Genre Research: Bird Box

 This movie is called Bird Box. This movie can be watched on Netflix. 

The camera angles and movements in thriller movies seem to be similar so we highlighted the important ones that added the thriller to the movie. One of the directors mentions that her favorite shot to use throughout the film was close-ups. She states that she wants viewers to “understand what’s going on in those eyes and cultivate it.” An important scene in the movie is the speech to the children, where an extreme close-up that ultimately ends up in a behind-the-shoulder shot is used. During the speech, viewers are confused as to why Sandra is so paranoid and as the close-up of her turns into a behind-the-shoulder shot we see that she is talking to children which intrigues the viewers even more. Tracking shots are predominantly used because we are watching the actors navigate the town and trying to escape simultaneously. We follow the actors and witness firsthand how they get through the obstacles presented in the settings they are in. It is a key factor that helps add to the suspense because it makes viewers feel as if they are traveling alongside them. These were two of the most used shots in the movie which my group will definitely incorporate into our final project. 

For the mis-en-scene, the main part of every character’s costume/outfit was the blindfolds that they wore to protect themselves from the entities around them. The main character Malorie Hayes wears a knife loop, which is a significant prop for her costume. In the movie, Malorie is constantly trying to survive from the dark entity, and so this knife loop symbolizes her efforts of protecting her children. This movie takes place in Northern California, surrounded by a forest and river which add to the isolated effect that the movie tries to portray due to the high suicide rates. The characters are all worried and trying to survive these entities so they are distrustful towards each other because they have become paranoid. 

The film follows the character Malorie Hayes,  as she tries to protect herself and two children from entities that cause people who look at them to die by suicide. The sounds commonly heard throughout the movie were whispering and monster noises. The whispering creates an eery feel because the purpose of these whispers was to get into the victim’s head and convince them to kill themself. The supervisor sound/editors talk about the process for making the monster noises and inform viewers that it was a combination of things. The movement of the creatures was the sound of a swarm of bees because the editors wanted the characters to “feel that they were moving around us, like a constant threat that was surrounding us.” The sounds editors emphasized the idea that the whispers could be in time and flow together to heighten the creepiness as well as support the feeling that they surrounded characters by their presence at all times. We can definitely do something similar to the whispers because it was a really important aspect of the movie that made things more suspenseful and creepy. Movie 

Genre Decision Blog

While researching various blogs informative details of each genre were discovered. We learned thrillers are often confused with horror main goal is to capture the gaze of the audience. To keep them interested and wanting more the climax is usually the main confrontation. It is most useless closeups and high or low angle shots to show the director's representation. Its use of pacing in thriller films is essential since it can drastically change the mood of a scene. The genre romance can be summarized as a journey following two characters through their lives and with each other. Most have a very happy ending, leaving the characters together and meeting their goal but that isn’t always the case. Romance films, mainly use color contrasting. Color contrasting can be set by sunsets or the use of candles bring an affectionate atmosphere to the film. When researching the genre of comedy, the challenge set for itself. With the numerous movies in this genre, it was difficult to see which technics were used throughout the movies. The use of flashbacks to build characters was a repeating theme. Non-diegetic sounds are often left in the films to give the audience their reactions to outside things.

After considering the several unique aspects each genre has our team has agreed on our genre being Thriller. This genre would work best with the concept of our opening sequence. After extensive research, I now know what editing, camera angles, and camera movements would be best for a thriller film. The research done for this genre will help create an authentic but professional film in the thriller genre. Our opening sequence will prioritize lighting, sound, and timing. Mostly we will use lowlight to make things looks more dim, mysterious, and scary. Regardless of researching other genres, our group felt the thriller genre would be best and I wholeheartedly agree. 

Genre Research : Romance

When researching a movie genre there are many things to take note of. A romance film can be defined as a romantic love story that focuses on the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through dating, courtship, or marriage.

Looking from a Romance film perspective, we can see how the camera angles and lighting would differ from other genres.

Famous directors when shooting this type of film would prioritize the main love interest over another side character in a sense. Common camera angles used are extreme long shots, to describe what is going to happen next, and various amounts of tracking shots. They are many medium-long shots to zoom in on the love interest to portray beauty and allow you to fall in love with the character as well. The use of medium shots generally shows the character from the waist to the top of the head. It enables the viewer to see facial expressions in combination with body language and to show emotion.

Lighting is very important for a romance movie and does a lot for the effect. Directors would use a warm sort of red lighting to insinuate intimacy and comfort with the characters. The warm lighting can be done by string light, lamps or candles Another way to have a contrast in color is with sunsets like in the Titanic, one of the most famous romance movies to be made. Most often, warm colors add to an inviting, romantic atmosphere.

The editing concept of romance ascertained that many rom-coms mainly use two different types of editing techniques. Crosscuts are often used to establish a certain action happening between two different locations. Another editing shot used is straight cuts are used to keep continuity in the story so it flows nicely. Something we will be using in our opening sequence is the effect you do when blurring out the background characters. 

After talking with my group about this genre we came up with some aspects we both enjoy in this genre and what we don't. We love that romance films usually just focus on the two main characters. We also like the use of backstories and flashbacks when talking about the main characters. Since this final task is only the first two minutes of a short film we decided not to do a flashback but our camera angles will be focused only on the main characters.

 

Genre Research: Comedy

 When researching a widely used genre with many different interpretations can be hard. Comedies are light-hearted dramas, crafted to amuse, entertain the audience, and provoke enjoyment. The comedy genre humorously exaggerates the situation, the language, action, and characters.

The comedy itself has a list of more than a million movies, and then you would have to indicate which ones mix genres. Many movies like Scary movie have aspects of horror while being comedy movies based on a definition standpoint. This is something we want to stay away from when creating our film.

Numerous camera angles are used to produce this type of film, most commonly the wide and close shot. The tactic of using wide angles allows that determines your scene's location. These types of camera angles remind us where the characters physically are. Another camera angle often used is a low angle which we will be also be adapting for our opening. The angle has been used to show people that have fallen or the sky view from below. This will be used as an introductory shot for a presumable powerful person. 

Sound and its use are very important for a comedic movie. Besides the already funny dialogue, added sound effects for dramatic effects.

Sound like a character's speech, the roar of a speeding car, or the clapping of "an invisible" audience can be edited in, diegetic sound to be heard and not necessarily shown on screen. We will be using this technique for when we edit later on. 

Researching movies like Superbad and Grown-ups, we found various things we like and didn't. In both movies, the opening sequence is an array of pictures and videos of the characters at younger ages to portray the relationship between characters.

Genre Research: Thriller

 Thriller is a genre that focuses on catching the audience's attention by inflicting suspense or anticipation. A commonly confused with the genre horror, the thriller genre is drastically different. While Horror focuses on scaring the audience and prioritizes the main confrontation as the climax thriller does otherwise. In the Thriller Genre, its main goal is to leave tension and leave the audience on edge.

There are many camera angles used in the thriller genre. For example, the most common filming angles are closeups or extreme closeups, low and high angle shots, canted angle shots, wide shots, and more. What is en scene is used can drastically change a film. In thrillers typically low-level lighting, props, and little to no makeup are essential. This is to make the film more believable for the audience. To pair with believability and to add emotion when editing thriller films pacing is key. Knowing the right moment to use fast or slow pacing can change the feel of a scene. Recent thriller films that implement this concept are "Run", "Old", and " Unhinged". Elements of the thriller genre that I like is its ability to keep the audience invested. The skill of attracting the gaze of the audience and getting their full attention. There use of lighting is very important and I would use this for future films. Personally, an element that doesn't appeal to me is pace timing. When and where you use fast or slow pacing can drastically change the scene. It can also affect the audience's understanding of the film. There have been times pacing has been an issue in thriller movies causing their rating to be bad.

Our Pitch

A girl is one of few to survive the zombie apocalypse. She runs into another non-infected human and they have to get through together. Our first pitch is unique from the commonly chosen ideas. It would help in showing off creativity and originality. While also providing a well-thought-out and evolved finished project. Although the mise-en-scene would be difficult to accomplish for any of the scenes. Zombie make-up and attire would have to research, bought, and learned. Plus the fact that none of us leave in an area that would suit this project whether that be a woods or generally dark area. It emphasizes the idea that this girl is one of the few, which would force us to need backup actors to play the zombies. Not only would we have to find multiple actors for only a few scenes, but we would also have to work around their schedule and pay extra supplies for their make-up and costume. A girl has been living her day-to-day alone, or so she thinks. Our second pitch is about from stalker's point of view. It isn’t demanding in regards to makeup, costume, or setting which will make it easy to create. The roles are flexible and can modify without changing the plot/sequence. The recording and editing can be experimented with. Whether that be by making many of the scenes from a POV shot; or formatting it in a found footage way. Our selection is wider because it wouldn’t affect our initial idea. Although stalker-involved projects are no novel idea. We can make it personal and unique in an engaging way. Ultimately, we ended up choosing our second pitch “ A girl has been living her day-to-day alone, or so she thinks.”

Group Blog: A Group Made For Success

 It's the start of a new project and the task we have been assigned is to film a 2-minute opening sequence for a film. Previously for the last filming projects, we have worked on my group consisted of Willow Rivera, Lucia Rodriguez, and Jacob Pinero. Unfortunately for this filming task, Jacob will not be working in our group. This is due to personal matters of his own, but with this missing spot in our group, our first concern is who will fulfill his position. What was most important to me when establishing a group is to have a sense of comfort with your groupmates. This is to create a safe space to bounce ideas off with our group. Lucia suggested for another classmate of ours Mia Obritis work with us. At first, Willow and I were very hesitant about this suggestion for several reasons. For starters, there was a lack of comfort with working with Mia. There wasn't any bond or friendship and when the possibility for a conversation arose she didn't entertain it. This was an obstacle to overcome when settling our group. As a group, we discussed our concerns and have concluded and acknowledge the awkwardness but we hope that as the project progresses the awkwardness decreases. We spent most of today just conversating in an effort to get to know each other better. Mia is an amazing person who tends to be more introverted, and I'm excited to work with her. With a change of group figuring out who will be the actors, director, filmer, and editor are essential. For the most part, we stuck with roles we felt we had the most experience in. For instance, I am the designated filmer who will aid in the production process. Lucia and Willow are the actors, while Mia is the editor. Mia has the most familiarity with editing but in an attempt to boost my level of knowledge I will be helping her edit. Since this is a group assignment nobody is the "director". This is to allow everyone's opinion to hold the same weight.