Hello it's Xena,
Below is a link to my creative critical reflection of our opening sequence, "The Terror of Chuckles." My CCR is presented in the form of a video containing a voiced over PowerPoint presentation.
Friday, April 8, 2022
Thursday, April 7, 2022
Thursday, March 17, 2022
Post - production
Hi it's Xena!
This week we are working on editing and deciding weather we have to reshoot certain shot or not.
We are using the editing progress to create a coherent meaning of our collected shots by using different sounds and transitions to try and stick with transition as much as possible.
During this process we viewed other opening scenes in the same genre. We used this as research to see which transitions were as close to convention as we could possibly get.
The conventions of our opening title was the color pallet which mostly consisted of red, black, and muted colors. We also used suspenseful sounds and our editing consisted of transitions that dip into black. We used these transitions because they were the most popular compared to the others when it came to our genre. We added the suspenseful music using the editing website that we were using, wevideo.com .
Here are couple of our shots:
Friday, March 4, 2022
Production
Hey it's Xena!
For the past 2 weeks, we've been working on FILMING! The technology that we have been using while filming is a phone. Using a phone makes it easier to move around, especially when we have to move from a plethora of different locations: the park or around the school.
While filming I learned that the different cameras have different qualities. Since everyone had a different type of phone, we had to make sure that in every shot we used the same phone. I also learned that when we did shots outside they had to be during the same time. Along with the type of clothing we had to wear in every shot.
Here are some video and picture of certain shots:
We did encounter some difficulties along the way most of those being when we would film and where. Other problems were not being able to keep a straight face. While filming we were constantly laugh and making jokes.
we did change camera angles a few times but besides that everything stayed the same.
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
Film Scheduling
Hey it's Xena!
Last week me and my group were working on shot scheduling and a production calendar. For both the shot scheduling and the production calendar we used StudioBinder. The shot scheduling was pretty simple since it was a stripboard; the production calendar was also very simple.
Our stripboard:
Our calendar:
Shot scheduling can help you and your team be organized and make filming a lot easier.
Friday, February 11, 2022
Storyboarding
Hello it's Xena!
In our portfolio journey we are currently working on STORYBOARDING.
For our opening scene, we will be filming in Sandy Ridge Sanctuary. We chose this park because it was in everyone's driving range and had the same aesthetic we were going for.
In our opening there will be 3 different actor/characters. Those actors will be: Me playing Kathy, Marie Guillaume playing Kathy' friend Karma, and Ethan Stone - Chuckles. We need to take into consideration the hours that the park is open and each others schedules.
Since our opening scene will be filmed outside, there will be sounds of nature in the background which we might remove and add in a suspenseful audio track instead when there is no dialog happening. If we do decide to do this, we will first check our editing software for any audio tracks we may like, if we can't find any, then we'll find another sound on youtube or another website.
We will mostly be shooting on the weekends, since for most of us that counts as our down time. On our schedule filming during school will happen from February 21 - March 4. To begin shooting we will be using a phone because it is relatively available and is much easier to use/ save videos, in my opinion.
Though our storyboard is not finished mostly because we have to draw the pictures and make the description, we are doing it on studio binder and we have finished the different camera angles that will be included in each shot.
Friday, February 4, 2022
Funding, Production, Distribution, & Exhibition
Hi it's Xena!
In class we researching funding, production, distribution, and exhibition for the genre of our portfolio.
FUNDING
For a horror movie the funding can come from different things. If you are an indie production company, you would have to find a way to fund the film yourself. If you're a "mini - major" then the major that purchased your company will give you the funding needed for the film. Finally, if you're a major you don't have to worry about funding because you can fund it yourself with no problem.
To make a horror movie it costs an average of $13 million. This goes to crews, casts, trailers, advertisement, DCPs, and VPFs.
PRODUCTION
The most common production companies for horror movies include, Blumhouse Productions, Dark Castle Entertainment, Ghost House Pictures, Hammer Film Productions, Helltimate Studio, Monkeypaw Productions, Palace Video (UK), Platinum Dunes, and Twisted Pictures.
DISTRIBUTION
There are different ways for a film to be distributed: DVDs, streaming websites, and movie theaters, just to name a few. There is also leasing and profit-sharing. In a lease, the distributor agrees to pay a fixed amount for distribution rights to the film. In profit - sharing distributors receive a percentage of the revenue earned from the film by distributing the revenue; this percentage is typically 10% - 50% range.
EXHIBITION
Exhibition is when the public sees a film that might involve the ownership, management, and running of movie theaters. But today the public can see a new movie anywhere: Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Paramount+, Hulu, and Netflix. Though there are many more, you can even go on a website and watch the movie for free instead of having to pay $30 or less.
RESOURCES
Case Study
Hi it's Xena,
In class this week we are doing a case study for any movie of our choice. For my case study I chose to do the movie Jeepers Creepers (2001).
For this case study I will be doing research on the:
- History/Target Audience
- Production
- Distribution
- Marketing
- Cross - media convergence and synergy
HISTORY/ TARGET AUDIENCE
History - Jeepers Creepers (2001) was directed and written by Victor Silva. There is a real life inspiration for the antagonist of Jeepers Creepers. This killer goes by the name Dennis DePue. To put it shortly he shot his wife, Marilynn DePue and hid her body behind an abandoned school. If you want to know more about his case I the link will be with the other resource links. Target Audience - Teenagers and adults would be the best target for this film. Mostly because of the sudden jump scares and the building of suspense.
PRODUCTION
Jeepers Creepers was produced by 5 different production companies: United Artists, American Zoetrope, Cinerenta - Cinebeta, Cinerenta Medienbeteiligungs KG, and VCL Communications.- United Artists who was bought by Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer Film Corporation, who wIas also bought by Amazon.com Inc.
- American Zoetrope is an indie/independent production company.
- Cinerenta-Cinebeta production company is most likely no longer in business. The only film they produced was Jeepers Creepers but after that there were no other movies produced by this company.
- Cinerenta Medienbeteiligungs KG production company is most likely no longer in business. The most recent film that this company produced was "Pride" from 2007.
- VCL Communications closed a private placement with Universal Domains Incorporated in March 2002.
DISTRIBUTION
For Jeepers Creepers there were 52 different distributors all from around the world: Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Argentina, the Netherlands, Spain, Japan, the United Kingdom, India, the United States, Finland, Australia, Taiwan, Romania, Thailand, Hong Kong, Middle East, Greece, Brazil. Since these are different countries the way they distributed Jeepers Keepers is similar to us in the US, but in different years.MARKETING
Film marketing is a technique one would use to promote their film. It mostly involves determining how much one will spend on the film: DCPs, VPFs, trailers, advertising, and advertisements. The budget for Jeepers Creepers (2001) was about $10,000,000.CROSS - MEDIA CONVERGENCE & SYNERGY
Cross - media convergence - multiple products come together to form one product with the benefit of all of them.Synergy - the process by which 2+ media products are interlinked for commercial or artistic purposes.
RESOURCES
Script writing
Hey it's Xena!
On our portfolio project we're working on script writing. We aren't done with the script but we have started it which I'm really happy about.
We did the script on studio binder which made it really easy. Script writing is pretty self-explanatory, you're just writing the script before you film or storyboard.
Before I started writing I decided to watch a video on formatting a script on studio binder. Watching the video was more of a fresher because last semester we had learned about script writing.
Here is the video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2uZ7IabVOM
This is what our script looks like:
For the first part of the script we decided to do a flash back, which we are still figuring out how to format.
- Mounting Suspense
- Jump Scares
- Gore
We aren't finished with the script but it will most likely include jump scares and mounting of suspense.
Resources:
https://imsdb.com/
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-a-horror-screenplay-effective-writing-tips-to-make-your-horror-movie-terrify-audiences
Some common features horror movies include are:
Friday, January 28, 2022
My portfolio project
Hey it is Xena,
This week we have been deciding what type of film we would like to make. At first, I wanted to do a murder film, but my group did not want to do a murder film. A summary of the story that we came up; This project will be about a small town in Bulowville, Florida. It was a hot, sunny day, but little did people know there was a murder happening. This was one of the first murders. Young boys and girls were its victims, it stalks its next victim for 3 days until it kills them. When it is done, the victim is skinned, chopped up, and buried in a shallow grave. What does it look like? You never know one day it will be wearing a clown suit the next day it will look like you friendly mail man. This continued until suddenly one of the neighbors died and all the murders stopped.
We have currently started to make a detailed short story of the full movie and by the end of this exceptionally long project we will film a 2-minute opening of the short story. The way that we decide to draft our story was: one person does the exposition, one person does the raising action, one does the climax, and the last person does falling action and resolution. For the next few weeks, we will be doing our portfolio and updating my blog 2 – 3 times a week. This project will take over four months to do but we are taking it step-by-step. Next week we will be script writing. Which will hopefully be more fun than drafting a short story.
Wednesday, November 17, 2021
Video Editing Software
Hey it's Xena!
In class yesterday we were told to find an editing software we wanted to use for our portfolios and other editing projects. We were given 2 different software and were told to find one more. These software had to follow minimal requirements that were set by my teacher. When we were done with the research we had to compare and contrast all three software, then choose a software to use.
Requirements :
- accessible from anywhere (web-based)
- ability to lay multiple tracks (both audio and video)
- ability to strip or mute audio and natural sounds from video
- ability to collaborate with other users
- I googled "video editing software"
- I looked through other software until I found a third software
- I went to each website to see if they fit the requirements
- When I saw they fit all the requirements I did a 'test drive.' (I edited a couple of sample videos)
- I compared all the software are decided which one I liked the best.
The software I compared first were openshot.org and clipchamp.com, they both followed the requirements. But for openshot.org I don't like having to download stuff to my computer unless it's documents. So, opensht.org was already a 'no' for me. But for clipchamp.com all I had to do was put in my Gmail and it saved automatically.
Then I compared clipchamp.com and flexclip.com, they both followed the requirements. But for flexclip.com you have to save it manually, unlike clipchamp.com. They both can be signed on to using your email address. Flexclip.com has more music options than chipchamp.com does.
Choosing a software
Choosing between clipchamp.com and flexlip.com was kind of difficult. Although flexclip.com does have more music options than clipchamp.com, I often forget to save my work especially when I'm working on something important or working on a deadline. So the software that I will be using is..... clipchamp.com!
Friday, October 29, 2021
Opening Scenes
A film opening is the first scene that you see at the beginning of a film. It establishes the main characters, the genre, the plot, and basically everything the audience needs to know about the movie.
The opening scene should immediately hook the audience!
One way to hook the audience is to start with a BANG!
There are 6 different techniques used in opening scenes:
- Technique 1 - enter the villain - this technique is commonly used in action movies such as "The Dark Knight"
- Technique 2 - enter the hero - this techniques introduces main characters and key plot points. While making sure the audience is still along for the ride.
- Technique 3 - establish relationships - this is commonly used in dramas
- Technique 4 - plot catalyst this introduces the main characters
- Technique 5 - Follow genre - used in establishing tone and introduces main characters
- Technique 6 - flip genre - common techniques: flashback, flash-forward, bookends, red herrings, McGuffins.
- Prologue
- Prologue with a voice over
- Prologue without a voice over
- Inciting incident
- Day in the life
- Exciting
- Uneventful
- Cold open
- Flash forward
Thursday, October 28, 2021
Opening Scenes of "Venom", "Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift," and "Guardians of the Galaxy"
Hey it's Xena!
So recently we've been working on opening scenes. We made a list of our top favorite movies and out of those 5 movies we chose 3 to find the length of the scene, the camera movements and angles, and finally summarize the entire scene.
Venom 2018 ( Action/Adventure)
The opening scene to Venom is 4 minutes and 49 seconds long. In this time we see that the scene starts of in outer space, from there we start to see the opening credits and a small white speck that slowly increases in size as it come closer to the camera and is revealed to be a spaceship. There is some dialogue exchanged between the astronauts and the people on Earth. Then, the tone of the dialogue starts to sound like panic. We then see the spaceship start to crash through the atmosphere and then eventually crash in a forest. The camera then cuts to a different location that looks like mission control. A man in a suit exchanges dialogue with a women that likes to be a scientist and a women in front of a computer. He asked a women," Did we at least retrieve all of the samples." The women response with, " No, we have three of them, one of the organisms got out of containment and it's missing. We don't know which one." The camera then cuts back to the crash and we see and container being carried by two people in hazmat suits, we also see the bodies of two dead astronauts. When a women yells something in a different language and we see that one astronaut survived the crash.
This connects to the overall plot of the story because it shows where these organisms came to Earth, how they can go from person to person, and it also show us some important characters.
Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift 2006 (Action/Drama)
The opening scene to Fast and Furious: Tokyo drift is 4 minutes and 37 seconds long. Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift is an action/ drama film. At the beginning of the opening scene, we hear hip-hop music and see high schoolers walking around and going through metal detectors. Then we see the main character of the movie enter the shot and stat getting a pat down. He makes eye contact with a boy in a mascot costume also gets pat down and smirks. The camera then cuts and zooms out revealing 15 different screens that seem to be from security cameras. We cut to a classroom then a parking lot where students are hitting an Indian piñata, then back to the main character who looks very amused by this action. The camera then cuts to an automotive garage where the main character is underneath a car. He sees someone getting dragged out by 3 boys and gets up to see what's going on, he sees the boy getting car paint sprayed on him and walks away, the camera then cuts back to the parking lot where he sees a girl painting her nails while going to his car. Dialogue is exchanged and the girl’s boyfriend comes over very upset, the main character gets in his car and drives away when the girl's boyfriend throws something through his window, so he stops the car and gets out with a wrench, the two men share looks and the opening scene ends.
This connects to the overall plot of the film because it tells the reason why something will happen to the main character.
Guardians of the Galaxy 2014 (Action/Sci-fi)
The opening scene to Guardians of the Galaxy is 1 minute and 51 seconds, its a action/sci-fi movie. The scene first open to the main character in what looks like a cave. the main character then puts on headphones and music and starts singing and dancing while kicking alien rats around. he then looks over a large gap and uses rockets in his shoes to get over it, he then comes across two large doors and opens it to reveal that he is trying to steal something the object is a sphere looking object.
This connects to the overall plot of the film because it shows the main character and it shows an object that might be important to the movie.
Wednesday, October 6, 2021
Mise-en-scene
Hey it's Xena!
A couple days ago I learned about mise-en-scene. Mise-en-scene is the overall look and feel of a movie; the sum of everything the audience sees, hears, and experiences while viewing it.
Mise-en-scene is a word originated from France which means "staging or putting on an action or scene." Mise-en-scene has two major visual components which are design and composition. Design means the look of the setting, props, lighting, and actors. Composition means the organization, distribution, balance, and the general relationship of actors and objects. Mise-en-scene is important for how it makes us feel. When planning a shot many decisions must be made, such as, the placement of people, objects, décor, their movement, lighting, camera angles, and camera movements.
After learning about mise-en-scene we were given a mini photography project. In this project you had to make a scene and take multiple shots at different angles. The photos that you took had to look realistic. For example, someone had different pieces of Barbie furniture and they made it look like a living room, in the background they had a beautiful beach scenery.
Before learning about mise-en-scene I didn't know a single thing about it. Some questions I had before learning about this topic was, "How do you pronounce this word?" "How am I supposed to remember all of this information?" "How important is mise-en-scene to a movie?" But as I learned more about the topic I learned how to pronounce it and I learned how important it is to have mise-en-scene in a movie.
Resources:
file:///home/chronos/u-ddc92013bcfddb3e29f8e747f09b93d879b43f2f/MyFiles/Downloads/Mise%20en%20Scene%20PowerPoint%20presentation%20PDF.pdf
Cinematography
Hey it's Xena!
A few weeks ago my class was leaning about cinematography. Cinematography is the art of using, moving and positioning the camera and camera lens.
There are many different types of camera angles and shot types. Some of these angles are overshot, a high angle shot, an eye level shot, a low angle shot, an under shot, and a point of view shot. Some shot types are an extreme long shot, a long shot, full shot, medium shot, medium close up, close up, and extreme close up. Some camera movement angles are tracking, planning, tilting, dolling, dolly in, dolly out, whip pan, zoom, reverse dolly zoom, cane/boom shot, steady cam./gimble, hand held, rack focus. All camera angles have a purpose. An overshot is directly above the action looking straight down. A high angle shot can imply that someone is weak or small. An eye level view can give the audience a sense of realism. A low angle shot can make the subject look intimidating, strong, or important. An under shot can be used to convey/carry extreme power. A point of view shot is used the show the perspective of a subject. Just like angles have a purpose so do different shot types. An extreme long shot is used to set a time and place. A long shot is used to show the subject from a distance, emphasizing a place or location. A full shot emphasizes action and movement rather than the emotional state of a subject. A medium shot focuses on the character while still showing some environment. A medium close up allows us to focus on facial expressions and mannerisms helping us with the characters emotional state. A close up is used to see the subjects emotions and reactions. An extreme close up is used to emphasize a small area or detail of the subject.
After we were given all this information, we were assigned a PowerPoint slide. For this slide the had to take various pictures with different types of angle. When we were finished taking these pictures we uploaded them to the computer and put them on the PowerPoint slide. We also had to find two images of the same shot or angle.
Before learning about the different camera angles, shots, and movements I knew nothing about it. But when we first got introduced to this topic the only questions I had were, "How many different types of camera angles could there possibly be?" and "What purpose do they serve in a movie?" But once we had learned the material I learned the most used camera angles and shot types in today's movies. And that they have many different purposes in a movie.
Resources:
https://www.acmi.net.au/education/school-program-and-resources/film-it-cinematography/
https://lessonbucket.com/filmmaking/shot-composition/angle/undershot/#:~:text=An%20undershot%20is%20when%20the,used%20to%20convey%20extreme%20power.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/video/tips-and-solutions/filmmaking-101-camera-shot-types
Genre
Hey it's Xena!
Recently in class we've been learning about genre. The definition of genre is "kind" or "type." After learning information about the topic we did a PowerPoint presentation.
There are many different genres. Such as, horror, sci-fi, action, comedy, drama, detective/crime, romance, thriller, and western. Every kind of genre has it's own conventions that make it the genre it is. A horror film give the audience a sense of fear. Sci-fi gives a feeling of something beyond our current means. Action gives a feeling of stress but it is short lived. Comedy gives a feeling of happiness and laughter. Drama can give a feeling of hurt or guilt. Detective films can give a feeling of vicarious thrill.
After learning about different types of genres we were told to make a PowerPoint presentation. My group chose to go with the detective/ crime genre. On the presentation we had to be able to define the genre, analyze the genre, the history of the genre, and the social functions.
PowerPoint -
file:///home/chronos/u-ddc92013bcfddb3e29f8e747f09b93d879b43f2f/MyFiles/Downloads/Presentation9.pdf
History - The crime genre first started in the 1600's. This genre has progressed from "Sherlock Holmes" in 1900 to "Law & Order: SVU" which first aired in 1999.
Social Functions - The crime genre gives the audience the ability to process emotions through characters without having to go through the pain themselves.
Specific Characters - the one who solves the crime, the one who committed the crime, and the victim(s).
Camera Techniques - High and Low angle shot, close ups and extreme close ups, dolly zooms, and handheld shots.
Resources :
https://scienceandsamosa.com/why-people-like-action-movies-some-science-to-it/
https://blogs.svvsd.org/coalridgechronicle/2014/02/04/drama-affects-everyone-2/
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Creative Critical Reflection (CCR)
Hello it's Xena, Below is a link to my creative critical reflection of our opening sequence, "The Terror of Chuckles." My CCR...
-
Hey it's Xena! A couple days ago I learned about mise-en-scene. Mise-en-scene is the overall look and feel of a movie; the sum of everyt...
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Hi it's Xena, In class this week we are doing a case study for any movie of our choice. For my case study I chose to do the movie J...
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A film opening is the first scene that you see at the beginning of a film. It establishes the main characters, the genre, the plot, and bas...
