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. 

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.

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.  

 

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

• https://logos.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Horror_Movie_Studios

• https://topsheet.io/blog/complete-guide-to-film-distribution

• https://wheresthejump.com/horror-movie-budgets-are-getting-smaller/

• https://www.igi-global.com/dictionary/film-exhibition/67044#:~:text=1.,and%20running%20of%20movie%20theaters.

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 

• https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2002/03/27/285925/1314/en/Universal-Domains-Inc-VCL-Communications-Corp-Closes-Private-Placement.html

• https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?companies=co0018947

• https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Dennis_DePue

• https://www.screengeek.net/2020/11/11/jeepers-creepers-real-life-killer-inspiration/#:~:text=There%20is%20indeed%20a%20real,behind%20an%20abandoned%20school%20house.

• https://nofilmschool.com/2013/09/can-learn-coppolas-indie-studio-american-zoetrope

• https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/5/26/amazon-agrees-to-buy-iconic-mgm-film-studio-for-8-45bn#:~:text=Amazon.com%20Inc.,insatiable%20demand%20for%20streaming%20content.

• https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0263488/companycredits?ref_=tt_dt_co#distributors

• https://www.nfi.edu/film-marketing/#:~:text=Film%20marketing%20is%20a%20technique,to%20do%20in%20your%20movie.

• https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0263488/?ref_=adv_li_tt

• https://nushysmediastudies.wordpress.com/category/section-b/2-the-importance-of-cross-media-convergence-synergy-in-production-distribution-marketing/

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  

I compared my script to "A Quiet Place" : https://imsdb.com/scripts/A-Quiet-Place.html
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:

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.