Genre Research 'Bird Box' (2018)

Camera angles:

 At the beginning of the movies there are plenty of aerial or crane shots.
It also has high angles and close-ups. In the middle of the movie, there are many eye level and low angles shots.
This resembles the beginning of the movie because there are also close-ups and medium close-ups.
At the end of the movie, there were extreme close-ups, medium close-ups, and eye-level shots.

Costumes, lighting, actors, makeup, props, setting: 

At the beginning of the movie, the actors are scared and extremely serious.
They are dressed in normal outfits suitable for cold weather. They are also wearing little to no makeup.
The lighting is a little dim but seems to portray natural lighting.  The main prop is the blindfold.
In this movie, they must wear their blindfolds at all times so it could also be considered part of their costumes.
The setting is in the woods and a fast-flowing river. In the middle of the movie, The actors are still very frightened and anxious.
The costumes are the same as before, and now there is natural lighting.
They are wearing little to no makeup, and the props consist of blindfolds and a box filled with birds.
The setting seems to be an abandoned medical center filled with empty beds.
At the end of the movie, the costumes, props, and makeup all remained the same.
The lighting is lighter than average lighting and the props are the box of birds and blindfolds.
The setting changed to a blind institute, and that is where the movie ends.
The actors are all happy because they have lived through a traumatic event, and are safe.

Sounds:

 At the beginning of the movie, there are voiceovers to bring the audience up to speed with part of the plot.
This is an example of a non-diegetic sound.
Throughout the movie, the audience can hear the water flowing in the river and the wind blowing in the trees.
In the middle of the movie, there is mainly dialogue from the actors.
There are also other sounds such as cans falling on the ground, and fishing lines being reeled inwards.
The water is in the background, along with the wind.
At the end of the movie, the sounds are mainly kids playing and actors talking.
This is diegetic sound because they are in a building full of people.

Editing:

 Throughout the movie, cutaways are frequently used.
There are also a few points of view scenes where the camera has a blindfold.
This gives the audience an idea of how the characters are feeling.

Elements of thriller in the movie:

 The movie had a few plot twists, and kept me on the edge of my seat.
It also had some interesting action scenes that were complimented by unique camera movements.

What elements of the genre did the movie have that you liked?

 I enjoyed the flashback scenes. They allowed me to see the main character's reasoning behind her actions.
It gave the audience a well-rounded knowledge of the entire scenario.

What elements of the genre did the movie have that did not appeal to you? 

Personally, I didn't like the plot twists. It made the plot more difficult to follow, but overall I enjoyed the movie.

Genre Research 'I Am Mother" (2019)

1. Common CAMS in the movie

-Beginning: Close-ups of the robot's face, medium close-ups, establishing shots.

-Middle: Tracking shots, Over the shoulder shots, Two shots, Three shots.

-End: Two shots, Three shots, Over the shoulder shots, Close ups.

2. Common CLAMPS in the movie

-Beginning: Robot, simple baby clothes and child clothes as the little girl grows up; Dim lighting, no makeup, baby toys as props, stuffed animals. Takes place in what looks like a secure bunker-like area. Little girl and robot only actors.

-Middle: New character, daughter has to operate on her, changes into surgical attire, still dim light but also some artificial white light. New actor, no makeup, surgery tools, book with faces, still in bunker.

-End: New actor as brother, more baby clothes, dim light, no makeup, shotgun and shells and axe as props, still in bunker but also outside of it.

3. Common Sounds in the movie

-Beginning: Diegetic sounds of metal and machines whirring as robot is assembled. Non-Diegetic sounds of the robot playing music for the child.

-Middle: Diegetic sounds of surgical equipment and non-diegetic sounds of talking.

-End: Diegetic sounds of the shotgun, bullet dropping, axe falling with non-diegetic sounds of dialogue.

4. Common Editing in the movie

-Beginning: quite a few Jump cuts.

-Middle: still Jump cuts.

-End: Jump cuts as well as Reverse cuts.

5. Elements of the genre in the movie

-Plot twists

-Action

-Suspense

-Dramatic

6. What elements of the genre did the movie have that you like?

-The plot twist at the end

-The action and suspense

7. What elements of the genre did the movie have that did not appeal to you?

-Very dramatic at times

-Plot a little difficult to follow

-End dialogue was a bit confusing

Genre Research Decision

For the genre of our final task, we decided to go with thriller.
We chose this because we feel that it best represents what the task will be about.
It’s conventions and elements also go well with the aim of the task.
This genre and our task will most-likely use similar things like camera angles, mise-en-scene, and editing.
The thriller genre’s elements of plot twists and suspense will almost definitely be used in our final task.
We can do a lot of things related to the thriller genre and incorporate them into our final task.
I am satisfied with this genre choice for these reasons.

Genre Research Analysis

Our first genre that we are researching is action. One common camera angle is a long shot.
This is used to show things like stunts occurring and so the audience can get the big picture.
Over the shoulder shots are also used to show another character from one character's perspective.
In an action movie, the actors are usually people who are strong, or fit to play the characters.
There is also often a "damsel in distress" who may need to be saved in the movie as well as villains.
For makeup, there are usually a lot of makeup to depict wounds received during the film.
There are many different settings in action movies but they mostly take place in popular urban areas/cities.
The costumes depend on the character, but they are usually very noticeable if it is a character such as a superhero or even villain. 
During action movies, there are many cuts to things like the actors' faces.
There are also other cuts between scenes and things like flashbacks.
Elements of the action genre include suspense, action, fighting, and stunts.
Some examples of movies in this genre are Terminator Dark Fate and Avengers Endgame.
I like the action and suspense that is created from this genre. Something I dislike is the violence.

Our second genre that we are researching is comedy.
Some common camera angles used in comedy films are high and low angles.
These exaggerate the subject and can make for some good shots.
Hip-level shots are also sometimes used.
They can show whats going on in the scene well while keeping the subject the focus of the shot.
In comedy movies, a lot of the time it showcases everyday life made a little bit crazier.
The setting of these movies are usually everyday places like cities or small towns.
Characters normally have natural makeup and costumes or a more crazy look depending on the setting or plot of the movie.
The lighting of comedy movies is usually natural and fits the setting of the scene.
Some examples of comedy movies would be Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, Anchorman, and Scary Movie.
They often have zooming incorporated into these films.
A lot of the time, the soundtracks of these movies will have hit songs of that year playing.
Some elements of the genre I like are how lighthearted they can be and how the movies can make you laugh.
Some elements I don't like are how the movies can be very subjective and if that style of humor isn't the kind you like, the humor will be lost.

Genre Research Powerpoint

In this project we had to research a genre of film and make a powerpoint on the different aspects of it. I chose the genre 'horror' by picking it on a piece of paper from a hat. From there I began researching all about it. I looked at the common lighting and camera angles in the genre first. The I researched common movement and mis en scene. Another thing I learned about the genre was the elements and different films in it. Horror commonly relies on fear and your imagination as basic elements in them. I also looked at the sounds they use in horror, which turned out to be really interesting. I also got to talk about what I liked and disliked about the genre. I found that I actually liked how immersive the genre could be and how creative the people who make them are.

Final Pitch Ideas Blog

One pitch we decided to go with was the action horror pitch. In this pitch, a girl's father goes missing, and as she starts searching for him, strange things begin to occur in her small town. The other pitch idea we decided on was the action pitch. In this pitch, being able to genetically modify humans has emerged and a girl tries to survive in a world where she isn't viewed as normal. We decided not to go with the idea of a movie where a girl goes to meet her online friend and it turns out her friend isn't who they seem. We narrowed this list down by making a pros and cons list. The second pitch had the most cons and didn't seem specific enough to turn into a two minute movie clip. We found that the idea would involve a lot of texts being shown on screen causing the viewer to have to read a lot more than should be necessary. Although it would be easy to film, it wouldn't be creative enough. The other two pitches had a lot more we could do with them and gave us more creative freedom.

The first pitch we decided on would be the horror pitch. This would be a good idea for multiple reasons. We had a lot of ideas of what to do with the filming of it. We also found that it would be a lot of fun to film because we enjoyed the concept. It also wouldn't be to complicated to film because a lot of the settings we would use would be accessible and ideal to film in. It would also be easy to show the plot through the movie clip unlike the pitch we decided not to do. The ending of the clip would also be definite but could also seem like there is more to it. It would leave the viewers wondering what else could happen after and make them intrigued and want to see more. The only con we had about this pitch would be that it would be a lot to explain in two minutes. This is because there is a lot of plot to explain, though overall it wouldn't be too hard to explain.

The second pitch we decided on was the action pitch.  This film, like the first one we decided to go with, would be fun to film. This idea is also unique. This film would also have an easy "ending", or one where it would be able to be added on to. This film would also be easy to understand what's going on. A con of this film would be the amount of special effects. this would be a problem, because we couldn't edit them in, so we would have to make physical ones during the film. There also isn't a lot that would be going on and a hard to understand backstory. Out of all the pitches, we decided to go with the one about the father going missing. This had the least amount of cons and is very developed by my partner and I.

Start of Final Task Blog

My name is Julia. I am an AICE media studies student. I am currently a 10th grade high school student. I took AICE media studies to get the AICE credits I need for the diploma. Right now we are starting our project on making a two minute movie clip for our final task. I am really excited for this project since I will get to be a lot more creative with it. There is a lot more we can do in two minutes. I can't wait to see what we can do with that time. I'm partnered up with a friend of mine who I worked with on the other videos and projects. We work well together so I'm excited to see what we can make.

So far I have learned a lot about film making. I learned how to shoot scenes and film shots. This is something that I am especially excited to use in the project. Filming itself was really fun and I got to learn about how to set up the camera and other equipment. Learning about setting up a tripod was pretty interesting as well. Another thing I learned was how to edit the shots we took. I'm excited to use this in this project because there are a lot of cool things that I want to implement into the movie clip. I learned how to add transitions and edit the sound of the clips. There were a lot of other things about editing I learned as well. Overall I learned a lot about the process through the past projects.

A pitch is a presentation of an idea for a film or movie usually around 25 words long. For our movie clip, we had to come up with three pitches. The first pitch was "A girl's father goes missing, and as she's trying to find him, strange things start happening in her small town." Our second pitch was "A girl goes to meet her online friend, but it turns out her friend isn't who they seem." The final pitch was  "In a world where genetically modifying humans has emerged, a girl tries to survive in a world where she is not viewed as normal." All of these ideas my teammate and I liked so it may be hard to choose just one.