Genre Research

 Genre Research: Coming of Age

    After some back-and-forth discussion, my group members and I finalized our idea for the plot of our film opening, as well as settled on the idea that our piece will be a coming-of-age story. 

    Coming-of-age stories focus on the protagonist's journey into adulthood(maturing and experiencing large events), therefore the title 'coming of age'. The protagonist typically faces a major challenge that ultimately leads to their growth as a person. These pieces typically use a combination of both humor and drama to tell a meaningful story. To introduce characters and their struggles, coming-of-age pieces regularly use strong, impactful dialogue to influence their audience.

    We researched a few different coming-of-age films such as Thirteen(2003), The Breakfast Club(1985), and Lady Bird(2017)  to get inspiration for our piece. During this research, we found that the target audience for coming-of-age films is teenagers and young adults, and we feel that this will help us when creating our film opening as we are creating this piece as teenagers, and therefore we are the target audience for the same thing we are creating.

    My group members and I researched a variety of topics generally covered in coming-of-age stories and decided that our protagonist's challenge would revolve around the issue of suicide. We hope to make the film opening for a piece that would cover suicide and its impact on the people close to the issue. Our main focus is covering the idea of recovering from a large trauma (which in this case would be losing a loved one to suicide) and facing discomfort while healing and growing from the experience. We plan on conveying strong emotions in our film opening to really focus our audience on the tragedies of suicide.

Let's switch things up!

   Starting my portfolio project...

  At this point in the year, the time comes when I am transitioning my blog posts to be centered on the processes of producing my film opening for the Cambridge exam. My previous blog posts consisted of research on topics such as genre and representation, or reviewing the production process of other projects, such as the Music Marketing Project or my Soundscape project.

My initial feelings on this project is that it will be a large project that I am afraid to start, as I know that not only is it half of the AICE exam for Media Studies AS level, but more so that I have to create an original production with such a large amount of freedom, in a large period of time. But, I do feel excited to get to work on such a creative production, because such a feeling of liberty in choosing to do exactly what I want in a project does not come often in high school.

While I do not have a clear idea of what I want to create in this production, my research on different approaches for a film opening does help to narrow down what I want to establish in this project. I will include my notes below.

The first approach for creating a film opening that calls my attention is that of establishing a character. In this kind of film opening, the main goal is to introduce and develop a character. Mise-en-scene, dialogue, and character interactions are commonly used to create this kind of film opening. For example, mise-en-scene elements such as makeup and costume design can help the audience infer the character's age and profession. Dialogue and character interactions, on the other hand, may allow the audience to see the character's personality.

Another approach to creating a film opening that interests me is that of creating mystery. By building mystery in a film opening, it can attract the viewers' attention and intrigue them to continue watching the film. Film openings that aim to create mystery commonly focus on three things: using sound techniques, mise-en-scene, and posing a question. By using these, techniques, a film opening can build suspense and can engage its audience.

 

Music Marketing Blog Post #2

 Music Marketing Project Process:

    The task at hand for this project was center around making a campaign for a new artist using a selected song. My group members(Andrea A., Corina F., and Sofia B.) and I selected the song "Send My Love(To Your New Lover)" by Adele, and therefore we got to work researching pop as a genre. 

    We began by creating case studies(seen below) researching well-known pop artists Adele, Harry Styles, Taylor Swift, and Ariana Grande, as well as researching their respective record labels. These case studies consisted of an analysis of these artists' marketing and distribution techniques, allowing us as a group to learn techniques commonly used for pop. This allowed us not only to further build our understanding of pop as a genre but also helped introduce us to techniques we may want to use in the marketing and distribution of our own project.

    The next step of our project was planning, in which we discussed who we wanted our artist to be. We used our knowledge of genre characteristics to develop a rough idea of our artist, and we decided on creating a young, female, humble, and relatable artist named Rayn. We also studied the lyrics of our song and came together to create a storyboard for our music video to have an outline of what we would like our music video to look like. The general idea that we developed was that the video would be a combination of a promotional and storytelling music video, in which Rayn discovers her ex-boyfriend has a new girlfriend, and she expresses her feelings towards her ex-boyfriend's immaturity.

    The production was very enjoyable, as it allowed us as a group to be creative with the creation of our music video. Since we were going for a very home-made feeling for our music video, that is enjoyable for the viewer to watch, we kept the production of our video very positive. During the production of our video, we made sure to film in a variety of different backgrounds and use lots of camera movement to create visual interest for the viewer.

   

     Post-production for the video was also very collaborative, as different group members would share ideas that we could implement in our video. An important aspect that we wanted to include was the use of different cameras, so we used videos filmed on a digital camera, to create a home-made and comforting feeling.

    For our presentation, we wanted to emphasize Rayn's focus on being a relatable and humble creator, so we made sure to provide lots of content on how this would be achieved, such as the use of social media, and the inclusion of social media samples. We also focused on creating a visual appeal of Rayn as well, as this helps to attract and create interest in fans. I will provide some samples of slides from our presentation below.

 

This project allowed me to greatly expand my knowledge of marketing and distribution techniques for music, particularly the importance that social media holds in the promotion of music. As for the creation of the project as a whole, I created enjoyable connections with my classmates and learned the importance of time management for large projects, such as this one. Two very important parts of this production that I believe will be helpful during the creation of my Cambridge portfolio are the experience I gained from filming the music video, as well as importance of planning and proper time management for larger projects.

Music Marketing Blog Post #1

    The first step of this process begins with doing research on the pop genre, seeing its common characteristics and how it is seen by audiences. After learning of some of the regular characteristics of pop, such as its popularity amongst younger audiences and its tendency to be marketed on social media, my group members and I were able to move on to planning for our own marketing project. The most vital step of the planning for the music marketing project was to decide, as a group, how we wanted the artist to be portrayed. We discussed and decided that we want our artist, Rayn, to be very down-to-earth and relatable, to create a more personal connection with fans.

    By creating case studies as a group studying 4 different successful pop artists(Harry Styles, Adele, Taylor Swift, and Ariana Grande), we were able to learn how different artists use pop music to create connections with fans. This research also provides great examples of what techniques real-life pop artists use for marketing and distribution for their own pieces of music, and gave us inspiration and ideas that we could work with to use for our own campaign.

   

 As a group, we also discussed heavily how we wanted our music video to look and what message it would convey to audiences. Taking aspects such as the target audience and the fact that our artist is new and does not have a large fan base established into account, we decided to create a music video that is a combination of artist promotion and storytelling. This allows us not only to introduce our artist, but also to create a video relevant to our chosen song that tells a story by capturing the essence of the lyrics. Finally, we are piecing together a presentation that combines our potential marketing campaign for Rayn, consisting of information such as what marketing and distribution techniques we will use, as well as showcasing our music video and other research points.

Representation in Lady Bird

 Lady Bird

 

   Lady Bird(2017) is a comedy/ romance film directed by Greta Gerwig, following the life of a teenage girl, named Christine, although she likes to go by the name Lady Bird, in her senior year of high school, highlighting her relationship with friends, love interests, her family, and in particular, her mother. The film stars well-known actors Saoirse Ronan as Lady Bird and Timothee Chalamet as Kyle Scheible. The film is able to successfully represent the struggles in life for a middle-class teenage girl surrounded by privileged upper-class teens.

    

    A constant theme highlighted in his films is the pressure to be the same as others around you, and this is highlighted by the divide between the upper and lower classes in society. In this film, Lady Bird lies about her financial status to her classmates by telling them she lives in a house in an expensive neighborhood, in her city. Her resentment for her financial status is clear as she tells her companions that she lives on the "wrong side of the tracks", and while she does literally live on the opposite side of the train tracks in her city, she says this figuratively, meaning that she lives in the 'wrong' side of the city. Lady Bird's classmates can be seen living in expensive houses and driving in their own cars, while Lady Bird's family struggles to make ends meet, with Lady Bird's father even losing his job in the span of the story. Certain mise-en-scene also emphasize this. For instance, the characters that are in the upper class are always dressed very presentable, while Lady Bird is seen multiple times buying her clothes second-hand in thrift stores. Mise en scene is also used in the set of Lady Bird's house, as neutral colors are used in the design of the house, creating the feeling of a stereotypical middle-class home.

    A feature of this film is that it accurately displays the life of a teenage girl, exploring herself and finding out what defines her as a person. Films focusing on teenagers regularly use stereotypes and cliches when describing these characters. Lady Bird realistically shows the suffering and joy teenagers experience and creates a realistic dialogue, not shy to use awkwardness to make the conversations seem realistic. Another way this film displays an accurate depiction of a teenage girl is by showing things such as he relationships with men and even some of her sexual experiences. This makes it feel as though you are right there with Lady Bird, making the story even more accurate to a teenage girl's life.

    This film also focuses on representing groups that are not as commonly shown in media, such as those with a variety of body types and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Lady Bird's first love is an important character not only because of his romantic relationship with her, but because he is a recurring character, showing up often in the story. Another underrepresented group shown in this film is Lady Bird's best friend, Julie Steffans, has a body type that is not regularly shown in media. 

    

    Taking all these features into account, the 2017 film Lady Bird does a good job in the area of representation as it both represents many groups as well as giving them accurate representations.

https://youtu.be/cNi_HC839Wo?si=I7_BuWBOMAVGH0xp

Horror-Genre Research

Horror

Horror is a genre in film that is often used to induce feelings of fear, shock, and terror. Some sub-genres that stem from horror include psychological horror, supernatural, thriller, etc. Viewers between the ages of 15-25, which are more prominently male, are the most common enjoyers of horror. Horror is able to attract its audience by creating suspense and mystery, and its viewers generally tend to be those who seek out extreme experiences. This trait is known as thrill-seeking.

Conventions

Conventions are described as elements that are commonly seen through many productions in one genre. Typically in horror films, aspects such as conflict and common fears(such as the fear of death-known as thanatophobia) can be seen in a story. In the production of these films, conventions such as suspenseful music and jumpscares are often seen in this genre. For instance, suspenseful music can be used by having an instrumental slowly build up the volume of this music while a shocking turn of events is going to occur. This will create anticipation from the viewer and attract their attention.

Marketing 

As previously mentioned, the target audience of the horror genre is typically males from the ages 15-25, often possessing the personality trait known as thrill-seeking. To attract audiences to watch horror films, advertisements generally focus on emphasizing the presence of the film's antagonist. This can be done in many ways, such as in trailers, posters, or social media advertisements. Additionally, horror films will build curiosity in the audience by advertising a mystery, enticing a viewer to want to find out more about the film. Horror films often bring a large amount of revenue for the producers, as the budget required to produce the film is low, and they often do good in the box office.

Film Samples

Jennifer's Body (2009) stars actors Megan Fox as Jennifer Check and Amanda Seyfried as Anita "Needy" Lesnicki. Needy is the protagonist, fighting against Jennifer as the antagonist, after she was sacrificed in a ritual and then turned into a demon when the sacrifice was unsuccessful. Jennifer begins to eat the boys in her surrounding town of Devil's Kettle, Minnesota. This film is an accurate embodiment of horror as it uses aspects such as gore, suspense, and jumpscares. As Jennifer often is shown eating the boys around her, special effects are often used to create a realistic visualization of this. This film also jumpscares to create feelings of tension and fear in its viewers. Jumpscares are defined as a way to scare the audience by creating an abrupt change in the picture. This is often paired with an unexpected sound.

Terrifier (2016) stars David Howard Thornton as Art the Clown, the antagonist in the Terrifier films. This film shows the story of two young girls on Halloween night, with the killer Art the Clown on the loose. He terrorizes the characters, as well as others introduced in the span of the film. Terrifier notoriously uses practical effects such as blood and gore to create a violent atmosphere. This film shows many killings and creates suspense by using numerous jump scares to frighten the audience. Terrifier was successful in making a profit, requiring a budget of $250,000 to be produced but gaining a profit of over $15,000,000. Terrifier has a sequel, Terrifier 2(2022), and a third movie is predicted to come out in late 2024.

Other Horror Films Include:

Black Phone(2021)

The Excorcist(1973)

The Nun(2018)

Smile(2022)

X (2022)

Scream VI(2023)

Sound Blog Post

My sound project is a production of solely audio, taking just over a minute and a half to tell a story. The story told by my production begins with a character walking outside, in a city environment. The story continues with the character walking into a coffee shop and ordering a drink. The drink is then being made.

The outline used when creating this project:  Soundscape Planning Outline

This production was split into two phases: finding the sounds to use for this project, and editing the sounds together. When finding the sounds to use in this production, me and my partner first created an outline of every sound we wanted to include in our project. Once this was decided, we found sounds to use this project in two different ways: creating our own sounds and using sound databases. We used Foley techniques to create some of the sounds in this project(foley videos can be accessed here:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tTNaT06XvqTJMcXCMJP0y6gMEi3bow1V/view?usp=drive_link). We also used sound databases, to find the rest of the sounds in our production.

Once we had collected all the sounds to use in the video, the editing process began. We used Adobe Premiere Pro to create this video. To create a realistic soundscape, many pieces of audio were layered over each other throughout the entire video. Another technique used was the use of environmental sound. For instance, during the beginning portion of the project, sounds such as cars driving, ambulances sounding, and construction sounds were used to create the ambiance of a busy city. This allows the production to sound realistic, as if the listener was actually walking through a city.

The final project can be accessed here:

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cIMOccPYfp3fw6aeqbSg8CBRQsvn5nH9/view?usp=drive_link