Carlos’ AS Media Studies Blog

Genre and Conventions

The trailer’s genre is thriller/horror. In preparation, we watched some horror/thriller movie trailers, It and Cabin in the Woods. We observed a pattern of in the two trailers.

• A peaceful beginning, or equilibrium where all is normal
• Suspenseful text is interposed between shots, raising the tension
• There is a dramatic shift with auditory visually cues, usually after studio credits
• The most tense moments have an absence of music followed by an explosion of sound
• Shots get progressively faster and quicker
• Final shot is long, and usually the most tense
• The final shot is the title of the movie with a final musical sting

Story Board

In terms of the storyboard, I tried to make interesting shots that could convey meaning. In planning, I tried to make realistic expectation for myself and my group. For the most part, we followed the storyboard. Also, in the storyboard, I tried to outline what kind of audio I wanted to use. The music and the diegetic sound were important parts of the trailer I wanted to plan as well as the dialogue.

Script

In the script, I made sure to plan locations and dialogue. While filming, however, things became complicated. I miscalculated on how many people were participating in our film and forgot to account for a cameraman. To solve this, we deleted a character from the script, leaving only three main characters in the trailer. The lines that were attributed to Karter were given to other characters. The dialogue did not delineate very much from the script, save for a few word changes.

Location

When deciding the location of the trailer, we needed a place with water and greenery. The location also demonstrated a challenge with the lighting. With natural lighting, filming at night became difficult. A lot of the shots we did appeared low quality and it was hard to see.

Preliminary Questions

1) Rate on a scale of 1-10 how did your group work as a team. Support your rating. What could have made it a 10?

I believe my team worked at a 6. We had some communication issues and had some arguments on some ideas to implement. If we were able to communicate better and resolve arguments more amicably our team may have worked together better

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2) Explain how you organized and prepared for the project. What went well and what could have been improved?

I drew the story board with help from the group. We also developed a script and a shot list to help with organization and planning. We had to change our script because we didn’t have enough actors, so we needed to get rid of a character. The audio, however, was well done, and I believe the music fit the visuals well.

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3) What difficulties did you encounter when FILMING? How did you overcome them?

When filming, the lighting was a big issue as we filmed at night. We tried to make this better by using artificial lighting on our phones.

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4) What difficulties did you face when EDITING?

Editing the trailer was not too difficult for this trailer. Finding good music that fit the visuals was probably the most difficult part. Also, making sure the dialogue was heard with the music was also difficult.

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5) Discuss how you prepared for the AUDIO of your film?

Because of previous experiences with dialogue, we prepared by buying mics. This really helped with being able to hear dialogue clearly.

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6) If you were to REPEAT THE PROJECT AGAIN, what would you do differently?

I would make sure to film earlier in the day, so we don’t have to deal with little light. I would also prepare a little better with the script and storyboard .

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7) ANALYZING THE FINAL PRODUCTION, what aspects are you happy with? What could have been improved?

Im happy with the visuals we chose to implement and the audio. I would fix the lighting and maybe sharpen up the dialogue a bit.

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Trouble on the Trail

The Movie: https//youtu.be/D1h_mycG6Fo

Our first task in Media Studies was to create a short, one minute film. We were to use a diverse amount of camera shots, different editing techniques, and to create a cohesive narrative. We titled our film “The Phone Call” as it was the central premise of the film and was crucial to the main conflict. My contribution to the project was as the editor and also the cinematographer. I filmed the shots and edited the shots together, adding music and sound effects.

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Before filming, my group and I made a story board to plan out angles, sequencing, and audio. For the most part, we followed the storyboard, making sure we planned everything before we did it.

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The largest part of my role was editing. I added music, extra sound effects, and dialogue. I also had to string the shots together with transitions. I learned a lot about film editing through this process such as how editing can display a certain mood and feeling that leads to a certain genre. One example of this was a shortened length in shots which led to a tense and fast paced feeling.

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Looking back, the process of making this short, one minute film was rather difficult. I learned how important it is to plan all your shots through storyboarding and to execute these shots effectively. Though the audio was of less quality than I hoped, it was still improved by my idea. All in all, it was a great learning experience

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Link to Film: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1NTFymFvD30jT2mNIgV6Gi9bfHeHQnfRi

Hello! My name is Carlos, welcome to my AS Media Studies blog. Here, I will document my experiences and processes in film making. I will also discuss my team and I’s formation of ideas and research of genre, film making techniques, and story telling aspects. My goal is to make a film opening that exemplifies all the codes and conventions of the genre, and that also uses certain techniques that makes the film enjoyable and adheres to the conventions of a commercial film. I will also be reflecting on this opening, discussing what works and what does not, using the compulsory questions in the preliminary task. I am looking forward to learning about the intricacies of media and the process of film making through this collaborative project.

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