This is our statement of intent for this movie opening
By: Me, Bamz, kenneth and Maxine
Statement of Intent
Genre
Horror
Target Audience
Demographic
Females and males, age 15 - 25, located in urban areas where they can easily access the cinema and other digital devices.
Psychographic
Teenagersthat enjoy horror movies with some slashing action and a mysterious but creepy kidnapper/etc.
How we will appeal to this target audience
The whole set, props and costumes were mostly monotoned using black, grey and white as one of their main colour schemes with low key lighting setting the tone for the overall movie and is something audiences are expecting. There will also be red in a form of fake blood when the killer finally strikes and kills something which is what horror movie goers would like to see. We can use diegetic sounds like a screams and non diegetic discordant sounds of which slowly becomes louder the closer the main character is to the figure which builds the suspense of the overall opening.
Main inspirations
Hush, Texas Chain Massacre 2022, Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin, The Night
General Synopsis
A detective comes home from a long workday, only to be met by his old nemesis, an escaped serial killer he just put in jail earlier that day. His nemesis brought along members of his gang to finish off the detective once and for all.
Characters
The detective, serial killer and his gang
Representations
(How will people, places, groups be portrayed in the film opening?)
Dominant Reading
Always go home early, never go out at night alone.
Proposed Roles
Script
Kenneth ð
Storyboard
Shannon ð
Location Scout
Maxine ð
Risk Assessment
Bams ðĢ
Screen Test
Max ðē ðĪŠ
Filming schedule
Bameswara ðĄ
Audience research
Shannon ð
Behind-the-scenes
Max ðŪ
Editing
Kenneth ð
Self reflection:
After discussing the task that should be done by each person we finally decided on the roles for each task. Unlike my first statement on intent were 60% of the role were handled by me, this time everyone collaborated on this part of the blog. I'm grateful we already have a solid plan. There might be some changes along the way but it will all be updated here. Overall This task help us pinpoint who is our target audience our general plan / sinopsis.
My group and I have decided to create a film opening in the genre horror. Here is my research into the codes and conventions that are used used in the openings of texts from this genre.
The typical conventions of the horror genre :
Films from this genre usually include primarily dull with cooler tone looking props and scenes (mise en scene) with a vivid red to represent blood or gore that gets thrown in here are there. It usually takes place in a naturalistic environment / mise en scene like a forest or an abandoned house or property with low key lighting. In most horror films, they introduce a mysterious or creepy figure or creature that makes the main characters petrified. The character also uses a dirty outfit or makeup so they can blend in with the background.
It also has diegetic sounds like a screams that evoke the weariness of the audience and non diegetic discordant sounds of with maybe that slowly becomes louder the closer the main character is to the figure which builds the suspense of the overall opening with the helpless and desperate dialogue from the characters which makes us feel bad for the characters being slaughtered. They also use non diegetic contrapuntal music in some scenes to give some foreshadowing to the viewers on what will happen later in the next scene with the ominous music maybe playing with a relatively happy lively scene.
Some of the popular camera angles used are close ups and medium to emphasizing on the characters emotions and gestures like trembling which also make the audience feel the same way as the characters in the movie introduction. They also use extreme close ups of the objects / props used in the films such as a knife, body parts, etc to show that the object is important to the plot (e.g a close up of the main character's eyes opening their eyes wide open which could indicate that something important that happened which would kickstart the movie ). Low angle shot are also used to show how powerful the creatures are compared to the humans / characters and high camera angle for the characters that are about to be slaughtered to show how helpless they are.
Common camera movements such as pull in to the main character so the audience can feel like they are part of the action, pull outs to reveal the creature, making a jumpscare and a cut away at the end so the audience can imagine the horror that happened after. In a scene where the mysterious figure appears, there are usually multiple jump cuts or cuts that only last a less than 5 seconds which quickens the pace of the climactic scene getting the audience excited on the next scene or a character's flashbacks on how he/she ended up in this situation to give the audiences context in the introduction. action. Handheld movement is also used to show how panick the character is when the creature suddenly appears. Tracking when the character tries to run away from the creature and the effect of this is so the audience can become immersed in the action. The conflict of the story usually involve the binary opposite of good vs evil or human vs creature or something inhuman.
Five Nights At Freddy's
Produced by: Blumhouse and Universal Pictures
Distributed by: Universal Pictures (The main distributor)
Genre: Horror /Mystery
What conventions does it conform to?
They conform to the typical mise en scene with the mostly dark backgrounds and props supported by lowkey lighting that creates a eery atmosphere and a perfect environment for the main creature to hide in. The costumes uses a cold color palette as evidence by the grey security guard costume which blends in with the terrifying environment. The blocking mostly also focuses on the security guard which is typical for a horror movie so the anxiety of the character is also felt by the audience.
In the diegetic sound aspect they also confirmed since they use a scream, gears turning or the thumping sounds of the metal that banged against the characters that becomes louder the closer the main character is to the figure which builds the suspense and adds realism to the overall scene as if it is happening in real life.
They also use multiple close ups to emphasize the characters emotions and medium shots to show the characters body language. Multiple extreme close up to give context about how the plot is going and to add tension to the scene because if the bolt doesn't unscrew the security guard could die. High camera angle for the characters that are about to be slaughtered to show how helpless they are in this situation.
Some of the movements used are dolly when the character tries to run away from the creature and the effect of this is so the audience can become immersed in the action. A pull in to the main character so that indicate to the audience that the creature is very near / they are trapped. They also use a cut away at the end so the audience can imagine the horror that happened after. The conflict also seems to be human vs robot which is similar binary opposite to the conventions of the typical horror movie.
What conventions does it subvert?
For the mise en scene, they didn't include any blood and gore like the typical horror movie only including the red beady eyes which is a semantic code for death in this context. They also don't have non diegetic sounds like instrumental or sounds for the whole introduction. I think this is intentional to amplify the realism of the scene and so the audience can fully enjoy the scene without any distractions. Like steven neele ince said a text must be similar enough to be recognize and really this intro does represent a horror film but diffeent enough like the typical elements that are removed to create an interesting media product.
What are the representations and what technical elements are used to give meaning to the representations?
The character are represented as a blue collar security worker at night as evidence with the cool toned dull grey uniform and the flash light. It usually represent authority and power like in the real world and they are usually shown as confident and brave. However, In this movie the security guard / worker is shown as a scared, cowardly character as he struggles to hold the flashlight as shown in various medium shots of him. This represents the irony of his actions despite the title and the fragility of the authority in front of the mysterious "horror" creature.
Winnie The Pooh Blood and Honey
Produced by: ITN Distribution, Jagged Edge Production
Distributed by: AV Jet International Media (The main distributor)
Genre: Horror / Crime
What conventions does it conform to?
The whole set, props and costumes were mostly monotoned using black, gray and white as one of their main color scheme setting the tone for the overall movie being bleak and harsh. For the makeup they use many red elements that correlate with blood and gore which is a semantic code for death and in the end of the trailer their clothes are covered in dirt, sweat and water which contrast in the beginning when they first looked at the wooden cabin / lodge where their clothes look clean, neat and dry which typical for a horror movie to show how the turn of events eventually had horrible effects on them and the destructive capabilities of the horror creatures.
The set mostly takes place in a naturalistic mise en scene environment which are forest and wooden houses that do exist in real life relating to the real life audience watching the movie as if the actual scenes could happen in real life giving a sense of realism with low key lighting creating a dark, gloomy ambiance implying dangers of the woods when in turns dark. It also align with the fact that each scene mostly takes place at night with a rainy or stormy weather that supports the overall theme and atmosphere. In the scene above where the group of girls encounter the wooden house for the first time, they use green as a semantic code for lushes and safe which totally opposite to what happens after this scene. They use high key lighting and vivid colours to give off this false sense of hope and security to the audience that everything would be fine.
Besides that, they also implement non diegetic discordant music in each scene which also gets louder when the character / creature wreaks havoc. They also use non diegetic contrapuntal music for the scene where the girls first encounter the wooden house for the first time, their diegetic sounds in a form of dialogue where they talk about how "cool" it is while the music has an unsettling / cold feel to it. This is common for most horror movies to connote to the viewers that something bad is going to happen and gives of a slight foreshadowing for the plot ahead. This could evoke a sense of anxiety and fear among the audience as the action goes on as they are helpless in telling the character of the potential dangers the characters might encounter. The diegetic sounds like a screams that also evoke a sense of adrenaline in the audience and the helpless and desperate dialogue from the characters which makes us feel bad for the characters being slaughtered.
Like a typical horror movie opening, they use multiple extreme close up to give context about how the plot is going to go. Close ups and medium shots so the emotions and gestures of these characters are clear to the audience and it also builds suspense leading up to the eventual climax. In addition to that they also use low angle shot to show how powerful the creatures are compared to the humans / characters. They also use establishing shots to introduce the audience to the place where most of the movie takes place in. For a horror movie this is common to show how isolated the characters with little to no signs of human civilisation to help them from the massacre which could spark worry into the viewers watching.
One of the typical camera movements that are used in this scene is tracking when the character tries to run away from the creature and the effect of this is so the audience can become immersed in the action. Handheld is also used to show how panick the character is and give a high energy action sequence spiking the adrenaline of the audiences watching. Pull outs are also very common for horror movie to reveal more information about the scene and what evil plans the characters have in store giving the viewers a sense of dread when they understand the full picture.
For the editing process, they use multiple jump cuts or cuts that only last a less than 5 seconds which quickens the pace of the climactic scene getting the audience excited on the next scene and a character's flashbacks which gives context on what could happen next. Besides that, cut aways at the end so the audience can imagine the horror that happened after the several shots of slaughter. The conflict of the story also involve the binary opposite of humans vs inhuman creature which is a very typical conflict with horror movies in general.
What conventions does it subvert?
The conventions this movie subvert is very minimal but some of them are the mysteriousness of the creatures. A horror movie opening usually hides the creatures until the climax where they will reveal the whole figure. However, here they have revealed the creature way before the climax. The main horror figure revealed also doesn't meet the typical color palette mise en scene of the usual creature in a horror movie with its warm colours of red and yellow.
Unlike most horror movies, the girl protagonist is usually scene as "scared" and "helpless " but this shots shows the same girl with a face of makeup full of blood and gore holding a gun ready to face against the horror creature. Like the theory presented by David Buckingham which states that movies change throughout societal changes, this movie is a great example of that where society back then have women playing a more housekeeper and quote on quote "innocent" and "vulnerable character to know society demanding that women work like men and play a bigger role like this women acting "heroically" and "manly" which is prevalent in today's society.
What are the representations and what technical elements are used to give meaning to the representations?
They represent female and male teenagers or young adults as evidence with their costumes of tank tops and jeans usually popular among those types of people. These people usually represent rebellion and freedom as evidence with their choice to stay at a house in the middle of the dangerous woods without supervision. In the scene with the handheld camera movement it is clear that one of the girls are holding this device and possibly recording which is one of the young adults / teenagers typical habits. The setting mostly takes place in the woods. The woods usually represents adventure and beautiful nature but in this trailer the woods are represented as dangerous and brutal with lowkey lighting and the movie mostly taking place at night where there is no sign of human interventions. The main events in the trailer are the slaughters represented by the murderous spree of the horror monster which creates a sense of anxiety using medium shots of them swinging their axes and the victims in the end of the advert being tied up and diegetic sounds that screams for help which shows the teenager's innocence.
Smaller research: Evil Dead Rise
Year: May 5 2023
Target audience, and how are they appealed to?
Demographically, the audience are young American adults and teenagers of all genders, aged 15 - 30, who enjoy the horror genre that involves characters that are related with the supernatural world. They appealed to audiences by using bloody, gory and dirty makeup with dull costumes that blend in with the background with lowkey lighting which is what audiences of a typical horror movie would expect and like. They also use diegetic screams that evoke the weariness of the horror audience and non diegetic discordant sounds which is something horror fans would greatly enjoy. They also use characters that do fictional / supernatural things which would appeal to the fantasy/horror genre enthusiasts using long shots of them floating showing contrast between the otherworldly atmosphere of the character and the bright, grounded background around the character with cuts that last for around 5 seconds which quickens the pace of the case scene getting the audience excited on the next scene.
What would you like to use in your opening from this?
I would like to use the Mise en scene like casual costumes used to represent teenagers that are in the movie with grey infused colors that blend in with the dark background. I also like the color palette / the filter of the movie that gives it a cool tone and dull look which is something we can implement for our own movie opening.
What would you like to avoid in your opening from this?
I would like to avoid the use of extra gory and bloody for the make up or on the props or background to open the opportunity for more parents letting their pre teenager (age 10 - 12) to see this movie opening and avoid many supernatural action sequence to not lean too much into the supernatural genre instead of horror even though horror does have some supernatural elements.
Smaller research: Gone In The Night
Year: May 1 2022
Target audience, and how are they appealed to?
Demographically, the primary demographic consists of older teenagers (possibly high school or college ) and adults of all genders, aged 16 - 35. The secondary age demographic would include individuals aged 40 - 55 as the main actress in this movie,Winona Ryder, is famous for her work in the '80s and '90s. Both age demographics are located in urban areas where they can easily access the cinema and other digital devices. Psychographically, the target audience are fans of the mystery, horror and thriller genre as the film has elements of each. They appealed to audiences by revealing that someone from the crew via dialogue or diegetic sounds is missing after staying a vintage cabin which would trigger curiosity and mystery solving skills of the mystery genre enthusiast. In the end of the trailer, there is a close shot of the main character's face with bloody scars on her face which increases the sense of curiosity and what happens next giving a sense of adrenaline for mystery watchers and thriller enthusiast who sees the ever rising tension. The mise en scene of the costumes also consisted with gloomy colors and like previously mentioned the makeup has splashes of blood which is something a horror fan would expect to see. It also uses non diegetic discordant sounds like a sinister laugh, high pitch eerie music which builds up tension that horror fans would enjoy. There is usually multiple cuts that only last a less than 5 seconds which quickens the pace of the climactic scene getting the audience excited on the next scene and jump cuts which quickly cut to the character in a different makeup that indicates something has happen giving the audience room to imagine what would happen which is what mystery fans typically enjoy so they can figure out the plot / mystery of the movie based on the movie opening.
What would you like to use in your opening from this?
I would like to use the plotline / story line since it's about the sudden disappearance of a character which is something we also want to do with the horror genre. I also enjoy the non diegetic sound of the trailer which lingers in the minds of the viewers stirring up suspense and keeping the audience on edge about what's to come. The trailer also uses many hermeneutic codes of the mysterious girl that allegedly kidnaps the main characters boyfriend's which doesn't reveal many explicit information right away but intrigues the audience to watch all the way to uncover the missing pieces of the boyfriend's disappearance and the horror character's qualities.
What would you like to avoid in your opening from this?
I would like to avoid the part of the storyline where the 2 main characters are presented as couples since it lean into romantic genre. Sure it's good for the emotional stake of the movie but I think a group setting in the beginning would appeal more to our target audience (teenagers).
Smaller research: The Night
Year: January 29 2021
Target audience, and how are they appealed to?
The target audience are mostly Iranian adults/ young adults of all genders, aged 18 - 35, but it could also appeal to other people like americans as well because some of the dialogue is in english, an international language who are horror enthusiast and also mystery enthusiast as the audiences don't know what is casing / haunting the main characters. They appealed to audiences by using low key lighting consistently and the scenes mostly taking place at night which is what horror fans would like to see to set up the movie's overall atmosphere. They also use a jump cut in the corridor scene as if the boy is teleporting which draws slightly into the supernatural part drawing in horror fans while also creating a sense of confusion and mystery behind the character doing that action for the mystery genre fans.
What would you like to use in your opening from this?
I would like to use the Mise en scene location that it primarily takes place in which is a an old 24 hour hotel. The low key lighting is also something I enjoy, especially in the corridor scene because it sets up the disturbing factor into the scene and solidifies the horror genre quiet nicely.
What would you like to avoid in your opening from this?
Like the second smaller research, I didn't like the cast of characters chosen especially for the main characters. It is best to have actresses and actors play a less religious role (the headpiece that muslims usually wear) because the actress is already representing a lesser known race that could only fit with a niece iranian - american target audience while my group and I want to reach everyone not only a small unique target audience.
Smaller research: Don't Breathe 2
Year: August 13, 2021
Target audience, and how are they appealed to?
The target audience are adults/ young adults of all genders, aged 18 - 35, who are usually a fan of the original don't breathe movie or the don't breathe movie franchise in general. The first timers are usually horror enthusiast and thriller enthusiast as there are various chase / high paced fighting scenes. They appealed to audiences by using multiple cuts and jump cuts that last only a few seconds or even milliseconds when a character appears and attacks out of nowhere which catches the horror and thriller viewers off guard, giving them the adrenaline rush they would appeal to them. The main character in this trailer seems superhuman as his makeup is different with white grey hair yet he has muscles of a 20 year old in low key lighting and a cold colour scheme which would appeal to horror audiences since most horror movies have supernatural elements in them.
What would you like to use in your opening from this?
I would like to use the editing process of this trailer with multiple jump cuts and or quick cuts because it made scene look more impactful and makes the jumpscare more effective which hooks the audience into seeing more of the movie. I also enjoy the fact that they hardly scenes with blood or gory scenes which could open up the opportunity for teenagers to come watch the movie. We will still use blood but not as much as the typical horror movie just so we can reach our intended audience.
What would you like to avoid in your opening from this?
I would like to avoid the over usage of fight scenes in this trailer since it made the trailer seem more thriller then horror.
Smaller research: Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin
Year: October 29 2021
Target audience, and how are they appealed to?
The target audience are adults/ young adults of all genders but it could possibly lean into a more female audience since the movie focuses on the female main character, aged 18 - 35, who are usually a fan of the paranormal activity franchise in general. The first timers are usually horror enthusiast and mystery enthusiast. They appealed to audiences by using pov shots of them in the rooms of the house/ church which would immerse the horror audience into the scene as they will see the places at the characters eye level as if they are also in the scene. In the beginning of the trailer and the end of the trailer has completely different atmosphere and when it suddenly changes there are many hermeneutic code like the non diegetic melodic to discordant sounds that gives hints to the real meaning / plot of the movie something mystery fans like to explore and discover. This trailer also utilize many handheld camera movement which is something a horror audience would like as it is high energy bringing the realism in these scenes as if the horror monsters are actually there and makes it more relatable for audiences since they wouldn't typically have a high budget camera when filming unique places.
What would you like to use in your opening from this?
I would like to use the camera angles and movements from this trailer, especially the handheld camera movements which makes it seem like the movie is a typical vlog for social media which is something teenagers can understand the cultural code.
What would you like to avoid in your opening from this?
I would like to avoid using churches and historical houses (like in the trailer) as a place to film these shots as it would be rather difficult to film in especially when it's a public place where people often go to daily (once a week).
Smaller research: Behind You
Year: April 17, 2020
Target audience, and how are they appealed to?
The target audience are adults/ young adults of all genders but it could possibly lean into a more female audience since the movie focuses on the female main character, aged 18 - 35, who are usually horror enthusiast that like characters that are related with the supernatural world. They appealed to audiences by using mise en scene of mirrors to give hermeneutic codes by using extreme close ups of the objects / props used in the films such as a knife, body parts, etc to show that the object is important plot and the identity of the horror monster which appeals to horror audience as it gives them a sense of mystery to know who and what it is. They use the color red as a semantic code possession from the evil character which the horror viewers that the villain is serious and worth watching.
What would you like to use in your opening from this?
I would like to use the props and environment mise en scene (like mirrors, glass etc) from this trailer. How they utilize everything to move the narrative forward and keep the audiences interested.
What would you like to avoid in your opening from this?
I would avoid only using mostly one gender for the main cast of characters (e.g females) so we can reach the appropriate demographic for our movie opening.
My team wanted to use the flash forward as the scene seen in the introduction is the climax which will keep the audience interested at the overall movie. The stakes of the movie will be clear also to the audience when we reveal the climax / fun part of the horror film.
Self reflection:
I don't think we will be using mirrors like what I stated in the smaller research in the trailer "behind you"
but we will be using a vague footage of using the reflection on the window glass to build suspense. We would also almost not use anything "supernatural' except for maybe a few scenes using jump cuts that make it as if they are moving "unnaturally". I think this research has given us a good idea in what we will do in our own intro video.
The genre that we decided on is a hybrid genre of a mystery, neo noir and horror genre. We wanted to pick this genre because we were inspired by the mainstream movies like sherlock home and the newest five nights and freddy's movie that have catches the audience's attentions in the start of their with all the questions that's revealed later in the movies plot and thrill of a horror elements in a horror genre with a classic black and white mise en scene to set the tone for the overall opening.
Our movie opening will be niche since our budget is way less than the mainstream media that exist currently which could be around 100 million dollars according to investopia.com. We also don't have the right equipment and advance editing software to get to the same standard as the average mainstream movie and as such we decided on making our opening as a niche movie opening.
Because we are making a niche film opening we decided to search for production companies that would produce our opening. For this movie opening, we thought that it needed 2 production companies since nowadays classic noir movies are rare since the development of films using color compared to the popular horror, mystery genre hybrid. Two of the niche production companies that we found were blumhouse and Double R Productions.
Blum house
What other content do they produce?
Blumhouse is a niche production that also produces science fiction, drama, action and comedy which is usually combined with horror genre besides producing just mystery and horror hybrid genre that it usually produces.
Who is blum house's typical audience ?
Demographically, they target young people of all genders, ages 13 and up as most of their movies are R rated. Psychographically, their target are people who are horror enthusiast with limited sexual content so it could be more acceptable for the the guardians to give them permission to watch their content and possibly opens the opportunity for a younger age demographic to watch their films.
How big is the company? How long has it existed?
Blumhouse has produces over 200 movies and television series with the horror genre that produces around $6 billion dollars in the global box office. One of their most profitable and popular media product such as Insidious (2011-), The Purge (2013-) and Ouija (2014-). Blumhouse was first founded by Jason Blum and established in the year 2000 however it doesn't have any notable projects in the film industry until 2009.
What is their most successful product?
One of the highest grossing media product produced by blum house is 'Five Nights at Freddy's' which was released on October 27 2023 and generated $283.1 worldwide crushing the previous record M. Night Shyamalan’s Split, a stealth sequel to Unbreakable which made $278.4 million worldwide.
Double R Productions
What other content do they produce?
Double R Productions / troublemaker studios is a niche production that makes all kinds of genre hybrids such as crime/action/neo noir, Sci Fi/ action and many more.
Who is Double R Productions typical audience
Demographically, they target young adults and teenagers of all genders as most media produces are R rated and or PG movies which opens the door to families with small children. Psychographically, their target are people who are open minded to many genres but mostly thriller or action.
How big is the company? How long has it existed?
Double R Productions has produced 27 featured films which includes the popular sin city, spy kids franchise and many more. Double R Productions (formally known as Troublemaker Studios before Elizabeth AvellÃĄn left the company in 2019) is a film production company founded by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez and producer Elizabeth Avellan based in Austin, Texas.
What is their most successful product?
One of the highest grossing media product produced Double R Studios is 'Spy Kids' which was released in March 18 2001 and generated an estimate $147 million worldwide since then their newer projects such as "UglyDolls" an animated film has only gained upwards of $60 million not as much as the older projects.
Self reflection:
In retrospect, I think Blumhouse is a great company to offer this movie opening to since they specialize in horror and mystery. However, I think Double R Productions is not the best option because their highest grossing movie are PG movies with sci fi and action as their main genre. Luckily they have some experience in making neo noir movies which is a relieve. But after consulting with my team we decided on only the horror genre and taking Blumhouse as the potential producer.
In class, we discussed about the different camera angles.
Camera Angles
These are notes from class ⬇️
There are 12 angles that were introduced and here are my personal notes for each style
Long Shot: Shows the full subject and setting.
Extreme Long Shot: Shows the subject from afar.
Medium Shot: Balances subject and setting, often used for conversations.
Cowboy Shot: Focuses on action, often used in Westerns.
Close up: Focuses on the face or details, shows emotion or importance.
Extreme Close up: Highlights tiny details and intensity.
POV: Shows a characters perspective, creates immersion.
Over the shoulders: Shows one character from another's viewpoint, creates connection or tension.
High Angle: Makes the subject appear weak or vulnerable.
Low Angle: Makes the subject appear powerful or dominant.
Dutch Angle: Creates unease or tension.
Establishing Shot: Provides location and context, often helps sets a scene.
Here is an example of each to show that I understand these camera angles ⬆️
We watched a video about camera angles which helped me remember the function of each camera angle which will be helpful in fully maximising the effect of each scene that we will shot for this film opening. This video also helped clarify and give detailed information on the effect of each camera angle that is maybe rarely used or is only a niche to that specific genre.
Camera Movements
We also learned about the different camera movements and I took handwritten notes as well.
Fixed
Camera remains static
Calm, peace, normal
Push in
Camera moves slowly toward subject
Brings the audience closer, more involved, getting more serious.
Pull out
Camera moves slowly away from subject
Takes audience away from the action, leaving a character. Detaching from subject
Pan
Side to side, camera fixed
Reveal information, mirrors natural head movement of the audience.
Tilt
Up and down, camera fixed
Same as pan, just a different direction
Dolly
Camera moves around freely
More immersive, we are moving inside the subjects world, we feel part of the action
Tracking
Camera moves around on tracks
Similar to dolly, but smoother.
Crane
Taken by a camera mounted on a jib/crane that moves up and down.
Reveals the epic size of the setting, landscape.
Handheld
Camera is shakey
Very natural, immersive. High energy
Zoom
Zoom
Brings audience closer to budget. Draws our attention to something.
This is a table created by my teacher Mr Nick in his presentation term 1 slides about camera movements
This is a video on the different camera movements in a video. To show my understanding of what was been taught in class ⬆️
Sound
Besides camera angles and movements, We also learned about sound. (NDS - non diegetic sound)
Description
Effect
Diegetic sound
Sound that can be heard by the characters within the media text.
Add a sense of realism. Reveal information to characters (and then audience)
Non diegetic sound
Sound that can only be heard by the audience.
Enhance meaning, create an emotional response in the audience
Trans diegetic sound
Sound that transitions from one to the other.
Creates a link between the audience and the world. More immersive
This is another table from that same term 1 presentation by mr nick however it's for sound.
Description
Effect
Melodic
Positive and pleasing connotations
Enhances a positive scene. Create positive emotions in the audience.
Adds deeper meaning to scenes. Insight into the character's thoughts. Maybe they seek pleasure in doing bad things.
This is another table from that same term 1 presentation by mr nick
however it's for types of non diegetic sound
Here are examples for each:
Melodic
Discordant
Contrapuntal
Mise - en - scene
I also took some hand written notes during the Mise - en - scene class
This is classwork we did in class about mise en scene and how the use colors, costume and etc to give the character more meaning and deliver the points the director is trying to make.
Here's a video that we watched in class ⬇️
This video gave me a better understanding of why filmmakers use mise en scene as well as the different ranges they use (which was not included in my teacher's presentation) which are naturalistic (props, settings that exist in real life) and theatrical (props, settings, backgrounds that only exist in our imaginations / they are exaggerated).
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting, arranging and manipulating footage to create a cohesive and engaging story. Besides that, I also took some notes of the specific things we learned in class.
Continuity Editing
Non continuity editing
Straight cut (cut)
Eyeline match
Shot /reverse shot
Cutaway / Insert
*Match cut
Cross cut (parallel cut)
Flash back
Flash forward
Jump cut
*Match cut
⬆️ (these tables were taken from Mr Nick's term 1 presentations)
Here's a video I watched at home and also in class.
I learned that there are other types of cuts besides the ones listed above such as split edits that uses the audio of another footage and places it over a scene before or after it making an "L" or "J" shape when editing. It makes the transition be more natural and smooth instead of the traditional and hard cuts . This could be helpful when our editor edits the scenes and he wants the scenes to blend a bit better.
Steve Neale - Genre Theory
The theory states that; A text must be SIMILAR enough to be recognised as a particular genre. But it must also be DIFFERENT enough to be new and exciting. This is important for our film opening as
It allows us to understand that we (the film opening producers) need to subvert some conventions in order to stand out from the millions of other movies with the "horror" genre.
It also works in vice versa because we (the film opening producers) if subvert the genre completely audience's of the genre will be confuse and feel alienated from the movie.
Our movie distributors will also understand who to distribute the movie to in order for the film opening to do well and be profitable for both parties.
To appeal not only to one particular audience (horror) but to also expand and get other people (younger or older then our age demographic) from similar genres to watch our film opening
Here is a perfect example of this theory. The creators of FNAF kept the same characters throughout with their recognizable colors. The only thing they changed is the form of media and some of the colors to something more vibrant and neon so it can appeal to a younger audience (teenagers & preteens). However, the low key lighting used and the dull, eerie mise en scene of the horror movie from the original 2014 one still is used as such it's still recognizable for the long time fans of this series to also watch the "movie" version as the take will be slightly different.
David Buckingham - Genre Theory
According to david buckingham, media changes over time because of societal changes.
As seen with the two images above, as time progress a need of race inclusivity increases. There's even a rule in Oscars that currently states that "At least one of the lead actors or significant supporting actors submitted for Oscar consideration is from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group in a specific country or territory of production..." in order for a media product be eligible and as such most movies or media product begin embedding this into the media culture. This back in the day didn't exist especially back in 2003 s such robin's race stayed the same until recently.
Binary opposites
Binary opposites are conflicts that moves a plot forward and makes a film opening somewhat interesting as it introduces an obstacle for the protagonist. There many tropes for example:
Good vs Evil
Corruption vs Purity
Emotion vs Thought
Monogamy vs Adultery, etc
(these example tropes were taken from Mr Nick's term 1 presentations)
Like in this clip it shows that the binary opposites are Honesty vs Lying or Hard Work vs Laziness. This scene shows that the film maker is pro honesty and hardwork as it shows mr bean losing /unsuccessful at the very end.
Media Codes
A code is an aspect of a text from which the audience can derive meaning. We can do this through decoding or deconstructing the text.
(these words were taken from Mr Nick's term 1 presentations)
- Hermeneutic Codes - Mysteries withheld from the audiences
In this poster, numerous things are withheld from the audience like "what is the robots looking at" and "why are their eyes glowing ?" which is something our film opening wants to do. To make the viewer wonder and be curious of the actual events of the movie. - Proairetic Codes - events that lead to the next part of the story
In this clip, Mr bean couldn't fit everything into the suitcase. So using proairetic codes the audience is able to deduce that he needed to take something out. We also need this proairetic codes so audiences can also logically figure out what happen and keep the story events moving logically.
- Semantic Codes - visual elements that are correlated with meaning
In this poster, they use red to symbolize possibly death supported by their angry expression. Purple represents otherworldliness, poison, etc.
- Symbolic Codes - codes that are given meaning through the movie's context
In this scene, only people who have seen other movies of this franchise know that the red lightsaber represents the dark side and the green in luke's represent the growth, wisdom and goodness Luke has experience in previous movies.
- Cultural Codes - codes that have cultural knowledge or context
In this scene in south park, only people who have seen or heard about the united states former president Obama can understand the joke. Obama represents media's high expectation of a leader that could fix everything (which something most people know about if they keep watching or hearing about obama related news)but is met with politics messy reality.
Uses of Gratification Theory - Blumler & Katz
We learned this theory in class where our teacher explained about this theory. We use this theory so we could better understand our consumer's perspective as each media product satisfies certain social needs. In my opinion our film opening satisfies the diversion social need since the world of adventure and tension is often absent in the lives of the consumers.
Storyboard practice - classwork
We also created our own story board to practice for our actual storyboard for our project
Self reflection: After editing my notes AGAIN I think I improve and gave more detail into what I have learned in the past few months. I think next time I should add more of "My own work" to show a deeper understanding of each and every topic such as a video or a collage instead of just "screenshotting" most of my teachers slides into my blog. Overall I think I improve from the first iteration of this classwork post but I think with a few more changes such as videos, photos I took the time to edit and made it to show my understanding to the examiners would be even more helpful besides the information from my teacher's slides.
