Film Genre Options

Picking a genre for my film opening is so hard... there are too many to choose from!! I have been going back and forth thinking; should I do horror, romance, action, comedy... I have narrowed it down to two options. Horror and drama. Although those are two completely different genres, I feel like I would be successful in making a film opening for either of those. The genre you choose for a film illustrates the target audience, marketing strategies, and expectations for the audience. Let's dive a little deeper to get a better understanding of what those genres really are!

Horror

Horror is often described as scary, deadly, and fearful. The primary goal when creating a horror film, is to keep the audience on the edge of their seat and scare them. The horror genre is filled with so many characteristics that make it, well... horror! In my opinion, mise-en-scene is the most important part of the horror genre. This includes costume design, lighting, formalism/realism, production design, set design, props, location.... the list goes on and on.  Mise-en-scene can change the whole look of a horror film or even just any film in general. For example, if a scary movie is just filled with everyone wearing pink sparkly outfits and they are in a location of Candyland, then the audience won't be too scared. In contrast, if the characters are wearing dark colors, and are put in low key lighting, then the audience might as well be terrified. 

An example of a horror movie that uses mise-en-scene correctly is "A Quiet Place: Day One." This film serves as a spin-off and prequel to "A Quiet Place." Throughout almost the entire film, low key lighting is used to create a scary effect, as well as the setting taking place in New York City. The way it goes from a busy, loud, lively city to a quiet, empty, lifeless city, adds to the plot and gives it more of a horror feel.

Drama

Drama is often described as serious, meaningful, and emotional. The drama genre often revolves around a character facing a big struggle. These films often dive deep into human emotions, relationships, and difficulties throughout life. 

An example of a film within the genre, drama, is "The Notebook." This movie is considered to be a romance drama. The plot revolves around two people who have love for each other but are not allowed to be together. This ties in the emotional, meaningful, and seriousness that is usually found in dramas. The end of The Notebook gives off a bitter-sweet feeling which is also often portrayed within drama films. Overall, the emotional storytelling, character conflicts, and feelings of love and loss tie into the the genre, drama.

Initial Plan and Approach

I was recently introduced the Cambridge Portfolio final project. I was told to create a two-minute film opening, using the knowledge gained from our previous research topics. I began my research within the topic of film openings:

Out of these approaches, I would most likely pursue, developing characters. I believe that this is one of the most important parts of a film. If a character is not correctly explained, then it can change the audience's whole perspective on the film. Developing a character heavily relies on not only their dialogue, but also their costuming, personality, and interactions with themselves and others.

Another approach I am intrigued by, is creating mystery. This technique can add so much to the film. Mystery can be incorporated through sound techniques, content, and mise-en-scene. In films I have watched, there is almost always some kind of sound in the background. Sound can add so much personality to a film which is one of the big topics we researched earlier in the year. We also reserached how mise-en-scene is used in films. In this case, it can be used within the setting to create inferences or allusions to future events in the plot.

Music Marketing #2

 To discuss the process of the development of the music marketing project, my group members and I created a “get ready with me” while we discussed it. 

Here is the link!!

https://youtu.be/oA88OpXlYeA?feature=shared

Music Marketing #1

 For the music marketing project, we placed ourselves in groups and we were assigned a genre. With that information, we chose two music production companies and two bands/artist for each company. Each person in the group chose a different band/artist. From there, we researched which alternative artist signed with Parlophone, which is when we decided on the bands Coldplay and Gorillaz. Then we looked into what artists have signed with Domino Recording Company, which is when we decided on the band, Imagine Dragons and the artist, Tame Impala. We chose these artists because although they are pretty well-known, we knew that they had a lot to research about.

The alternative artist that I researched was Gorillaz. I used sources like the official Gorillaz website, social media, and fandom reviews in order to develop information. I was able to learn so much about the alternative genre and about Gorillaz in general! I researched topics like the brief history behind the band, target audience, and digital and non-digital marketing and distribution.

The next part of our project was to use all the information we learned about the alternative genre to create a new artist/band. We were sent a folder that contained four different songs. We ended up going with the song "Night Running" by Cage the Elephants. We began by discussing what the "vibe" of the song we chose was. In class we went over a couple options and ended up with the main idea of taking risks with the support of others. We created an artist named "Bella Moon". For the marketing part of the project, we decided on making Bella a website, social media accounts, a YouTube channel, and merch to go on the website as well as other marketing/distribution strategies.

We were also asked to create a music video for our artist. My group and I decided on going the storytelling + promotional (combination) route. The storytelling part of it is very metaphorical. This is because we tried to create a concept that tells a story while still being entertaining.

A challenge that we encountered within this portion of the project was finding a good date to film the music video. It was hard to find a day that worked for everyone. We worked it out though and decided on working on it after school!!

Genre Research

Rom-Com

Romantic comedies, (or in other words rom-coms) are sub genres that focus on the romantic relationship between the main characters. There are often lighthearted and amusing situations that occur. The target audience ranges from teenage girls to young women.

Content

Conflict and resolution are a characteristic that almost all rom-com movies have. It creates tension and helps the plot move further. Almost always, the characters solve the problem, and it helps the character's development throughout the rest of the film. That part is also known as the "light bulb moment". It's when a character gets a moment of realization to something important happening throughout the film. 

 

The film, "10 things I Hate About You" uses conflict when Kat realizes that Patrick was getting payed to take her out. There is a resolution when she forgives him.

Humor is another important factor within romantic comedies. It usually entails lighthearted situations and adds character to the movie. A common way that rom-coms show humor throughout the film is through unexpected or awkward moments. 

In "How to Lose a Guy In 10 Days", there are many funny moments. For example, the karaoke scene. Andie purposely embarrasses Ben by singing terribly at a karaoke bar.

A romantic storyline is a must when creating rom-coms because that is what the whole plot is about. It helps show the relationship process within the characters. Most of the time, the two characters are enemies, and the viewers get to witness the formation of love between them.

"The Proposal" has a romantic storyline but it doesn't start off that way. The two main characters cannot stand each other at first but soon find out that they actually have feelings for each other when they fake their proposal.

Production Techniques

Voiceovers are often used in romantic comedies to express how the character is feeling. It allows a better understanding of the character's point of view.

Marketing

Romantic comedies usually entail a lot of catchy taglines as well as actors and actresses who are well known. When people see their favorite actor in a new movie, they are going to watch it. The movie posters often show the main love interest. 

Other romantic comedies to consider watching:

Representation

Outer Banks is an action pact show about a group of teenagers who seek adventure and treasure. They live in a small town yet still find a way to go through such a big adventure. In their town, there is a division of the population into two groups. The Pogues and the Kooks. The Pogues are considered the "poor" people. They live on the cut and are part of the working class. That is where the main character, John B is from. Then, there are the Kooks. They are the "spoiled rich kids". They live on figure 8. Sarah Cameron is one of the Kooks. The Pogues and the Kooks often fight with each other, physically and verbally. They have never gotten along.

John B is a character who has gone through a lot. He is stereotyped as the "poor" guy. With this, all of the kooks and police never believe anything that the Pogues say. They are always misunderstood and never heard out. To show this physically, most of the time he wears an old dirty t-shirt. As for Sarah Cameron, she is often wearing a nicer, more presentable outfit because of how she is stereotyped.

The show Outer Banks uses a form of othering to show the misunderstanding between the groups as well as a form of decentering to show how the Kooks are prioritized rather than the Pogues. 

Sound Project

I have learned that when creating a film or audio, sound is one of the most important factors, yet not many people realize that. The smallest changes in sound can affect the film or audio in such a large way. I have also learned what a foley is, and how to do one.

 For this project, we were asked to create a story only using sound. 

For the brainstorming, my partner and I discussed what we wanted our story to be about. Then, once sorting that out, we thought of all of the possible sounds that would occur in real life within that setting. 

For this project, my partner and I made our story about someone who goes to the movie theater. Once they enter, they scan their ticket and get some snacks like anyone would do. When entering the theater that plays the movie, a noise, which was once dramatic music, turns into what seems to be a bomb.

 Our outline helped with the final project because when trying to find the correct audios to go with each part of the story, it was way easier than it would have been without an outline. We looked at what sound/sound effect was needed, then looked up that sound on the website which was provided to us.

https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/search/youtube/ was the sound effect data base we used for our project. It was where we found most of the sound effects that were used in the final project. There were a few sound effects which were made by foley or were a voice over. To create the actual project, my partner and I used Adobe Premere Pro. It allowed us to put the sounds all together.

I think that something which was done well within our project was the foleys. We were able to make them sound just as good as if they were actually happening. Something that could have been improved, was how the story was told. Maybe there was something else my partner and I could have added which would make the story more interesting. \

Sound Scape finished product - Google Drive