Marketing Campaign

 My group and I recently made various social media websites to promote our short film. These social medias include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, and Tiktok. TikTok was not required but we decided to go above and beyond our teacher's expectations. The TikTok username is @theslicermovie. We decided that we will be actively posting on all of our social media accounts. This is so we can promote our short film. Everyone in our group has all the usernames and passwords for the social medias. We all wrote them down just in case we forget them. We agreed to not assign a particular social media to an individual person. Instead, we will collectively work together on all social media. We know that we work well as a group. Because of this, we will be collaborating to ensure that the social medias are up to date. In addition to this, we will be asking our friends and families to follow our accounts. This will help our social medias get a larger following. Hopefully, more people will be able to see the accounts because of this. We will also be using hashtags on our Instagram, and TikTok to try to get the movie trending. We know that this is unlikely to happen, but I have gone viral before so I know it is possible. My group and I are optimistic about the marketing process. We will promote it to the best of our abilities. Overall, we are really excited to begin filming for "The Slicer".

Storyboard for Short Film

 My group and I worked on our storyboard. Stephanie and Tekla met at Tekla's house, and Dominic was on FaceTime because he couldn't join. The entire process took approximately 4 1/2 hours. Stephanie worked on writing the descriptions. This includes the camera angle or movement, location, and description of what is happening during the 6 second period. Tekla worked on drawing the pictures for each of the storyboard boxes. She then colored them in so everyone can distinguish the characters from each other. Dominic was on FaceTime to help us decide what to write and draw. Since Stephanie finished her part of the storyboard before Tekla, she helped Tekla color the storyboard. Stephanie had to go home before the storyboard was finished, so Dominic left the call. At home, Stephanie finished up the drawings. The next day, we all were on FaceTime to write this blog. This process went smoothly and didn’t take a long time. Our team worked efficiently to finish the storyboard. We now know how our film will look like. This will be really helpful when it comes to the filming process. It will allow us to save time because we know where we need to be, and what the angles have to be. The storyboard will keep everyone involved in the film organized and on track. The storyboard is an essential part of filmmaking for this reason. The storyboard process went smoothly. Overall, our group works very well together and we are optimistic to begin filming.

Planning For Short Film

My group and I decided to film on one day. Everyone will meet at Stephanie's house at 11:00 or 1:30. This depends on which character the actor is portraying Then at 11:15, we will begin filming the opening scenes in which Bella is waking up and getting ready. Then at 12:00, we will film the kitchen scene and the news reporter scene in Stephanie's house. At approximately 12:30 we will have lunch until 1:15. Then we will set up the camera in Tekla's house. We should be filming by 1:30. From that point, the rest of the actors would already be there in costumes. We would film all of the scenes that are in Tekla's house. We should be done by 3:00. Then, we will set up the camera in the neighborhood that Stephanie lives in. Then we will film the scenes in which the character Bella is walking to the character Brandon's house. After that Stephanie will quickly do special effects makeup on herself (Bella). This should be done by 4:00. Then, we will film the last scene in which all of the characters are looking for Bella and eventually find her. This should be completed by 5:15

The locations include Stephanie's house, Tekla's house, and Stephanie's neighborhood.

Our participants include Stephanie as Bella, Tekla as Chloe, Dominic as the News Anchor, Olga (Stephanie's mom) as Bella's Mom, Mats (Tekla's dad) as The Slicer, Blake as Brandon, Julia as Sasha, and Luca as Grayson.

Since there is an ongoing pandemic, we have decided to keep our masks on at all times except when filming. If a person is currently being recorded, they will not have to wear their masks but everyone else will have to. In addition to this, everyone will be tested for COVID-19 a few days before filming. We will also be washing our hands whenever we feel necessary, and always have hand sanitizer with us. 

One prop that we have is the board game at the character Brandon's house. This is because they are playing the board game when Bella enters the house.  Another prop is a mobile phone. This is because Bella's mom calls Brandon in one of the scenes. Other props include beds, makeup, cereal, a bowl, tv,  a mask, and a tv remote.

Our costumes are normal clothes that a typical teenager would wear. This can include jean shorts, a tee-shirt, a cropped shirt, a skirt, etc. However, the Slicer will be wearing dark clothes, and possibly some type of face-covering/ mask.

Short Film vs. Feature Length Film

 Both films had many differences. To begin with, the short film was approximately 7 minutes in length while the feature film was about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Because of this, there was more that happened in the feature film. For instance, in the short film, the characters 9 and 5 had to defeat a machine. Once 9 killed the machine, the movie was nearing its end. On the contrary, once 9 defeated the monster in the feature film, another monster emerged. In addition to this, there were many more characters in the feature film because it had to take up more time. This led to more character development as well as dialogue. The short film didn't include any dialect, but the feature film did. I feel that this helped the plot move forward swiftly so the audience wouldn't be confused.

However, the two films had lots in common. For example, there were both diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. Both films included intense music. This helped to intensify the scene, which kept the audience intrigued. In addition to this, there were many sounds such as grunting and explosions. These are examples of diegetic sounds. In addition to this, the characters were similar. For instance, 9 and 5 were both in the short and the feature film. However, more characters were added into the feature film. Lastly, the characters had major plot developments in both movies. In the short film, 9 learned to fight for what is right, even if it means sacrificing yourself. In the feature film, the character 1 who was cold and mean ended up sacrificing himself for the greater good.

Research 9: The Feature Film

 Overall, the movie was extremely intense. I could infer what the plot would be because of the short film. I was impressed with how Shane Acker expanded the plot into an hour and fifteen-minute movie. There were multiple antagonists and more characters. To begin with, the characters were 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, and 9. All of the characters had major plot development. However, 1 stood out the most in this aspect. He started off as the cruel leader, who didn't allow the other robots to go out into the world and do anything. But as the film progressed, he started to open up, and ultimately sacrificed himself for 9. This shows that underneath his thick skin, he had true feelings on the inside. This feature film had both diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. The characters in this film used dialogue to explain their emotions. Most of the emotions in this film were fear. This is because the robots were constantly trying to fight off the antagonist robots. Some other sounds that were used a lot included grunting, and explosions. Overall, this film was extremely action-filled and intense. In addition to this, this film was animated. This allowed for more dramatic special effects to be added to the movie. This allowed the audience to be glued to the screen and anticipating what is going to happen next. As a whole, this movie was pieced together well.

Research 9: The Short Film

 Overall this short film was interesting and kept my attention. However, the short film had a gloomy feeling. I was confused for the first minute or so until I realized that the main character "9" was having a flashback. The first flashback showed 9 and another character 5 sharing their belongings. Then a monster came, and 5 decided to protect 9. Unfortunately, this resulted in 5's death. It was a sad point in the short film. In a different flashback, 9 fought the monster, in which 9 was victorious. The monster was dead, so 9 continued to gather their belongings. 9 put together two green glowing objects, and many souls were released including 5. 5 looked back at 9 and then went to its grave. However, 5 was now at peace. This short film had a sad plot. However, I thought it was interesting how it was silent. I feel that the short film felt more solemn because of this. It showed friendship and trust without having to use dialogue. In addition to this, the short film was animated. The animations were very smooth, so it was difficult to tell. I think that the animations helped the storyline. Overall, this short film was interesting.

Genre Choice for Film

 My group and I finally chose a genre. We felt that thriller best fit our pitch. Our pitch is, "Bella is your average teenager. Nothing abnormal has ever happened in her life, not yet at least." This pitch is eerie and suspenseful and therefore fits the thriller genre. 

We decided not to choose horror because we feel that many other groups will be choosing it. In addition to this, horror films can be slow-moving until there is a jump scare. We feel like we cannot complete an entire short film about horror in 5 minutes. 

In addition to horror films, my group and I also researched mystery films. We felt that that mystery would be interesting. However, we didn't know how we would fit it into our plot. This genre is difficult to conduct because these films are typically intense. We didn't want to confuse our audience by squeezing in too much information into a 5-minute film. 

Ultimately, we decided to do a thriller movie. Our plot fits the genre of thriller the best. All of the aspects that we wanted to include were fit for a thriller film. In addition to this, thrillers are easier to film than mystery and horror. This is because our time limit is 5 minutes and we don't want to overload ourselves. We also liked all of the aspects of this genre. Overall, we thought that a thriller film would be the best fit for us.