Genre Research - Thriller

 My group and I researched Thriller movies. 

Common angles found in thriller movies include close-ups and aerial views. These give the film more of a suspenseful and eerie feel. A popular moving is a tracking shot. The camera follows the character to give the audience a rush. The audience doesn't know what to expect, and therefore engages them to keep watching. Common sounds of thriller movies include car engines, police sirens, screams, as well as diegetic and nondiegetic sounds. These include music and monologues. 

The costumes are typically normal everyday clothing. The lighting can be dark or light depending on the location. In addition to this, the location can be anywhere: it depends on the storyline of the film. The makeup would normally be natural unless someone is injured or died. In this circumstance, the actor would have bloody and bruised makeup. The props can range from a chair to a car, to anything imaginable. The props solely depend on the plot of the film.

Common editing in thriller movies is zooming in. This allows the audience to be curious as to what is going to happen next. An example of a thriller film would be "Homecoming". Overall, my group likes the suspensefulness of thriller movies. We never know what to expect so we are always at the edge of our seats. We like everything about thriller movies.

Genre Research - Mystery

 My group and I researched the different aspects of mystery films.

In our research, we found that some common angles are close-ups. These are used to make the audience curious, and it is typically zoomed in a clue. Some popular movements include zooming in or out. This allows the audience to understand what is trying to be shown, so they can interpret the scene. Some sounds include screaming, creaking floorboards, and diegetic sounds such as music or a monologue. Sounds heavily impact the film, and can help the audience understand what is going on. Costumes typically include normal clothing. Lighting can be dark at times, and light at others. The makeup is typically normal unless there is a character that got injured or died. If this happens, then the makeup is bloodied and bruised on the actor. Props can range from weapons to furniture depending on the plot of the film. In addition to this, the location can be anywhere: it depends on the plot of the movie.

 Common editing includes jump cuts and flashbacks. At the end of mystery movies, sometimes there is a flashback to show what and how everything happened. There is normally a diegetic monologue over the flashback. Some mystery films include "Murder Mystery". My group and I like how the plot ties together at the end. In addition to this, we enjoy how the flashbacks give a recap so all of the audience's questions are answered. However, we don't like how the plot can be difficult to follow. Sometimes we are completely lost and want to stop watching the movie because of this. 

Genre Research - Horror

 My group and I have thoroughly researched the genre horror. 

In horror, common angles include close-ups. Close-ups are normally used to show the fear in the character's face which causes the audience to feel scared. This normally happens as soon as something bad is going to happen. Another commonly used angle is an over the shoulder shot. This is normally the antagonist looking down upon his victim. This belittles the protagonist and gives the audience a sense of fear for the main character. Panning and tracking shots are both popular aspects of horror films. Tracking shots are typically used to show an individual running away from something/ trying to escape. Panning shots are normally used to increase suspense.

Common sounds in horror include suspenseful music that is added to the movie, doors creaking, and people screaming. All of these sounds (whether they are diegetic or non-diegetic) are used to increase suspense within the film. Common costumes can range from typical everyday clothes to an intense scary-looking costume. It depends on what the particular movie revolves around and what the antagonist looks like. Common lighting is typically dark and eerie to create an eerie feeling. The makeup can be natural-looking, or it could be intense with a lot of gory aspects. For example, if one of the characters died, there would most likely be bloodied and bruised: this is done by makeup. Some props include weapons, and stairs. The antagonist is probably using a weapon to kill their victim, and a stereotypical scene is the main character falling downstairs. Most of the time, the location is in a house in which the main character is trying to escape.

When editing a horror film, timing is key. The editor might do split screens, jumpcuts, or anything to add suspense. In addition to this, they might add diegetic and nondiegetic sounds to ensure suspense. An example of a horror film would be "Bye-bye Man". My group and I enjoy the suspensefulness of horror films as well as sound and editing. The aspects that we don't like include the angles. Some of the angles make it difficult to understand what is going on during the film. 

Genres I Would Like to Research

 My group and I have recently finalized our pitch. Our pitch is, "Bella is your average teenager. Nothing abnormal has ever happened in her life, not yet at least." The next step is to research multiple genres that our short film could be. A genre is a style of an artistic piece. There are many different genres that would fit our short film. 

As a group, we decided that our short film should gear towards the eerie side. We decided to research the genres thriller, horror, and mystery. We feel that our film may include aspects of all of these genres. However, we have to research and decide from there. These genres have similarities and differences. Because of this, it will take intense research to decide which genre our short film should be under. In addition to this, we are still brainstorming the plot. 

We will need to have a basic idea of the storyline. This is so we can ensure that the genre will fit the short film. We are excited to begin researching. This will allow us to be confident in the genre that we choose. We will all research each genre, and compare notes and talk about what we learned. From there, the three of us will all work on our blogs. Overall, we are excited to begin researching.

Below are films from the genres thriller, horror, and mystery.

Pitch Blog

Our pitch is, "Bella is your average teenager. Nothing abnormal has ever happened in her life, not yet at least." 

Group Blog

 Today, I finalized my group. My group consists of three people: Tekla, Dominic, and I. We decided to keep our group down to three people. It will be easier to schedule times and places to meet up since we live within 1 mile of each other. This is extremely beneficial to us. In addition to this, we met in 9th grade, and we automatically clicked. Over the course of our friendship, we've learned that we are compatible with each other, and we are all hard-working and driven. We don't get mad at each other when something doesn't work out. Instead, we find a solution to the problem that we encountered and continue moving forward. We have worked on various projects prior to this. Therefore, we know each other's work ethics. We are thrilled to be working together and can't wait. Luckily, we have also been hanging out during the pandemic. We are constantly at each other's houses, but not seeing many other people. We are all excited to begin this project. Because of this, we already started brainstorming ideas for our project. We are still unsure of the plot of our short film. We are collaborating and trying to figure out the short film plot. We are excited to continue working on our project. The three of us are all really close friends and are excited to start this project.  

Welcome Back Blog

 Good afternoon! I'm excited to be in this class again. Last year I learned a lot and enjoyed my time doing so. The class I took last year was AICE Media Studies AS Level. The final project is a short film that is approximately 5 minutes long. I am extremely excited to start this project. I have been brainstorming different plots and themes. The short film can range from horror to action to comedy. Because of the Coronavirus, it will be difficult to work together in a group. I have absolutely no idea what my group and I are planning to do. As well as filming the short film, I started to think about the website, postcard, and blogs. All of these are important aspects of the class and must be well thought out. The rates are still high where I live, therefore it is hard to find places to film. Luckily, my best friend is in the class with me, and we've been seeing each other throughout quarantine. We've decided to keep our group down to two people. We know that we work efficiently as a team. In addition to this, we don't want to see many other people because of the virus, so we are trying to limit our group numbers. Overall I am extremely excited to be taking AICE Media Studies A level. I've learned so much in AS level. Now I can further my education in media studies. I will continue blogging my journey throughout this process.