The final film we're going to be discussing the opening sequence to is The Reaping a film introduced in the year 2007. I've watched the opening sequence of this film at ArtOfTheTitle.com. I studied it based on our horror genre. I examined it due to the following questions.
How many titles are displayed during the opening sequence? The amount of titles in the opening sequence are 20 titles total. It starts off with series of main actors and producers and closes out with company presented by which in this case is the Warner Brothers. The titles come in on a black background with a red text. They come in as a jumble of words but as soon rearrange into words. They stay like that for a little and then leave in the same way they entered.
What images are prioritized? The images prioritize are very vague they do not show clear imaging of what exactly is taking place. They scenes are a close of up a lady’s face, then it goes into the titles where there are red washed photos of things such as leaves very close ups of those said leaves. There are also some unintelligible pictures but they mostly flash onto the screen and then leave.
What connotations do the images carry? The images has you feeling very intense, anxious and anticipated as to what's occurring and what's happening. The music that goes along with the opening makes it even more unsettling. Since they are extreme closeups, they are unsettling because we have no clue what they are. The feeling of not being able to understand what something is is a common fear in humans so they use this to their advantage.
How is the genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? I would definitely say the genre is enforced through the score the opening sequence. The bumps along the music takes you on a roller coaster through emotions. The pictures changing goes along with the music in perfectly timed switches to other close ups.
How did the film establish an enigma from the outset? The enigma in the film established is very intense and dramatic the way that was established was through the use of different elements of filming as well, such as sound: the extremely suspenseful instrumental. There are flashes with the use of editing, and lighting as well contributing to the mood and theme of the genre.
What strategies does the film used to ensure that the film is appealing to it's target audience? The film uses a certain aesthetic throughout the film, and the color design is very dark themed. The font used was a red font. These are inherently creepy due to the previous mindset of horror. Which is, as I said before, unsettling images and creepy fonts.
How was the technology used effectively? There are no camera angles of any sort used in the opening sequence more so graphics and mainly editing. With editing there were a couple of fade ins- and different sorts of transitions to move the titles along. The titles also had a floating effect making a dramatic entrance each time through the sequence. There was also the ability to change the colors of the images to make them all one color.
Friday, January 31, 2020
Title Research: The Exorcist
I chose to do The Exorcist as my third movie. This movie is from ArtOfTheTitle.com. The Exorcist has 5 titles, including the title of the movie. It ranges from the studio who made the film to name of the film. This movie has very few titles and the opening scenes are very short.
The images that are prioritized are a dark house, with a single street lamp. Two people are seen walking down the street that the lamp is on. then it fades to a close up of a statute and then to a sunset. The final scenes are in the desert of northern Iraq where some men are digging through the sand.
The connotations are creepy. The scenes are dark up until it show the desert in which it is bright, The dark street is creepy due to the worn down house and the lack of people walking down it. The desert is where it becomes brightly lit and illuminated. This isn't creepy because it is just a bunch of men working in the desert and digging through the sand with pickaxes.
The genre is reinforced by the first few scenes. They make you uncomfortable by keeping it a darker lighting. And like stated before, it shows few people walking on the street making it creepy and unsettling. Mostly considering how late it seems to be at night.
The film establishes an enigma by showing the men in the deserts of iraq. This would make no sense being where a horror movie starts, considering its bright lighting. There is also no music, just the sounds of pickaxes and men grunting, This is where the scene stops, leaving us to watch the rest of the movie.
The target audiences is horror movie fans. This movie appeals to them by dragging them in with dark opening and then switching to a brighter setting. This leaves us wanting to know the significance of the areas. We soon learn that this is where everything takes places, including the events of the movie.
The technology is used effectively by using fades to show transition of areas. They also use dark lighting to their advantage and make it creepier. The men in the last few scenes show this was in an earlier time, judging by what they are using to dig up the sand.
Title Research: Get Out
For this title research, I decided to look at Get Out. The title scene came from ArtOfTheTitle.com. This move has 26 title cards, once again, ranging from producer to co producer and the actors. The titles fade in and out. They are a light blue color and never really change. This title scene has a lot to talk about.
The scenes that were prioritized were pretty normal. Two different people getting ready in the morning, one getting dressed and the other grabbing breakfast. There was a scene of trees passing by, perhaps the woods or just a patch of trees. There were some scenes of the man looking at black and white pictures, presumably that he took. It then cuts to the woman knocking on a door, though her hands are full so she knocks with her head. When the door opens, its revealed to be the man on the other side and he lets her inside.
These scenes don't give away this is a horror movie. They seem like mundane, every day tasks people would do, not like someone who was in danger would do. Unlike in Split, they don't seem to be in any danger at the moment. They were both completely different stands on horror. Split was horror at the beginning, an obvious horror too, but this one is subtle. It shows the horror in other ways than just being straight up scary
As stated in the previous paragraph, this movie doesn't define it's genre in the first minutes. It instead, makes this movie seem like a normal comedy or drama movie. They use everyday activities to open this movie with, such as getting coffee, shaving, driving or looking through photos. There was no music in this opening so nothing suggested horror.
The target audience is horror fans, though it doesn't seem to be like that. The activities displayed in this part almost seem too mundane, though. Since you expect this to be horror, you expect something scary to happen. Though nothing too scary happens in the first few minutes, they make it seem like something scary would happen, and maybe thats the effect they are going for. Sometimes horror uses these types of techniques to give the watcher a sense of relief, even before anything scary has happened.
The technology that they use in the movie makes it seem a bit scary. Since this doesnt seem like a horror at first, they use some filming techniques that make it seem like a horror, such as the hand held motion and pans. They also jump back and forth from character to character, showing one doing one thing and another doing something else. This might just be a something ive seen in horror but I have always associated horror with hand held cameras. They use warm and black and white colors while filming. They use tons of close ups and a few two shots in the first few scenes.
The scenes that were prioritized were pretty normal. Two different people getting ready in the morning, one getting dressed and the other grabbing breakfast. There was a scene of trees passing by, perhaps the woods or just a patch of trees. There were some scenes of the man looking at black and white pictures, presumably that he took. It then cuts to the woman knocking on a door, though her hands are full so she knocks with her head. When the door opens, its revealed to be the man on the other side and he lets her inside.
These scenes don't give away this is a horror movie. They seem like mundane, every day tasks people would do, not like someone who was in danger would do. Unlike in Split, they don't seem to be in any danger at the moment. They were both completely different stands on horror. Split was horror at the beginning, an obvious horror too, but this one is subtle. It shows the horror in other ways than just being straight up scary
As stated in the previous paragraph, this movie doesn't define it's genre in the first minutes. It instead, makes this movie seem like a normal comedy or drama movie. They use everyday activities to open this movie with, such as getting coffee, shaving, driving or looking through photos. There was no music in this opening so nothing suggested horror.
The target audience is horror fans, though it doesn't seem to be like that. The activities displayed in this part almost seem too mundane, though. Since you expect this to be horror, you expect something scary to happen. Though nothing too scary happens in the first few minutes, they make it seem like something scary would happen, and maybe thats the effect they are going for. Sometimes horror uses these types of techniques to give the watcher a sense of relief, even before anything scary has happened.
The technology that they use in the movie makes it seem a bit scary. Since this doesnt seem like a horror at first, they use some filming techniques that make it seem like a horror, such as the hand held motion and pans. They also jump back and forth from character to character, showing one doing one thing and another doing something else. This might just be a something ive seen in horror but I have always associated horror with hand held cameras. They use warm and black and white colors while filming. They use tons of close ups and a few two shots in the first few scenes.
Title Research: Split
For the first movie title I looked at as Split. The title scene came from WatchTheTitles.com Split had 22 title cards, ranging from the name of the studio who made it all the way to the director. This includes the title card along with every other title card, producer, co-producer, assistant director and everything in between.
The first few scenes are of the main girl being captured by our story's main antagonist. It shows a little of a hallway for two scenes and then goes to our main character. She is being pulled down a hallway while strapped to a medical bed of some sort. These are prioritized by showing how urgent this situation is. the scenes are short clips giving it an anxious vibe too.
The connotations for this are supposed to be urgency. Between the quick cutoffs of the scenes and the dark lighting. It makes the watcher feel nervous. The music also helps with the feeling, it's a sorta intense music choice. But this goes with the whole theme of the movie, urgency.
The genre is defined in the first scene by not really letting you know whats happening fully so you dont get the whole picture. They do this by giving you a sense of dread and splitting up the scenes in a way that gets you nervous about whats happening. The music really helps with defining the genre because its intense. Music in horror films typically are intense type of music to help make you feel nervous or anxious about the situation.
The target audience is fans of horror. This movie does all it can to make sure you know this is a horror movie. They use lots of dark and moody lighting, a cool color palette in almost all the scenes we see. The actors also help express this is a horror movie. The actor we see as a terrified facial expression on as she is strapped to the medical bed and carried away.
The use of technology effects the movie properly by cutting away at the perfect time. They cut away to the title card which is just a plain black background with bold white text. The titles appear first in a repetitive manner but then switches to a single, enlarged title. This is the same for all the titles for all of the movies producers, actors and others. The tittle is presented when it just appears on the black screen along with the signature, bolded white text. The movie typically used close ups and pans just to give it more of a scary vibe. The edits were just cut aways, nothing very special.
The first few scenes are of the main girl being captured by our story's main antagonist. It shows a little of a hallway for two scenes and then goes to our main character. She is being pulled down a hallway while strapped to a medical bed of some sort. These are prioritized by showing how urgent this situation is. the scenes are short clips giving it an anxious vibe too.
The connotations for this are supposed to be urgency. Between the quick cutoffs of the scenes and the dark lighting. It makes the watcher feel nervous. The music also helps with the feeling, it's a sorta intense music choice. But this goes with the whole theme of the movie, urgency.
The genre is defined in the first scene by not really letting you know whats happening fully so you dont get the whole picture. They do this by giving you a sense of dread and splitting up the scenes in a way that gets you nervous about whats happening. The music really helps with defining the genre because its intense. Music in horror films typically are intense type of music to help make you feel nervous or anxious about the situation.
The target audience is fans of horror. This movie does all it can to make sure you know this is a horror movie. They use lots of dark and moody lighting, a cool color palette in almost all the scenes we see. The actors also help express this is a horror movie. The actor we see as a terrified facial expression on as she is strapped to the medical bed and carried away.
The use of technology effects the movie properly by cutting away at the perfect time. They cut away to the title card which is just a plain black background with bold white text. The titles appear first in a repetitive manner but then switches to a single, enlarged title. This is the same for all the titles for all of the movies producers, actors and others. The tittle is presented when it just appears on the black screen along with the signature, bolded white text. The movie typically used close ups and pans just to give it more of a scary vibe. The edits were just cut aways, nothing very special.
Title Research: Art Of The Title
While researching my genre and how to make a title, I visited a website called Art of the Title. The website shows the opening sequences of a variety of films and shows. The films and shows are from a range of genres, including comedy, horror, romance, fantasy, and mystery. They showcase openings of films and shows that are both from long ago and more recent. On top of that, the website included detailed articles about the events of movies. It includes very detailed descriptions of certain scenes and describes the opening credits in an easy to understand way. It also assesses the costumes and setting of the movies. These articles included movies that also ranged widely in genre. The site was also very easy to navigate and use. I chose to visit this website to get an idea of what is common in horror opening sequences. The range of movies meant there was ample choices of horror movies to collect information from. This meant I could record how films in the horror genre represen!
t and establish their genre in the opening credits. I also was able to record the amount of titles used in the openings and what imagery was used in different films. This information would then help me when I make my own opening for a movie. All in all, the website was very beneficial when planning and getting ideas for the opening sequence of our own film for our project.
t and establish their genre in the opening credits. I also was able to record the amount of titles used in the openings and what imagery was used in different films. This information would then help me when I make my own opening for a movie. All in all, the website was very beneficial when planning and getting ideas for the opening sequence of our own film for our project.
Title Research: Watch The Titles
As I was researching different topics, I found a website called Watch the Titles. I encountered it while researching titles of horror movies. The website has multiple features that were extremely helpful when trying to come up with a title sequence for my project. The website has opening sequences from a wide variety of movies and shows. These cover all genres and styles of film. The site also has the opening sequences of video games which was interesting but not particularly needed for my specific project. Finally, it included interviews of title designers for popular franchises, such as Spiderman. Within the interview they talk about how they came up with the titles that they have made and discuss typography. Typography is the art or procedure of arranging type or processing data and printing from it. This information was nice to look at as it showed the process and ideas the title designers encountered while making the opening of the films. While the interviews were helpf!
ul, I focused on the horror movie opening sequences as they were the most beneficial to my research. From the sequences, I could record common elements among the films. I also could take note of how the openings were able to portray the genre of the film with imagery. This information that I was able to collect would then come in handy for making my movie opening. Especially when deciding on what the opening sequence will look like.
ul, I focused on the horror movie opening sequences as they were the most beneficial to my research. From the sequences, I could record common elements among the films. I also could take note of how the openings were able to portray the genre of the film with imagery. This information that I was able to collect would then come in handy for making my movie opening. Especially when deciding on what the opening sequence will look like.
Sunday, January 26, 2020
Genre research: It
While researching the horror genre, I decided to watch IT to get an idea of common techniques that are used in popular horror movies. IT came out in 2017 and was widely successful when released. Therefore, I thought it would be a good representation of horror films and the techniques applied in them. While watching the movie, I took note of common camera angles and sound that was used in the film. I also paid attention for specific editing techniques and elements included in the film.
Camera Angles
Common camera angles used in IT include eye level shots, low angle shots and hug angle shots. It also includes long shots, over the shoulder shots, and two/three shots. The variety of shots keeps the person watching interested and the angles help add to the scenes, especially in the more scary scenes.
Movement
There was also an array of common horror movement techniques used in IT. These movements consist of pans, tracking shots, zooms, and tilts. The use of these movements is crucial to the horror aspect, and are used in the majority of scenes with the antagonist on screen.
Costumes
The majority of the characters are wearing normal everyday clothes for the time period that the film takes place in (The 80’s). There is a character that wears a cast that says “loser” on it but the “s” in the word is scratched out and replaced with an “l”. One of the characters where’s a yellow rain jacket and matching yellow boots that has now become well known for their character. The antagonist wears a dirty clown costume during the entire movie.
Lighting
The lighting in IT is a mixture between brightly lit scenes that take place outside, and low lit scenes that are inside. The low lit scenes are very suspenseful and often are lit with spot lighting to add to the fear factor.
Actors
The main characters are played by Finn Wolfhard, Jaeden Martell, Sophia Lillis, Chosen Jacobs, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Wyatt Oleff, and Jack Dylan Grazer. They all portray their characters very well and fit the characters nicely. The antagonist is played by Bill Skarsgård who is able to make the antagonist as creepy and scary as intended.
Makeup
The makeup is minimal for the characters who are wearing makeup. The antagonist wears the most makeup as they are wearing a full face of clown makeup.
Props
The props used in the film include a lot of small props that aren’t extremely significant and a few important props that drive the entire plot. The less significant props are things such as a lighter and can of hairspray, a knife, and an inhaler. One of the very important props is a small paper boat that begins the conflict in the film. Another important prop is a letter that one of the characters writes to another.m
Setting
The setting is a in a fictional town called Derry, Maine. The town is supposedly haunted and is quite small. Settings inside the town include a library, the school the main characters attend, the characters different houses, and the sewers where the antagonist lives.
Editing
Common editing techniques used in IT include cutaways, jump cuts, and point of view shots. These add to the fear and suspense during the more tense scenes in order to captivate the viewer.
Sound
The sound in the film relies on dialogue and has very little background music. There is quite a lot of ambient sound in the film. Even in more tense scenes, it is still relatively quite to create more suspense.
Elements that I enjoyed
I enjoyed that the main characters were all young teens who are working together to defeat a supernatural entity. The use of kids as the main characters makes it more intense and makes the viewer more fearful for the characters well being as they are still just kids. I also enjoyed the comedic aspect of the movie which was always a nice break from the more scary scenes.
Elements that I disliked
I disliked how predictable the scenes tended to be, an often occurrence with most horror films. It took away the element of surprise at times and therefore made the movie less scary during some scenes.
Camera Angles
Common camera angles used in IT include eye level shots, low angle shots and hug angle shots. It also includes long shots, over the shoulder shots, and two/three shots. The variety of shots keeps the person watching interested and the angles help add to the scenes, especially in the more scary scenes.
Movement
There was also an array of common horror movement techniques used in IT. These movements consist of pans, tracking shots, zooms, and tilts. The use of these movements is crucial to the horror aspect, and are used in the majority of scenes with the antagonist on screen.
Costumes
The majority of the characters are wearing normal everyday clothes for the time period that the film takes place in (The 80’s). There is a character that wears a cast that says “loser” on it but the “s” in the word is scratched out and replaced with an “l”. One of the characters where’s a yellow rain jacket and matching yellow boots that has now become well known for their character. The antagonist wears a dirty clown costume during the entire movie.
Lighting
The lighting in IT is a mixture between brightly lit scenes that take place outside, and low lit scenes that are inside. The low lit scenes are very suspenseful and often are lit with spot lighting to add to the fear factor.
Actors
The main characters are played by Finn Wolfhard, Jaeden Martell, Sophia Lillis, Chosen Jacobs, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Wyatt Oleff, and Jack Dylan Grazer. They all portray their characters very well and fit the characters nicely. The antagonist is played by Bill Skarsgård who is able to make the antagonist as creepy and scary as intended.
Makeup
The makeup is minimal for the characters who are wearing makeup. The antagonist wears the most makeup as they are wearing a full face of clown makeup.
Props
The props used in the film include a lot of small props that aren’t extremely significant and a few important props that drive the entire plot. The less significant props are things such as a lighter and can of hairspray, a knife, and an inhaler. One of the very important props is a small paper boat that begins the conflict in the film. Another important prop is a letter that one of the characters writes to another.m
Setting
The setting is a in a fictional town called Derry, Maine. The town is supposedly haunted and is quite small. Settings inside the town include a library, the school the main characters attend, the characters different houses, and the sewers where the antagonist lives.
Editing
Common editing techniques used in IT include cutaways, jump cuts, and point of view shots. These add to the fear and suspense during the more tense scenes in order to captivate the viewer.
Sound
The sound in the film relies on dialogue and has very little background music. There is quite a lot of ambient sound in the film. Even in more tense scenes, it is still relatively quite to create more suspense.
Elements that I enjoyed
I enjoyed that the main characters were all young teens who are working together to defeat a supernatural entity. The use of kids as the main characters makes it more intense and makes the viewer more fearful for the characters well being as they are still just kids. I also enjoyed the comedic aspect of the movie which was always a nice break from the more scary scenes.
Elements that I disliked
I disliked how predictable the scenes tended to be, an often occurrence with most horror films. It took away the element of surprise at times and therefore made the movie less scary during some scenes.
Genre Research: The Babadook
The Babadook was a film made in 2014. The movie was released in various film festivals until it was put onto the internet in november of 2014. They also released it limitedly on the same date. The movie was released onto netflix and hulu around the same time too. The movies ratings were overall good, all around a 4 or a high three. This movie was directed and written by Jennifer Kent.
Angles:
The Babadook did some typical horror movie maneuvers with lots of low angles, point of views, close ups, medium close ups, over the shoulders and tons of two shots. They mostly shot things using a close up or medium close up but sometimes shot it in a two shot, just to get someone else in the shot.
movements
The movements, once again, are the stereotypical tracking shot, zoom in, zoom out, tilt and pan. The most used movement was pan, mostly to reveal what was on the other side of the room or what the mother was looking at.
costumes:
the babadooks coat and top hat which he wears for the entire movie until he turns into the dad, in which he wears a suit. The mother wears a pink night dress for most of the movie. She then changes into her work uniform, The boy wears his usual gray shirt with a blue coat. When he goes to school, he wears his school uniform. At the end of the movie, he changes into a striped sweater for his birthday.
Props:
The boy uses a crossbow, a catapult backpack, and various other weapons he claims are to fight monster with and save his mom. The mother doesn't use props, aside from the bowl of bugs she brings for the babadook and the babadook book itself.
lighting:
the lighting in the babadook is poor. They use this lighting to their advantage and make it creepy, though that was the purpose. They also sometimes keep it bright, only in certain scenes such as in the hospital. In the more intense parts, however, they use harsh lighting with bright shadows and dark darks.
scenes:
There wasnt too many different scenes in this movie. They mainly stayed in the house but sometimes they would change scenes. In a few scenes, the mom is in the nursing home, or the son and his mom are at the park. Though they never really left.
editing
The editing was just as any other horror, jump cuts, fade in and fade out. They rarely used it but they had used a match shot for one of the scenes.
actors:
The actors are
makeup:
There were no significant make ups aside from some sick looking blush around the eyes and nose. There was however, some black liquid coming out of the moms mouth along with some rope burns along her collarbone area.
sounds:
The sounds they used were varied. Kids yelling, the rustle of people shuffling about, the sounds of things hitting the floor, the bed banging, and the babadook yelling into the phone or at the mom.
common elements:
The common elements in this movie were that something is coming after the main characters. They also had a basement trope where there is something down in the basement and the characters need to stop it. They also did a possession trope where the characters try to get rid of said spirit, they end up getting rid of it but something goes wrong.
things i didnt like about the movie:
Some things I disliked about the movie were all the screaming in it. Though that seemed to be a big part in the movie, the loudness of it just bothered me. There were also some points that I didn't like so much such as the boy being dragged up the stairs. So nothing really too bad, just a few pet peeves.
things i liked about the movie:
The idea of something coming after the main characters but turing out to be their own demon, aka the fathers death, was an intersting concept. The characters seemed to develp nicely in the movie, as we see them grow into the antagonist or the protagonist. The idea of the book coming back all torn up and taped together was intersting too, it was a nice attention grabber in the entire story.
Angles:
The Babadook did some typical horror movie maneuvers with lots of low angles, point of views, close ups, medium close ups, over the shoulders and tons of two shots. They mostly shot things using a close up or medium close up but sometimes shot it in a two shot, just to get someone else in the shot.
movements
The movements, once again, are the stereotypical tracking shot, zoom in, zoom out, tilt and pan. The most used movement was pan, mostly to reveal what was on the other side of the room or what the mother was looking at.
costumes:
the babadooks coat and top hat which he wears for the entire movie until he turns into the dad, in which he wears a suit. The mother wears a pink night dress for most of the movie. She then changes into her work uniform, The boy wears his usual gray shirt with a blue coat. When he goes to school, he wears his school uniform. At the end of the movie, he changes into a striped sweater for his birthday.
Props:
The boy uses a crossbow, a catapult backpack, and various other weapons he claims are to fight monster with and save his mom. The mother doesn't use props, aside from the bowl of bugs she brings for the babadook and the babadook book itself.
lighting:
the lighting in the babadook is poor. They use this lighting to their advantage and make it creepy, though that was the purpose. They also sometimes keep it bright, only in certain scenes such as in the hospital. In the more intense parts, however, they use harsh lighting with bright shadows and dark darks.
scenes:
There wasnt too many different scenes in this movie. They mainly stayed in the house but sometimes they would change scenes. In a few scenes, the mom is in the nursing home, or the son and his mom are at the park. Though they never really left.
editing
The editing was just as any other horror, jump cuts, fade in and fade out. They rarely used it but they had used a match shot for one of the scenes.
actors:
The actors are
makeup:
There were no significant make ups aside from some sick looking blush around the eyes and nose. There was however, some black liquid coming out of the moms mouth along with some rope burns along her collarbone area.
sounds:
The sounds they used were varied. Kids yelling, the rustle of people shuffling about, the sounds of things hitting the floor, the bed banging, and the babadook yelling into the phone or at the mom.
The common elements in this movie were that something is coming after the main characters. They also had a basement trope where there is something down in the basement and the characters need to stop it. They also did a possession trope where the characters try to get rid of said spirit, they end up getting rid of it but something goes wrong.
things i didnt like about the movie:
Some things I disliked about the movie were all the screaming in it. Though that seemed to be a big part in the movie, the loudness of it just bothered me. There were also some points that I didn't like so much such as the boy being dragged up the stairs. So nothing really too bad, just a few pet peeves.
things i liked about the movie:
The idea of something coming after the main characters but turing out to be their own demon, aka the fathers death, was an intersting concept. The characters seemed to develp nicely in the movie, as we see them grow into the antagonist or the protagonist. The idea of the book coming back all torn up and taped together was intersting too, it was a nice attention grabber in the entire story.
Genre research: Happy Death Day
During my research, I decided to watch multiple horror movies to get a better understanding of what characterizes the horror genre. One of the movies i chose to watch was Happy Death Day. Happy Death Day is a horror movie that was released in 2017 and was quite successful. I decided on this film as it is both recent and popular, which makes it a good representation of current horror films. Throughout the film, I recorded the editing, sound, camera angles, and mis-en-scene that was in the movie.
Camera angles:
Common camera angles used in Happy Death Day include medium closeups, which were often used when showing the antagonist. Other camera angles that were often used over the shoulder shots, two shots, long shots and closeups.
Movements:
Very commonly used movements in Happy Death Day were zoom ins and zoom outs. Pans and tracking shots were alaso used heavily throughout the film to show scenes in which the protagonist is running or being chased.
Costumes:
An over the top mask was used by the antagonist and was paired with a black hoodie. The main character remains in the same outfit for a majority of the film except for the brief amount of time when she was in a hospital gown. The rest of characters wear casual outfits and remain in the same outfits for the entire movie.
Lighting:
The lighting was bright and well lit during the vast majority of the film. Quite a but of the movie is outside during the day where theres a lot of sunlight. The only few exceptions are scenes in which the antagonist is after the main character. These scenes have either no light or very little light on the characters.
Actors:
Jessica Rothe played the main character and protagonist in the film. The character she plays is a college student and she was able to portray the character very well. Other important characters include the love interest, who was played by Israel Broussard. The antagonist is played by Ruby Modine, however, she is in a mask and her character is unknown for most of the film.
Makeup:
The main characters makeup is simple and remains the same throughout the film, only changing by becoming messy and returning to clean through the events of the film. The other characters either wear simple makeup, or no makeup at all. The antagonist wears a mask during almost all the events in the movie, therefore their face cannot be seen, along with whatever make up they may be wearing.
Props:
The most prominent prop seen in Happy Death Day is a simple kitchen knife which the antagonist has in a lot of the scenes they appear in. One very important prop is a "poisoned" cupcake with a single candle. This cupcake is ultimately what helps the protag piece together the events of the movie. Other props include a baseball bat and an axe.
Setting:
The first setting in the film is a collage dorm room. The same setting appears many times throughout the duration of the film and is important to the plot. The other setting in the movie are hospitals, a college campus and a cafe.
Editing:
Commonly used editing techniques in Happy Death Day are jump cuts, cut aways, and cross cutting. These techniques add suspense to the film. There is also a montage towards the middle of the movie.
Sound:
The film does not have a lot of background noise in most of the scenes and focuses on dialogue. However, when the antagonist is on screen and after the protagonist, there is intense music to add fear to the scene.
Elements of the genre I enjoy:
I enjoyed the repeating day concept used in the movie which is not used very often in the horror genre. It added an interesting element to the film and fueled the plot as well. Although misdirects are used in a lot of horror films, I also liked the used of misdirects in the film.
Elements of the genre I disliked:
During the movie, I wasn't very fond of the constantly bright lighting as I felt it made the film less scary. I also felt the past that the antagonist wore took away the fear for me.
Camera angles:
Common camera angles used in Happy Death Day include medium closeups, which were often used when showing the antagonist. Other camera angles that were often used over the shoulder shots, two shots, long shots and closeups.
Movements:
Very commonly used movements in Happy Death Day were zoom ins and zoom outs. Pans and tracking shots were alaso used heavily throughout the film to show scenes in which the protagonist is running or being chased.
Costumes:
An over the top mask was used by the antagonist and was paired with a black hoodie. The main character remains in the same outfit for a majority of the film except for the brief amount of time when she was in a hospital gown. The rest of characters wear casual outfits and remain in the same outfits for the entire movie.
Lighting:
The lighting was bright and well lit during the vast majority of the film. Quite a but of the movie is outside during the day where theres a lot of sunlight. The only few exceptions are scenes in which the antagonist is after the main character. These scenes have either no light or very little light on the characters.
Actors:
Jessica Rothe played the main character and protagonist in the film. The character she plays is a college student and she was able to portray the character very well. Other important characters include the love interest, who was played by Israel Broussard. The antagonist is played by Ruby Modine, however, she is in a mask and her character is unknown for most of the film.
Makeup:
The main characters makeup is simple and remains the same throughout the film, only changing by becoming messy and returning to clean through the events of the film. The other characters either wear simple makeup, or no makeup at all. The antagonist wears a mask during almost all the events in the movie, therefore their face cannot be seen, along with whatever make up they may be wearing.
Props:
The most prominent prop seen in Happy Death Day is a simple kitchen knife which the antagonist has in a lot of the scenes they appear in. One very important prop is a "poisoned" cupcake with a single candle. This cupcake is ultimately what helps the protag piece together the events of the movie. Other props include a baseball bat and an axe.
Setting:
The first setting in the film is a collage dorm room. The same setting appears many times throughout the duration of the film and is important to the plot. The other setting in the movie are hospitals, a college campus and a cafe.
Editing:
Commonly used editing techniques in Happy Death Day are jump cuts, cut aways, and cross cutting. These techniques add suspense to the film. There is also a montage towards the middle of the movie.
Sound:
The film does not have a lot of background noise in most of the scenes and focuses on dialogue. However, when the antagonist is on screen and after the protagonist, there is intense music to add fear to the scene.
Elements of the genre I enjoy:
I enjoyed the repeating day concept used in the movie which is not used very often in the horror genre. It added an interesting element to the film and fueled the plot as well. Although misdirects are used in a lot of horror films, I also liked the used of misdirects in the film.
Elements of the genre I disliked:
During the movie, I wasn't very fond of the constantly bright lighting as I felt it made the film less scary. I also felt the past that the antagonist wore took away the fear for me.
Genre research: Us
Us was a film released in march of 2019. The movie was pretty popular, receiving good ratings by many people. The film was directed and produced by Jordan Peele. The movie's budget was around $20 million USD. When producing, actor Lupita Nyong'o had to play two characters. Both characters having an individual script with all different words.
movements
There weren't too many different types of movements, they all repeated. The movements that they used in the film were a tilt, a pan, a tracking shot, a zoom in and a zoom out
angles
The same thing as the movements`, angles didn't really have too many varying angles. They used most of the typical horror movie angles including headshot, closeup, over the shoulder, point of view, two shot, low angle, areal
props
The props consisted of some stereotypical horror things like bats, golf clubs and fireplace irons and the iconic scissors all the doppelgangers carry on them. There weren't many props in this movie that weren't used as weapons at some point.
lighting
The lighting was typically dark and had very sharp lights and darks. But in some scenes, it became hard to see with how dark it became and how limited the light was used. In other scenes, they had very high lighting, like in houses and cars.
scenes
Some scenes in the movie were Inside the house, a hall with bunnies, a friend's house, a car, a classroom, sea side carnival, a mirror hall
editing
The editing was your typical movie edits such as jump cuts, matchshots, fade in, fade out. The most used had to be jump cuts and match shots. Though they didn't use as many match shots as jump cuts, they still used it more than
actors
Some of the actors include but are not limited to Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Elizabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker, Shahadi Wright Joseph and Even Alex
costumes
Some costumes used in Us are the sleepwear of the original family and the jumpsuits of the doppelgangers. All the doppelgangers wear the same thing to match, also carrying the same weapon.
makeup
The make up they used is very minimal. They do a few special effects like blood and gore but thats it. Though some of the gore might have been CGI, I still put it under make up.
sounds
The sound of birds chirping, chatting in the carnival, waves crashing into the shore, the noises in the mirror house, along with the noises of the other doppelgängers copying their originals. There were some splats of blood or bodies falling as noises too but these weren't made too heavily.
common elements
Horror relies on a dark mood and suspense, which Us used to its advantage many times. They also use aspects comedy to lighten the mood when it gets serious or just because the story is meant to be a horror comedy, wich
what did I like about this movie?
I liked how Us followed the stereotypes of horror movies, but in an original way. Though they went with typical horror tropes and conventions, they made it work. It was an original idea. The fact that they had an actor playing two roles with totally different personalities and characteristics.
what did I dislike about this movie?
There wasn't much I didn't like about this movie. The only thing I didn't like was the whole "every double is against the original" story plot. Though it was interesting, it would have been more interesting if it was the Red and Adelaide. There were also some confusing parts such as the ending where Red and Adelaide switch places. That wasn't really explained until the ending of the ending and still, even then, it was a bit confusing.
movements
There weren't too many different types of movements, they all repeated. The movements that they used in the film were a tilt, a pan, a tracking shot, a zoom in and a zoom out
angles
The same thing as the movements`, angles didn't really have too many varying angles. They used most of the typical horror movie angles including headshot, closeup, over the shoulder, point of view, two shot, low angle, areal
props
The props consisted of some stereotypical horror things like bats, golf clubs and fireplace irons and the iconic scissors all the doppelgangers carry on them. There weren't many props in this movie that weren't used as weapons at some point.
lighting
The lighting was typically dark and had very sharp lights and darks. But in some scenes, it became hard to see with how dark it became and how limited the light was used. In other scenes, they had very high lighting, like in houses and cars.
scenes
Some scenes in the movie were Inside the house, a hall with bunnies, a friend's house, a car, a classroom, sea side carnival, a mirror hall
editing
The editing was your typical movie edits such as jump cuts, matchshots, fade in, fade out. The most used had to be jump cuts and match shots. Though they didn't use as many match shots as jump cuts, they still used it more than
actors
Some of the actors include but are not limited to Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Elizabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker, Shahadi Wright Joseph and Even Alex
costumes
Some costumes used in Us are the sleepwear of the original family and the jumpsuits of the doppelgangers. All the doppelgangers wear the same thing to match, also carrying the same weapon.
makeup
The make up they used is very minimal. They do a few special effects like blood and gore but thats it. Though some of the gore might have been CGI, I still put it under make up.
sounds
The sound of birds chirping, chatting in the carnival, waves crashing into the shore, the noises in the mirror house, along with the noises of the other doppelgängers copying their originals. There were some splats of blood or bodies falling as noises too but these weren't made too heavily.
common elements
Horror relies on a dark mood and suspense, which Us used to its advantage many times. They also use aspects comedy to lighten the mood when it gets serious or just because the story is meant to be a horror comedy, wich
what did I like about this movie?
I liked how Us followed the stereotypes of horror movies, but in an original way. Though they went with typical horror tropes and conventions, they made it work. It was an original idea. The fact that they had an actor playing two roles with totally different personalities and characteristics.
what did I dislike about this movie?
There wasn't much I didn't like about this movie. The only thing I didn't like was the whole "every double is against the original" story plot. Though it was interesting, it would have been more interesting if it was the Red and Adelaide. There were also some confusing parts such as the ending where Red and Adelaide switch places. That wasn't really explained until the ending of the ending and still, even then, it was a bit confusing.
Deciding our pitch genre
The movie genre we decided would be best for our movie is Thriller/Horror. We decided to go with to go with this genre because, it matched best with our pitch idea. In our pitch idea our plot contains some very suspenseful scenes .. In our pitch a young girl is addicted to social media, where the horror and suspense comes in is where later on, in the film she follows a sketchy account leading her into trouble because she later goes missing and is forced into actions leaving her in torture and has her feelings terrorized. The horror genre leaves you in fright which is the main goal/purpose for the viewers of the audience. It's better defined as "an intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust". We want to leave our viewers, shocked, and anxious. Due to most of the scenes in our film horror is the best genre our film would fit in. Also, we may have come up with a name for the film "Socially Trapped".
Comedy Films, & Musical Films Research and Conventions
So, we diving deeper into different genres of movies. But today we are going to be researching the two specific genres we've selected which are Comedy, and Musicals.
We'll begin with comedy, one of the most popular genres, because who doesn't love to feel satisfied with a good laugh every now and then. The comedy genre comes with different elements of filming that make up a comedy movies such as the common camera angles present. For example, in comedy films as in Night School that recently came out in 2019, common movie angles include many wide shots, and tracking shots, and several medium close ups. Mis-En-Scene of comedy includes a variety of elements for example costumes in a comedy the prior goal is to get a good laugh out of you sometimes the actors are put into interesting costumes sometimes the'd even go to the extreme level of nudity. Anything out of the ordinary that would make an actor's appearance intriguing which results in which the audience to a level of humor. Such as in the original Netflix film, Naked where the plot is where the man wakes up naked one morning, running late for his wedding taking event that same day. He repeatedly goes through the day several times stuck in a deja vu.
The next several factors of a comedy film are lighting, editing, and sound. With multiple other elements such as costumes, makeup, props, and sets. Common lighting in comedy films usually includes: high key lighting, or natural lighting for when filming scenes outdoors. I've also noticed that comedy's contain multiple scenes outdoors rather than indoors, that may fit in the category of common locations in the comedy genre.
For example, films such as (Peter Rabbit, Night School, & Naked) majority of the may take place in an outdoor setting whether it be outside of a home where a wild goose chase is taking place, in front of a fast food store where there's a fight going on with the store's mascot, or even running a marathon in complete nudity. What they all, have in common is they take place outside. Sound contain a dialogues filled with hilarious jokes, mainly sarcastic humor. There's usually a film score, and several sound effects. There isn't usually a lot of editing taken place in comedy most of the scenes just flow through.
Moving forward to the next genre musicals. Here's a genre power point we created more overall that is able to describe a more in depth movie musicals. Here's a bit much things in common with movie musicals as mentioned below for example, lighting. Common lighting in film musicals include, high key lighting, low key lighting at times, and three-point lighting. The common camera angles: are high angles, occasionally close-up shots emphasizing character's expressions.
In, movie musicals characters often express themselves through song and dance, only musical violating the classic narrative cinema. The sets designs of movie musicals are exaggerated, color design usually are a theme of bright colors of the warmer tones. The scenery often changes because of the variety of different time periods and locations. Resulting in a variety of makeup, costumes, and props.
We'll begin with comedy, one of the most popular genres, because who doesn't love to feel satisfied with a good laugh every now and then. The comedy genre comes with different elements of filming that make up a comedy movies such as the common camera angles present. For example, in comedy films as in Night School that recently came out in 2019, common movie angles include many wide shots, and tracking shots, and several medium close ups. Mis-En-Scene of comedy includes a variety of elements for example costumes in a comedy the prior goal is to get a good laugh out of you sometimes the actors are put into interesting costumes sometimes the'd even go to the extreme level of nudity. Anything out of the ordinary that would make an actor's appearance intriguing which results in which the audience to a level of humor. Such as in the original Netflix film, Naked where the plot is where the man wakes up naked one morning, running late for his wedding taking event that same day. He repeatedly goes through the day several times stuck in a deja vu.
The next several factors of a comedy film are lighting, editing, and sound. With multiple other elements such as costumes, makeup, props, and sets. Common lighting in comedy films usually includes: high key lighting, or natural lighting for when filming scenes outdoors. I've also noticed that comedy's contain multiple scenes outdoors rather than indoors, that may fit in the category of common locations in the comedy genre.
For example, films such as (Peter Rabbit, Night School, & Naked) majority of the may take place in an outdoor setting whether it be outside of a home where a wild goose chase is taking place, in front of a fast food store where there's a fight going on with the store's mascot, or even running a marathon in complete nudity. What they all, have in common is they take place outside. Sound contain a dialogues filled with hilarious jokes, mainly sarcastic humor. There's usually a film score, and several sound effects. There isn't usually a lot of editing taken place in comedy most of the scenes just flow through.
Moving forward to the next genre musicals. Here's a genre power point we created more overall that is able to describe a more in depth movie musicals. Here's a bit much things in common with movie musicals as mentioned below for example, lighting. Common lighting in film musicals include, high key lighting, low key lighting at times, and three-point lighting. The common camera angles: are high angles, occasionally close-up shots emphasizing character's expressions.
In, movie musicals characters often express themselves through song and dance, only musical violating the classic narrative cinema. The sets designs of movie musicals are exaggerated, color design usually are a theme of bright colors of the warmer tones. The scenery often changes because of the variety of different time periods and locations. Resulting in a variety of makeup, costumes, and props.
Thursday, January 23, 2020
Horror genre research powerpoint
My power point is about the horror genre. Specifically, its about the lighting, camera angles, movement, mis en scene, elements and sounds. There is also some stuff I didn't like about the films in general. Along When we were looking for information, we looked at tons of different films for examples. Though we didn't watch them, we did look for video clips on the internet. We also had to look up the information from different sources too. Horror typically, in America, uses tons of sound effects to get its point across. It also tends to use darker lighting and often relies on limited sound. They usually have some actor dressed up in scary makeup or a scary costume to be the thing the main characters are scared of.
Friday, January 17, 2020
pitch blog
The two pitches we narrowed it down was the short girl story and the story about social media. The one we are leaning towards is the story about social media. It was the first one we came up with and ended up developing the story a lot. That way, when we develop the dialogue, it will be easier to do. Though the short girl story is interesting, I really wanted to do a horror, so we changed up the social media concept and made it into one. It didn't exactly take too much replaning because we just said some guy stalks her and she gets creeped out by it. For the short girl story, we wanted to do something relatable since both me and one of my other group members struggle with being short. It was mostly just a baseline concept for us so we didn't plan as much as the horror. Since my other group mates wanted to do something relatable and i wanted to do horror, we made a compromise. That compromise was doing the cellphone idea.
Pros and cons of the cellphone idea. the cons are it would be easier to film. It would also be more fun to film. It wouldn't have as much of a "coming of age" story as the short girl concept would. Another pro would be that horror is the easiest to film. That would make our work load even less. Cons are it would be a little hard to make it enough of an eerie feel. It might also be a bit hard to find locations to film at. The final con would be that we would have to find a good spot to cut it off. This would be hard because we would need to get the story to a good point where it doesn't seem like a short story. The best spot would probably be before the main climax so you don't get all that tension in the story, only to be left with a clif hanger.
Pros and cons of the short girl idea. Pros would be that it would attract more people to watch it. The story would be relatable so people would be able to sympathize with the main character. It would also be a bit easier to film with all the good angles we'd get. Cons are that it would also be hard to film. What I mean is it would be harder for us to make the main girl seem shorter than she actually is. Another con would be that it would be harder to come up with dialogue and a better story. It would be odd if it wasn't filmed at school or at least have one scene in it with school. Considering we cant film at school, it would be pretty difficult to get the typical "short girl school scenario." Though this idea would be pretty fun to film, its not the idea we were aiming for.
Pros and cons of the cellphone idea. the cons are it would be easier to film. It would also be more fun to film. It wouldn't have as much of a "coming of age" story as the short girl concept would. Another pro would be that horror is the easiest to film. That would make our work load even less. Cons are it would be a little hard to make it enough of an eerie feel. It might also be a bit hard to find locations to film at. The final con would be that we would have to find a good spot to cut it off. This would be hard because we would need to get the story to a good point where it doesn't seem like a short story. The best spot would probably be before the main climax so you don't get all that tension in the story, only to be left with a clif hanger.
Pros and cons of the short girl idea. Pros would be that it would attract more people to watch it. The story would be relatable so people would be able to sympathize with the main character. It would also be a bit easier to film with all the good angles we'd get. Cons are that it would also be hard to film. What I mean is it would be harder for us to make the main girl seem shorter than she actually is. Another con would be that it would be harder to come up with dialogue and a better story. It would be odd if it wasn't filmed at school or at least have one scene in it with school. Considering we cant film at school, it would be pretty difficult to get the typical "short girl school scenario." Though this idea would be pretty fun to film, its not the idea we were aiming for.
Final Task
Hello! After a break, Im back to blogging again. To all those newcomers, My name is Hailey. Im now 16 years old. Florida is still very hot all though it’s been cooling down. I attend FLHS and I’m currently in 10th grade. I like to spend time with my friends, family and draw. I’m interested in art and film, which is why I’m taking AICE media. I love all things fluffy, soft and cute!
My two group members are Deedi and Emma. I’m so excited to work with them again, all though I’m a bit sad I didn’t get to work with my first projects group.
Some things I have learned during this class are how to edit and film properly. All though I had a base idea or concept of editing, I didn’t know how to edit properly. But after attending this class for a semester, I have gotten better. The same thing with the camera. I had the basic idea on how to film stuff professionally, but not all the way. I did have a previous class for film but I didn’t learn much from it. Though that class is what lead me to have a basic idea of what I was doing, so I owe a thanks for that. This class definitely has broadened my ability to film. I’m still nowhere close to professional but I’m on my way. I’m very excited to put all that I’ve learned into a movie.
What is a pitch? A pitch is a hollywood term used to describe the idea of some sort of production. These are the pitches we came up with
This idea would be a horror film in which the main character is addicted to Social media. They got her info from their Social media account. The other one is the struggles of being short. The main character is a short girl struggling to do every day tasks. The next one would be a horror movie where someone stalks the main character. They end up getting kidnapped.
My two group members are Deedi and Emma. I’m so excited to work with them again, all though I’m a bit sad I didn’t get to work with my first projects group.
Some things I have learned during this class are how to edit and film properly. All though I had a base idea or concept of editing, I didn’t know how to edit properly. But after attending this class for a semester, I have gotten better. The same thing with the camera. I had the basic idea on how to film stuff professionally, but not all the way. I did have a previous class for film but I didn’t learn much from it. Though that class is what lead me to have a basic idea of what I was doing, so I owe a thanks for that. This class definitely has broadened my ability to film. I’m still nowhere close to professional but I’m on my way. I’m very excited to put all that I’ve learned into a movie.
What is a pitch? A pitch is a hollywood term used to describe the idea of some sort of production. These are the pitches we came up with
This idea would be a horror film in which the main character is addicted to Social media. They got her info from their Social media account. The other one is the struggles of being short. The main character is a short girl struggling to do every day tasks. The next one would be a horror movie where someone stalks the main character. They end up getting kidnapped.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)