5 heads are better then one!

Welcome back to my blog guys and in my AICE Media Studies class today we did something new. We were assigned into different groups, not including members of our own, to explain the concept, story, props, and format of our opening. In my opinion, this was an extremely helpful activity because not only were the people in my group able to give me ideas from a different viewpoint, but also I was able to help them out as well and maybe even see if they were having the same problems as me.

To begin with, the group was very helpful in discussing how I can resemble the presence of a psychopath and not lead the audience to think of something else. Since the beginning, my group and I have been wondering how we will lead the first part of our scene (gravestones) to the psychopath that will be in our movie. As you can see from my outline in the last post, we were thinking that the mom finds a paper, but this group meeting suggested that I show the whole room towards the end and the viewers will see a mark or a specific prop that demonstrates how he might one day kill his family. This was  very good idea because as they said, "the viewers wont have to make such a big inference" and I 100% agree with them.

Another thing that we discussed in the group meeting was that the psychopathic character should be wearing all black or dark clothes to resemble a "dark side" in him. Also, in order to make the graveyard scene look realistic they suggested that I include flowers, a coffin maybe, and dark lights so that the rest of the background isn't seen.

All in all, I found this group meeting to be extremely helpful and the people involved were very friendly and overall gave me very good ideas to make the project seem realistic and have more purpose. As said in an article (click here to learn more about article)

"Effective feedback helps individuals to understand what they did well and what they could do better. Once they know what is good and what isn’t, they are able to adapt their behaviour and work to improve it. Thus, feedback is a key tool for improving both individual and team performance."

As we can see through feedback we learn how to improve ourselves and work, therefore, this is why this activity was extremely helpful and I hope to do this again in the future.

See you guys later on my next post!

Sources:

(n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.alchemyassistant.com/topics/ULAu7UpjmhK9bPu6.html

Outline ✅

I have very exciting news today guys, the group and I have finally figured out the story an have created an outline for it. Not only that, but we also have some exciting things planned to continue moving forward in the project but this post will serve mainly to explain and introduce my outline.

Here is a sample of our first outline, this might vary from member to member because we all decided to make our own outlines and probably later this week we will choose who's will be used, so stay tuned!

The outline is made with pencil so that we can erase and write
 over it if we ever feel like a change has to be made

This outline might change as we progress through the project, but the goal that we intended to reach was to have a story formed. Due to this is why we decided to make the outline in pencil, so that if any changes occur we can easily erase the mistake and update the contents.


We made this outline as detailed as we could for now but as soon as we figure out the dialogue of the project we will be rewriting and adding that to the outline as well. This is no problem though because as said in an article (click here to see more on article).

"The great thing about the outlining process is that it’s freeing. When you outline you can make tons of changes to your story without the pressure of writing or rewriting the actual screenplay. You’re free to play with your idea and get your plot points structured correctly without stressing about writing snappy dialogue or finding a cool way to describe your car chase."

As you guys can see this is just the first draft of the outline and it can change many times, all that matters is that we have a plan and guidelines so when its time to film all we have to do is look at the outline.


Stay Tuned for our next postings, as we will be talking about our storyboard, locations; and shooting schedules! See you soon...


Sources:

How to Outline Your Screenplay. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.finaldraft.com/learn/how-to-outline-a-screenplay/

Houston...... We have a problem

Hey guys, well basically, the group and I ran into a little problem with our genre. As we were discussing this week about the story and the outline of our film opening we realized that our film was more of a thriller then it was horror. Therefore, we are no longer doing a horror film and have researched a lot about thrillers to discover the main elements that they must have.

Research: During my research I came across a very good slideshow and article that really explained what thrillers are and what they include to make them one.

1. Setting- They can range from inner city areas, houses, forests, and abandoned places. Usually anything that brings mystery and suspense
2. Clothing- The antagonist is usually shown wearing dark clothes
3. Sound- This is mainly used to create tension in thrillers, they can include natural sounds or sounds made by people
4. Lighting- Mostly use low-key lighting to create shadows, suspense, and a mysterious atmosphere
5. Props- Usually include weapons, blood, shadows, dark clothes, fog, and mirrors ( all to create tension) 

              

 - Here is a visual representation of two thrillers that we want to form our decisions around because they both include psychopaths, blood, suspense and murders and these are all aspects that we want to include in our opening scene. 

     1- Orphan

     2- Split

   - We've already started researching on how to create the scenes and make some of the props. For example, here is a picture I found on how to make blood in Pinterest! This will be great for a project since it is one of the main props

   - Another thing we researched on was how to create the light for the scenes and  I found 5 different ways through this post on Pinterest. This will play really well with our tone and help us develop a thriller vibe. 

All this research made us come to the conclusion that we will definitely include a psychotic character, dark atmosphere's, creepy scenes, and a death or murder of some sort. I am so excited to fix this problem and be able to move ahead into the development process.

   

These next few days we will be working a lot towards the planning and filming of the opening so these are some things that will be expected in the next week:

• Storyboards
• Outlines
• Shooting schedules/ location scouting
• More research

Therefore, stay tuned for my next posts where I will be talking about these in depth!

Sources:

5 Horror Lighting Setups You Can Do with One Light. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/288934132335562727/feedback/?invite_code=52f5e7dfbcb64d53bacae29ab9c00652&sender_id=583638570367977853

Halloween DIY - Making your own fake blood. Super easy; only 3 ingredients! Imagine, See, Do | Kid Fun! EVERYTHING Munchkins. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/107171666106413920/feedback/?invite_code=da7ae14bec2f4da4a23acf602b48b446&sender_id=583638570367977853

Hine, C. (2013, October 08). Thriller Genre Research. Retrieved from https://prezi.com/rtia7aozloa3/thriller-genre-research/

The Thriller Genre: Conventions. (2017, February 24). Retrieved from https://patrycerichter.wordpress.com/2017/01/19/the-thriller-genre-conventions/

5 Horror Lighting Setups You Can Do with One Light. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/288934132335562727/feedback/?invite_code=52f5e7dfbcb64d53bacae29ab9c00652&sender_id=583638570367977853

Halloween DIY - Making your own fake blood. Super easy; only 3 ingredients! Imagine, See, Do | Kid Fun! EVERYTHING Munchkins. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/107171666106413920/feedback/?invite_code=da7ae14bec2f4da4a23acf602b48b446&sender_id=583638570367977853

Hine, C. (2013, October 08). Thriller Genre Research. Retrieved from https://prezi.com/rtia7aozloa3/thriller-genre-research/

The Thriller Genre: Conventions. (2017, February 24). Retrieved from https://patrycerichter.wordpress.com/2017/01/19/the-thriller-genre-conventions/

FINALLY!!

Hey guys, I'm SO HAPPY to be saying this right now. My group and I have finally laid the foundation of what our film opening will be on. Basically, we were stuck in between a drama or horror film, but due to my research (I discussed this in the last post) we finally decided on going with a horror film. We have many ideas, one of them is that we will have some type of serial killer who would play the role of the villain, and a victim who would be involved in something that has to do with the serial killer. Of course there will be a hero as well who would help the victim with the serial killer as well.

Some of the tools we plan on using to help us create a well developed film opening are:

• Outlines
• shooting schedules
• storyboards

But we wont be getting into this yet, that's for next week; for now I am mostly excited on finally deciding and coming up with a plan on how we will pursue our project as a horror film. 

Also, my group and I are also planning on buying lights, clothes, and other types of tools that would help resemble a creepy feeling. For example, we plan on using dark cloths for the villain and low key lights to go along with his scenes.

Another thing we have in mind is finding the right type of suspenseful music to give a creepy vibe to the movie and for this to happen we plan on using killer tracks and YouTube Audio Library.

Lastly, we all agreed on including an establishing shot of a lonely location at the beginning of the opening because this will help develop the tone of the movie, which is scary and creepy. During this scene there will also be fog to inflict more fear into our audience. In order to do this we would need to buy a fog machine and film in a dark area. Overall, the opening will grab the viewers attention and also develop the tone of the film.

This is the type of atmosphere that we are trying to go for (without the trees just the foggy and dark aspect) and this is just a concept so we might end up changing this if it doesn't work out. 

Sources:

Killer Tracks - Online Production Music Library Resource. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.killertracks.com/

The Beginning...

This post is officially the date where my group and I start our project! I am so excited to finally be beginning my research and film opening. We aren’t going to be producing anything yet, but at least we can start planning and thinking of ideas. I’m looking forward for these next few weeks and I hope this project turns out amazing.

RESEARCH:

This is debatably one of the most important parts of our project because it will give us the necessary information that we need to create a well developed film opening. The first thing I will research is genre and this is because in order to make a story we need to base it off a specific category. The group and I have all decided to go with horror. We would want horror because we believe that we could make a very interesting film opening with different shots and editing techniques. To better understand this genre I used different cases studies.

Horror:

For this genre I chose Insidious (2010) and The Conjuring (2013) because they are both very iconic pieces that includes many of the common aspects that this genre requires. During my research I came across a Prezi presentation that explained all the common characteristics of a horror film. This includes the presence of death, isolated settings with mystery, and a form of a hero, victim, and villain. This was useful because if I were to choose horror I would definitely include some sort of victim and a mysterious/ scary villain.

       



Insidious- This is considered a very well known horror movie and this is mainly due to the elements used. These include dark environments, a mysterious setting (haunted house), a victim and villain, and includes spirits and demons to resemble more fear. These all work together to create a well developed horror film because all of these establish creepy vibes, which is an iconic part that all horror films must have.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

The Conjuring- This is a film directed by James Wan and is characterized as a horror film. Like the last film, this one also includes many of the aspects of horror films from dark locations to spirits. This film is about a family living in an isolated farm house who are experiencing paranormal activity.                                             






Sources:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1591095/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1457767/
https://prezi.com/hmd048pyis0h/conventions-of-horror-genre/
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/2d/Insidious_poster.jpg/220px-Insidious_poster.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1f/Conjuring_poster.jpg/220px-Conjuring_poster.jpg

Everything about ScarBoy

Recently I was given a project where I had to create a music marketing campaign for a new artist trying to get into the artist world. I really enjoyed the project because it had many different elements involving the real world. The artist my group came up with was ScarBoy and he was a young artist in his upper teens who loved to sing alternative rock. His dream was to one day be like Imagine Dragons or Maroon 5 because he’s always looked up to them and how they do things. His target audience  were from the ages of 14 - 21 year olds, so we based most of our decisions on what they would enjoy the best. We presented the power point to our “investors” through google slides and colored it to match ScarBoys logo, which we also created for him.

We first researched on our genre, which was alternative rock, and got to find out its target audience, what makes it a hit and why, and two specific examples that fall into the genre. These bands included:

• Imagine Dragons
• Maroon 5

Through these case studies we were able to see what they do to market themselves and get big in the music industry. We included this in our presentation to give our “investors” and example of how we wanted to market ScarBoy.

     

After we introduced the genre, target audience, history, and two bands that we want to revolve our campaign around we introduced our campaign strategy. Included in the campaign strategy were many of our marketing creations that we developed in order to get ScarBoy known to the world. The first creation we made to get ScarBoy known and in contact with people who would be interested was social media accounts.

1. Instagram: We decided to use Instagram because a big part of our target audience uses Instagram daily, especially our younger target audience. The intended purpose for this social media page was to market to the audience. For example, we included pictures of upcoming videos, fliers, albums, ScarBoy, and even a trailer.
2. Twitter: Twitter was another social media account used but for communication within our fan base. Twitter was a perfect way to get ScarBoy to share his feeling, daily life events, and even tour dates because of the ability to tweet and retweet things. Also, he would be able to communicate with people through here. Basically the main purpose for its use would be so that people don’t forget about ScarBoy and that he establishes a healthy fan base.( https://twitter.com/scarboy15 )

Then , we created a website so that people could buy merchandise, get in

contact with ScarBoy, learn more about Scarboy (background), Buy his albums or singles, and even to see his upcoming tour dates and buy tickets. Not only, is it helpful in giving out information, but we also made it user friendly for those who aren’t really good with computers. Here are a few pictures of the website and its contents:

Here is a link to the website just in case any of you guys want to check it out ( https://giulilupica.wixsite.com/scarboy ). In our website I mentioned that we had merchandise. This was another big part of our marketing campaign because it would allow ScarBoy to make profits, while at the same time spreading the word because those who buy the merch would wear it and “advertise” ScarBoy. Here are a few pictures of the merchandise we made:

Lastly, we made a music video to not only represent the single created by ScarBoy, which was called Float On, but to also represent how ScarBoy is as a person. In the video we showed ScarBoy as a very chill person, who just liked to “float on” with life and that is why he decided to make the song as well. This was a crucial point in our campaign because it allowed listeners to connect to ScarBoy and also allowed them to become interested in his music.

Overall, I Learned many new things through this project and how the world of media connects from social media to music artists. It all plays a crucial part in exposing an artists and that is why the genre and target audience are what the main focus had to be on. The things that I learned from this project that will impact my work on the portfolio project is that I learned how to market someone through means of media, such as social media account, websites, and streaming services. Also, I was able to learn more about target audience and how it plays a major role in decisions made. Not only that, but this project also helped me with my time management, leadership skills, organization skills, and even technical components. These include the ability to make clothes online, create websites/ social media accounts, edit, and even make a professional presentation. All these components will for sure help me in my portfolio project because they will allow me to create quality work in a given time period.

Representations in today's world - Teenagers

Many people today form their own representations of how some groups of individuals act. These representations are later spread all over the media causing people to believe that the stereotype is true. One of the most misinterpreted groups is that of teenagers because many people see them as kids who are always on their phone, very disrespectful, and isolated from the social world. The truth is, teenagers, although they are constantly on their phones, aren’t any of those descriptions. In fact they are sometimes the complete opposite. Therefore, in my project for AICE Media, I am going to represent teenagers and talk about what is true and what is false.

            In the media nowadays teenagers are represented as disobedient, disrespectful, lazy people with no regard to anyone but themselves. As we can see from the movie “Back to the Future”, many teens are portrayed as being bullies or troublemakers that get whatever they want by being mean, rude, and big. Due to back to the future being such a big movie, many people who saw it now believe that teenagers are mean people, who are disrespectful and uncaring. Another common stereotype of teenagers is the dumb jock that plays sports. In the series “Blue Mountain State”, they are represented as being dumb kids who only go to school to play sports, do drugs, get a girl, and go to parties. This series made people believe that all athletic people in school are like them. Therefore, this is why in today’s world those who play sports are considered “dumb jocks” because of all these representations that the media has of athletic people doing stupid things.

            `I do not believe that these representations are fair or correct of the teenager group. In fact it is completely wrong to what teenagers actually are. For example, in the series “Blue Mountain State”, athletic kids are seen as dumb and not caring of others. I happen to be an athlete and play for a competitive soccer team. Having the experience that I have, being around all these kids, I can say that yes, some kids are dumb and don’t care about anything but the majority of them have good grades, care about others, and have their priorities set. This isn’t fair because since many media outlets today, characterize athletic teens as being “dumb jocks”, many people now believe that they are like that, when in reality they are completely different. This goes the same for bullies. Due to the fact that many media outlets represent teens as bullies, many individuals think that many teens are kids who bully smaller and weaker people.

                        Although many of the representation characteristics are incorrect, some of them are also correct. One of them I would retain is that teenagers are constantly always on their phone. Due to the growth in technology over the past years, the teens in today’s society do everything with tech. Therefore, we are constantly using technology, either for social media or homework. In fact, it is so extreme that many kids are addicted to tech and are in need of it for the majority of the day. A stereotype I wish to challenge in my project is that of teenagers being seen as disrespectful kids, who don’t care about school and do drugs. This is completely off from reality and due to media this rumor has spread and quickly became implemented into the stereotype. Therefore, I plan to challenge this stereotype and show that most teenagers are caring people that do care about their grades and the way they treat people. Overall, media has developed many stereotypes in the world, one of which is on the group of teenagers. Although these can be completely misleading, many people believe them and go along with them. With this project I hope to minimize the impact of those rumors and show people the truth about how teenagers really are as people.