Genre Research: American Psycho

  Another movie I picked to do research on was American Psycho, a Thriller movie that was rated pretty high by critics. The movie is about this american business man that is narrating to the audience the entire time he kills people. This describes the title of the movie with an imperfect killer that is going insane.
- pretty much all the camera angles are eye level and sometimes low angle. All camera positions were used but mostly over the shoulder, long shot, medium close ups, and 2 shots were used. There are a surprisingly amount of zooms in this movie, along with hand held, tracking, pans, and tilts.
-The costumes are normal business suits and common clothes. Lights are common and natural with other lights on faces to make them pop. The acting if very good and people are very serious with it too. The makeup they use is not a lot, mostly women's normal make up and sometimes blood. props are normal business objects, sometimes weapons, food, and drinks. the setting is in the city in an office and rooms and streets.
- Sounds are diegetic and nondiegetic with voice overs and there are lots of dialogue. They use a sound track too.
-common editing would be lots of cross cutting, some cut aways, and shot reverse shots.
-The elements of the genre in the movie are lots of suspense and things that get my heart racing. The movie gets my brain thinking.There are common clothes in this movie, common lighting, and pretty much everything you would see in the Mis-En-Scene for this genre. This movie has the same camera angles and movements as well.
-I loved the suspense that they used. I loved that they really were confusing and manipulating the audience the entire time watching.
-I did not like how long it was though, it seemed like the same thing over and over but, I feel they made it work.

Genre Research: Nightcrawler (2014)

   

     A movie that I have chosen to research in the thriller genre is the 2014 film, Nightcrawler, starring Jake Gyllenhaal. This movie is about a man who pursues a new career as a cameraman, and goes out at night to capture the most grueling and shocking crimes and accidents, when he is then noticed by struggling new director. She believes his desire and insane methods to get the 'money shot' will help to raise her station's ratings. This movie also has pretty good reviews, thus why I decided to check it out.
     This film uses a lot of close-ups, especially on Lou Bloom, the main character, to show his emotion, or rather, lack of it. There are also many tracking shots, which are used to follow Bloom when he is filming something, which I believe is cleverly used to show us kind of what he's doing.
Something unique and interesting that this film does is film over-the-shoulder shots, but not during conversations. They're used whenever Lou is filming something. In these shots, everything is blurred except for what is on the camera's screen. This way they are showing us exactly how Lou is viewing what's going on, 'through a lens'. Another majority of shots in this movie are from Lou's height or eye-level, again to show us his perspective. The camera is also quite shaky, but only when Lou is filming, which I found interesting.
      The costumes are very basic in this movie. Lou wears rather boring clothing, but wears dark colored clothes at night when he films. Nina and other characters wear professional clothing. The criminals wear black, and there are also cops wearing police uniforms. The lighting is mostly dark, considering that most of the scenes take place during the night. The acting, especially from Jake Gyllenhaal, is great all around. You can tell the actors are talented and serious about their roles. Jake Gyllenhaal's acting is perfect at showing just how insane Lou is. Not much makeup is used in this movie except for blood. I think the most important props in this film is Lou's camera and police scanner, which are instrumental in his filming career. Other props are everyday items you'd see in around a city. The settings are mostly at night on the streets of L.A., however one setting really stands out to me. This setting is Lou's apartment, and it's very bland and dimly lit, to also show just how emotionally bland Lou is to society and people.
      Most of the sounds in the movie are diegetic, which include the sounds of cars crashing, police sirens, and gun shots. Lots of dialogue is used in this film. The score in this film is very eery and unnerving.
       The editing in this film isn't very intense. Jump cuts are used often, especially to go from day time to night time. Shot reverse shots are also used during dialogues between characters.
       The movie uses a lot of elements of the thriller genre. This includes a lot of suspense, especially when Lou is filming and we want to see what he's gonna do or what he's going to film. This movie also makes you think about Lou and the morality of his actions. It makes you fear what he might do next. You could definitely see him being a psychotic movie villain. I love the dark and mysterious tone of the movie as well. It feels as if it's something I shouldn't be watching, which draws me in even more.
      However, one thing I didn't like was how brutal some of the scenes were, but it did help to create that unnerving tone.
   Overall, I enjoy this film a lot, and it's one of the films that contributes to my love for the thriller genre.

Researching Genres

    In addition to the Western genre, the other two genres my group has decided to research are horror and thriller. Although these two genres are often thought of as pretty similar, there are some big differences.
    Common shots used in horror films are the close up, establishing shot, and point of view shot. Close ups are typically used in horror to either show how afraid a character is or how scary a monster or evil character is. Establishing shots are used to show a spooky location, such as a haunted house or graveyard. Horror films also use POV shots to make you even more spooked because they want you to feel like you're the actual character in the film. Some camera movements that are common are zooms and the hand-held. Zooms are used to make the subject even scarier by slowly moving towards it. Hand-held scenes give the movie an even greater sense of reality, causing more scares.
   Costumes in horror movies are often designed to be spooky, for example a scary clown costume or vampire costume. Lighting in these films are often dark, in order to give more scares and mystery. The actors in these movies are supposed to be either really scary (if they're playing the villain/monster) or super dramatic (if they're playing the victim). Makeup in horror films can often be gory and bloody at times to give a big scare and make the viewer scared or uncomfortable. Props in these movies vary based on what type of horror film it is. In slasher type movies, large knives are very common (hence the name slasher), but in a movie centering a monster, a creepy talisman would be a good prop to use. For setting, the movies are often set in creepy places such as haunted houses, cemeteries, and rundown buildings.
    The editing in these films include jump cuts as well as special effects added in post production in order to make certain events scarier or more realistic.
    Common elements in horror movies include the use of jump scares, gory violence, suspense, dark places, and many creepy creatures to gross out or frighten the audience.
    Common sounds in the genre usually include high-pitched noises that continue for a long duration of time to build up suspense. Characters also scream a lot to show fear.
    Some horror film examples are It, Halloween, The Nightmare on Elm Street, and Chucky.
   In horror films, I do not like jump scares. I feel as if they are cheap ways to try and scare the audience. I find them very annoying and if jump scares are the only scary thing your horror movie has to offer, then it's not a good horror movie. The things I do like in horror movies are the over dramatic characters and when scares actually feel well earned and aren't cheap.

    The other genre we decided to research was thriller. A thriller is a film that gives viewers feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation, and anxiety. Thrillers are a very common genre because they are very broad. Common examples of thrillers are "A Quiet Place" and "Get Out."

Common Camera angles-
High angle/Birds eye view

• Close ups
• Panning 
• Canted/Dutch
• Extreme long shot

Mis En Scene-

Costumes- Common clothes are used. Usually there are some characters that dress in dark clothes to conceal their identity.

Lighting- The most common lighting in thrillers is low-key lighting. This is used to make the audience feel suspense and tension.   

Actors- Many actors are used in thrillers. There needs to be many main characters, and extras.

Make Up- Makeup is used in film to portray the personality of the character. In thrillers, not much makeup is used since the identity of characters is supposed to be kept hidden. 

Props- The main element of thrillers is suspense. Suspense is greatly built with props. Common props that build suspense are knives, guns, blood, and curtains.

Setting- Thrillers usually take place in cities and suburbs, however they can become specific and take place in foreign cities, desert themed places, and polar regions. 

Editing in thrillers is also crucial because it will develop the feeling of suspense. To create suspense, fast pace and slow paced editing is used. This helps create tension with a scene.

Thrillers use suspense, tension, and excitement as its main elements. This keeps the viewer hooked on the film. Thrillers stimulate the viewers moods by giving them a high level of anticipation, expectation, surprise, and anxiety. 

Sound is also one of the most important elements that make a thriller what it is. Digetic sound is the most common type of sound in thrillers. Sounds help build tension in scenes. Another technique directors use in thrillers is the use of no sound. This technique was used in the popular film "A Quiet Place."

Picking a Pitch for the Final Task

The next step in our final project was to brainstorm and to deduce a pitch that we will use for our actual project itself. It took our group quite a while, an hour to be exact, but in the end, we came to two final decisions: the first decision being a love story about a man who falls in love, but the story is only shot through his feet and in the end it would be revealed that the man was in love with a body pillow. the other pitch being about an uber driver kidnapper who takes a man called Daniel hostage and commits a murder. 

The first pitch had many benefits. It would be shot from an interesting angle, witch would be a new journey for our group as we, for our last 2 projects solely used medium shots and long shots. another benefit to this idea was that it only consisted of three actors, the man himself, and the two parents. the main focus of the movie would be the man and him coming to terms with being in love with a body pillow and perhaps his parents help him with the journey. however, the only time you would see the parents would be at the wedding, where the only lines they deliver are, "what are we going to do about this girl of his?". this would be very efficient, as less actors means less time getting a certain scene right and just focusing on the camera angles and props. However, we did not choose this pitch because the ending made it feel too much like a short story and less like a beginning of a movie, which is the whole point of the project.

The second pitch is the one we decided to go with. it will be the beginning of a story about a man named Daniel, who takes an uber ride and the driver takes him hostage. after realizing that his kidnapper may be up to more nefarious actions that just simply kidnapping, he must find out how to save not only himself, but the whole world. there are many benefits to this pitch as well. for one, not like the last pitch, this story remains open ended and very easy to write a whole movie about, and the intro is extremely attention grabbing. even with all of the actors needed, Daniel, Daniels unnamed friend, and uber driver and a murderer, this is much more coherent and direct. in the end, this is the pitch that our group decided to go with. for the multitude of reasons stated beforehand.

In the end, pitch two is the pitch that our group decided to go with for the multitude of reasons stated beforehand it is easier to write for, it ends on a cliffhanger, and it uses lots of mystery elements from classic noir films that hopefully will make the viewer go "Ahh!" or at least end the pitch wanting more. The reason we did not go with the first pitch is that it was not very relatable OR fun to watch, nevertheless being fun to film. our group decided that the extra work would not have the desired effect of shock or awe from the feet filming in the first pitch. for those reasons, the second pitch won the vote that we took.

Starting the Final Task

        In our AICE Media Studies class we are about to start a very big project, but first a little bit about me. During the first half of this school year, I learned that when creating film projects for AICE Media Studies, I prefer to do the filming, rather than be an actor in the film. Acting is definitely not my strong suit and I feel much more confident controlling the camera than being in front of it. Another thing is that my favorite movie genres are thriller and action, so I would love to do a film project that is focused around of those genres. I also enjoy working with my friends on these projects because they keep it fresh and fun. Sometimes we get a little distracted when we're joking around. However, we always manage to get our work done on time. When doing these film projects in AICE Media Studies, I feel that it is best to work in a group than to work alone. This is because when in a group, there's multiple ideas coming in and you can work together to figure stuff out to make the best project possible. Overall I enjoy doing these projects and I believe working in the film industry could be an interesting career.
        In my AICE Media Studies class, I have learned so much about filming and what goes into it. During class time this school year, we have learned about all the different shots and angle that could be used to best convey our story in the film. We also learned many editing techniques, such as jump cuts and graphic matches. It was also fun learning about the different types of sounds (and those who create them, who are called Foley artists) and mis en scene. Mis en scene is all of the costumes, lighting, actors, makeup, props, and setting in a film. We also learned about the storyboarding process in order to start and films and so that we have something follow when shooting it. We have also learned how to use our time effectively in order to get the project done and turned in on time. For example, when making our music video, we filmed at the beach. However, we filmed after school and only had about an hour and a half of sunlight left. By working quick and effectively, we managed to finish filming just before the sunset. For this final task we will continue to use everything we have learned in this class to make the best possible film we can.
        For this final task, we started by coming up with three different pitches for a 2 minute long intro to an original film. A pitch is a Hollywood term to describe an idea where a film is encapsulated in 25 words or less and it usually only one sentence. 3 of the members in our group, including me, each came up with our own pitch ideas. The first one was an idea for a romance movie. The pitch for this was: A man believes he has found love, or is just his crazy imagination? Another member of our group came with a mystery movie pitch. The pitch was: When a young man stumbles upon a strange device, it is up to him and his friends figure out its secrets and stop evil forces. My idea for a film was a thriller/action movie and the pitch was: When a strange man from Daniel's past takes him hostage, he must figure out how to save not only himself, but the whole world.

Music Video Editing Blog

This week, we had two days to edit. The first day however, I forgot to bring a cable to hook my phone up to the computer. Therefore we couldn't dump our footage onto the computer because I filmed on my iPhone. We had to film on my iPhone because our group member who had the camera was on vacation. We also realized that my phone had good resolution so we thought it would be easier to just use my phone. We also thought it would be better to dump with my phone because of iCloud and a cable which I forgot at home. I even tested it at home to see if it worked. It worked perfectly fine, however i forgot the cable in my computer. There wasn’t too much editing anyway in our video though. All we had to do was add the shots together and put music over it.The second day of editing however went a lot better. I brought the wire and a teammate dumped our footage. When we dumped, we saw that the video was too long so we cut some stuff. We cut each shot individually to make it a bit shorter. We also cut an entire shot out of it. It was a shot that was panning over the ocean. It didn’t really work with the video because there was no room for it. It was at the beginning but we already had a time lapse of the ocean and it made it look over used. After that it was the right time but then we realized that it was missing a scene because our teammate was going film their own clip at home. So we trimmed some other stuff leaving room for it. Finally we were done and all we needed to do was add the music.
Unfortunately, the class was over and we didn’t have time to finish. One of my teammates volunteered to edit over the weekend. He said he could do it all by himself but we offered to come over and help. So during the weekend we will add music over the video. We decided to put the music over the lobster when it’s first introduced. The music will be quiet at first and then be the normal volume music when it gets closer. Then we were going to make the music lower when the lobster is in the pot. The music will be completely off when the pot closes over it. After that we won’t need to put anything else in our video. The editing will be over and we will have our final product.

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Music Video Filming Blog: Filming Day

At the time of writing this blog, December 2, our group has completed most of our filming. It was a rough time to figure it all out, but we eventually got it. Our group had lots of trouble figuring out when we were going to film due to our very busy and conflicting schedules and our lack of organization. The original plan, as discussed in the first filming blog, was to film at the beach on the Sunday before Thanksgiving break, and this did not work out. We tried to film again last Wednesday, the first day of break, but ultimately called it off because we didn't have our prepared props and costumes for the music video. We then tried to film on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, which was yesterday. This fell through because again we didn't have our stuff. So we decided that we had to get this filming done before class on Tuesday. We agreed to film on Monday, which is today, regardless whether or not we were prepared for it props and costume wise. So today, after school, we all met at 3:45 at Fort Lauderdale beach, lifeguard tower 1 and filmed.

Only three (including me) of our four group members were able to make it to filming. This was because one of our members was still on a trip in Rhode Island. This fourth group member also had the camera, which it might not have been the smartest idea to give him the camera, but remember our original plan was to film on Wednesday when he was still in town. We also didn't really have our props and costumes together. The toy lobster that a group member was supposed to bring actually ended up being a toy crab. The lobster costume we were supposed to get was not bought so that was not good either, because they were two crucial parts to our music video. At this point it seemed as if filming today was just gonna be pointless. Then I had an idea: we could tape the word lobster to the toy crab and the word lobster on to me (I was supposed to play the lobster). We figured this was a good improvise and could also potentially be a funny aspect of our video. On the bright side however, we had all our other props such as a beach towel and water bottle with the words "Rock Lobster" on it. 

At 4 we started filming, and since we didn't have our camera, we filmed on my iPhone 8, which I then changed its camera settings to film in 4k at 60 fps. This would have to make do, and the camera quality was actually pretty good. We had to film quick because the sunset was supposed to be at 5:28. I filmed all of the scenes on my before my appearance as a lobster. I made sure to get different types of angle and shots. These included a low angle, a POV shot, a tracking, and many more shots and angles that we learned about in our AICE Media Studies class. Halfway through the video, I would appear as a lobster, and therefore one of our other group members took on the duty of filming. Most of our scenes were filmed on the beach by the water. We also filmed at the play ground nearby as well. I felt a little bad because there were a lot of small children nearby and I thought we would be bothering them but some of them actually came up to us to talk. At the playground we filmed at the slide and my group got a take of me doing the "lobster dance" for our music video. Overall, it seemed as if this was going to be stressful, but it was actually very fun to film our video. Hopefully we edit this all together in class and make a well crafted amateur music video.