’s porcelain and Range Rover are used to show their immense wealth, whereas the Kim family uses disposable and fairly second hand items and eat junk food. Scenery in the movie is the most impressive when displaying the Park family mansion. All the extravagant items and architecture accurately presents what the 1% would own. The Kim family, however, lives in a basement in direct line to fumigations, floods, and drunk urinators, all of which are used to paint the decrepit environment of the Kim’s. 

Sound: The non-diegetic sound used in this movie are mainly eerie. In one scene where the Kim family discovers a couple living in the Park family basement, the scene is blanketed with anticipatory music before the reveal of the couple. In chase scenes, the score is upbeat and meant to parallel the distress the characters are feeling, with the audience. As for diegetic sound, it is interlaced with non-diegetic to further build the suspense of the scene. Sound is also essential in the story telling of this movie and events are preceded by a confirmatory sound effect.

Editing: The editing in this film primarily is meant to show the class division of the two families. There are parallel shots of the two families essentially doing the same things, but split in between to further emphasize the divide. Not until the two families converge, does the shots begin to distort as the two’s polarity starts to clash and is shown by frantic cuts and dramatic zoom ins. 

Elements of the genre:  Elements of the thriller genre mainly focus on building suspense. The wonder of “what happens next” to a character keeps the audience hooked on the story. To effectively have thriller, the audience must have to know a possible end goal of what the protagonist is journeying up towards. The addition of time sensitivity helps push the pace and anticipation of the film. Finally, the story must progress in difficulty for the protagonist. Increase antagonistic forces must be presented for the audience to stay intrigued in the plot. 

Positives:

• The movie had an extremely interesting plot and theme of class diversity.
• The cast was completely Korean and this is good for international cinema.
• Almost all the scenes have symbolic meaning to them.
• Acting was convincing and moving.
• Structure of the story progression was unique.
• The ending was truly impressive.

Negatives: 

• No real negatives except that one needs to understand Korean or read subtitles to understand the movie.

Genre Research

Genre Research: Bird Box

CAMS: The movie features many pans to show scenery. Bird Box also likes to use close-ups and extreme close-ups to show the morphing of the character's eyes when they see the "monster". This movie also uses wide shots to show the aftermath of the "monster" hitting initially. Then it is followed by low angles to show bodies on the ground and how lifeless the scene is after disaster hits. Medium close-ups and close-ups are used to show reaction, especially fear. Throughout the film, they use a POV shot where the camera is covered with a blindfold. Over the shoulder, shots were also prevalent throughout to show vulnerable conversations between people. Lastly, throughout the film, they cut back to the river with an aerial shot to show how long the journey is on the river.

CLAMPS: Costumes are normal everyday clothing but some people are highlighted in a more blue-toned outfit to show the significance of their characters. Lighting is very bright because the outside is very important to highlight as it accounts for all the deaths in the movie. Actors are all very diverse with different personalities to show the end of the world unlikely opportunity that these people would ever meet. Makeup is very natural or in the later scenes they emphasize how dirty the people are from being out on their own for so long. Props include blindfolds as they hold a deep significance to the plot. Additionally, there are other normal survival props for the plight they face in the movie. The setting is barren California with some post-apocalyptic houses and other infrastructure.

Sound: This movie featured many examples of diegetic sound in outside scenes like wind, leaves rustling and water rushing down a river. Non-diegetic sounds are also featured like a whispering noise that is supposed to represent the presence of the "monster" in the film. In addition, birds chirping are also a significant part of the plot where if the birds go crazy with shrieks then the "monster" is present. The dialogue was used throughout this movie to illustrate the disagreements, pain, and spread of ideas in the midst of a disaster.

Editing: Bird Box is full of many abrupt cuts between shots to add suspense and speed in scenes of action. This movie also features added text during the river shots to show how much time has passed. In the middle of the plot, they used a cross cut-in to show what's happening on the river and related activities in the past. Cut-aways show the build-up during the rapids scene.

Elements of the genre:  This movie is considered a thriller because it displays scenes of action, drama, and fear. This movie shows characters to you and makes you close to them as they face the perils of this unknown "monster". Bird Box gives the audience a sense of uncertainty as the plot unfolds. There are aspects of terror and tension with certain scenes that are compensated by sweeter and more vulnerable scenes for character development.

Things I liked: I enjoyed this movie very much as I felt it was unconventionally quaint. As horrible as some of the scenes were with graphic tragedies the movie stilled ended with a happy and hopeful ending even though the main character truly went through it all and lost so much. I also enjoyed the cinematography of some of the shots with how beautiful they were. No shot was too over the top as it was simple but showed the truth to the characters shown. Finally, I enjoyed that they never showed the “monster” which added to its mystery and terror because you can never fully understand it’s capabilities.

Things I didn't like: I did not enjoy some of the decisions the character's made in the plot as I felt they would've learned their lesson with some of the previous tragedies experienced. In the end, I feel that this was more of a personal issue and the directors added things like this to frustrate the audience in the spirit of a true Thriller.

Genre Research

Thriller:
Camera angles, movements, and shots: High angles and birds eye shots are used to make the characters look vulnerable. Fast pans add suspense during action shots. POV shots can put you in the character's shoes as they go through their dilemma at the moment. Close-ups show emotion, vulnerability, and reactions of characters.

Common costumes, lighting, actors, makeup, props, and scenery: Costumes usually fit the time period usually either present time or could be adapted based on location (ex. Space). Lighting is very contrasted. Some scenes may be shot with bright lighting to make sure the audience has a full understanding of everything that is happening or the scene while, other scenes may be filmed in darker more moody lighting to add drama and suspense to the unknown, the situation, or the antagonist. Makeup is usually done pretty natural for characters. In addition, some scenes require special effects for injuries and gore illustrated on film. Props usually consist of  survival gear, new technology to defeat the antagonist, or everyday objects. The scenery is usually a type of post-apocalyptic abandoned scene. This can include empty houses, stores, shacks, etc. Actors are usually method actors, performers who can invoke a believable and emotional experience to the audience. Thrillers hinge on suspense, so the mis-en scene of the film has to focus on building anticipation.

Editing in Thrillers: All thriller films use fast and slow paced editing in their films. This is very good at creating suspense, tension and also conveying emotions and/or representing characters. Most commonly, thrillers use fast and slow paced editing specifically to create suspense and tension within a scene. Jump cuts for example, can be seen in the thriller genre due to their disorientating effect on a character or scene. Shot, reverse, shot is another editing technique used especially to show the audience something that the characters do not know. Another editing technique used is parallel editing; where the audience is shown what two characters are doing at the same time. One shot usually has an effect on the other in these types of shots.

Elements of Genre: The main element of a thriller is suspense; putting the audience on edge through impactful storytelling. Alfred Hitchcock was a master of suspense as if one simply shows the audience a room full of people and it explodes, only shock is felt. However, when an audience is shown of a room full of people and a ticking time bomb is about to go off then,  suspense is built. Thrillers are meant to heavily stimulate the viewer's moods giving them a high level of anticipation, ultra- heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and even terror.

Examples of Films:
Get out, Ma, A Quiet Place, Glass, Parasite, Joker, Nightcrawler, Gone Girl, Bird Box.

Common Sound in Genre: Thrillers have eerie scores to direct the narrative of the story. The aim of the music is to keep the audience on their toes.  Silence is widely used to create tension to a certain scene. The non-diegetic music in thrillers is fairly repetitive, creating anxiety and agitation for the audience. Non-diegetic sound used to increase the tension and create a sense of pessimism, desperation and paranoia. Sound bridges are used to cut to another shot, without the action being interrupted, this is very important in a thriller as it allows the audience to still feel tension even when the action is no longer view-able. Finally, Dialogue is diegetic, and often the dialogue creates a very tense atmosphere.

Positives and Negatives of the Genre:
Positives:
Suspense keeps the audience engaged.
Eeriness of the genre is appreciated.
Themes/story of this genre generally interesting.
Uses a lot of camera angles and shots.
Thrillers tend to be more story focused and not relying on sequels; story is self contained.
Use of visuals and audio to invoke suspense.
Negatives:
Genre not accepted by all, not as mainstream as action/adventure films.
Story lines are sometimes too complex, has to reveal all in a single movie.
Actors have to be decent for the movie to have its effect.

Genre Research 1: PowerPoint

Horror:

Lighting- Uplighting

• Silhouette- Shadows show movement of antagonist so the viewers imagination creates their worst fear.
• Spotlighting- Drawing attention to main focal point.
• Underexposure
• Prominent and projected shadows
• Shooting through objects and elements- Creates strange and irregular shadows.

Angles- Bird eye (high angle): used to make the actor look vulnerable

• Close up: used to see characters reactions
• Tracking shot: shows if a character is being watched or followed. 
• Reversed shot: shows the consequences of a person's actions by using time
• Long shot: used to establish the scene ( ex: how deserted a town is)
• Over the shoulder shot: Used to build suspension 
• Reaction shot: To show fear after jump scare.
• POV shot: when character is running from antagonist

Movement- Running from antagonist

• Choreographed fights (hand to hand and/or weapon use)
• Scared/surprised faces 
• Hysterical crying 
• Stunts (Jumping out of windows, dramatic deaths, vehicle chases)

Mis en scene-

• Sets with fog and dark lighting
• Strobe lights for added attack effects 
• Regular clothes costumes and set design to make things appear scarier because they are more realistic.
• Special FX makeup used to create realistic wounds and creatures
• Shooting Locations appear to be isolated and rural. 

Elements: Scary places

• Spooky music
• Fear of the unusual
• The dark
• Fear of death
• Shocking plot twist
• Unsafe feeling

Movie Examples:

• The Shining
• Frankenstein
• The Conjuring
• Halloween
• Scream
• The Blair Witch Project

Sounds: Suspenseful music 

• Non-diegetic sounds (Ex: Monster noises)
• Sound Motif (Ex: Michael Myers from Halloween) 
• Fear inducing score (Ex: Psycho shower scene theme)
• Screaming
• Silence (Bird Box/A Quiet Place)
• Emphasis on Diegetic sounds (door creaking, crows, wind, footsteps, Sirens etc.)

What we like:

• The fear of death until the end credits of movie conveyed by overall music, graphics, and special effects. (Ex: IT)
• A shocking plot twist because it leaves the audience following one story which changes drastically throughout leaving you intrigued and sometimes confused on previous motives. (Ex: Psycho's false beginning that grows darker throughout the plot.)

What we don’t like:

• Unrealistic plots and monster/creature effects: It takes away from the overall scary experience with improper Mis en Scene. (Ex: Ghostbusters) 
• Unnecessary blood for unwanted effect: Makes scene more comical and unrealistic (Ex: Kill Bill)

Hard to follow plots: We can’t be fully frightened when we do not fully follow along on with what's happening. (Ex: Into the Forest)

Pitch Blog

Yesterday my group brainstormed three awesome pitches for our potential movie we are doing the title sequence for. We then needed to debate to narrow down 3 options into 2 options. We thought of all of the pros and cons of each idea. We wanted to consider logistics with scenery, props, and acting ability. In conclusion, we decided to eliminate pitch #3. We felt the romantic comedy would not work for a variety of reasons. We felt the scripts would be difficult to write to keep from being cheesy but, equally keep the audience entertained to continue watching. In addition, the genre is hard to build up suspense as an easy technique to keep audiences engaged. Overall, we felt the first two pitches are much better suited for our group dynamic. On to narrowing it down some more.

Pitch #1 was a concept entitled "Hit(Wo)man". It would be a girls' tag-team duo that wanted to diminish any disrespectful boy that interacts with them until one of them falls in love. The friend would then try to eliminate the boy on her own terms to save her friend. This production would be easy to leave the audiences "hanging" as it will be interesting, new, and exciting. We would also have enough actors/actresses to play all the parts and accomplish it reasonably. The cons of this idea include difficulty filming due to multiple locations and props. In addition, this plot could get very messy and confusing.

Pitch #2 was a concept entitled "Radioactive 235". It would be a post-nuclear disaster interview with a man that's been working towards freedom from government standards in a deep tragedy. This concept could be good to test different angles and shots to show and emphasize the dramatic effect.   In addition, it would be a simple film to shoot considering plain locations and props. However, special effects may be hard to articulate without it looking laughable due to lack of skill. In addition, we would also really have to shoot the title sequence a certain way to convince the viewers to be enticed by a tragic story without going into detail too soon.

With all of this in mind, our group decided to go with option #1. We felt it would be exciting to work on which will help with the motivation and quality of this project. In addition, we felt this project will have a better suspenseful output making it easier to attain the goal of enticing the audience.

Starting The Final Task

Hello again, my name is Nyaira.  Over the course of the past six months that I have been taking AICE Media Studies, I have come across a lot of new information and have changed drastically. Since turning 18 and getting a second job, I have learned how to prioritize my time more.  After being promoted to a supervisor at my first job I have felt the need to in a sense step up as a leader.  I have been really focusing on better myself for when I leave to go off to the services.  Being organized and managing my time now, is a step in the right directions.   This is going to help me in all aspects.

Typically on projects and assignments, I would partner with Katie.  This time however, Katie and I have chosen to partner up with another team of two: Anjun and Preace. Combined our group name is KNAP.

In my previous projects with Katie, I have worked on my angles, and movements with the camera.  I am really excited to learn more about editing and the other angles we may possibly use in this upcoming film task.  In the beginning Katie and I struggled the most with the movements from shot to shot.  For whatever reason the shots were not flowing into each other.  As for the lighting, we struggled with knowing the timing of outside as well; as how it would project on the camera itself.  In our second film we made dramatic changes with editing and do believe that it came out much better than the first one.  We played around with the visual content to really get our point across in our film.  I would say this could be the best film we have produced.  Putting four creative brains together to formulate a film using a variety of tricks we have learned individually and as a whole.

The four of us took time out to think out some unique pitches that may grasp any audiences attention.  A pitch is a Hollywood term to describe an idea where a film is encapsulated in 25 words or less.  Usually with one sentence.

The three pitches we came up with were:

1. Hit(Wo)man- Vengeful lady tries to prevent a friend from falling into the arms of the wrong guy, by going to the extremes.
2. Radioactive 235- Post nuclear disaster interview that reveals a deeper tragedy in the eyes of a hardworking man working towards freedom. (production value will be bad)
3. Isn’t it ironic- Two people meet and get off to a rough start until they keep ironically meeting and realize they were soulmates the entire time.