Genre Research: Insidious

      Insidious, the first of its series, starts off with low angles to show off its characters. It takes place at the residence of our two main characters Josh and Renai Lambert, so the setting is just a normal home. There are scenes where shot/reverse shots are used to show the audience what one of the characters is telling the others about. The movie produces a dark mood, most noticeably with the lighting. Usually, the intense scenes happen in a darker setting. As the movie wants to tell a story about its characters, it has dialogue to give exposition or to build these characters. The movie was good at building tension, as it is easy to do with the horror genre. However, I didn't like how some scenes were flooded with dialogue.

Genre Research: Selected Genre

      I've decided to go with the mystery film genre. I've decided to go with this genre as my pitch already fits it. So I'll be doing a mystery film about someone discovering that he's being watched. I did have pitches that fit into the other genres, but I liked this one the most. The other pitches would also be difficult to act out, due to my working alone. In the end, the mystery film had the most allure out of the three. Which is why I chose it.

Genre Research: Horror and Action Films

      For this blog, I'll be choosing two more genres and going over their different elements. Just like my power point, but in text form.
      The first genre, horror contains a lot of high angle shots. Usually to show the point of view of the antagonist of the film, if they're looking down at something else. The horror genre also creates a dark, gloomy vibe no matter where it's located. Usually set at night or having some other effect to make the setting seem a little bit more eerie. There are frequently cross cuts to mask violence or to build tension. In horror movies, there is normally a singular antagonist with a set of protagonists to be killed off. Two examples of horror movies are: IT: Chapter 2 and Insidious. There's multiple examples of non-diegetic sound, a very famous one being Jason's theme from the Halloween series. I admire the ability the genre has to easily create tension in it's scenes. I don't like being scared, so I don't watch them.
      The second genre, action contains lots of eye level angles. Usually to show the protagonist's face.The action genre creates a normal environment usually, one that seems similar to one that we go through day to day. Then fill that environment with not so ordinary scenarios. Just like horror films, action films normally include a lot of cross cuts. This time, used to convey the action scenes. Normally, the protagonist has a goal to achieve and goes through tons of enemies to do so. Two examples of actions films are John Wick and Transformers. Action films normally contain a score that picks up whenever the action builds up. I enjoy the action scenes in these films whenever they're made well. I don't enjoy when these scenes draw out the run time.

Genre Research: Powerpoint

      At the beginning of the year, I was assigned to make a power point on a genre of my choosing. I decided to choose the mystery/detective film genre. The power point went over the different conventions of the mystery genre. Conventions such as what camera angles are used the most, the miss en scene, types of sound, and common editing. After going through the common elements, I was told to discuss what elements of the genre I liked and disliked. Throughout the power point, I inserted different examples of what was being talked about on the slide. For example, on the camera movements slide, I added a gif to represent of the movements being used. The slide for sound was difficult to get around, I planned to have a video inserted into the power point so that the sound could play. Evidently, something went awry and I settled for including frames from the video. The end product resulted in a very flawed power point that looks cool from afar.

And The Winner Is...

      Out of the last 3 pitches presented in the last blog, I've decided to get rid of one of the proposed plots. The one I've decided to get rid of is the action movie. Although I really liked the idea, I don't see how I'd be able to pull it off without group members. One would think that acting would be the same without group members, as the main antagonists are supposed to be clones of the protagonists. But having group members would help by giving me body doubles to use for the clones. Getting rid of this idea leaves me with the horror and mystery films. Both of which have their ups and downs.
      The horror film would be fun to film, the idea I have in mind has me frantically trying to keep a door closed against a monster that isn't there. But then I would think of what to do next, I can think of a few ideas of what to do while staying inside of the requirements of this project. Scenes including my character breaking down or finding a way to keep the door shut would pad out the run time. Hopefully enough to make it possible to go with this idea, but there is a problem with the starting scene that could ruin this pitch altogether. Filming at home presents the issue of filming in a way that doesn't disturb anyone. If I open the movie with me loudly opening and slamming the door closed repeatedly, doing so for multiple takes, someone would take notice and possibly reprimand me. However, I could warn anyone currently in the house of what I'm doing and the noise it'll make. Alternatively, there may be a way I could act out the scene without making any noticeable noise at all.
      The mystery film would be interesting to set up. I'd come up with different places to put the camera that would provide a more believable set of angles. Then I could work to add an effect that would make it look like the footage was being watched on a surveillance monitor. I'm excited to mess around with the possibilities of this plot; the different camera angles, the acting in scenes, and the preparation all give me a challenge and opportunity to make a decent video. Out of the two pitches, this is the one that has my mind racing the most. I have tons of idea on how to expand this and the only limitations I have are my creativity.
      Out of the two pitches presented, I think it's obvious that I'm going with the mystery film. It has so many different paths I could take with it. There's enough ideas on what to do that I could shoot past 2 minutes. This is good, as I won't have to worry about stretching out the video to reach the maximum time. One of the ideas I have, requires me to prerecord some footage to watch. Which is interesting as I'll have to think of how to make that believable as well. I could have the person watching tune into the feed to discover the protagonist investigating one of his cameras. Or I could bring the camera back to reveal who it is surveying the main character. To me, it was clear which plot I was going to decide on for this project.

Start of the Final Task

      Hello again, I'm meant to introduce myself once more in this paragraph. Although, there isn't a lot of things I could say to deviate from the original blog. I'm still the same, quiet person I was from before. This is shown by how I've been working alone all school year. Just like before, I stick to myself and tend to get my work done on my own. I don't feel the need to go back and reread my first introduction blog, as I know what I said. I'm confident that me saying that I'm introverted is just redundant to say. It also wouldn't be a surprise that I'm working on my own once more on this final project. It'll present a challenge, but I'm sure I'll be able to pull it off. Coming up with solutions to the always present issue of working alone has been pretty enjoyable and I look forward to doing so once more.
      Over the year, I've grown in film making substantially. Before making my first video, I was only familiar with editing. The other skills, filming and blogging, I've come into contact briefly before. Having to work on my own has sped up my growth in these areas as well. Specifically, filming was the hardest part of the process. I had to find out a way to start and stop the takes naturally. Which was an easy problem to fix, then there was getting the right camera angles. This would be made easy if there was a camera person who could adjust the camera while I was in frame, but having me as the camera person made it so I had to adjust as I went. As stated before, I found it enjoyable to find solutions to the different problems that would arise and I look forward to being able to do so again. This time should be a lot easier, as I've been through this twice before.
      A pitch is when a movie idea is described quickly in attempt to get it made. A pitch is supposed to be quick, normally just one sentence of 25 words, so that questions can be asked and answered. I've three pitch ideas for my final task. My first pitch is a horror film, where someone being chased by some unknown monster or person is trapped in their room and has to find a way to escape. The second pitch is an mystery film, where cameras are set up in a room to spy on someone and one is found by that person. Now the question is, who set it up? The third pitch is an action film, where clones have been made of one person and they begin to rebel against the original.

Me and my group member

My group member and I hard at work

Filming Over the Break

      Over Thanksgiving break, I didn't record any footage. This means that I'll most likely have to rely on the back up footage I recorded the weekend before. The backup footage doesn't deviate from the storyboard much, it includes shot/reverse shots of two different people. The character of NF isn't doesn't change much. He still talks about his issues and becomes very animated while doing it. The therapist changes by not being a therapist at all. Instead, he's a roommate using his phone when NF returns. A difference between the two is that the roommate doesn't seem to be paying attention to what NF is saying. The plan was to have the therapist pay give his undivided attention to NF, like an actual therapist would do. The roommate isn't included much in the video, as he doesn't have much to show or say.
      The differences between the therapist and the roommate don't really matter much outside of that reason. Other than the therapist paying more attention, the roommate isn't dressed formally. It's a small difference, but it made the production a lot easier. The removal of the need for formal clothes also removed the need to look for and change into them. Surprisingly, I found playing the roommate a bit tricky. While filming, I couldn't decide if it was better to follow an imaginary NF or focus on my phone. One take I look up and around, another I follow a fake NF, and the last I try my best to focus on my phone. While playing NF, I was able to act on instinct and do whatever I thought was the best for that line. A few takes I get animated, move around a lot, and throw up my arms. Whether I use this take is completely up to how the editing goes, as I can change my mind at any time.
      Now that we're done with filming, we're going to be moving onto editing. If editing goes as smoothly as it did last time, I'll be able to finish quickly with a handful of crashes. This time around I'll need a lot less resources than I did for the commercial. For the commercial, I needed my footage, the music, a clip from the internet, and a voice over. This time around I'll only need my footage and the music, both of which I have. Editing will mostly require me to cut and put together clips, something that's very basic. I think I'll be able to finish the editing in one day due to the simplicity of what I'll have to do. The frequency of crashes is going to determine just how quickly I finish editing. Hopefully I won't have to deal with losing any progress. After editing, I'll have completely finished the music video.